How Does A Trust Create Money For The People?

What is money?

All money is based on trust. Money itself, even gold coins, are only worth anything because we all agree that they are worth something. Money is ultimately just an idea, that's why just about anything can be used as money. In fact if you go to a casino, you exchange national currency for "local currency" known as casino chips. These plastic disks are said to be worth a certain amount of dollars, and since we all agree that they are, so long as they are used at that casino, they act as money.

What gives money value?

Since all money is based on trust and we call it money because we believe it has value, where does that value come from? As hard to believe as this may seem, it is valuable because someone declares  it to be valuable - nothing more. Traditionally, the emperor or king or some other high official would announce that these, "whatevers" would now be considered the currency of the kingdom. Since the People believed that the king had the right to make such a proclamation, they all agreed and it was so.

But in North America, we don't have kings and emperors. We, the People are supposed to have the power, and the Constitution is supposed to be the legal verification for that claim. So doesn't that mean that the People should have the right to declare what serves as money in their "kingdom"? 

Time Is Money

Regardless of what the king, the chief or the politicians call money, we all earn it in mostly the same way... we exchange our labor for it. Labor is the combination of our time, our energy and our skill. No matter where you live, or what you do, you can probably get some money by working for it.

That's why, at Amicable Society, we believe that the best way to value money is to base it on human labor. A minute for you costs the same as a minute of my time. Time is scarce in one way-- we all know we're going to run out of it eventually, and we only get twenty-four hours each day. But time is abundant in other ways-- we are constantly supplied a fresh twenty-four hours every day.

Since everyone has experienced work of many different types, we know that work has value and that time has value. Amicable Society Trust recognizes that we all value time and work similarly and therefore it makes an excellent medium of exchange for the People.

Credit and Debt

National currency is based on debt. Surprised? Watch this excellent video to find out all about that. At Amicable Society, we believe that money is best served as credit, like it was during the Colonial era with Colonial Scrip. Our money is issued only in exchange for a receipt (or voucher) for labor, voluntarily offered, that somehow benefits the people of that community. This way, the people are issued credit, not debt. Our currency has no interest charges attached, so the money supply of the area can be used 100% as a medium of exchange, not to pay back bankers for the privilege of using "their" money. Once earned, the credits are your property to do with as you like.

So while all we offer as money is paper, since each minute issued represents a real minute worked by someone in your local area, it has real value.