Report From New Zealand
By Thomas H. Greco
For more than 27 years Tom Greco has been working at the leading
edge of economic and financial restructuring. He�s traveled
throughout the world lecturing and working with various
communities (to set up community currencies).
Greco addressed the 2006 International Reciprocal Trade
Association�s (IRTA) Annual Convention, pointing out the unique
opportunity the barter industry has to be a major savior of the
coming currency crisis�if there was a united worldwide common
currency developed.
Tom Greco�s recently published book is �The End of Money and the
Future of Civilization� from Chelsea Green Publishers.
Overall, my New Zealand experience has been a whirlwind of
presentations, interviews and meetings (with one weekend break for
R&R at a seaside campout). It�s been a rewarding and satisfying
opportunity to share my knowledge and insights, as well as to learn
from the many able and dedicated people who have inspired me along
the way.
While time has not allowed a visit to the south island, my wide
ranging visits around the north island give the impression of New
Zealand as beautiful and pristine. With a land mass about the same
size as Britain but less than one tenth its population and plenty of
natural resources, the feeling is one of roominess and abundance.
A
couple hours after my arrival at the Auckland airport, conference
organizer Laurence Boomert put us on a ferry boat to Waiheke Island,
a half-hour ride across the bay from the city, where I gave an
evening presentation at the local theater to a group of about 70
island residents, then stayed the night at the home of the Peter
Russell family, a beautiful place with awesome 180-degree views of
the sea and nearby islands. My presentation there was called,
Community Economic Development: A Comprehensive and Innovative
Approach, in which I described the multi-stage regional
development program I�ve been advocating for the past few years and
which our south India project is trying to implement.
The next morning a small group gathered over breakfast at Peter�s
house to discuss the possibilities for starting a community currency
on the island. It took little more than an hour to reach a common
vision and a plan for a currency that would initially be issued as
vouchers by a popular local caf�, then shift over into a credit
clearing association anchored by a few trusted issuing members. The
expectation is that this first node might be the �seed crystal� that
can precipitate the organization of similar small clearing
associations that will eventually be linked up to form an Auckland
area exchange network.
Returning to Auckland later that morning, Laurence hurried me over
to the studios of New Zealand National Radio to record an interview
with Kim Hill to be aired on her popular Saturday morning program.
[That program was aired on April 11 and can be heard at
Click here During the following week I heard favorable comments
from many people who had listened to that broadcast.]
That same evening, (Wednesday, April 8), a group of about 90 people
gathered at Auckland University to hear my presentation on,
Money, Power, Democracy, and War: Finding the path toward global
peace, harmony, and prosperity. This was an updated version of a
presentation I first gave in Tucson a couple years ago.
Waitakere is one of five cities/boroughs that comprise the Auckland
metropolitan region. It seems that the new right-wing national
government is determined to replace these five city administrations
with a single �super city� administration, a move which will further
disempower people and local communities. It is opposed by the
majority of residents and likely to face serious citizen opposition.
For now, the separate city governments are still functioning. Around
noontime on the next day (Thursday), Laurence and I met with some
staff people of the Waitakere city to discuss community economic
development strategies.
The weekend provided an opportunity for some relaxation. The Prana
retreat is located on the Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast of
the north island, about a four hour drive from Auckland. Although
the weather was too cold for me to be interested in swimming in the
sea, I enjoyed the occasional sunshine, the beach and spectacular
views, the peaceful setting , the morning yoga classes, the music,
the drumming and the people.
Taupo is known for its beautiful large fresh water lake and its hot
springs. That was our next stop on the way to Wellington. On the way
we stopped at a roadside stand to buy some avocados, which at $5 a
dozen (US $3), were an irresistible bargain. As a second thought I
also picked up a bag of golden kiwis for $2. The golden variety,
which I had never seen before, proved to be a delicious treat with
flesh that is more delicately flavored and less acidic than the
common green variety.
In Wellington, I gave a presentation called, The Political Money
System: The Story of Central Banks, Inflation, and Legal Tender,
which I began with a statement that I had posted on my blog in
September, 2008:
The present disorder in the financial markets and the cascading
failures of financial institutions come as no surprise. Those who
recognize the impossibility of perpetual exponential growth and who
understand how compound interest is built into the global system of
money and banking expect the continuation of periodic �bubbles� and
�busts,� each of increasing amplitude, until the system shakes
itself apart.
As I�ve said before, and as I argue forcefully in my new book (which
I�m told has just come off the press), the separation of money and
state is something that is urgently needed if any dignified form of
civilization is to survive the deepening multi-dimensional global
crisis.
Following the Wellington session Laurence drove home to Wanganui
while I stayed and took up lodging for two nights in the Comfort
Hotel which gave me an opportunity to explore a bit of the central
waterfront area of this capital city. I had the chance on Thursday
(April 16) to experience the fine New Zealand railway system, taking
the train up to Carterton where I was the guest of Helen and Alf
Dew. Helen is a living example of sustainable living on a largely
self-sufficient urban homestead. I hope that she will some day write
her own book detailing her approaches to gardening, water
harvesting, food preserving, nutrition and the various other aspects
of �the art of living.�
The national Community Currencies Conference (April 17-19) brought
together well over 100 enthusiastic participants who convened at the
Quaker Settlement in Wanganui to share information and discuss new
possibilities. My Keynote presentation delivered on Saturday morning
(April 18) was titled, Reclaiming The Credit Commons: The Key to
Sustainability and Relocalization. Prefaced with a brief outline
of my vision of societal metamorphosis, I argued that liberating the
exchange process from monopoly control by means of localization and
popularization of credit is a necessary prerequisite to achieving a
steady-state economy and the devolution of power to local
communities.
On Monday, the day before my departure for Australia, Laurence took
a few of us on a tour of the Environmental Center and a couple
community gardens around Wanganui. Towards the end of our tour he
received a call from Merania, a reporter who writes for the local
daily newspaper. She wanted to do an interview for a feature story,
so we hurried back to the Environmental Center to meet her there.
She spent quite a bit of time asking questions not only of me but
also of Helen Dew and Margaret Jefferies, conference presenters who
were in our party. Merania called back later in the evening to say
that the editors had liked the story so much that it would be a
front page feature in the next morning�s edition.
Before leaving for the airport the next day, Laurence went out to
fetch some copies of the paper. There it was, complete with photo of
me with Helen holding a copy of my previous book, Money. The
headline read, How the recession could improve your life and
was capped with the tag, Finance guru�s claim. Gosh, there�s
nothing like a bit of praise to make one feel humble.
For more information visit
http://www.reinventingmoney.com.