Bernard Lietaer - The future of money

circumstance. Convertibility among the different currencies is ensured on the Net whenever that is needed. These different systems interact as an organic whole, when each component continually evolves to adapt to the demands and opportunities of the environment in which n operates.

'Now let us see some of the main milestones which get us from the last century's quandaries to what is being hailed at the Age of Sustainable Abundance for humanity Suddenly I saw me scene fading away in front of my eyes, and found myself in a daze back in our own time. Much to my great frustration, I may never know for sure how we got there...

Oh well, I should remain open to life's many surprises. I suppose.

The rest of this chapter provides the evidence supporting the claims of the professors of 2020, evidence that is already available in 1999.

Defining Sustainable Abundance Sustainable Abundance was defined earlier as the characteristics of a society that satisfies its needs without diminishing the prospects of future generations, while simultaneously providing freedom of choice and creativity to as many people as possible (Chapter 4).

Notice that humanity is bound willy nilly to reach some day at least one of the two components - sustainability. One can only argue over how much time that will take, whether it will be achieved by design or after a major breakdown, and whether conscious change can be mobilised for this purpose.

The planet itself is sustainable. The open question is whether it will include us.