The central purpose behind BerkShares is to strengthen the local economy, perhaps even inoculate it against the whims of globalization, by encouraging people to support local businesses. Amazon does not accept BerkShares, for example, but the Bookloft on Route 7 does.
Five months into the experiment, some people embrace it, some endure it, some ignore it altogether. At the very least, BerkShares have reminded everyone just how complex this thing called community is.
I'll say. Read the story if you can get behind the firewall -- or better yet, read the BerkShares website for more information. The problem with BerkShares, according to the Times story, is that even a local economy depends on being able to trade with vendors far away, making it difficult to accept local-only money. That, and the social pressure being put on local tradespeople who won't accept the BerkShares. Still, what a fascinating experiment. I'd love to know what y'all think of it -- especially if you have experience using BerkShares.
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Wikipedia has entries on everything. Jane Jacobs was a fan of local currencies, if I remember right ...
Joe Marier, in other words it's a subsidy to yet another special interest group. i hardly call that "community"
What if we call it a "special interest community?"
I think there is some confusion about the BerkShaes (disclaimer - I am a member of the EF schumacher society and originally from No. Berkshire County). Ithica Hours are a LETS type of barter exchange based on labor hours. BerkShares are nothing more than a local discount coupon scheme that uses pretty art printed on Crane paper (same as the FRN) but is backed by dollars. I have a five dollar W.E.B. Dubois in my wallet as I type. the real break through will come when we can set-up a mutualist credit clearing system like the WIR Bank in Switzerland. stay tuned as this is being attempted by the Second Vermont Republic (a distributist/secessionist project).
Local currency is actually pretty common in New England - I have a small collection of the stuff. My favorite are probably the WilliBucks from Willimantic, CT. At any rate, they seem like a nice way to build a sense of community in economically depressed parts of the country, but I don't know if they can live up to some of the loftier claims of their proponents. By the way, Vin - the "rich folk" from Eastern Mass. generally leave us Westerners alone. Our great plague is the Yorker.
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