#timeexchange

Douglas Rushkoff argues (in an essay that could be three) that instead of being overwhelmed by fast-changing news and events, we should focus on real human connections and care in our everyday lives. I loved this bit: “I find myself slowing changing from an agent of change to an agent of care. I’m less confident in the impact my activism might have... See more

transportation, care, and companionship are among the most common exchanges.

When people stop earning money, they feel like it’s a demotion or something,” Rearick said. “It’s an example of how the capitalist economy is designed to eat the commons and eat the community. I’ve been seeking the antidote to that. How you interact with that economy without letting it eat what you’re doing.”

time banking is less about economics, and more about mending social fragmentation.

Through prototyping new forms of mutual aid community such as the Conscious Change Collective, we’ll have the opportunity to foster our own thriving micro cultures of human interaction, and embed ourselves in the kind of reciprocal trust networks that can radically increase our ability to cope with any societal crises that may emerge. We’ll be

... See more

I think time banking needs to become independent from that system and part of a system that is designed to nourish it instead.”

Rearick sees common funds as one antidote to co-optation and collapse. Through them, neighbors pool money collectively to support shared projects and one another.

Some banks seem to wither not because they fail, but because they succeed. People stop recording hours once they are friends. “Your time bank’s a complete success now,” he said. “You built community.”