[P2P-F] Fwd: Mid-October Newsletter, 2013

Sat Oct 19 14:46:57 CEST 2013

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thomas Greco <thg at mindspring.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 10:09 PM
Subject: Mid-October Newsletter, 2013
To: Michel <michel at p2pfoundation.net>

    *Mid-October Newsletter – 2013*

*In this issue*
*  November travel to Turkey and beyond*
*  Summer tour report, Part 2. Sweden and England*
*  Bangla-Pesa Charges Dropped *
*  The Geo-political Struggle*

*On the move again*
I’ve been invited to give a presentation at the 4th Green Economy
Conference, *Green Economy and Commons*, 16-17 November 2013, in Istanbul,
Turkey. As a panel member on the 16th, my topic will be, *Reclaiming the
Credit Commons: the Key to a Green Economy and Global Harmony*.

Now, as we approach the end of a very busy and demanding year, I’m feeling
the need for rest and renewal, so my intention is to travel onward from
Turkey to southeast Asia where I will take a lengthy sabbatical. I will try
to remain in touch, but don’t be surprised if email messages are not
answered promptly. If your communication is really important, mark it
“urgent” and keep trying, or Skype me.

*European tour report -- Part 2,* *Sweden and England*

Following the Hague conference, I traveled to Sweden for a two week stay
(June 24 to July 8) during which time I gave presentations and met with
community currency activists in Gothenborg, Lindsberg, Gotland, and
Stockholm.

My Gothenborg presentation, titled *The Economics of Peace, Justice and
Sustainability: Toward a New Convivial World Order*, was held in a lovely
old church that has been converted into a community center and café that
provides, among other things, services to the city’s homeless population.
One of my Swedish hosts and main tour organizer, Marianne Påsse, sent out a
report on that event. Here is an slightly adapted version of it:

*   We had a wonderful evening yesterday! We were around 50 people,
including us. I was content with that (I had no idea of how many might
come)! The evening started with a mini-concert; a leading violinist (Helga
Hussel) accompanied by Barbro Fridén on accordion, playing Pearls of World
Music. It was lovely listening to them in that very nice building, good
acoustics!*

*   After that I spoke a little...making a bridge between Charles
Eisenstein’s recent presentation (Approx. 25% of the audience were
listening to him in the same building some weeks ago) and Thomas. I also
asked the audience to raise their hands if they needed translation of some
expressions (happened just 2 or three times...once at the very first
picture).*

*   Thomas presented a power point show with very well selected pictures.
He spoke about them and...it is good to be able to read at the same time
(Microphone is necessary). He spoke for approximately one hour, and people
were very interested and kept him busy for another ½ hour, until I closed
the session (it was late). The questions were very accurate and in depth.
People came up to me afterwards and thanked for a very interesting evening.
Afterwards Yoshi and Jackie had an evening meal and chat at our place. And
today we pack for Lindsberg! So, we are very pleased!*

At a summer gathering at an intentional community in Lindsberg I lead two
workshops on successive days, each one beginning with a slide presentation.
These were titled, *Building Resilient Communities: A New Paradigm for
Community Development*, and *The Global Financial Meltdown: Its Causes, and
Opportunities for Localized Restructuring. *The participants in each of
these sessions were few in number but enthusiastic.

As it happened, I was in Sweden at the right time to participate in the
Almedalen Week on the island of Gotland. This has become an annual event
that brings together a wide variety of business people, politicians,
academics, grassroots activists and ordinary folks. You can learn more
about this remarkable event at
http://www.almedalsveckan.info/<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=3eb1cf10ba&e=686d597d8c>
.

I had no official role in the Almedalen proceedings, but was able to attend
a few of the 2,000+ organized sessions and got to shake hands and chat a
bit with the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Mark Brzezinski (son of Zbigniew
Brzezinski who was National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter).

I finished up my Sweden tour in Stockholm, where I was hosted by an
American friend who has been living there for several years with his
Swedish wide and young son. In Stockholm I got to meet some of the main
figures in the JAK Bank, a unique financial institution that since 1970 has
been providing interest-free loans. They together with a few other groups
organized an event for me which attracted a sizable crowd, where I repeated
the presentation I gave in Gothenborg.

My photos from Sweden can be found at:
Sweden 1
https://picasaweb.google.com/112258124863172998784/201306Sweden1?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOd2J6Rr-mVyQE<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=12266e0493&e=686d597d8c>,
and
Sweden 2
https://picasaweb.google.com/112258124863172998784/201307Sweden2?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuz8u_62bn2mQE<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=798c49b34b&e=686d597d8c>

*England* (July 8 – July 20)
I may at times complain about it, but I love Britain, and this time I had
the opportunity to be in the Lake District at a time when the weather was
simply superb (“the first real summer we’ve had in seven years,” the locals
told me).

The focal point of my visit was a full day workshop (July 12),* Unlocking
Local Wealth<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=29ed7ed869&e=686d597d8c>
*, held at Cumbria University in Lancaster, an event organized by the Institute
for Leadership and Sustainability
(IFLAS)<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=c639d85e45&e=686d597d8c>of
the University of Cumbria Business School, in association with the New
Economics Foundation, the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service,
and Impact International. The event was billed as “a one day workshop with
world experts on alternative currencies and exchange systems.”

That workshop was preceded the day before by a gathering in which most of
the same “world experts” came together to “clarify an action research
agenda, explore ideas for collaboration, begin grant mapping,” and provide
“feedback on one key new initiative (Eurocat).” Then, that evening, there
was a public event titled, *Starting Your Own Currency: Why and
How?*sponsored by (IFLAS ) in association with Lancaster’s Ethical
Small Traders
Association. This event featured a keynote presentation by John Rogers
followed by my response and a general discussion.

Here are the links to videos that were recorded during that event:
Jem Bendell introduces the keynote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMs2q2Ggwso<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=a802eb10ad&e=686d597d8c>
Keynote by John Rogers, co-author of *People Money*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqkbjEl5G08<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=f20e7a2657&e=686d597d8c>
Keynote response by  Tom Greco, author of *The End of Money and the Future
of Civilization*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHEPhQLrTs4<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=423cdd302d&e=686d597d8c>

Along with a few other colleagues, I had the pleasure of enjoying a few
more days of discussions and Jem’s hospitality at his home overlooking Lake
Windermere.

My England photos are at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112258124863172998784/201307UK?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_6o_OHpP6CggE<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=e5525939fa&e=686d597d8c>

I’ll report the final portion of my tour* (*Greece (July 20 – August 21))
in the next edition of my newsletter.

*Bangla-Pesa Charges Dropped *
I reported earlier that one our close associates, Will Ruddick, along with
several of the local currency activist there in Kenya had been arrested and
their Bangla-Pesa currency project shut down. I’m happy to report that
finally, the charges against them have been dropped. You can read about it
here: http://koru.or.ke/bangla-pesa-charges-dropped<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=d3ac001ea2&e=686d597d8c>.
(A very interesting earlier account that describes their ordeal can be
found at
http://www.awaazmagazine.com/index.php/latest-issue/special-features/item/458-bangla-pesa<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=ad43d3df0d&e=686d597d8c>
).

This is great news, not only because the threat of punishment has been
removed, but because this important development project may again have a
chance to improve the lot of poor micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya and to
demonstrate the power of the local credit clearing model in alleviating
poverty. The Bangla-Pesa project is the most significant complementary
currency project that I am aware of and has the potential to become THE
model for other communities to follow. It deserves strongest support.

*The Geo-political Struggle*
Alvin Toffler observed more than 30 years ago that the power of nation
states was in decline and predicted that the trend would continue. It is
clear that national governments are ceding sovereignty, not to global
democratic institutions, but to transnational corporate entities resulting
in a New (fascist) World Order that bypass all the checks on power that
have been built into democratic governments over the past three centuries.
George Monbiot’s recent article, *Elite Insurgency* (
http://www.monbiot.com/2013/10/14/elite-insurgency/<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=b7034b4607&e=686d597d8c>),
articulates some current features of that shift.

And Karen Hudes
(http://kahudes.net/about-us/<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=5163e53311&e=686d597d8c>)
has revealed that World Bank corruption is an inherent element in the
global Elite takeover. After Twenty one years at the World Bank, she has
blown the lid off the cover-up of the corrupt global financial regime.
Watch this interview with Karen:
http://youtu.be/M4VGoXV5vYg<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=994d362d09&e=686d597d8c>.
A longer interview in four part can be seen at
http://youtu.be/GWBogcrFGx4<http://beyondmoney.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=3cbee2e1cfc237bcae4ed6959&id=91efd47e9c&e=686d597d8c>

These are a few pertinent quotes from her interviews:
*“This is a massive cover-up; this makes Watergate look like tidally-winks.”
*
*“Big boys who think they own the world.”*
*“We don’t have a democracy here.”*
* “The Federal Reserve has “gamed” the capital markets.”*
*“This whole country is so corrupt, you can’t begin to imagine. I can’t
tell this to the people because the press is owned by those thugs”*
*“Stakeholder analysis” identifies a “super entity” of ownership and
control.*

All of that is very troubling, but we have a choice — to build our own
(democratic) new world order from the bottom up, community-by-community.
We cannot be complacent; we must reduce our dependence upon corporate
controlled mega-systems, especially banks, and secure the availability of
the necessities of life within our local regions.
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