The End of Money and the Future of Civilization

This is the third in a series of the author's books on money, and addresses the issues in the context of the wider future of civilisation, asking if we can make the transformation from a system based on debt and exponential growth to more sustainable and egalitarian model. The four necessary goals are to put an end to unnecessary growth and wasteful production of weapons and junk; to enable a transition to a sustainable, steady state economy; to restore a large measure of local control over local affairs and enable the emergence of human scale institutions; and lastly to promote non-violent resolution of the inevitable conflicts.

We are currently in a destructive caterpillar mode so far as nature is concerned, and need to move beyond this in order to exist harmoniously with nature. The existing system has given rise to a huge concentration of wealth and power in the financial sector, which effectively controls the policies of central banks and governments (Greco makes many references to the work of Carroll Quigley), and helps coordinate a move towards an authoritarian world order, the fruits of which are becoming evident in the wake of the manufactured war on terror. While the author gives an overview of a sustainable and equitable system, the question (as I observe above) is always is how to bring this about given the power structures within the current system. It is all very well saying what needs to happen, but enabling it to happen is another matter altogether especially when using phrases such as 'need to' and 'must be.' Only a major crisis of civilisation it is likely to provide the necessary momentum. However, it is important to read books such as this so as to grasp the possibilities.