I've been to a few meetings and done some reading about the local projects.
At times, it reminds me of Shrub's approach to 9/11. Throw every dream you have out there and hope it sticks in the middle of a crisis.
Some of it looks like they have cobbled together every hippie/vegan/communal lifestyle/Mother Earth News idea ever thought of.
For instance, one of the ideas is a local currency. They are starting from the assumption that the collapse would be total and each community would exist in a void, so a local medium of exchange needs to be developed (Ithaca dollars).
It ignores the fact that commerce and trade have been around almost as long as mankind, and it won't go away. I don't see a lot of mention of horse power, but the critters are still around, and, what's really cool is that we have paved all the old caravan trails, so the horses won't get stuck in the mud. In the worst case, horse power and sailing ships will provide for trade.
Now, living in L'ville, why would I want $ I could only use in Willits? If I hike 40 miles to Ukiah, could I use it there? Why would the captain of a 3 masted schooner tied up in Ft. Bragg want Laytonville bucks for his Kona coffee beans, and why would the grower in Kona want them? Capt. might take apples, but maybe not the grower, even if they were the "keeping" variety. Would the orange grower in Cloverdale want my Lville bux? Why would he?
Gold would work. The greenback, even if not worth much, would work as a medium of exchange, even at very low values, which may not be the same in each community. Local currency won't. |
