Todd, I forgot to post earlier when you mentioned massage that I hope you're aware of Quantum Touch. Taking away PAIN is something you can do NOW.
Regarding sharing with other countries, I'm sure you're aware that America and Northern Europe have plundered the planet and finally they are taken down too. That would be fair if our wealth went to the plundered nations, but of course it all goes to the international bankers and industrialists.
Even people who seem to understand what's going down don't get it. It's a GOOD thing that you live in a community that thinks a little different, but be aware that you're the minority. Be informed and spread some truth.
Christine, I am quite saddened that my post was perceived as derogatory towards you or anyone whom you hold dear to your heart. It was not at all my intention to cast them in such a light.
I agree that I have much to learn about a great many things, but feel extremely confident that this opportunity is the strongest idea out there at the moment to effect the needed changes.
I am still working my way through the intricate windows (more mundanely; links) that you have provided me. I look forward to more interaction.
Post edited 12:23 am – August 3, 2010 by Christine
Todd, you picked up on a few things, but you're a long way from understanding how democracy works and what's happening outside your little community.
If the NATION was to vote on the AZ immigrant bill today, it would be APPROVED. 26 or so other states are considering similar legislation. So please stop talking like Arizona is the ass of the nation. It stinks just as bad outside YOUR block. I lived in San Francisco for many years and I still can't get over that they elected a corrupt politician like Pelosi instead of Cindy Sheehan.
Regarding the CGB and back to the subject of giving to other countries, you need to understand that the CGB is William's baby and he worked on it for 8 (eight!!!) years. Talk about commitment.
For William, it's all or nothing. He refuses to start with a credit union, get a track record and start the bank once there are a million or so account holders. The reason William refuses to start with a credit union (easy and CHEAP to start!!!!) is because it can only benefit the members.
William is no dummy. He knows that if it was up to the members to donate profits to OTHERS, most wouldn't want to.
Although I believe that many of the credit union members WOULD sign up for the CGB, he doesn't seem to think so. What does THAT tell you?
It is NOT illegal for credit union members to pool their profits and to give them away, but unlike a bank, the credit union can not FORCE people to act charitably.
Of course many CGBs would also circumvent donations by simply establishing reciprocal agreements to donate to each other, therefor avoiding giving something and getting nothing. You send your money for our playground, we'll donate to your community garden …
It really is too bad that there isn't a person as qualified and committed as William to start a credit union to help the PEOPLE, the millions who can't even open a bank account because their credit is horrible or who have to pay HUNDREDS of dollars for NSF fees because they're short a few dollars and to simply provide banking services without the bankers' profit motive.
I recently checked out the Santa Fe permaculture credit union again: http://www.pcuonline.org/faq Unfortunately, they don't seem to have online services. You definitely could have a credit union with the CGB slant.
For William it's all or nothing and while I have promoted the CGB extensively over the last two years, my support is now limited to a few links. I just don't know what to say anymore to my readers and the last thing they need is another let-down.
There is no CGB because we are only two years out from 2008. Just as 9/11 woke up many to the fact that life is not as we were taught it was, so was 2008 to money. Many began realizing that our system has been built with a flaw, but it comes as quite a surprise to many. People are still reeling from the realization of our desperate situation and yet they are still just as desperatly hoping that we'll pull out somehow. The realization has yet to become fully apparent, but those ahead of the curve are out there right now in droves reading and watching all they can about this issue. Mission critical comes with 2011 as I believe we will not leave 2010 without some kind of massive demostration by the market of the instability of our system. The 900 point drop because of "Techinical issues" is just the beginning of the anomolies. The time will come that will make it apparent that a new paradigm must be created in order to survive. The financial elite have their next system all ready to go you can be sure, but we have an open space during this time to offer our collective ideas on alternatives.
In addition, CGB had as of yet not had my mind bent on it's mission. I consider myself a conciousness commando. I am well trained, well supported, well supplied and well connected. I am young, fierce, and strong in spirit. I will not accept defeat. Life is changed within my hands. Quite literally, as I am a massage therapist with 11 years of practice. I have allowed myself to be a tool of healing and I will continue to flow as water over all my spirit holds dear. True wealth is found when all wants have ceased to be. I am guided by Jung and Maslow as teachers and friends of the spirit. All souls have a right to transition through the heirarchy of needs in search of self-actualization. Be encouraged and know that the universe wants you to take up the will to power and transform your reality. Let the dead bury their own dead, knock the dust off your feet, and move on from those people with small box paradigms.
If keeping illegals out and upholding the law was really what this arizona nonsense was about, there already would be banks that promoted deportation. The fact is there are none (I just looked, perhaps not as thoroughly as required to be scientific, but enough for my time budget). I happen to see this immigration issue as a manifestation of unconcious fear of change/other. We are a culture pressed around all sides by real or imagined threats that are shouted from every street corner into our minds and most of us are scared witless. Who could possibly be a less threatening outlet for collective fear of change than some insignificant brown people who have nothing and no way to defend themselves or protect their rights? It is not a rational thing and therefore there are no rational organizations to deal with the problem, just a whole bunch of scared yeehaws with guns.
Welfare fraud? isn't that some kind of oxymoron or somthing?
My community is very diverse, on our block alone I would confidently guess at least 10 different countries are represented. We all get along with each other very well and I consider my town to be a good example of what a new kind of global community could be like. My town is a hub of the seventh day adventists and they send the young adults from their churches around the world to come to the schools here. Not just that though, they actively seek out to have as many people from other religious backgrounds come to their schools. I love it and feel privileged to get to learn about cultures from all over. I am sorry that your situation is feeling so oppressive, but I do not think it can be considered a total picture of the mindsets of most people living in the U.S.
Did it ever occur to you that the bank would have opened 10 years ago if its agenda was to deport illegals and to combat welfare fraud?
Why do you think that it's so hard to raise a few millions for the CGB at a time when TRILLIONS of dollars are thrown at international corporations?
I wouldn't consider Sarah unreasonable and she wrote:
Its just that I've seen this type of international idealism component
within in so many organizations that haven't even make their sustainable
stand in their country. Partnering with like-minded international
organizations is great — encourage THEM to make their own mark!
Christine, do you honestly think that they would have objected to the organizer saying, "50% goes to feed the children in your community, 25% goes to feeding children in other parts of the country, and the last 25% goes to feed others in less fortunate countries"?
How would any reasonable and decent individual, who got involved with, as advertised "A social mission with a bank" not WANT to send 25% of PROFITS to other places. People realize that this isn't just an american problem anymore. People realize that we are global individuals and that we can not create a sustainable reality until we have a majority of the globe engaged in creating a new paradigm. It makes plain strategic sense to assign assets to promote our system abroad! This is the best vehicle for success in transitioning that I have yet to come across and I have been researching this money issue feverishly for 8 years. It's a global world now and the only way we can escape the current vortex that is sucking us down is if we can make our changes together as humans instead of segregating ourselves into ideological war parties.
If we are to succeed we MUST send energy outwards as far as we can possibly reach!
Todd, there are a few things to consider. There are the morons, who no doubt will want to get low rate loans for their businesses and there are the CGB community organizers who are actively promoting the bank and trying to get EVERYBODY involved.
More important, MOST Americans will vote AGAINST money going outside America. By most, I mean at least 90%.
For years I volunteered for a local festival with an auction and the proceeds went to Feed the Children. I had looked at their website, wasn't terribly impressed (I prefer programs to help people feed themselves), but I worked many hours and spent a LOT of money at the auction, thinking I was helping to raise money for starving kids in Africa or Asia.
Some of the volunteers were soliciting donations from local businesses for the auction and of course donors received a certificate for supporting Feed the Children.
During one of the volunteer meetings in 2008, someone asked whether a business could specify that the funds be used in America. Apparently that had been an issue in the previous year. To my shock, the organizer advised that OF COURSE, she made sure that all the money raised is used only in the US.
IMPORTANT: There were about 20 people in the room and ALL agreed!
These people are my friends and neighbors, NOT the gun touting morons.
I checked out the Feed the Children site and found that donations tagged for use in the states were used to pay for school lunches. I never went back to volunteer.
I just looked again, now they're feeding the Gulf coast: http://www.feedthechildren.org That was NOT how the site looked when I first reviewed it 5 or 6 years ago. Back then there was no option to keep donations in America on the front page.
Bottom line, if you allow members to vote on these issues there's no chance ANY money will go to other countries.
I'm certain that unless the bank has a CONSTITUTION formalizing its "idealism", the depositers in most communities will NOT want to share with the rest of the country and most certainly not with OTHER countries.
A few weeks ago I made the HUGE mistake of reading my "local" paper, the Kingman Daily Miner (AZ). After reading many of the comments, I realize that many wouldn't just like to deport all brown people, but anyone who dares to NOT be anti immigrant.
Earlier today I posted a link at the Miner to the democracy page here. But these morons make the corrupt politicians look good and a direct vote on many issues would likely result in a Nazi Germany like regime. No papers, off to jail — accused of a crime, hung from the nearest tree.
That's not to say that everybody in Kingman is a moron, but the morons are the ones with the guns and loud mouths and they WOULD take over, given a chance.
One can only hope that the morons never get the idea of signing up at a CGB.
While I appreciate the situation you are facing in AZ, please remember that morons with guns always seek out other morons with guns. To go and prove they aren't scared of nothin! The idea of CGB is to create a new paradigm in the way economic energy flows. Those who are morons with loud mouths and guns will look at this and think "SISSY" and move on. This is good as those who are too tightly enmeshed in the current paradigm will only slow those of us down who truly wish to be free. It's all going to keep getting crazier and crazier you can be well assured of that, but don't despair :)! The reason we are all even here on this site proves that we no longer wish to participate in the said craziness. This means you were right in calling your engagement in the local paper a mistake! Don't let their small box paradigm scare you as it is up to us to bring a new vision into fruition. Forget all this left/right nonsense, national politics, and war reports. We must create a different opportunity for ourselves and our progeny. If it is symbiotic with the workings of the Universe then we shall prevail. It is possible, maybe even probable, that this is our future, but then again the Universe doesn't seem to be written in stone. Except when it is LOL
Urgency Yes! Panic No!
As for a constitution? I really doubt that is necessary as look at how well our current constitution is working.
I'm certain that unless the bank has a CONSTITUTION formalizing its "idealism", the depositers in most communities will NOT want to share with the rest of the country and most certainly not with OTHER countries.
A few weeks ago I made the HUGE mistake of reading my "local" paper, the Kingman Daily Miner (AZ). After reading many of the comments, I realize that many wouldn't just like to deport all brown people, but anyone who dares to NOT be anti immigrant.
Earlier today I posted a link at the Miner to the democracy page here. But these morons make the corrupt politicians look good and a direct vote on many issues would likely result in a Nazi Germany like regime. No papers, off to jail — accused of a crime, hung from the nearest tree.
That's not to say that everybody in Kingman is a moron, but the morons are the ones with the guns and loud mouths and they WOULD take over, given a chance.
One can only hope that the morons never get the idea of signing up at a CGB.
1. Reason #1: The purpose of Common Good Bank is to create a new economic system in which people get together at the community level to think and decide together how to advance the common good of member depositors, the wider community, and the world.
always wherever we think it will do the most good.
2. Reason #2: One never has too little to give?
1. To be clear this will be decided upon by the depositors association or perhaps the local NPO through the CGB democratic decision process? Is the 50% for outside of the community held until a decision is made or in the event that there is some form of stalemate in the decision process what considerations are made to make sure that the community who contributed said funds has the final say on it's destination?
2. Yes it is idealogical in my estimation, but is not an ideation neccesary for a manifestation of results in the real world? Such as one could say that an architect creates the idea for a building and creates as near perfect representation of this in his building plans. However once work starts, as anyone who has built before will know, those engaged in the actual construction experience imperfect situations in which on the spot decisions are made that deviate from the architects ideation of the building contained in the Plan. Plan=Ideal. To plan without an ideal, which in all reality will evolve if those who hold it are healthy, is to encourage failure as far as I can tell.
I understand your sentiment. But again, I questions the ability to deecide for members where they choose to invest. To make this automatic for every community-owned bank location could be especially counterproductive as many of them will be located in rural, economically distressed locations. Furthermore, if Common Good Banks create the scalability we're looking for, these other national and international locations should be able to start their own bank, yes?
I worry that, while biting off so much to chew, that we're going to choke on the idealism. But maybe not. Its just that I've seen this type of international idealism component within in so many organizations that haven't even make their sustainable stand in their country. Partnering with like-minded international organizations is great — encourage THEM to make their own mark!
I look forward to continued discussion on this topic.
Sarah Noyes asked: Why do 50% of the profits stay local, 25% elsewhere in the country and 25% to
other countries? Why are we deciding this for depositors? When I smell
Idealism, I have to call it out. If that's not what this is, I stand
corrected. But I humbly caution against too much of it — not Systems
Thinking. Always open to other thoughts.
Two reasons:
1. Reason #1: The purpose of Common Good Bank is to create a new economic system in which people get together at the community level to think and decide together how to advance the common good of member depositors, the wider community, and the world. And of course to put plenty of money behind those decisions. (This is in contrast to our current system, in which most funding decisions are made by soulless corporations and a small wealthy elite, in order to maximize their own profits.)
Our aim is to create a culture of philanthropy and collective action — that is, a society in which all of us take into consideration (in all of our decisions) both self-interest and community-interest. So the Common Good Bank plan balances and aligns these two interests whenever possible. Specifically, when a participating merchant gives me a rebate, as a Common Good Bank member, I keep half the rebate for myself and my family and give half to the Community Fund. Then we keep half of the Community Fund for our local community and give half to empower people elsewhere. And finally, of that part that goes elsewhere, we keep half of it for our country and give half to empower people in other countries — always wherever we think it will do the most good.
2. Reason #2: In our current economic system the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Faster and faster. What we have right now, as a result, is a world in which a few people have (literally) a million times as much as they need and (literally) billions of people We need to reverse that trend and put in place a system that will KEEP wealth in balance. In the Common Good Bank system, wealthy communities will deposit larger amounts, lend larger amounts, and therefore have higher profits (on average). Their merchants will similarly sell more expensive goods and services, so their contributions to the Community Fund will be larger (on average). So wealthy communities will have more to give away. They get to decide where it is most needed, but half of what they give must go elsewhere — to other, presumably less wealthy, communities. This will tend to redistribute wealth in two ways: (a) by wealthy communities getting together to give it and (b) by less wealthy communities becoming economically self-sufficient and increasingly prosperous through their own efforts (without the burden of debt to outside investors).
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. I am young, fierce, and strong in spirit. I will not accept defeat. Life is changed within my hands. Quite literally, as I am a massage therapist with 11 years of practice. I have allowed myself to be a tool of healing and I will continue to flow as water over all my spirit holds dear. True wealth is found when all wants have ceased to be. I am guided by Jung and Maslow as teachers and friends of the spirit. All souls have a right to transition through the heirarchy of needs in search of self-actualization. Be encouraged and know that the universe wants you to take up the will to power and transform your reality. Let the dead bury their own dead, knock the dust off your feet, and move on from those people with small box paradigms.
It's a global world now and the only way we can escape the current vortex that is sucking us down is if we can make our changes together as humans instead of segregating ourselves into ideological war parties.
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