1. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2003
    Messages:
    369
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Occupation:
    https://cli.re/RWPlace
    Location:
    https://cli.re/RWPlace
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    Global
    G'day,

    This 1983 Bill Mollison DVD of mp3's is quite amazing. Now I don't know if Jeff Nugent has edited this way or not but the Mollison PDC's of more recent years has been "coloured" with more and more story and anecdote versus content. Now this suits some (including myself) as they can read between the lines and get something out of this. But from personal communication with many students this reduces the experience. All students will have similar issues with any teacher I suppose depending on the style of learning they get the most from or from the expectations they held prior to a course.

    In any case here we have a PDC that is absolutely chock-full of information - its really quite striking as to the HDD size of this bloke....which anyone who has experienced the man would agree. This DVD is as thick with current Permaculture Design Certificate Course curriculum as I have seen. Certainly with many the vernacular carries on and will ad infinitum....

    Just yesterday I was sanding away listening to the aquaculture section and learnt more from that about aquaculture than I had from any other course I had been along to - the same for chickens and so on and no doubt more to come. I could say the same pretty well everything else on this DVD that I have listened to so far.

    My only gripe is that I am now up to number 27 of 59 so I am nearly half way and quite frankly I will want some more!!! Though that said I will most certainly go thru the thing with a pad next time and start to develop some new material for my own teaching.

    So I too would have loved to have had this in 1993 when I did my first PDC and subsequently went full-time as a Permaculture professional but that's not the case so that's life - at least we have it for now. Bill took years to write the PDM - its funny listening to his pre-sales banter throughout this DVD as part of its constant color.

    I could go on but will say to people wholeheartedly that this tape should be purchased along with your Holmgren and Mollison and Yeomans etc books that you have bought so far. Forget about the cost - it is really incidental when it comes to the value you will get from this. Apart from that - it is a seriously long time to listen to something - Reading the PDM took me about the same amount of time and that was taking notes all the way.

    I would go as much to say that I have got more out of this than most of the books in my library and I will continue to.

    So thanks Jeff and I hope that the rest of your Mollison library will be out there before too long.....

    Now I just need it translated into Vietnamese and Spanish!!!

    Ciao,

    Darren Doherty
     
  2. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    Messages:
    1,405
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Oh, here it is!
    Okay, in the last few files, Bill discusses bioregionalism, and talks about bioregional associations printing their own currency.
    The idea, if I have it right is to identify a natural resource in the bioregion, determine its financial worth, put it in trust and then print certificates of ownership to some product that could in theory be derived from that resource. He gives the example of a forested mountain, with cords of wood being the product, and "chips" being the unit of currency.
    The idea is that you would establish a trading value for the chips as something that is actually valuable but that would never be redeemed. He gives the example that noone ever tries to cash in their dollars or pounds sterling and that if you tried they wouldn't be able to because there isn't any gold or silver in the treasury anyway.
    The participants of the course seem a little skeptical, and I must admit I am too. Has any bioregion successfully done this?
     
  3. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2006
    Messages:
    3,046
    Likes Received:
    200
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E Washington, USA
    Climate:
    Semi-Arid Shrub Steppe (BsK)
    Richard,

    I recently stumbled on this site:

    https://www.ceres.ca.gov/tcsf/pathways/chapter2.html

    regarding regional currencies. I particularly liked the inset story (The Eleventh Round) about halfway down.

    Makes some interesting points regarding various currency schemes.

    9anda1f
     
  4. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2005
    Messages:
    1,590
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    9andalf,

    Interesting link and anecdote..tks

    floot
     
  5. permacultureplants

    permacultureplants Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2006
    Messages:
    56
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Richard, I believe that Jill Jordan at the Maleny LETS and Credit Union office floated the Bunya. Perhaps someone from there could give us some clues. I taught a course on Salt Spring Island in Canada in 1999 and I was told the following year that they were floating their own currency but I have no idea how it went.
    The great thing about this process is that suddenly the local economy becomes stable. If somebody charges a chip for a service this year then they will next year as well (unless they have brought an expensive new machine that allows them to work faster say). On the other hand a chip is going to buy an increasing number of ozzie or yankee dollas because theirs is a run-away economy.
     
  6. permacultureplants

    permacultureplants Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2006
    Messages:
    56
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I found this on the EF Schumaker Society Web Site ( https://www.smallisbeautiful.org/local_c ... tml#canada ). Which Bill talks about on the course. they run the SHARE Program:

    Salt Spring Island Dollars
    Eric Booth, Director
    Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation
    147 Robinson Road
    Salt Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 1R6 Canada
    [email protected], [email protected]
    1st Issue: September 2001
    Currency: $$ (Salt Spring Island Issued dollars) are backed 100% by Canadian dollars. The currency is printed in seven denominations: 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1. $$ are issued in limited editions of 20,000 (1, 2, 5) and 10,000 (10,20). Each edition expires after two years, during which time they can be redeemed for the equivalent amount in Canadian dollars or exchanged for a new edition of $$.
    Participation: All major businesses and 95% of all small businesses are now accepting $$. Some are giving premium exchange rates for the currency.
    Background: $$ are issued by a non-profit foundation, the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation, better known as the Salt Spring IMF. The bills feature the work of local artists and include local historical figures on the front. The program has garnered support from the three financial institutions on the island—Island Savings Credit Union, Bank of Montreal, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). All three banks take the $$ at par with the Canadian dollar, with no exchange rate or transaction fees. Beginning in March 2002, the $$20s will be available through local ATM machines (a Canadian first!). Also of note, the $$10s and $$20s incorporate the most sophisticated levels of security/anti-counterfeiting of any banknote in the world. These security features include Level 2 Halo, Sentinel, and Wicker 2000. Plans are now underway to introduce $$s into other rural communities in Canada, with the reserve funds being made available for municipal/community zero interest loans which will have the effect of reducing local taxation.
    Information last updated 2/02
     

Share This Page

-->