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Re: The Marks Plan, and nontraditional money
There is a short story that illustrates the framework of the idea presented by Frank Horowitz. Once, there was a little girl that went to walk into a forest with her dad. And she got scared because she thought that there were monsters in that forest that may attack them. Her father played into her game, and asked "Well, what do we do about it? We don't go in the forest, or bring weapons to defend us, or what?". The girls answer was: "No, let's give them food. That way they won't eat us." Now, in the specific case of Afghanistan and complementary currencies, unfortunately it wouldn't be enough to give them the idea of some complementary currencies. Money is about trust, and in a war-torn country trust in anybody is in low supply. So if you were to try to solve their problem with complementary currencies, it would be a good idea to first parachute a lot of emergency food for example instead of bombs. That way the grip by the Taliban on the local people would be more reduced and they might start to trust those "foreigners" who provide them with what they need most urgently, and gradually each other next. And then, we can imagine helping in the more subtle long-term ways that complementary currencies could do. Ghandi made the point: "There are people who are so poor, that they can't imagine God in any other way than a piece of bread." There are unfortunately already many people in Afghanistan who are at that stage now, even before any new hardships. (By the way, I have actually hitchhicked through Afghanistan when I was quite a bit younger). Best wishes to all of you, Bernard There are responses to this message:
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