Trees communicate through an underground social network known as the wood-wide web. It is where microscopic fungal filaments form links between trees and fungi to act as an economic exchange. They share water and nutrients and send distress signals about drought, disease, and insect attacks. Trees in their network change their behavior when receiving these messages. In exchange, fungi receive sugar that the trees photosynthesize from sunlight. Well-fed fungi scavenge the soil for nitrogen, phosphorus, and other minerals which are absorbed and consumed by the trees.
Social Economy in the Age of Bots
My first child was welcomed into the world when I was 21. By then, I had completed three years at Boston University and was determined to finish the fourth, but wasn’t quite sure how to manage an infant, classes, and find time to study. My husband, who had started a doctoral program at MIT, was occupied with high-level courses, thesis concerns, and a teaching position that supported us. Though my parents paid my tuition, we lived frugally on our own. Hiring babysitters was more than we could afford.
Fortunately, a cooperative operating in Cambridge came to our rescue. It was a barter exchange program with points earned depending on how many children you cared for and whether they were awake or asleep. My husband and I took turns sitting for other people’s children to make date nights and afternoons at the library reasonable options. Also, I watched a neighbor’s daughter each afternoon while she worked, and she took care of my son in the morning while I attended classes. At the end of two years and the birth of a second child, I finally graduated.
I often suggested to young parents that they participate in a babysitting exchange rather than pay $15 an hour for child care. No-one ever took up the idea, but after reading Andrew Yang’s Book, The War on Normal People, I was heartened to learn that the concept has legs and a new name, TimeBanking. In an age when computers, robots and artificial intelligence are taking over jobs, we need to imagine another economy, one that will help people survive cutbacks in employment and earnings.
TimeBanking is a barter system where services are exchanged for time-based credit rather than money. You give one hour of service and one-time credit is banked in your account. Neighbors assisting neighbors collect social credit points that can be exchanged for services. Childcare, raking leaves, housekeeping, shopping, handyman assistance, food preparation, driving to doctor’s appointments, dog walking, and guided fishing trips are among the ways people earn and use credit. March 23rd is International TimeBanking Day so expect to hear more about the concept.
TimeBanking can be used by organizations, groups, and individuals to increase personal and community well-being. An example of a time-based organizationis the Burning Man festival, where neither money (nor accounting) is exchanged. The event is based on the honor system. Attendees come to the even with items to share-food, drinks, sound stages, clothing, water, showers, yoga classes, tarot readings, misting tents, fire dancing, etc.
Individuals tend to join clubs that vary in size from 20 to tens of thousands, according to TimeBanks USA. Edgar Cahn, in his book No More throw-Away People, listed four core values to which he’s since added a fifth.
- Asset: every person has something of value to share with someone else.
- Redefining work: Money is not the basis for building strong families, revitalizing neighborhoods, making democracy work, or advancing social justice.
- Reciprocity: I’ll help you, you help someone else. The idea is to pay it forward.
- Community/Social Networks: communities can be revitalized through support, strength, and trust. An important task is to create communication networks.
- Respect: Accept where people are in the moment – not where we hope they will be in the future.
TimeBank exchanges track activities, inform members of events, recruit members, and so forth. They’ve been known to change the way neighborhoods operate by encouraging communication, and how neighbors care for one another. They get to know each other, establish friendships, and offer help through tough times. TimeBank groups gather for potlucks, secure the streets, and plan for emergencies. For those living in Portland, PDX TimeBank is a group that was recently formed. It now has 140 members who have clocked over 5,518 exchanged hours.
Peer-to-peer lending companies, also known as P2P,are an investment deviation operating in the social economy. They conduct business with goals that do not follow typical banking practices and are a way to help entrepreneurs who may not qualify for a bank loan. It is a form of online lending that allows individual investors to work directly with people or businesses seeking loans. Once an application is received by a lending group, software matched lenders with potential borrowers. By cutting out traditional financial institutions like banks, borrowers can access funds more quickly. Investors shoulder the financial risk for the loan though they usually get a healthy return on their investment, depending on the creditworthiness of the borrower. There is always the risk to a lender that the borrower will stop making payments. A few of the more highly rated lending companies are listed below.
Lending Club: for Borrowers With Good Credit (loaned over $55 billion)
Upstart: for Educated Borrowers (more approvals, fewer defaults than banks
Fund Rise: Investing in Real Estate (minimum $500, annual return 8.6 % to 12.4%)
Funding Circle: for Small Businesses And Big Investors
Street Shares: for Established Small Businesses (in business at least a year)
Peerform: No Frills (loan up to $ 25,000 – investors from 16 risk categories.)
Prosper: for Originalists (over $13 billion in loans, 3 to 5-year repayment)
Kiva: Best for Charitable Investors (invest out of the goodness of your heart from $25 to buy a Ugandan farmer chicken seed to a $10,000 interest-free loan.)
A common complaint about social credit systems is that they are an end-run around the legal system. The accused have few rights and no appeal. Mike Elgan of Fast Company calls it “a slippery slope away from democracy and toward corporatocracy.”
A second grumble is that a barter system is incompatible with our system of taxation. It is difficult to assign value to a person assisting a neighbor. Your neighbor might be able to help clear a clogged pipe and save you the cost of a plumber. Service companies don’t like it because it promotes self-reliance rather than hiring their employees to do common household jobs.
I am not sure where social bartering clubs and peer-to-peer lending companies will take the country in the future. Hopefully, they’ll make people more compassionate and help them feel less isolated. They might break down large monopolies that control people through ads that cost them billions of dollars. Social bartering clubs may make neighborhoods safer and foster greater respect for those with different backgrounds and skills. I like to think that they’ll prick the bubble of anxiety and stress that is mounting throughout the country. Living in isolation, fearing loss of employment to robots, and worrying about becoming ill with no one to care for you, is not healthy. The Age of Bots requires reimagining economic and social structures to take into account the needs of all Americans.Next week I will discuss how social behavior is being manipulated for economic gain.
References:
Markosian, D. (2018) Do Trees Talk To Each Other? Smithsonian Magazine. retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/
Delbridge, E. (2019) The 8 Best Peer-to-Peer Lending Companies oThe Balance. retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/best-peer-to-peer-lending-companies-4580285
TimeBanks: retrieved from web site https://timebanks.org
Wang, A.(2018) The War on Normal People. Hachette Books. ISBN- 978-0-316-41421-0
Boyle, M. reviewer (2021)What is Time Banking? Investopedia. retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/time-banking.asp#:~:text=Time%20banking%20is%20a%20bartering,to%20supplement%20government%20social%20services.
Rosenberg, Eric. (2021) What is peer-to-peer lending? credit karma. retrieved from https://www.creditkarma.com/personal-loans/i/peer-to-peer-lending
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