================================================= Expat Worlds Monthly Digest ================================================= 31 July, 2006 Vol. 8, Issue 07 .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== THE STORY =================== -=A New Kind of Money=- ==== OTHER EZINES ================ ==== EW SPECIAL ================== -=Bye Bye Big Brother=- ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... == -=Trivia=- -=News Story=- -=Jokes=- ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============= -=Local Times Around the World=- ==== INSIDE THE CURRENT EXPAT WORLD == -=Table of Content=- ==== THE STORY ================================== A NEW KIND OF MONEY By Julian Darley Today's money is based on the belief that it's worth something. Crazy, no? Why not back your dollar in sustainable energy produced in your hometown? Blog Tools The decline in the availability of cheap energy is likely to be accompanied by an equally ominous possibility of world financial meltdown. That we are facing both of these threats now is not an accident: energy and financial stability are intimately linked. I believe the solutions for dealing with these twinned threats are equally linked. To build an environmentally sustainable, monetarily stable world, we need to create an economy in which locally produced energy provides the backing for local currencies. Let's start with energy first. Energy decline will soon challenge just about every common notion of life that we have developed during the industrial era. Most of what we have built in the globalizing world of the last half century depends on cheap energy, particularly oil and natural gas. After years of oil-industry financed obfuscation, there is a broad scientific consensus that our profligate use of fossil fuels is producing global warming. And despite similar oil industry denials, there is a growing consensus that we are rapidly approaching Peak Oil, after which world oil output will go into permanent decline. (The United States experienced Peak Oil in 1971.) After global Peak Oil, oil will still be available, but at ever increasing prices. To lessen the impact of global warming and the inflationary pressures of Peak Oil, we should be moving as rapidly as possible to an energy system based on locally based renewable energy production. (Go here for more details about why cornucopian schemes like nuclear power or oil from tar sands will not solve our energy problems). Accepting the limits of locally produced renewable energy flies in the face of one of the basic assumptions behind the current energy system, that there is an endlessly increasing, supply of cheap fossil fuels, especially oil. And here's the link to money: we have made the same limitless assumption about money, that the world monetary supply could grow without end as well. In both cases, we assumed that the growth in energy-use and in money supply was an unmitigated good. There have been a growing number of voices warning us that both of these assumptions were wrong, that the notion of unchecked growth was leading us toward environmental and financial meltdowns. And while we have been making some progress in understanding the energy problem, there is virtually no mention of the role of money. I admit that thinking clearly about money can be difficult. Money has been around far longer than the oil age, the industrial era, and may even pre-date civilization itself. But though we may take money for granted, it is neither simple nor solid nor reliable -- far from it. Money is a complex and fragile construction, and as history has shown over and over again, money can become worthless almost overnight. In the long run, money has proven very difficult to manage -- it's a tricky and strange invention. The original driving force behind money was our need for specialization as we grew from hunter-gatherer societies to settlements of a few thousand, and now cities of millions. Money helped us to increase our carrying capacity -- the number of humans a given area will support at a certain level of technology -- but it has also helped us to become largely disconnected from the real material world. Today's global monetary system is based on currencies controlled by national banks, and the global trading system is mainly based on one of those currencies: the US dollar. This system leaves communities and individuals vulnerable to the fluctuations of the global market. The level of trade in a locale is heavily dependent on money that flows in from external sources. Any disruption to that flow can restrict trading activities locally. This potential shortage leads people to try and obtain more and more money, a quest which is ultimately unsustainable. Money can be "backed" by all kinds of physical substances, like precious metals. Or money can be "fiat" ("let it be made") like most national currencies today, backed by nothing except faith and confidence -- or sometimes just confidence tricks. Unlike a backed currency, a fiat currency can at least in theory quite literally expand for ever. There is no direct link to material reality to impose limits, only economic theory, which is devoted to eternal growth and doesn't like to deal with limits -- or reality -- at all. An unlimited currency along with unlimited growth and (so far) unlimited energy has allowed us to do almost unlimited damage to the planet. However, as the availability of cheap, abundant energy declines, energy will soon become the dominant partner in the relationship with money, and money's true dependence on energy will finally become apparent for all to see. As energy becomes increasingly expensive and scarce, the colossal size and scale of our infrastructure, which has characterized the rise of industrialism, will selectively crumble and become unserviceable. It is only the energy subsidy from hitherto ever-increasing use of cheap fossil fuels that has allowed our current grandiosity. If this argument is correct, national currency reform will become an oxymoron. It will become apparent that local currencies must be created, currencies based on the resources of the locale -- be they abundant or austere. Communities can further insulate themselves by de-monetizing as many goods and services as possible and try to produce as much of their vital needs as locally as possible, especially food (from local farms and processors) and renewable energy. Demonetizing means taking a product or service out of the market so that it does not need a monetary value. Hence the need either to stop using a product or to produce it yourself. When you take a potato from your garden, if you are fortunate enough to have one, you don't pay yourself a dollar for the privilege -- you just clean it, cook it, and eat it. Demonetizing can also be done via barter, and this is in fact quite common in business, including in the industrialized world. But demonetizing flies in the face of globalization and the Industrial Revolution. Communities that create such local or regional currencies will have a much better chance both of riding out the coming energy decline and of being buffered from any monetary or economic collapse that may happen for whatever reason. The sooner such systems are created, the more ready that region will be to withstand shocks and to avoid the terrible unemployment which severe monetary instability invariably brings. Backing money with local renewable energy would cause the material economy to be constrained by the amount of energy available from the sun -- just like all other living things, which have been around far longer than we have. This limitation would undoubtedly mean that some places would be more suitable for human habitation than others. But since nature is now starting to teach us this lesson anyway, it would surely be a much better idea to plan for constraint than to wait for the energy and climate avalanches to hit us broadside, especially as we can now hear increasingly ominous economic and environmental rumbling. In our forthcoming book, Relocalize Now! Getting Ready for Climate Change and the End of Cheap Oil, we discuss strategies for how communities can create local currencies. Making the transition to an ecologically sustainable world is going to be the most difficult task which our species has ever undertaken. We have a much better chance of success if we develop strategies that incorporate an understanding of the unavoidable linkage between energy and money. ==== OTHER EZINES & BOOKS ======================== ASIAN TIMES ONLINE Asia most trusted source for news, business,commentary and analysis from throughout Asia and our world. (www.atimes.com). ----- SURVIVAL BOOKS Go to and check it out! ----- japan-guide.com Extensive, up to date online guide on Japan living and travel related information. http://www.japan-guide.com/ ==== EW SPECIAL ================================= BYE, BYE, BIG BROTHER - The Report No Government Wanted Printed The new three volume (over 800 pages) blockbuster report, Bye, Bye, Big Brother, a report that no government wanted printed contains the philosophy of "PT", Bureaucrat Busting, Protecting Your Ass and ASSETS and getting Big Brother Out of Your Life in the Post 9-11 World. It is where the answers are. BBBB will educate all those who do not know what a PT is and refresh the memory of the old-timers. Check out the details at: ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... ================ NEWS STORIES New Zealand bars adopt sin bin cards WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Inspired by the yellow and red penalty cards flashed by football referees, some New Zealand bars are using color-coded cards to help curb excess drinking. A yellow card is shown to imbibers who may be heading toward trouble during a night at the pub, while a red card removes them from the bar, said Hospitality Association of New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson In a dozen bars using the cards in the North Island cities of Auckland and Wellington, a yellow card means no alcohol is served to the recipient for a specific period of time. "If you're giving them the red card you're saying 'I'm sorry, you are too affected by alcohol for us to serve you any more, or have you on the premises. I'm afraid you're going to have to go,'" he said. Patrons who leave with "good grace" are entitled to return another time and present their red card for a free drink, Robertson said. "It wouldn't work in all bars, but in some bars that have perhaps got a sporting focus, that may be appropriate," he said. Although drinkers could treat the card system as a game, bar staff were trained to guard against that. "There's always that potential - 'I'm going for a reddie tonight,'" he said. Jason Deane, managing director of Trinity Group, which has several bars using the system, said reaction had been very positive, lightening the mood in what could be a difficult situation. Although a free drink was on offer to red card recipients, generally they weren't being redeemed. People were too embarrassed the next day, kept the cards as a souvenir, or lost them, he said. The nation's Alcohol Advisory Council said they were keeping an interested watch on the system's progress. Chief executive Mike MacAvoy said bar staff "say they hate serving people who are drunk, and dealing with obnoxious, loud or messy customers, so if this system works, then we applaud it." Bar operators face a 10,000 New Zealand dollar (6,190) fine and suspension of their liquor license for serving drunks. --- Nothing is rotten in the state of Denmark... LONDON (Reuters) - If you're looking for happiness, go and live in Denmark. It is the happiest country in the world while Burundi in Africa is the most unhappy, according to a report by a British scientist released Friday. Adrian White, an analytical social psychologist at the University of Leicester in central England, based his study on data from 178 countries and 100 global studies from the likes of the United Nations and the World Health Organization. "We're looking much more at whether you are satisfied with your life in general," White told Reuters. "Whether you are satisfied with your situation and environment." The main factors that affected happiness were health provision, wealth and education, according to White who said his research had produced the "first world map of happiness." Following behind Denmark came Switzerland, Austria, Iceland and the Bahamas. At the bottom came the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Burundi. The United States came in at 23rd, Britain was in 41st place, Germany 35th and France 62nd. Countries involved in conflicts, such as Iraq, were not included. "Smaller countries tend to be a little happier because there is a stronger sense of collectivism and then you also have the aesthetic qualities of a country," White said. "We were surprised to see countries in Asia scoring so low, with China 82nd, Japan 90th, and India 125th. These are countries that are thought as having a strong sense of collective identity which other researchers have associated with well-being." He admitted collecting data based on well-being was not an exact science, but said the measures used were very reliable in predicting health and welfare outcomes. Regular studies by academics across the globe using the same tests would allow researchers to better understand what factors affected happiness and White said he hoped every country in the future would carry out bi-annual checks. --- April Fool's joke sparks strip poker championship DUBLIN (Reuters) - It started as an April Fool's joke but an Irish bookmaker's proposal to hold the world's biggest strip poker contest will become reality next month. Paddy Power floated the idea as a joke but it generated so much interest -- and hundreds of requests to take part -- that the Dublin-based company decided to organize a contest. So next month, 200 poker buffs will risk baring all in an attempt to become the first World Strip Poker Champion -- and earn a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The winner will also receive a "Golden Fig Leaf" trophy plus 10,000 pounds ($18,630) in cash. "This will be the most fun you can have with your clothes on -- or off!" Paddy Power said in a statement for the tournament, which will be held in London on August 19. --- Oxymoron: voluntary taxes ----- "You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner." -- Aristophanes ----- What is a committee? A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary. -- Richard Harkness, The New York Times, 1960 ----- Work Environment: (Wise manager) + (Wise employee) = PROFIT (Wise manager) + (Dumb employee) = PRODUCTION (Dumb manager) + (Wise employee) = PROMOTION (Dumb manager) + (Dumb employee) = OVERTIME ----- Why do bankers make great lovers? They know the penalty for early withdrawal. ----- A blond at a party was telling her friend that she was off men for life. "They lie, they cheat and they're just no good. From now on when I want sex, I'm going to use my vibrator" "So, what when the batteries run out?" asked her friend "I'll just fake an orgasm like always." ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============================ LOCAL TIMES AROUND THE WORLD This guide attempts to list all of the world's countries, and many of its islands. Times consider Daylight Savings Time. Except for the Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean Islands, islands are often included with either the sovereign country listing, or with the nearest continent. Go to ==== INSIDE THE CURRENT EXPAT WORLD =============== EXPAT WORLD NEWSLETTER (VOL.18 ISSUE 06) Table of Content: - OFFSHORE BANKS - THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY - EIGHT GOLDEN RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL SECRET BANKING - BANKING PASSPORTS - EXPAT WORLD'S PRIVACY WORLD - DIGITAL DANGERS TO YOUR PRIVACY - THE PT CREDO - THE "PT" CARD - ART LOVERS - WWW.EXPATARTIST.COM - THE KNOWLEDGE BOX - BYE, BYE, BIG BROTHER - AVOIDING OFFSHORE BANKING DISASTERS - AROUND THE WORLD WITH EXPAT WORLD - INTERNATIONAL SNIPS & CLIPS - LETTER FROM AMERICA - EXPAT WORLD'S WORLD OF TRAVEL - PIPS & TIPS - CRAPPER RAPPER - OLD NEWS IS REALLY FUNNY WHEN YOU LOOK BACK IN HINDSIGHT YOU MISSING SO MUCH Each week the EXPAT WORLD DIGEST gives you just a smattering of what you can find in the EXPAT WORLD newsletter that we produce once a month. Why not get the whole story and subscribe now to our electronic version for just US $30 per year. 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