Wilson Riles Speaks on a Radical Alternative Currency System for Oakland

The “big boys” use currency trading not only to hedge against inflation and trade fluctuations but also to amass assets; a local currency would make some of those options available to the City of Oakland and the “little guy.” An additional important benefit is to keep more resources within the micro-economy of the City.

Wilson Riles on a Radical Alternative Currency System for Oakland
for Green Sunday (Alameda County Green Party)
Sunday, May 10th
5:00 to 6:30 pm

After almost a year of community work, the Oakland Coalition for a City Identification Card (OCCIC), of which the Green Party has been an integral part, has proposed a complex, radical, alternative currency system for Oakland that has an excellent chance of being passed by the Oakland City Council.

Borrowing from the experience of hundreds of other US cities and international communities, once passed by the Council, this system could be transformative for Oakland and spark the creation of similar systems all over the Bay Area and nationally. The philosophical elements that under gird the proposal have Biblical, indigenous, and modern roots most intensively articulated in the writings of E. F. Schumacher (Small is Beautiful).

Thomas Jefferson lost his conflict with Alexander Hamilton over the economy’s structural issues this system raises up. All of this, and the proposal, is a mechanism that will promote ecological correction significantly.

LOCATION: Niebyl-Proctor Library
6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland.

DIRECTIONS: One block north of Alcatraz on the West
side of Telegraph, wheelchair accessible. Served directly
by AC Transit routes 40, 64 & 17 with 6, 51 & 43 nearby.
Ashby BART is approximately 7 blocks away.

SPONSOR: Green Sundays are a series of free programs &
discussions sponsored by the Outreach Working Group of
the Green Party of Alameda County. They are usually held on
the 2nd Sunday of each month.

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See also:

ACORNs
Alternative Currency for Oakland Residents and Neighbors
…An Oakland Merchant Credit System/ID as Local Currency…
BY WILSON RILES, JR
"My suggestion is that we combine the ID concept with the concept of a local currency. You could title this either a “merchant credit system” or a local, virtual, Alternative Currency for Oakland Residents and Neighbors (ACORN). In other words, we would call that local currency the “ACORN.” This captures a local prosperity/growth concept for the currency. The United States has a rich history of local currencies. [If you are not aware of this, check out - for example - the following web site: http://www.schumachersociety.org/local_currencies/currency_groups.html. There are local currencies in Ithaca (N.Y.), Berkshire (Mass.), Humboldt (CA.), Lawrence (Kansas), Floyd (Virginia), Calgary (Canada), and many more places in this country and around the world. There are more references at the end of this piece.]"
http://oaklandcityidcard.org/acorns/

Coalition Seeks Oakland ID Card
Backers say municipal identification would help undocumented immigrants
report crimes and open bank accounts.
By Jocelyn Wiener
September 17, 2008
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/coalition_seeks_oakland_id_card/Content?oid=830851

Sweat Equity
In this East Oakland community, time really is money
Rob Baedeker, Special to SF Gate
Monday, February 16, 2009
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/02/16/moneytales021609.DTL&type=printable