Chapter V The Effects of Today’s Money System on Sustainability “The Earth is not dying – it is being killed. And the people who are killing it have names and addresses.” – U. Utah Phillips1
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e have seen how diversification of the types of exchange media, forming together a monetary ecosystem, would structurally be beneficial to an economy. From this perspective, the most pressing thing to do is not to get rid of the existing bankdebt money system, as many monetary reformers claim should be done. Instead, the focus should be on identifying the kinds of systems that best complement the existing bank-debt system. This chapter will therefore explore the relationship between money and sustainability by identifying biases built into the existing system and their impact on human behaviour patterns.1 Money is generally assumed to be a passive accounting instrument that facilitates exchanges more efficiently than barter. Money is seen as an oil lubricating the exchange process, but not otherwise changing its nature. It is therefore automatically assumed that the type of exchange medium one uses does not affect the nature of exchanges, the time horizon of our investments, or the relationships between us as users. We will demonstrate why all these assumptions are wrong. The modern money system should be credited with giving birth to the industrial age, with both its positive and negative effects. It has spawned a quantum leap in scientific knowledge, and the most materially productive civilisation in the history
1 Quoted in Naomi Klein, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies (2000), p.325.
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