Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Gold campaign moves to accept Bitcoin: "More than ever, we need an alternative currency"

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Gold campaign moves to accept Bitcoin: "More than ever, we need an alternative currency"

Click here to access article by Sakura Saunders from SF Bay Area Independent Media Center.

I know very little about the Bitcoin concept, but it might very well be a good alternative to what we have now: an irrational system of global money management under the control of the capitalist ruling classes and serving only their interests. Gold and silver have always been promoted as having intrinsic value to the point where most people believe it, and the metals have become fetishes. As a result ongoing destruction of ecosystems and human right atrocities occur daily. This fact goes unreported in mainstream news, but I hear about it almost daily from Rights Action which focuses only on Central and South America.

So, why do capitalist love to promote gold and silver as money, as having intrinsic value? Because they can control these commodities and thus control wealth to serve their interests. Real wealth consists of things and services that make life easier and richer in all ways--psychologically, socially, and spiritually. All of these things and services are created by working people, but their creative energies are impeded by the hoarding instincts of capitalists who insist that gold, silver, and money is real wealth simply because their elaborate systems of money, financial management, market casinos, and property rights make it possible for the capitalist class to control and possess these forms of wealth.

For more details on the chaos that these systems cause, I challenge you to wade through this article from Der Spiegel entitled, "Out of Control: The Destructive Power of the Financial Markets".