Alternative Economics
In truth everything in this world is owned by God, so nothing is actually ‘ours’ to claim as our own. Hence nothing is ours to sell or to ‘loan’ to others at interest. Everything we use comes from the earth’s resources—an endowment given by God for the well being of all living things that He puts here. We may transform those natural resources into useful articles and then say “I have created this, therefore you must pay me for it.” Why will we say that? Because, at least in the present culture, we must take care of ourselves. In the process of doing that we then begin to think in terms of gaining more and more, even though more and more will not really satisfy us, nor make us happy. This is because we are spiritual beings and only spiritual actually will truly satisfy the self.
But what if we create another culture in which we take care of each other? A culture in which, instead of taking from each other we give to each other? A culture in which every person has a right to a decent house, food and the necessities of life simply because they have taken birth? A world in which we are cared for by others? Wouldn’t the world be a different place? It surely would. That is the world that we are working to create.
Therefore Spiritual Economics advocates a gift economy, one that changes the consciousness of “I and mine,” the fundamental concepts of material life. Spiritual Economics includes God in the gifting scheme as well, because after all, He is first and foremost the ultimate gifter, so it only makes sense that we reciprocate with Him in the gifting scheme. The principles of how to do that are the teachings of the Vaishnava school, and doing that is what makes Spiritual Economics spiritual.
We are aware that Spiritual Economics requires a great change in consciousness compared to what we are used to, and that it will take some time to catch on. Smaller steps are needed for most people, and thus in the interim we want to celebrate those people who begin to see the need to live differently and are taking steps in a new direction. On this page we bring you information about those people as they came our way. The world’s political leaders and the bankers that control them are not going to create change that works for everyone, but the good news is that you and I and all of our friends and their friends can. We must simply stop playing the Money Game the way it has been played in the past and create new rules, or an entirely different game with rules that do work for everyone. Together you and I can change the world so that it works for everyone.
Taking Care of Each Other
Pay It Forward is a concept that comes the closest to Spiritual Economic in practice. The idea is to do something kind to others as a gift, without being asked, simply because it ought to be done, or maybe just as a gift from the heart.
The concept stems from a book and movie of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde, in which adolescent school children are offered an extra-credit assignment to change the world. The protagonist of the story, a young Trevor Howard, comes up with the idea to do something good for two people, unasked, and ask them that, instead of paying him ‘back’ they ‘pay it forward.’ That is, they in turn will continue to give to two others without being asked, and they in turn might do something nice for two more. In this way, by geometric progression, in a short time the entire world will be taking care of and caring for each other. You can get the jist of the story in a five minute excerpt here.
The book has been translated into more than 23 languages for distribution in over 30 countries, and needless to say, has become a best seller. The book along with the movie has inspired millions of people to do the same thing, generating an global movement operating in more than 15 countries, and growing.
The concept is close to that of Spiritual Economics, but in SE we want to extend the idea to truly be our brothers keeper and practice the gift economy as a way of life. That is not to take anything away from the global Pay It Forward movement. They are wonderful, caring people, every one. Giving is contagious, join the movement and experience the pleasure of giving from the heart.
Now You Can Create Your Own “Money” 
One of the major problems of the current financial system is the central banks have a monopoly on the creation of money, and that they loan the money (which they create out of nothing) at compound interest, thus creating debt slaves.
The TimeBank concept changes all of that by allowing anyone to create “money” with their labor, goods and services. Of course it is not called “money” and that is what makes it so novel. TimeBank operates on an exchange of time instead. And if we take that saying “time equals money” at face value everyone has lots of wealth because everyone has many things to give. TimeBanks creates a wonderful network in which everyone can create wealth by giving.
From their website: The mission of TimeBanks is to nurture and expand a movement that promotes equality and builds caring community economies through inclusive exchange of time and talent. To understand the how of time banks, a little background is offered. Time Banks value every member as an asset. Humans are respected,and the services rendered by them are placed beyond monetary value. Social networks are essential, and a global movement has resulted. The mutual exchange in helping each other is one of the core values of this alternative banking system.
Interest-free Loans Anyone?
Here’s an idea that started years and years ago, but now is truly starting to catch on. Maybe you want to think about starting such a bank in your neighborhood?!
The JAK Bank provides us with an important model for interest free saving and lending. It is a fully fledged alternative for interest bearing Full-Reserve Banking.
The Swedish JAK Bank is based on a Danish concept from 1931. It started in 1965 and obtained a banking licence in 1997. It’s a cooperative bank owned by its members, of which there are about 38,000. JAK stands for Jord Arbete Kapital,which is Swedish for Land, Labor and Capital, the factors of production.Its main goal is to provide its members with interest free loans.
It operates under these four principles:
1. Charging interest is inimical to a stable economy
2. Interest causes unemployment, inflation, and environmental destruction
3. Interest moves money from the poor to the rich
4. Interest favours projects which yield high profits in the short term
The JAK bank works as most people expect a bank to function: it takes in deposits from its members and lends this same money out to other members. Loans are backed by either collateral or guarantors. JAK has a very low default rate, because interest free loans are much easier and quicker to repay. The members are both lenders and borrowers—JAK requires its members to save to obtain the right to borrow—and thus very committed to the success of the effort than an anonymous borrower might be. Besides, savers are known to be good debtors.
How can it be interest free? Well, very simple: instead of earning interest on their savings, the savers are rewarded with interest free loans for themselves. Most people would rather have interest free loans than interest on savings, especially when the math shows that you earn/save so much money that would otherwise have been sucked off by the wealthy who already have more money than they need.
To obtain the right to a loan, new members must have saved for at least six months. During this time savers acquire ‘saving points’. Saving points are a product of savings and the Savings Factor. JAK members can choose from 6, 12 and 24-month deposit accounts which represent the advance notice required to make a withdrawal.
The JAK model is important, both in a debt free currency environment, for instance Social Credit, and in an interest free Mutual Credit environment. Full Reserve Banking is promoted by many monetary reformers. The problem is that it does not end the wealth transfer from poor to rich through Usury. However, the JAK bank does by offering interest-free loans.
While JAK does not change the current model very much, this little change of making interest-free loans is a very important change. We need to see more of this!