You’re Not Failing at Money—Money is Failing You: Two Resources for a New Economy
It is crucial to understand and debunk the dangerous myths of money creation and the privateer “Federal” Reserve. Advocating for various forms of public money could play a major role in saving our planet.
Two recent presentations available on YouTube help clarify how our exploitative money system is purposely designed to create a permanent underclass in the United States while exploring genuine solutions to reshape that system so it serves both people and the planet. This issue is particularly relevant to those who yearn for peace, as our monetary system supports militarism, weapons manufacturing, conflicts, and war. These presentations were co-sponsored by the Alliance for Just Money, an ally of WILPF’s Women, Money & Democracy Committee.
In these recordings, Gwendolyn Hallsmith and John Howell offer insights into how our current economic system relies on austerity and locks us into overwhelming debt. These presentations help normalize the conversation about a more equitable economic paradigm centered on justice.
Please take the time to watch and share these presentations with your networks. More information about the presentations, along with links to the recordings, is provided below.
“Economic Paradigm Change Starts with How We Create Money” – Gwendolyn Hallsmith
Gwendolyn Hallsmith is an economist, environmentalist, community activist, and musician. She skillfully communicates complex ideas and brings a positive perspective to challenging topics such as economic oppression. Gwendolyn first delivered this teach-in in May 2024 during the MayDay for Money action in Chicago, organized by the Alliance for Just Money.
“The Money System & Today’s Crises: What Changing Our Monetary System Would Mean As We Struggle with a Rigged Economy” – John Howell
Imagine if we could afford all the things that improve our lives—things we’re often told there isn’t enough money for, such as subsidized daycare, free higher education, forgiven student loans, food assistance for the working poor, free school lunches, safe and affordable housing, and universal healthcare.
Picture the different world we could inhabit, one with less stress, conflict, violence, and deprivation—a world of abundance instead of austerity, where there truly is enough for everyone. Moving away from a debt-based system that enriches the wealthy while enslaving the working class could lead to a more peaceful and equitable world. This informative and engaging webinar discusses how a new economic system might work and why peace activists should support economic transformation.
Presenters and Co-Sponsors:
Gwen Hallsmith has authored six books on sustainable community and economic development. She recently presented on the topic “Economic Paradigm Change Starts with How We Create Money.”
Gwen Hallsmith is the executive director of Global Community Initiatives, a non-profit organization she founded in 2002. She is the author of six books on sustainable community and economic development and has worked with communities all over the world to foster caring communities, local economies, good governance, efficient services, and healthy ecosystems. She founded Vermonters for a New Economy to work on economic solutions at the state level, and the Headwaters Garden and Learning Center, an ecovillage in Cabot, VT. She and her husband, Michael Taub, sing in a folk duo called The New Economistas. She organized a flotilla in New York City to welcome Greta Thunberg to the US and used a Facebook group called #YouGoGreta to do it. Her books, The Key to Sustainable Cities and Creating Wealth, are available for no cost in the #YouGoGreta Group Files.
Facebook > https://www.facebook.com/groups/YouGoGreta
Instagram > @gwendolynhallsmith/
Twitter > @ghallsmith
Websites:
http://www.global-community.org
https://www.headwatersvermont.org
John Howell is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Physiology at Ohio University and serves on the board of Alliance for Just Money. He recently presented about “The Money System & Today’s Crises: What Changing Our Monetary System Would Mean As We Struggle with a Rigged Economy.”
John Howell has a way of presenting complex ideas in an approachable and accessible way, with clarity and charm. He is gifted in planting seeds of many kinds among his students and the public as an Associate Professor Emeritus of Physiology at Ohio University, with a B.A. from Kalamazoo College and a Ph. D. from UCLA. He serves on the boards of the Athens County League of Women Voters, the Alliance for Just Money (AFJM), the Ohio University Emeriti Association, and is a General Committee member of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, representing the Lake Erie Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. He serves on the Legislative Action Committee of the AFJM and is the recipient of many teaching awards.
Alliance for Just Money is a strong ally of WILPF US’s Women, Money & Democracy Committee. They advocate for a fairer monetary system—one that is not based on oppressive debt and does not serve to further enrich the financial elite. They raise the question of how much more generous and supportive citizens could be if they were not constantly worried about making ends meet. They highlight solutions for ensuring everyone’s basic needs are met and emphasize that transforming the monetary system is essential to achieving this goal.
