In 1932, the entire world was confronted by the political and economic chaos of the great depression. In the small town of Wörgl, Austria, a town leader, Michael Unterguggenberger created a new kind of money that would have an expiration date.
To avoid expiration, the notes would have to be periodically stamped for a fee. Without a new stamp, they would become worthless. In this system, saving money would cost you money. Savings, in other words, would have a negative interest rate. Only by spending or investing would you be able to avoid stamp fees. Against all economical dogma, the system worked and with these new tools, he effectively lifted the entire town of Wörgl out of misery and successfully combated skyrocketing unemployment and business closures. The town used this new form of money to bypass the scarcity of currency to exchange value creation and pay the unemployed to do public works. This resulted in created wealth like it had not been seen before.
This phenomenon was dubbed the “Miracle of Wörgl,” and became a testament to the paradigmatic potential of monetary reform. This currency experiment, despite being stopped by the banking monopoly of the time, continues to inspire many other leaders and movements looking to create a healthier economy.
In our digital age, we can now evolve and scale the Gesellian & Unterguggenbergerian systems to create positive incentives for cash to be circulated instead of hoarded. Not actually having to involve stamping paper bills for a fee but involving distributed ledger technology with inbuilt incentives.
Those that are aware are already transitioning. Blockchain is a key technology that enables this, and we already have it. Communities all over the world are opting for fair, equitable, and 100% transparent systems that unlike paper money are uncensorable, immutable, and accessible to anyone with access to the internet.
We are being offered an opening of historic proportions to collectively opt for alternatives to replace the mono-culture of mass consumption that makes all of us complicit to the market failures of anthropocenic proportions.
From this place of empowerment, it becomes a peaceful fight because power over others becomes redundant. Just as Michael Unterguggenberger made clear through his living legacy. The way to truly prosper during times of converging crises is to build thriving and resilient communities. Empowering local communities across the globe to define their own future directly is essential.
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