Creating Social Change with Time Banking
Time Banking can change the world we live in by changing the way the public sector addresses the deep social problems our society still faces. Children, minorities in poverty, and the elderly are especially hard hit. In these and other areas of social need, Time Banking offers a powerful new approach for social and systems change.
with Stephanie Rearick
July 2011 - Interview with Stephanie Rearick about her work, since 1995, in Complementary Currencies. Stephanie is Project Coordinator of Time For The World, Director of Dane County TimeBank, Co-Chair TimeBanks USA, co-owner Mother Fool's Coffeehouse, musician.
In the interview she explains there are some 1870 people in the Dane County Time Bank, which started in 2004. Now they are getting ready to do some adventurous re-design, combining the TimeBank with a LETS-type currency in order to have a stronger economic impact for people. Stephanie gives some examples of how TimeBanks have been instrumental in empowering people in her community (increasing social capital).
Our society’s problems lead to a tragic loss of human potential. More children are going into foster care than ever before. More children come home from school to an empty house, cope with drugs, cross the line into delinquency, and go to schools that lose 40% of those who enter.
The problems don’t end when they grow up. As adults, these children face constantly shifting job markets, difficulties earning a living wage, unemployment, a shortage of affordable housing and health care. Minorities are the targets of racism and discrimination as well.At the other end of the age spectrum, senior citizens face the loss of a useful role, loneliness, the cost of health care they need to handle the increasing health care needs that aging brings. Our societal inability to tap their wisdom and their experience deprives their final decades of joy. Time Banking offers a new way out of these problems and a set of principles for addressing social challenges like these.
Thanks Leander, CC SkypeList 16 aug 11
The Austrian "Talente" system (in the state Vorarlberg in Western Austria) started of as a timebank in 1996, and they print vouchers for their timecredits. Since 2008 they also operate several €uro backed and denomitated currencys in seperate counties of the state for specific objectives that involve trade between producers and businesses.
Some local authorities are even excepting these currencies for tax and fees and spend it in forms of public subsidies. One can exchange the € backed currency for timecredits (at a fixed rate wich is flaots with inflation and will probably be at 10€/hour by 2012) but you can´t change timecredits, which are still the core and basis of their system for €uro or €uro backed vouchers.
With the revenue from this exchange, the cooperative that runs all the systems organizes special offers, providing some locally sourced products for timecredits.