Beyond Greed and Scarcity (an interview with Bernard Lietar by Sarah Van Gelder, editor of Yes, journal of positive futures, 1998)

Sarah van Gelder talks to Bernard about the possibilities for a new kind of currency better suited to building community and sustainability.

Bernard Lietaer, May 1998

To download : PDF (59 KiB)

In other languages : Español

Summary :

Money, which was a humans’ creation, is now leading them and creating greed and fear of scarcity. Bernard Lietaer proposes to design a new money system - and thus redesigning the target that orients human efforts - that would get men where they want to go. The biggest issues humanity faced today are sustainability and the inequalities in communities and their breakdown, which create tensions that result in violence and wars. One could address both these issues with the same tool, by consciously creating currency systems that would enhance community and sustainability. For him, complementary local currencies could be a major tool for social design in the 21st century (they would create work, interaction and new communities).