Money, the Economy
& Us
Local Challenges and Local Solutions
Saturday November 14

9:30am to 5:00pm
Kitchener City Hall Council Chambers

Please contact Gary Jones or Roger at 519-742-2565 for more information.

This free forum brought together professionals, experts and the public to dialogue about how the economic realities of today impact our local community,

Featuring:

Lobby


The documentary film, The Money Fix


Lunch & Working Groups


Lobby


Working Group Presentations


Tom Kennedy of UseryFree Day presents the Winged Lion Award to keynote speaker, Mike Nickerson, author of LIFE, MONEY & ILLUSION... Living on Earth as if we want to stay


Panel discussion and Q&A: Gary Jones of Our Community Dollar and Stephan Wilson of Transition KW


Panel discussion and Q&A: Mike Nickerson, Tom Kennedy and Greg Roberts of Barter Works

This second annual forum was framed by the question - How can the economy serve the people?, with a focus on - What can we do today?

Forum organizers attempted to include a cross section of society and was attended by University Students from Western University as well as grey-haired community currency enthusiasts.

As is common to all forums that bring together diverse components, there was a great deal of mixed ideas and opinions, but there was a shared hope that by our common action we can arrive to a violence-free economy.

While the global economic structure has a long history of creating violence to generations of people, and whose influence leaves no point on the globe untouched, this forum made me believe that a change is as possible as changing your mind. More than in ledger books and on spread sheets, the economic system is a shared belief system. Each of us agree on the way it should work, but there is no natural law that demands things are as they are.

To build an economic system that serves the interest of human beings, all it takes is a shift in our thinking - a change of what one personaly believes the economy to be, multiplied to society.

Of the few themes that could be agreed upon, what was commonly shared was the belief that usury, or interest charged on capital loans, was a common critique of our current economic model. Because today's economic model allows for there to exist more debt than there is wealth to pay for the debt (more money owed than there is to pay back) people within this system are predisposed to compete for the scarce wealth. This competition is not needed and only leads to unnecessary violence.

Regardless of the various opinions about the economy, what is certain is that the possibility for change lives in our cappacity to share those opinions.

If you are interested helping to organize Non-Violence Festival Forums, please email us.

Matt Albrecht, Non-Violence Festival Director