It’s been a while since I’ve written in this format. I’ve fallen out of touch, at least the way I was writing. I’ve been taking on a more playful writing tone. The mini sagas have been great, and I plan to keep them up.  But there has been this change, this fundimental change in the way I am seeing the world. 

I am drifting away from me as I knew myself.  Not like some bad change. It’s not some existential crisis. I just feel as though I am existing in two or seven places at once. I keep getting these dreamlike flashes of future selves and flooded cities. I’m often awoken from dreams into other dreams. 

Everything that is happening seems to have happened before. Not like a history repeating kind of way. Rather, I am remembering the future as the past. Time is dilating.  The internal clock is spinning at a different rate altogether. 

Don’t worry about money. Economy as you know it is going to completely transform in the next few years. Remember how different the world was before you were connected to the internet?  Before personal communication technology. Before  cable TV existed. Yeah, like that level of change. The end of work for fiefdoms. We are talking an age of plenty. It’s coming. I can see it coming in around the edges.  

And it will be a messy and chaotic time. Hold onto your butts.

As you know, dear reader, I have been thinking a lot about total economic collapse these last few weeks.  It’s dark work, being a harbinger of disaster; I am stuck being the guy who is looking at the outcomes and the signs with no answers. I feel like Chicken Little, a paranoid little naysayer screaming about the sky and it’s impending doom (DOOM!).  I am finding quite a bit of agreement in the world for my particular world-view.  Between the stories I am finding on google reader, watching the incredible Story of Stuff and Zeitgeist: Addendum, and reading Get Back in the Box by the super-genius Douglas Rushkoff, I have been getting a lot of input and have been brewing some thoughts of my own. I have a few minutes in the quiet of the mountains to get them out. 

The problem I have been having with the idea of economic collapse is that I can’t really see a social collapse along with it. As fun as it is to imagine a Fallout/Mad Max/ Burning Man reality becoming the dominant form, with Spaceman running around with a glock, a battleaxe and a camelback, it really would be a nightmare scenario for everyone (but it would look cool, you must admit). I can get that kind of thing from video games (read Fallout 3). While our monetary scarcity based system is like a house of cards ready to tumble down all around us, our social connections and communities are very strong and very interconnected.  Interconnectedness gives strength. 

We are moving into this heavily networked era of Humanity. An era where we are connected instantly and powerfully. Think of things like twitter, tribe and facebook. Hell think about this blog and how quickly I am able to get out information to the world.  Think about how many of our career lives are connected with those that we are interacting with in social circles. I don’t really know the last grip job I worked that wasn’t connected to someone I thought of as a friend, who I would invite over for dinner. My friend KT is a photographer, (maybe you’ve heard of her) and her business is all based on relationships. There’s a recession on, and she’s doing fine because she has strong relationships. My friends Roxy and Chris, they have an acupuncture/chiropractic business, same thing. The needs we have as people are not going to go away if suddenly the almighty dollar isn’t anything more than fancy kindling for our furniture fires. Our relationships aren’t going to go away, either. 

So what I have been wondering, is WHAT are we going to use as a basis for trade?  The Burning Man gift economy seems to work pretty interestingly. It is also a meritocracy, where those who give the most, somehow get a much more rich experience. (Did you know that those DPW people, the ones that build the city before you get there, they get a shower truck, and three hot meals per day?) But, it is also centered on abundance, like we all spend a metric shit ton at Target and Santee Alley before we ever get there so we can gift the hell out of that playa.  And then there’s trade goods? What would we use as currency? Oatmeal packets, silver coins, Clif Bars, bullets, clothing, pints of gasoline or water? All of these things? I read an article about prisoners in the state prison system using packets of mackerel  bought from the prison store as their currency when the system outlawed smoking. What I fear is that it will be force that takes what it wants, as in “I have the uniform and the gun, I will take what I want.”  This is the trouble with placing our well being into the hands of a few, who are armed to the teeth. In honesty, it will probably be some combination of these things. When things go sideways, I just hope we have some serious leadership nationally and locally to keep some semblance of sanity. 

Our power in times of trouble will be from two sources. It will come from connectedness and social currency.  Being networked to our communities is paramount. This means pay your phone bill and keep your internet access going almost above all else. Being able to twitter that you are hiding in your apartment and roving bands of hungry and angry former bankers and insurance salesmen are ransacking your building looking for tasty bites, could be the difference between getting help and being left to those monsters. Being able to know where people you know are gathering, and building new things: Essential. Knowing what resources there are, and where to get access to them, essential. Of course, I am an internet dude. I am biased. But I think the networked reality offered us by the web is probably the most important innovation to human connectedness and communication, yet.   

But then there is this thing, Social Currency.  What is it? It is an intangible. You have it through interactions with others. It is what you bring to the table in relationships. You may be someone who has a vast music collection and you share it. You may be someone who tells great jokes. You may be a great listener or communicator. You may be that person who can build things, or you may just give great hugs. It is your connection with others, your generosity to others.  It is something that is not easily measured, but something that is easy to get. It is sharing.  Going back to Burning Man, it is that thing that works with a really great theme camp (like mine this year) where everyone keeps giving and the pool of social currency keeps growing.  Everyone is giving and sharing and building it up.  The cool thing about social currency is that it, like love itself, is a perpetual motion machine. The more you give, to the more people you give it to, who then give, extending this abundant model. At it’s very core it is participation. It can only work in a networked reality. 

A networked reality is our current ability to communicate to many and have instant feedback. It is a natural state. You send out communication and broadcast to everyone. Like this writing, for instance. It hits everyone, and those who it resonates with or effects read it and process it. They then have some social currency in the form of conversations, ideas, memes, new ways of thinking.  I also get some social currency for bringing it to the electronic page. It is a zero loss kind of game. Meanwhile thousands of these communications are traveling back and forth through our networks, building up social currency among the community. Social currency can also be lost by being a jerk, or squelching communication, or making really poor choices (Dick Cheney lost some social currency when he shot that guy in the face, even though his friend was okay, for instance).  But for the most part, it is an intangible, expanding aspect of our collective self.  

So I am in just the very beginnings of working this out. Already, this may be my longest blog essay.  But there is much much more. I am just excited that there is a reality I can start seeing that isn’t some survivalist wet dream.  With Social Currency and Networked Reality I can start to see my lifelong dream of abundance and innovation for all coming to pass. It fits in with my commitment to the new Golden Age.  It is emerging faster and faster, just before I posted this, I found this.

It is for us to work out the details, so please contribute by commenting on the blog or on the facebook feed. Comments = Social Currency. 

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. 

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

George Bernard Shaw 

Everywhere I go, there is this intensity of apprehension. It’s like this buzzing of fear in the background. Peoples’ portfolios are tanking. The bailout, and the prospect of the american taxpayers footing even more of the bill for corporate and government corruption. The bald face lying, the naked short selling, the outraged finger pointing. You hear things… Like when the IndyMac Bank failed, the regular depositors, people like you and me, got on $.50 on the dollar. How the hell would you deal with that? If your bank lost half of your money and the FDIC insurance just was for 50%? Wow. You talk to people who’s homes have lost 50% of their value and they are now stuck owing 3x what the home is worth (I know. it doesn’t make sense to me either). The one thing I really remember about high school history’s simplified causes of the Great Depression is that it was buying on margin that caused the Crash. That is exactly what all of Wall Street has been doing. And the experts are just as afraid that it’s too late. Hell in times before rapid inflation, it’s better to spend that credit while prices are low, because you will pay off that same money with the new inflated $100 bill you use like $20s. But then that’s more buying on margin, isn’t it.  As a friend coined in a song, the fit is about to hit the shan! 

It is times like these that my short sighted, slap-shot financial style may just work out for me. I have no assets beyond what gear I can pack in my element, a low car payment, low rent from a friend in a depression proof industy (gaming) and my family is nearby.  I’ve been thinking a lot about support systems. 

Back in 2001 when 9/11 hit the world with the last big fear wave, we all talked about if a serious terror attack happened, going to and gathering at Abundant Sugar over at the Brewery. There were people there who made things happen, and we were all just kids. But now, I feel like it is us who must stand and make the difference.  We need to look at the hard choices and make some real plans. I’m scared. It really could be another Great Depression. 

I’m not ready to make the plans yet. But I want to open up the conversation. 

The good news is, it probably won’t all fail at once. The internet is designed to take a nuclear disaster, but tribe is definitely a victim of not having enough money to keep the doors open. So look to decentralized networks and have backup for your communication. Civic wifi will be up for a while hopefully. Starbucks won’t fail for a while, hopefully. (a hack at starbucks: buy a giftcard, register it at starbucks with a lappy, you now get a login with free wifi). If massive foreclosures happen, look at squatters rights. If enough people are losing their homes, there will be no way for them all to be evicted. Stand your ground. Keep your car hidden from the repo man (have you seen that movie lately? too close to home, its about a post economic collapse america).  But ultimately, surviving an economic collapse is going to come down to community, only together will we be able to weather this storm. 

Some say invest in gold.  I say invest in you. 

Look at your skill set. Survival is a technology. Can you survive?  Do you even know your neighbors? What do you bring to the table as a member of the community. Do you have tools and can you fix things?  Can you make clothing, or mend clothing? do you have technical knowledge that can help your community. Are you the kind of people that get along with people?  Can you love your neighbor? Are you the kind of people that can repel bad people who want to take your survival from you?  Can you fight?  Are you the kind of extraordinary human being that will come out of all this to usher in that golden age?

Like I said, hard questions.  And I really hope it doesn’t come to any of this. Except the golden age part, that would be pretty sweet. 

image source: Fallout 3. Consider it training. 

also check out Mother Eagle LLC www. for preparedness tips, he’s far more knowledgeable than I. Also look at what our friends at Homeland Security have to say about it  they have specific tips for staying in business.

Its a house of cards. 

Do you ever think about the US Treasury?  Have you heard people talking about how the current administration has robbed the Treasury and emptied the coffers?  Ever consider what that means?  Bandits have robbed the train, and left an idiot in charge of the engine. Now the locomotive is careening out of control. 

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/14/americas-financial-s.html

So What can we do? Think survival here, guys.

Get cash from your bank. You don’t want to get Indy Mac’d. You may not need all your Cash, But consider not relying on that dreadfully convieneint debit card or credit card. This of course assumes that inflation doesn’t skyrocket out of control and your twenties can’t even buy a tank of gas anymore. Oh wait. Maybe your twenties will get you a Valuemeal… or a happy meal.

Growing food. Start thinking about gardening. Of course winter is coming. But at least start thinking about it.  In the Depression, every household had a garden. Think workable land when you look at housing options.  

Besides rejoicing, what will you do if you lose your job, or your job stops paying you. How will you stretch your money? Will you still go to bars, or starbucks or the theatre?  

What if all the power goes out? Are you prepared for a life without google? Are you prepared for a life without an iphone? 

Consider that homelessness could happen to you. Thankfully many of us have a community that can help us through this. If a real financial collapse occurs,  what will our options be? Find out about squatters rights.  Strange to think about, but really. But, do you have a tent if it comes to that. 

People may riot. Be ready for that. 

Invest in a good bike. Fuel isn’t going down. We are going to need to ride our bikes more and more. 

It’s a strange time. Just keep your head up stay alert. I have a bad feeling.  I hate to be this guy, but today, it is where my mind is at. These are questions I am asking myself.