Money, the New Commons

Earlier today I edited a video for my dear friend Amanda. Shes

a local entrepreneur who turns lifes everyday mysteries around
and around like a Rubiks Cube, deciphering the patterns and
finding the connections. This particular video had to do with
learning how to receive money the way that we receive
compliments. She pointed out how we dont have to emotionally
disconnect from someone else when they praise us for our
attributes or when they pay us for the services we provide;
allowing money to show up as bridge to connecting with others,
instead of a barrier.

What struck me in recording this video was Amandas comment that

in our culture we see money as either mine- or yours. If I give
it to you, then I am now without until someone gives me theirs.
This makes me think of how we do not see or understand money to
be a common resource, a privilege shared by all that can be
tapped into as it is needed.

Instead, in our western world, we have done to money what we

have done to the rest of the commons. We have divided it up,
creating artificial structures of power and control over what
could be serving all instead of the few, or the competing many.
If we knew how to respect the commons, what wikipedia describes
as the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members
of a society, including natural materials such as air, water,
and a habitable earth, then we might know how to see money as
an extension and variation of a natural resource designed to be
utilized and shared by all.

Whenever I talk about sharing money, I imagine people rising

up and crying, communist! ...As if the degradation of land,
air, water and the human spirit caused by capitalism were
something to be revered. I am in no way invested, so to speak,
in communism. Nor am I saying that capitalism has wholly been
without its merits. However, both systems were created by
fallible humans and both systems have been corrupted beyond
their original intentions. Any system designed to uplift
humanity, whether it is governmental, religious, or otherwise,
quickly loses its benefit when that system becomes power over
the people instead of power through the people. Pretending that
capitalism can still work is like believing an abusive lover
will stop beating you someday and that somehow everything will
get better sooner or later.

We, the people, have the power and the opportunity to create a
world where everybody can win. Or at least, anyone who wants to.
Clearly, not everyone is interested in playing fair and will
take advantage for personal gain alone, wherever possible. There
will always be those who think they know best for everyone else
and seek to dominate the system they were born to share. Those
are not the people I am interested in co-creating with, although
assuredly, they will need to be addressed and dealt with when
they slither their way into the new garden of Eden that the rest
of us are wanting to co-create. But we can address that directly
and collectively when we get there. To embrace despair and give
up on the dream before we start because, someone is always
going try to fuck it up is to agree that walking down this

steep path to mutual annihilation is really the only road there

is. And that is to believe utter bullshit as truth. I believe
that this is why we numb ourselves with drugs and other
distractions. Feeling the reality of what weve agreed to be a
part of is way too painful.

What if we had reserved areas of money that we could all tap

into the same way that we enjoy a nature reserve or national
park? What if we all contributed to that reserve to ensure that
everyone had everything they needed. Extravagance and luxury
would be clearly defined and true need would be obvious to
all: If you had to choose between a the desperately needed
dentist appointment or rent, the commons would support you. If
your car can no longer get you to work, but youre job doesnt
pay you enough to cover the repairs, the commons would catch
you. How people would feed back into the commons could be
something as easy as regular donations to donating time to a
commons committee group and/or commons fundraising community
events.

This isnt welfare- at least not the way our society attends
to it with all the accompanying shame, paperwork and catch 22
regulations. It is, instead, human-care: creating a source of
monetary support that allows everyones basic needs to be
covered. After all, it is our money and we can decide how we
want to use it. We dont need to keep it trapped in our current
system of hoarding vs. scarcity.

The deeper understanding is that money is an energy. We decide

how it looks, responds and behaves. We program its behavior both
with our intentions, thoughts and by the system that we design
for it to travel in. We are the Divine Creators here, and we are
only as limited as our beliefs. And our beliefs are always
changing anyway. Why not engage that change directly for the
betterment of all?

This idea about money being part of the commons is just a

burgeoning idea and Im sure others have written about it as
well- but it feels right to discuss openly here with you. Weak
spots and oversights in the concept should be pointed out, but
only to strengthen the idea. Additional inspiration and
alternate visions are needed as well. Its worth talking about,
and not automatically shelving because the human race simply
isnt capable of such conviviality. Its possible. It may even
be probable. But we wont ever really know unless we are willing
to risk living in a way that is new. The worst thing that could
happen is that we fail and figure out how to do it better next
time.

-Kat Udarro