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Money & Banking

BLOOMBERG EDITOR: ’The Money Question’ is “nonsense” — my musings & Tweets after listening to a podcast on Bitcoin

I highly recommend this podcast on Bitcoin — for anyone who wants to understand how Bitcoin works, for anyone who wants to meditate on money as a social construct, and, inadvertently, for anyone who wants to dismantle our current undemocratic and stupid operating system (money & banking). Here’s the official details from the Apple site: […]

THE MONEY QUESTION: When “friends, family, colleagues” pile on — AKA dignity is another word for justice

Last week, I put out an informal call for some short-term financial help to “extended family, friends, colleagues” across the country. I received an “interesting” response from someone in her 60s—in other words, a peer. Basically, it was a “blame the victim” response.  It made me realize that not everyone has spent ten years studying […]

EVANSTON, IL (March 27, 2021): Elections Pop-up Newsletter

Local elections in Evanston, IL are on April 6, 2021. This is a pop-up newsletter to provide practical information, to facilitate participation, and to highlight big picture issues by connecting our local issues with larger jurisdictions (county, state, regional, national, world). This will probably be my last newsletter before the election. To: Evanston voters Evanston candidatesEvanston […]

PUBLIC BANKING: Testimony to Illinois General Assembly Committee

Today, March 23, 2021, the Financial Institutions Committee of the Illinois General Assembly is hosting a “subject matter” hearing on state banks, as promoted in a current bill HB0089, “Community Bank of Illinois Act”. Members of the informal Illinois public banking coalition were invited to provide testimony. Knowing how these hearings sometimes go, I opted […]

Camp Auschwitz and an Ancient Women’s Peace Center (Chicago)

KEYWORDS: Camp Auschwitz—Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol—Northeastern Illinois University—Peace Fire Circle—Ice Wisdom—Lake Michigan water–Lewis & Clark—bicycle trip—Evanston, IL—1960s peace movement—Great Law of Peace—peace art—Irish shaman–antisemitism–monetary & banking reform–ancient women’s peace center in Chicago On January 15, 2021, I posted these Tweets as part of a longer Twitter thread: 2/ On Jan. 6, 2021 the world […]

EVANSTON, IL: Elections Pop-up Newsletter (Jan. 8, 2021)

Local elections in Evanston, IL are on Feb. 23, 2021 (primary) and April 6, 2021 (general). This is a pop-up newsletter to provide practical information, to facilitate participation, and to highlight big picture issues by connecting our local issues with larger jurisdictions (county, state, regional, national, world). To:Evanston voters Evanston candidates*Evanston mediaEvanston political groupsEvanston activists in […]

BANKING POLITICS & THE MONEY QUESTION: Recent resources for democracy activists

“There is a long tradition of Americans contentiously debating the design of monetary institutions. In the nineteenth century, they clashed over fractional reserve banking, central banking, and the gold standard….[Christopher] Shaw sees Occupy Wall Street and the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign as evidence of a possible revival in banking politics.” — from book review […]

A Cook County Public Bank for Chicago + 130 Suburbs — best practical option for 2021?

Letter-to-editorSubmitted to The Chicago Sun-Times in response to Op-ed “Why Chicago should start public bank” (Dec. 7, 2020) Thanks to Daniel LaSpata, Matt Martin, Robert Peters, and Ameya Pawar for a very readable, understandable, and practical description of what a public bank could do for the City of Chicago, and why public banking is a missing […]