Monday, 3 February 2014

The Oxford Pound

One of my favourite subjects is liberation economics and I've written about it many times before. Go to these links for essential background to this subject:
I'm proud to say that Oxford, my own hometown, is now a pioneer in this department. We now have our own "complimentary currency", see: http://www.oxfordpound.org.uk/. Here's a news story about it: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10490331.Hoping_to_be_quids_in_with_an_Oxford_pound/?ref=rc. This is a system of economic exchange that is intended to be used within a small-scale local area, and it is run independently of the usual banks, governments and other monetary authorities. One needs to sit back for a moment and think carefully about the implications of that; the links above will give you an idea. Small independent currencies have saved lives! The Ithaca Hour of New York State, USA certainly did in the terrible aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash; and it's still in circulation today. Now Oxford has joined this noble quest, and this is wonderful news after the sad demise of The People's Supermarket on Cowley Road, see: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/new-tesco.html. The Oxford Pound is being coordinated by the Turl Street Kitchen, a charming little place in the University heartland of the city centre, see: http://www.turlstreetkitchen.co.uk/. It's going to be modelled on highly successful schemes that are already established in other areas, like the Bristol Pound and the Totnes Pound. In terms of the danger of economic oppression, nothing gives me more hope than news like this; we're looking at people in a local community proactively cooperating and taking control of their own lives, not sitting around waiting for their governments to save them, governments who are the very people who ruined them in the first place. To say that I wish the Oxford Pound luck would be a gross understatement; I hope to have a wallet full of them soon.

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