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Banker, idk i think we need to imagen something beyond money to really lay capitalism to rest. Replace “local Banker” with (tool) librarian and you can count me in. Even though I still would love to be a local Biohacker supporting the needs of my little commune while helping the global scientific Progress.
money != capitalism
In economies where no official currency exists, some commodity always becomes a de facto currency so that people can make trades that are too complex for bartering (I’m not carrying 2000 bushels of corn on me, but if you’ll accept these bits of metal in exchange for your plow, you can trade them for corn or whatever else you want).
Every concept that could theoretically replace this function is just currency again.
I disagree. There were money/curencyless societies. These societies had things like library and gift economies (concepts I support). While it is true that we can have money and a post-capitalist society, money or any concept which is pure resourc value. Can lead to an easement of resource accumulation which is one of the building blocks of capitalism. I am not that good at explaining stuff in comments, but Andrewism (a realy cool youtber whom introduced me to Solarpunk) made a video about whey we have to rethink our picture of early resource sharing (bartering) to be able to imagen a world beyond the restraints off currencies. https://piped.adminforge.de/watch?v=W-gdHrINyMU
As per andrewism, bartering works primarily off credit: I don’t need to bring my four cows to trade for your 1000 bushels of corn because if I lie about the conditions of my cows there’s gonna be an angry community at your back. Doing so inherently creates a high-trust society.
bartering works primarily off credit
How is this “credit” not just a form of currency? Isn’t it just a stand-in for the value of your cows that you want to trade?
Doing so inherently creates a high-trust society.
High trust maybe, but extremely localized. It requires that a person who wants to trade knows the reputation - the credit rating - of every other person they might trade with. This model of trade can’t scale.
Verbal agreement, being nonphysical, isn’t a form of currency
There were money/curencyless societies.
Name 5, with populations higher than 10,000 and that were stable for >2 human lifetimes (~150 yrs).
Bartering only works in small volumes, for localized economies, with relatively small communities. It doesn’t scale, and it isn’t flexible enough to allow for more complex forms of work. For instance, what would a web server administrator barter to a farmer for food?
Did you even read what i wrote? I did not even talked about Barter. This Video is called the Barter MYTH for a reason. (why the Barter Myth harms us) I mean the idea of Mutal Aid is strongly intertwined with Solarpunk (Tool-libaries, Opensource, the commons etc.)
Banks do not need to be capitalist ventures at all. In fact, there is a proposal to turn all post offices into banks, which would make them literally state-run. Interest, investments, account insurance, access to your money, and loans are all things that have a proper place in a communal economy seeking to improve through development.
It does look a little odd alongside these other jobs though, this art seems to be speculating that global environmental collapse will shrink our society down to farming communes too small to benefit from loans and interest.
It’s not banks per se that need to go, it’s usury, or interest.
Banks can still find profit and not charge interest, see the entire Arab world.
It’s creating money out of thin air. Someone’s good will isn’t good will when you’re forced to pay 125 back on 100 loan. That 25 gets counted towards GDP, even tho nothing was created or there’s nothing temporal to show for it, lessoning the value of all currency. Usury is skimming off the top, eventually the whole container is empty.
How do I get paid as an imagination activist?
You ask the Local Banker for some of their Local Money (aka scrip)
Ah, makes sense that an imagination activist would get paid with imaginary money.
Right now the closest thing possible is being a futures designer. Check the courses in domestika , hit me up if you want them.
Invoice Soros for expenses.
I don’t know what an Ocean Protector is, but all I am getting out of it is piracy and I am in. Hoist my main sail, let’s go!
Once everyone leaves behind streaming with their stash kept locally in their houseboats, and corpos and banks keep their assets permanently submerged in underwater server farms, a new age of digital piracy will begin!
I am gettting Captain Nemo vibes
In a solarpunk utopia I wont be having a job lol. (Hit me up if you want to repair a smartphone you found in the trash tho or for general support)
I hope the Solar Chef is using adequate sunscreen. The sun is trying to kill us all.
I read one of those as “Depraver”. Having looked more closely, the future is now less interesting.
I’m an Imagination Activist right now!
I hope the outfit comes with a job because it’s stunning ✨
Fixed it with bad photo-editing
“Local banker” Fucking hilarious. Nothing that banks do generates value to anyone outside of the banks themselves and the ultra wealthy. Just another ticking time bomb waiting for a bailout.
Bankers can go the way of the coal miners. Fucking rent seeking parasites.
Look up the cooperative banking movement. Lots of farmer coops have own banks. It all depends on who owns them and what they are used for.
I mean, even if you’re against bank’s utilizing funds deposited to give out loans, I think they still have an obvious core function.
I’d much rather have a secure facility to keep my money, rather than, like, under my mattress, right? If for no ther reason than it means I’m not broke if my house burns down.
Banks provide a lot of valuable resources. I don’t want to be my own bank.
Yeah it sucks. I loaned myself some money but didn’t pay it back so I repoed my car.
You can’t let that shit fly. You’ve gotta break some legs when they don’t pay.
If you don’t like banks or the idea of a for-profit organization handling your money, check out credit unions! They’re non-profit and are generally “owned” by their members vis-á-vis the money in each member’s account, and they’re actually more focused on customer service and care than banks typically are. They’re not FDIC-insured, but they can be NCUA-insured which is literally the same thing but for CUs (read: your money is still safe up to $250k).
Also gonna shoutout Vanguard specifically if you want the same philosophy behind CUs but with an investment firm. They’re still for-profit, but Vanguard is also entirely “owned” by their members - not quite sure how it works like that, but apparently it does.
I too keep all of my money stuffed in my mattress.
