The Seedstock Project
Introducing Seedstock, a new currency for Vancouver and British Columbia that will reconnect our communities with the people, businesses and organisations that feed us, create for us and heal us. In the process, it will help us reconnect with our dreams of a more positive future for our communities by unleashing the resources to turn those visions into reality. Seedstock is money as though people, communities and relationships mattered.
How is Seedstock different from regular money?
Despite the fact that few of us ever feel like we have enough money, it is common enough and it passes through our hands often enough that it is easy to take it for granted. How often have you wondered, for instance, where money comes from, who creates it, and what gives it its value?
As the Nobel laureate in Physics Frederick Soddy once said, “money is the nothing you get for something so that you can get something else”. As a mere symbol, money really only works because people expect it to.
Many different types of symbols can serve the function of money, and these can be created in a number of different ways. Currently, almost all of the money we use is created out of debt and issued by private banks; theability of banks to literally create money out of thin air, through a simple accounting entry, is what gives them their wealth and power. However, what banks can do, anyone can do. For example, when businesses sell gift certificates, they are in fact issuing their own money. During the Irish bank strikes of the 1970’s, individuals and companies created their own money simply by writing and circulating cheques. Any group of people can get together and create its own common money simply by keeping track of their transactions with one another on a ledger.
Seedstock is here to show the people of Vancouver that we can create OUR own money, and that we can create and use our own money in ways that serve us and our communities.
Here are just some of the ways that Seedstock benefits our community:
Builds relationships: by using Seedstock, people connect with local businesses that make sustainable choices and invest in their communities
Multiplies the effects of buying local: when businesses receive Seedstock from customers, they can use it to buy services and supplies from other businesses in the Seedstock network
Promotes local producers: as Seedstock circulates locally, it helps people earn a better livelihood by stimulating demand for goods and services that are produced in the community
Creates possibilities: Seedstock is more than just money, it is a whole new, network-based source of funding for community groups and projects
Fosters philanthropy: Seedstock benefits people who support great causes by matching their contributions so they can enjoy local food, arts, crafts and services
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