Based on debt and compounded interest on debt, funded by the wealthy seeking even greater wealth, dependent upon easy credit leading to easy consumption, driven by an insatiable desire for more of everything and resulting in unprecedented material comfort for a few but unspeakable misery for many, the current global financial system was bound to self-destruct sooner or later.
A structure that struggled to service a population of barely two billion inhabitants after 1945 is now collapsing under the strain of 6 billion plus. This should not come as a surprise. The system is flawed beyond belief – its purpose in tatters. That much we know.
The spectacular failure of global financial markets is causing widespread economic havoc. Currently this arises mostly from the inevitable flow-on effects, including a slump in production, slowing growth, desperate governments propping up obsolescent industries and excessive lending practices by the banks.
Very soon, however, these factors will be intensified by the drought conditions extending across the planet from Australia to Kenya, Iraq, Argentina and California. With global temperatures on the rise we are likely to witness lower crop yields and rising food costs followed by extreme anxiety, turmoil and resource conflicts. This will place even greater distress on a system already in a state of collapse.
As media coverage wraps entire communities in a blanket of fear, there are already signs of a public mistrust that hinges on two factors:
- a perception that the value of currencies is dictated arbitrarily
- suspicion concerning the motives and competence of the establishments governing those currencies.
If either of these two factors take hold it is likely there will be a need for a new universal currency directly aligned to the emerging needs of a society in transition. Any guesses as to what form might that currency might take?
A return to gold - some venture with good reason? Or platinum? Precious metals, while having some practical utility, have a value based on physical scarcity. This is less and less relevant in an increasingly virtual, fractured, data-driven world, where distinctive experiences have become the premium product. Water perhaps? Water is becoming increasingly scarce and is also vital for human survival. The problem with water, however, is its lack of portability.
So what makes sense give the future of global civilisation? We propose an altogether radical, even novel, proposition: that literacies should become the new currency. In application that means the skills, knowledge and expertise each one of us possesses. What would that world look like?
The Scenario:
The year is 2030. Literacies have become a standard global currency. Skills and expertise within a particular literacy are methodically acquired and services based on them easily provided to others. People sharing the same literacies have an immediate understanding of the quality and value of the skills and knowledge an individual possesses. Those not involved in that field do not possess such clarity and consequently rely on the opinion of a trustworthy source in order to validate value.
Virtual villages known as netGuilds, comprising people with similar literacies, have sprung up following the collapse of capitalism. netGuild members vouch for each other, thereby developing credibility, trust and repute in the value they claim to have. Interaction with other netGuilds occurs through trusted weak links to be found in a diverse range of online social networks.
In order to avoid inherent limitations in the system, such as the number of relationships any individual can reasonably maintain and the inconsistent time delays when jumping from one weak link to another in order to get to a desired netGuild, new technologies have come to the rescue. The capacity for technology to manage such networks of relationships has allowed for the development of a federated model for the new inclusive economy. Nation states, once such powerful independent forces, now confine themselves to more universal activities.
Rather than having to rely on specific weak links, netGuilds agree on terms for establishing a common baseline upon which to gauge the values put on their different literacies. In this way someone in one netGuild is accorded a trust rating of the quality of those literacies. With such an integrated baseline, a common system of credits has been established with which to "pay" for services.
As these credits cannot be endorsed by a physical standard, some devious people have "invented" credits they don't have (and to which they are not entitled) in order to pay for services. It is widely acknowledged that this kind of fraud has a detrimental affect on the netGuild to which that person belongs. Members own ratings suffer as does the netGuild’s reputation. For this reason, it is in their best interests to find the culprits and remove them from their netGuild, essentially placing them in economic exile. To alleviate this, the same technology that maintains the credit system also ensures completely transparent transactions across netGuilds and individuals.
Naturally people belong to any number of netGuilds - as value creators, consumers and residents, with each netGuild being federated across others. It has become extremely difficult for an individual to keep abreast of the various interactions and netGuilds. In view of this many people take on the services of a professional to manage their "investments" - that is the netGuilds they choose to belong to and the associated costs of remaining in that netGuild.
Such a federated system is essentially sociocratic in that the same technology used for maintaining the credit and transactions system has now made referenda feasible. netGuild referenda allow individuals to have a direct say in negotiating the terms, maintaining and policing the interactions their netGuild has with other netGuilds. It also plays a useful role in administering how individuals manage or remain active within a particular netGuild.
As the administration of such interactions became increasingly complex, people have not wanted the burden of having to participate in all the referenda that would invariably apply to them. To deal with this envoys are elected at the various netGuild levels where such a representation makes sense. This transcends the need for “nations” based on physical location. In effect every individual is sovereign - able to choose which netGuild associations to make.
As people also belong to a society of netGuilds, the brand targets all aspects of a netGuild society. Producers no longer exist alone, but partner with others to complete the brand landscape for a netGuild society. As netGuild societies grow, merge and evolve, so too do the brands that relate to them.
The complete flexibility created in such consumer-producer netGuilds was somewhat limited in resident-based netGuilds. But all individuals have to physically live somewhere. Whereas movement is virtual in consumer-producer netGuilds, physical movement in resident societies has an additional cost that is limiting. Nevertheless, the ability for a particular resident netGuild itself to grow, evolve and relate with others is based on true communal similarities and benefits rather than on arbitrary nation-state divisions as in the past. This has enabled a truly democratic representation of the individual and the freedom to belong and associate with netGuild societies of their choice.
This scenario was crafted by Jason Li, Tricia Wellham and Mel Horsecroft as part of The Hames Group's continuing research into alternative future financial models and concepts.
Comments