(I am sitting on a panel at SIBOS 2011 in Toronto Sept 19-21st speaking on the subject of New Economies – this post represents the angle that I take on the subject)
With images of people rushing into the Libyan dictator’s compound like the current from a great tsunami reshaping the landscape in a matter of minutes, I reflect on the obvious metaphor. A quick Google search on “Social Current” reveals almost nothing – except “Social Issues and Current Events”. Well, close, but not quite…
I hate to break the news to folks but Social Current and Social Currency are the exact same thing.
For example, the ex-Egyptian President had plenty of money and plenty of oil, and plenty of guns – all the markings of wealth and power. Yet he was challenged and defeated by Social Currency. If there were a strict market driven conversion factor for Egyptian Social Currency, it would probably comp out at around 100 Billion dollars. So there is a conversion factor in case anyone is interested.
Will the real economy please stand up
Anyone who does not believe that social currency exists today and is actively traded, stored, and exchanged in quantities far greater than financial currency, is looking in the wrong end of their binoculars. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the economy denominated in social currency is far greater than the economy denominated in financial currency.
Dollar spelled backwards is….
In the past, I have used the word “Rallod” as a placeholder for all VALUE that is NOT directly articulated with Dollars. In fact, we could say that the Sun delivers Rallods to planet Earth and humans harvest what are called “natural resources” which are then converted to Dollars for storage, trade, and exchange. The problem is that Rallods don’t have a financial “system” of their own. Rallods have been invisible – until now.
Money can’t buy me Love…
Not to get too fluffy here, but try to produce an airplane, a sandwich, or a surgical procedure without intellect, creativity, compassion, empathy, ethics, social values, or community awareness. None of these things show up on the typical Wall Street Financial report balance sheet. However, the absence of these things can quickly shows up in the liabilities column when confronted by social current.
Syria is in the midst of a social currency conversion process as are Greece, Tunisia, London, Israel, and France, etc. Not to mention Yemen, China, Iran, and quite notably, the United States.
The Challenge then is to articulate ALL value in an economic system.
I believe this to be the genesis of the next economy. I can also say with quite a bit of optimism, that it is well underway, we have past the point of no return, it’s a done deal, we are all interchanging Rallods and Dollars every day.
People are learning how to store, and exchange Rallods. They really are – in fact, that’s where the majority of innovation in the world is occurring today.
**************
New economies
Is money the only form of transaction value and wealth? What about social currencies? We will expose you to new thinking on new economies such as the trust economy, the intention economy, the relationship economy, the social economy and the ethical economy.
Already confirmed:
- Jerry Michalski, Founder – The REXpedition
- Art Brock, Co-Founder – Metacurrency Project
- Dan Robles, Founder – Director – The Ingenesist Project
- Umair Haque, Director Havas Media Lab and Author New Capitalist Manifesto > Via Skype
- Gregory J. Rader, Blogger – InTheSpiral
- Doc Searls, VRM initiative and Alumnus Fellow – Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard
- Craig Burton, Founder of Novell, and Founder of The Burton Group, [blog]
Gordon Rae
I’m troubled by the sleight of hand in your argument, First you claim that Mubarak was toppled by social currency (but offer nothing in support), then you assert that IF there were a market driven value on social currency, it would be USD 100BN (again, without evidence or logic and then you drop the hypothetical and assert it as some kind of a fact. I am very wary when I see people in the banking industry building abstract models without some solid grounding in evidence. This sounds like another attempt to securitize something that is emotional and cultural, and tidy away all the data that makes bankers uncomfortable.
Anonymous
First; I am not of the banking industry, I am an Engineer
Second, it would seem that Mr Mubarak appearing before an Egyptian People’s court is sufficient evident to suggest that his social currency had been exhausted. But you are correct, I should have stated as much. I also suggested social currency would “Probably” comp (short for comparable) out at 100B – that is if you remove Iraq as an outlier coming in at about 10X as much for accomplishing a similar result. The number comes from the value of seized assets. But again, you are correct since the term “Probably” is very confusing and media coverage has been light requiring further clarification on my part. Your winning streak continues because it is clear that culture and emotions are not already securitized by abstract economic models driven by consumption and greed.
The point of the article – and I admit that it’s a stretch – is that social currency can have a greater impact on global priorities than Wall Street. Sorry you missed it.
By the way, when a licensed professional engineer is allowed to deliver a keynote to the world premier financial services convention, that really is a cause for celebration.
Again thank you for your comments.
Anonymous
Another great article Dan
David de Weerdt
The person who chose the group appearing with you on SIBOS “New Economies” panel is certainly someone I’d be happy to encounter and converse with. What a great line-up.
Dan Robles
Please contact @Petervan on twitter. He is the person who put this together