Historically, human civilization has always contained some strain of inequality as people have manipulated dominance over others. As we have worked toward a greater sense of equality in both gender and race since the Sixties, these days we are also realizing a great disparity between rich and poor. Time-banking allows for the cultivation of a currency outside of the influence of the paradigm which makes that type of inequality possible. In a time bank, every single member has 24 hours in each day, and no single member´s time is any more or less valuable than anyone else´s. We are all equal.

Presently, not all of us get to completely choose how we spend our 24 hours. Many of us have to sell quite a few of our hours in order to keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. But there are many others that are recognizing the importance of their time, and have the ability to be more selective in how it is spent. The more we can use this technology to teach people how to recognize greater abundance than merely the representation of it, the more people will more time in their hands to do with what they wish. And from what I´ve experienced in witnessing people participate in a life that appreciates them, I really believe that the majority of us really do enjoy putting our hands to good work.

America´s great declaration has always been about independence. It has been about celebrating the individual´s ability to make a life for himself. As a virtue, It has helped create a plethora of free thinkers that have gone way outside the box to develop incredible technologies and human rights movements that continue to aid in humanity´s evolution. As a curse, it has also planted seeds of pride, greed, isolation, addiction, violence, and selfishness. Unfortunately, those seeds have developed rather deep roots.

Because those seeds also serve as the foundation for much of our financial abundance, cultivating a culture of consumerism, our standard operating procedure often precludes Americans from the practices of community development and understanding economics outside of ¨what´s in it for me?¨ The good news is that not all Americans are content with the status quo and the celebration of independence alone. In America, although perhaps a bit more slow-going than in other parts of the world, people are realizing that the the next great revolution is one of interdependence.

 

Steve McAllister is the author of The Rucksack Letters and How to Survive an Estralarian Mind Meld. He posts regularly at The Unbroken Path and is currently the Director of Operational Development for the Common Wealth Time Bank in Sarasota, Florida. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.