There’s just no escaping politics
February 1st, 2012
My wife and I are very plugged in. Constantly reading. Constantly writing. Constantly scouring through social media and blogs for the latest details of the developing stories we’re expected to analyze. So, when we took time out for our anniversary we wanted to unplug, leave the laptops at home and go to a place where even the smart phones get spotty reception at best. That place is Stinson Beach, population 632 and no local police department. But even in the midst of a politics detox, it seems that politics followed me.
Stinson Beach is one of a string of ten villages along the coast of Western Marin County, North of San Francisco. It has the feel of something like a retirement community for old hippie surfers, complete with organic fair-trade chocolate bars, and it’s own “Arts & Healing Center.” The owner of the motel where we stayed was literally named Frodo. But despite the crystal-crunchy feel of the culture, everywhere I looked I saw evidence of a clear resonance with my kind of politics.
On a bulletin board labeled the “Community Collage” was a home made sign that proclaimed in bold black font, “WAR IS OVER!” And in the fine print underneath the caption, “If you want it. Ron Paul 2012.” All over town I spied stickers that read “End the Fed: Arrest the Bankers,” placed by some clandestine activist, no doubt. In Bolinas, the next village up the lagoon, the community center was throwing a birthday bash for an old-school hippie in town. The theme of the party was “REVOLUTION” complete with the backwards “LOVE” in red spray paint right across the front of the municipal building. It was heartening to me that these ideas had penetrated all the way into these little secluded towns that barely had internet access.
By far the most interesting example of my kind of politics we found on our vacation from politics was the Coastal Marin Fund $3 coin.
Stinson Beach, in cooperation with the other nine villages of Coastal Marin, has their own private community currency. All over town restaurants and shops had notices in their front windows saying they accepted the Marin Coastal Fund coins. Unfortunately the coins aren’t gold or silver, but they’re still a great educational tool to get people thinking about monetary policy. Check out this description of the project from their website:
Here’s how it works: All of us who want to help, merchants and individuals alike, will exchange some of their greenbacks for these $3.00 coins, and then begin spending them to buy things and to make change, just as if they were real currency… The coin was designed by internationally-known Bolinas wildlife artist Keith Hansen, and makes an inexpensive, and we hope irresistible, memento of a visit to coastal Marin.
The coins cost about $1.00 each to mint. So for each one taken home to Des Moines, Tokyo, or Berlin, the Coastal Marin Fund will have banked $2.00 on behalf of our local non profits.
It’s not as lofty a goal as honest currency. It’s more like a creative way to use fiat currency to the advantage of their community’s non profit organizations. But it says clearly on their website, “Everything is completely voluntary. No one is required to accept the coins or use them.” That’s all it takes for an alternative currency project to earn my endorsement.
And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com
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