Sharing is Good - Beth Buczynski - Part 3

Sharing is Good - Beth Buczynski

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 127

  May 7, 2017 

Book 36 - Sharing is Good - How to Save Money, Time and Resources through Collaborative Consumption

Beth Buczynski (2013)
 Part 3 - pages 55-165
Reading Time - 1 hour

There are all sorts of different ways that we can share, and that can seem a bit overwhelming at first. The trick is to start small. To start viewing things as items to be exchanged. To start viewing friends and neighbours as resources. There is, naturally, a risk in everything. There can be accidents, misrepresentation, theft and vandalism. But those who participate in the sharing economy say that those are minimal.

The last 85 pages of the book list all sorts of different sharing economy options. Ideas and sites where we can exchange Goods, Skills, Time, Housing, Transportation, Food, Space or even Money. Everything from couchsurfing to bike sharing, to yard sharing, crowdfunding, freecycle, etc. I know personally, I find a lot of useful stuff on Kijiji - particularly their Free section. We've found firepit blocks there, firewood, kindling, rocks... It is a cool resource and it's nice to know that we are keeping stuff out of the landfill. I also realize that there are a lot of different ideas out there. One of them really intrigued me... the idea of a church or some other community organization having a Tool Loan Cupboard.... where you can donate your tools... and then borrow them when you need them. On the other hand... we borrowed a post-hole digger from a friend last April (2016) and still haven't returned it! Oops!!! Time to start digging those post holes and get that thing back to its rightful owner and off my guilty conscience!

Sharing is Good - Beth Buczynski - Part 2

Sharing is Good - Beth Buczynski

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 126

  May 6, 2017 

Book 36 - Sharing is Good - How to Save Money, Time and Resources through Collaborative Consumption

Beth Buczynski (2013)
 Part 2 - pages 21-54
Reading Time - 1 hour

Now... even though sharing is part of our DNA... it doesn't come easily sometimes. Ask any 2-year old who is supposed to share their toys! Selfishness creeps in. We see sharing as cheating by those who don't work as hard as we do. Why should we share with them when we've worked so hard and they haven't!

There are a few other reasons why we are reluctant to share... we're too busy. The truth is... we don't really use our time efficiently... particularly if we spend 2-3 hours a day watching television.

Some people are reluctant to share because of safety concerns. Sharing means we have to be flexible and interact with our fellow human beings... some of whom might be strangers. We have a weird aversion to trusting each other. Caution is a good thing... but mistrust is bad.

The truth is... there are more and more of us than ever before and half of the 7 billion people on this planet live in poverty. We are consuming more and wasting more... and that is not sustainable. There's no way the earth can support 10 billion people who want to live the way we do. Which means... that maybe our individualistic, capitalistic, materialistic mentality is not the best example to follow. It's even kind of weird that more and more... we call ourselves "consumers" rather than "people" or "citizens".

We sometimes hear about the Green Economy... let's save the planet by buying eco-friendly stuff. But that is still consumerism! We need a radical new way of thinking. There are all sorts of different ways to share things: skill-shares, time-banks, cooperatives. The idea is to keep money, resources and talent in the community. When we share, instead of buy... we invest in each other. At the same time, waste is dramatically reduced and we extend the life cycle of physical goods. Particularly if we can get manufacturers away from the idea of planned obsolescence.  Make things that last and/or that are easy to repair and replace.

I keep thinking of credit unions and how the money that we invest in credit unions supports people in our local communities. They are an example of a cooperative... and it makes me think it's time to say good-bye to the Big Banks.

Sharing is Good - Beth Buczynski - Part 1

Sharing is Good - Beth Buczynski

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 125

  May 5, 2017 

Book 36 - Sharing is Good - How to Save Money, Time and Resources through Collaborative Consumption

Beth Buczynski (2013)
 Part 1 - pages vii-x; 1-20
Reading Time - 1 hour

Another book I picked up off the library shelf. This one introduces the idea of the Sharing Economy - which is a sustainable economy built around the sharing of both human and physical resources. I had come across different versions of this before. The idea of sharing the stuff that we have in our garages, rather than everyone in the neighbourhood buying a pressure washer (or whatever).

We are programmed to share, but as a society we have worked very hard to forget that. I would add, that the corporations have also worked very hard to make us forget it! We've moved from a society where trolleys were the main means of transportation (sharing) to a society in which everyone wanted their own car. Crazy, really.

We do still have some clear evidence of sharing though... libraries, laundromats, leasing an apartment or a car - all of these are shared resources. And nowadays, with technology, it is every easier to share things. Bartering is one of the earliest forms of sharing. I'll trade you a sheep for a sword. I'll trade you one baseball card for another. The problem with bartering is everyone needs to agree on a value. Is a sheep worth a sword? We also need to find someone who makes swords who needs a sheep. Or we then need to trade our sheep for a wheelbarrow of pottery which we can then trade for a sword. Sooo... that can get complicated pretty quickly. Which is where currency came into being. Everyone could agree that a sheep was worth 10 shekels and a sword was worth 10 shekels. I could "sell" my sheep to someone for 10 shekels and then turn around and use those to "buy" a sword. The thing with currency (as we learned in Ben Hewitt's book "Saved") is that it only has value because we say it does. Currency doesn't determine a thing's value... we determine the value of currency.

There have been cases around the world of using alternate currencies. For example, during the Depression for example, people bypassed the market system by issuing scrip. It had an agreed-upon value and was used so that trade could continue. Alternate currencies force money to bang around the local economy much longer than a dollar would. The central banks don't like alternate currencies however. Mostly because they can't control it...

The Sharing Economy is based on the idea that the world already has all the supplies and resources we need... most of them just sitting idle or being wasted. Think of the lawnmowers that sit idle most of the week - only being pulled out for 2 hours every 7 days. That means that they are used only... 1.2% of the time. Or 2.4% of daylight hours. If we could shift to a sharing economy, we could reduce poverty and resource consumption.

The Sharing Economy includes everything all sorts of things: traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting and swapping. When we realize that access, not ownership is essential to meeting our needs and wants... we can free ourselves up from a lot of things... debt being one of them. We don't need to "own" a lawnmower... we just need to be able to have access to one.

It would require a paradigm shift in how we produce, consume and govern... but we could turn out consumption-obsessed society into an economic democracy.

America Beyond Capitalism - Gar Alperovitz - Part 6

America Beyond Capitalism -
Gar Alperovitz

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 124

  May 4, 2017 

Book 35 - America Beyond Capitalism -
Reclaiming our Wealth, our Liberty and our Democracy

Gar Alperovitz (2005)
 Part 6 - pages 197-240
Reading Time - 1 hour

I am beginning to see the pattern in the author's ideas. A tax on the super-rich. He basically says there are 2 classes in the United States - the top 2% ultra rich and then everybody else. President Bush (not sure if #1 or #2) showered special benefits on the super rich. And while that's happening, regular Americans are working more and more ours but getting farther and farther behind. There has been talk of giving everyone a basic income... and the way to fund that would be taxing the super-rich.

The other problem is one I've come across in some of the other books. The economy cannot grow at an exponential rate forever. The earth and the ecosystem is finite. Americans, and the First World in general, use an inordinate amount of the earth's resources. But we are trying to keep up with the super-rich Joneses. I saw an advertisement today for teeth-whitening. Only $399. Who can afford that? The Home Support people who care for my Dad are driving really posh new cars. Do they really earn that much? Or are they in debt up to their eyeballs? All in the name of keeping up appearances. One option is to tax luxury items. Another is to change the tax laws so that advertising is no longer tax deductible. But ultimately, we, the plebes, need to stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. We are digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt... and whether we admit it or not... debt IS slavery.

The book concludes with a burning question - Can the System be Changed? The author's main points are:

1. Need new institutions to hold wealth for the public good
2. Need to rebuild democracy in everyday life
3. Need decentralization
4. Need individual economic security and free time
5. Need to change ownership of wealth

On a sobering note... the author notes that things are likely to get worse before they get better. On the other hand, changes may come more quickly than we can imagine.

America Beyond Capitalism - Gar Alperovitz - Part 5

America Beyond Capitalism -
Gar Alperovitz

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 123

  May 3, 2017 

Book 35 - America Beyond Capitalism -
Reclaiming our Wealth, our Liberty and our Democracy

Gar Alperovitz (2005)
 Part 5 - pages 167-196
Reading Time - 1 hour

Well... that was interesting. Did you know that Income Tax in the US only started in 1913 and that it was directed at the top 2-4% of the population? After World War 2, the elites were taxed at 91%. In 1964, the rate was 77%. And during the Reagan era, the rate was reduced even further. But while tax rates for the super-rich are going down, the real income for the bottom 50% of US citizens has gone down from 1973-1995. Where there does seem to be a rise in income, it's because people are working longer hours (1679 hours/year in 1973 - 1878 hours/year in 2000). Wages are stagnating and the prices of essential goods  are going up. It's not a good scenario. The only real answer seems to be taxing the super-elites.

The other problem that is looming on the horizon is Social Security and Retirement. In 2001, the average retiree had $50,000 in retirement savings which won't take anyone very far. People are saving less and less. The Social Security piggy bank is getting rapidly depleted. An aging baby boomer population is going to put a huge strain on the health care system as well. And yet the super-rich continue to have their taxes reduced. And America goes ahead and elects one of the super-rich to be President. You have to wonder what the future holds for a country where whites are increasingly in the minority and the poor non-whites are moving into the majority?

America Beyond Capitalism - Gar Alperovitz - Part 4

America Beyond Capitalism -
Gar Alperovitz

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 122

  May 2, 2017 

Book 35 - America Beyond Capitalism -
Reclaiming our Wealth, our Liberty and our Democracy

Gar Alperovitz (2005)
 Part 4 - pages 123-166
Reading Time - 1 hour

One of the questions that has been asked is - Is local democracy even possible in the global era? The truth is... 60% of US economic activity is local and most of it is service-oriented. There is less and less manufacturing in the US... and more and more services. The trick is to keep local money circulating locally - to build up the local economy. Buy Local is a slogan that we hear more and more nowadays. Community is of key importance in a democracy and it makes me wonder how we can build up our local community more. One way... shop less at Superstore and shop more at local grocery stores and farmer's markets!

The author touches on the whole environmental issue. At the national level... we aren't really making progress with environmental problems. We have maybe slowed things a bit... but we are not reversing trends. People are afraid to challenge pollution because they might lose their jobs provided by some large corporation. Local firms are more enmeshed in the local community and less likely to pull up stakes and leave. One major problem though, is that over 1 million acres of prime farmland are lost in the US each year to urban sprawl. People keep heading further out looking for cheaper houses, but then have to drive farther to get to work in the city centre. We need economic strategies to conserve neighbourhoods... we need to alter the design of our cities. Home, work and school need to be brought closer together. Smaller cities are generally better than bigger cities... but why do so many people flock to the larger urban centres?


The author then touches in more detail on the regional restructuring and decentralization of the United States. The thing is... while the US is ginormous... today there are 5 workers for every retiree. By the year 2030... it will be 2 workers for every retiree. That's not sustainable. Either there will need to be more workers through population growth or more workers through immigration. A place like California is already as big (or bigger) in terms of economy, size and population as some of the bigger EU countries. The idea would be to get smaller states to group together... It makes sense in a way. I could see Washington and Oregon grouping together. And the New England States are a logical grouping.



Today marks 1/3 of the way through my 2017 Book Challenge. At this rate, I should be able to finish 100 books by the end of the year. I hope.

America Beyond Capitalism - Gar Alperovitz - Part 3

America Beyond Capitalism -
Gar Alperovitz

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 121

  May 1, 2017 

Book 35 - America Beyond Capitalism -
Reclaiming our Wealth, our Liberty and our Democracy

Gar Alperovitz (2005)
 Part 3 - pages 79-122
Reading Time - 1 hour

The heart of a Pluralist Commonwealth would be the idea that ownership of a nation's wealth must be shifted, instituionally, to benefit the vast majority. Radical concept.

It's already happening in some ways. The idea of worker-owned companies and cooperatives (think Mountain Equipment Coop in Canada or REI in the US).

There is also the idea of municipalities looking for non-tax revenue. Cities could own buildings or property, lease them out and collect a percentage of the profit in lieu of property taxes.

Another idea is Community Development Corporations which were designed to provide low income housing, loans... anything to support the local community.

Some of the US states have programs where they match the savings of low income citziens. Some states operate banks and life insurance funds. The federal government, when it offers bailouts to corporations demands some stock in return... which can then provide the feds with a steady income.

The overall idea is that citizens could get an income stream from publicly backed investments. It's an intriguing concept. And it also makes me think of my own life. I have savings and investments with several of the Big Banks in Canada. Why am I supporting them and not my local Credit Union??