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G.E.T. It!

Welcome to the Transition California's Great ‘Economic’ Transition Resource and Information Download page...(G.E.T. it here).  After January's very inspiring Healthy Money Summit interviews and the last “Movie of the Week’ about ‘Slow Money’ we realized that an organic upsurge of information with a 'Local Economy' focus is flowing into the ‘Wild West Web’ and we want to channel these resources to TCA members within a strategic plan to help translate and utilize the information to help TT’s evolve.

Of course some info you will have already had contact with some of the info but please consider the importance of using even the ‘old news’ as a valuable outreach tool to help guide folks in your community who have never seen or heard any of it. 

So over the coming weeks we will be delivering multi-media and information resources designed to empower every individual, family, community, and TT group to not only guide themselves through our current global/local crises but to help them lead and guide others.  The ‘sequence’ is designed to be duplicated for maximum effectiveness in any outreach and sharing. 

A great deal of the film media is geared towards education and inspiration and the other resources will be in the form of content that will help you plug into local/global initiatives that can be imported into your own TT efforts. 

We are going to kick this download off with a full featured film called ‘The Money Fix’ that has been broadcast on PBS and is available at NO COST to groups who wish to host a screening.  Hosting a screening of a film under the economic tagline is a sure way to fill a room with folks looking to find ways through this transition.

The Money Fix is the perfect ‘101’ economic primer and some of you are already well aware of the information that this film brings to the audience.  We encourage you to use this film as a valuable sharing resource.  We are posting links with the video that will lead you to the website for more information. 

We will be updating this page as we G.E.T. them!

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G.E.T. Resources

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Slow Money

"If we want to restore an preserve soil fertility, if we want to preserve and restore small and mid-size farms and promote organic agriculture, if we want to diversify and decentralize our food supply and revitalize local communities, if we want to preserve biodiversity, if we want to remediate polluted and depleted aquifers, if we want to promote human health and childhood nutrition - if we want these and many other related benefits, or even if we merely wish to defensively invest a portion of our assets in a food-system safety net, then we are going to have to figure out how to deploy capital appropriately, in new ways, in meaningful quantities, and for the long term. Can we design ways for regional investors to invest in regional food enterprises?  Could there be Slow Money Bonds, similar to municipal bonds, but investing in local food systems?" ~ Woody Tasch "Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money"

What if every business in your community pledged just 1% to local organic farmers and Community Supported Agriculture? 

Click here to watch the full interview with Woody Tasch and learn more about the Slow Money Movement!

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In late 2009, an online organization calling itself “Move Your Money” spearheaded a campaign to persuade Americans to transfer their funds from large financial institutions, such as Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, to local community banks.

Since the financial crisis began, according to a Zogby poll, almost one in 10 American adults has moved her or his money from a large bank to a closer, more personal one.

Though it may seem a waste of time and an inconvenience to transfer your funds to a local bank, consider this: If you know someone who lost her or his to job to the recession, or if your retirement savings took a major hit, or if the funds that you had set aside to pay for college shrank drastically in size, or if you have ever wrung your hands in frustration at the latest jobs report, Wall Street shenanigans, or the sheer magnitude of the bank bailouts, and wished there was something you could do — well, now there is.

The greatest benefit of more people moving their money away from the banks largely responsible for this economic mess is that they will be less capable of wreaking such havoc in the future. As hackneyed and cliché as this advice has become, Gandhi’s immortal axiom, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” is abundantly applicable in this instance.

Not only does the possibility of a more secure economy exist, we are capable of shaping that future from Main Street on up. We petition you to reconsider continuing to bank with large, national institutions; instead, you can do your part in strengthening your community and securing your local economy by watching this video and then visiting the Move Your Money project for helpful advice and tips for doing just that.

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Click here to listen to Transition Towns leader Rob Hopkins address economic issues and the Transition Town movement on the Healthy Money Summit!

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TIME BANKS

Edgar Cahn came up with Time Dollars as "a new currency to provide a solution to massive cuts in government spending on social welfare. If there was not going to be enough of the old money to fix all the problems facing our country and our society", Edgar argued, "Why not make a new kind of money to pay people for what needs to be done? Time Dollars value everyone’s contributions equally. One hour equals one service credit. Cahn wrote two books, Our Brother’s Keeper and No More Throw-Away People.

The largest and most active Time Bank in the United States is the Dane County TimeBank in Madison, Wisconsin with over 1,000 members, a Youth Court and connections to Community Supported Agriculture. The Dane County TimeBank co-hosted "TimeBanking in Action," the TimeBanking International Conference in 2007, and co-hosted the TimeBanking Conference, "Time For Justice, A Wealth of Opportunity" in June 2009.

TimeBanks USA is the hub of a nationwide network of TimeBanks offering training and support to timebanks around the country. It developed Community Weaver software now widely used with over 11,000 participants. In the US there are now 101 TimeBanks listed in the Time Banks Directory.

TimeBanking has spread to over 37 nations and six continents. In England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, TimeBanking has spread rapidly. In Wales there has been a particular focus on the development of 'Agency Timebanks' to engage local people as contributors to public service and community Agency Timebanking in Wales There are 116 in operation and another 87 under development; the government and national volunteer organizations have been particularly supportive. They are promoted as a tool in community regeneration.

More Resources:

NO MORE THROW AWAY PEOPLE
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STATE OWNED BANKS? 

We have been learning about the success of North Dakota's State owned bank over the decades so we wanted to post this video we found and add it to the growing list of resources on the 'Great Economic Transition' page.

Here are some links for further reading and research:

THE GROWING MOVEMENT FOR PUBLICLY-OWNED BANKS

State owned banks- a time whose idea has come

Solution to the Credit Crisis? The Campaign for State-owned Banks

California Banking System - Start a State-Owned Bank!

California Assembly Bill 750 Introduced to Study the Feasibility of a CA State-owned Bank

Growing Number of Candidates Campaign for State-Owned Banks

State-Owned Banks as a Way to Rebuild the Housing and Real Estate Markets