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TIME BANKS
Time Banks, Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS), Local Exchange Systems (Systeme de Exchange Locale – SEL in French), Timedollar… these are a sample of the most important definitions of an incredibly simple concept, which, in its most basic and perhaps most cynical formulation, could be paraphrased with: do ut des.
To use a less dry tone, one could also call it “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” or, if we want to be really good, “Do unto others as you would have done to you…”
There are those who would find the expression ‘Time is money’ the most adequate (or rather, ‘time is ALREADY money’). However you want to call it, the question revolves around the principle of the exchange of time. It is an idea based on a currency that is extremely precious and equally rare nowadays: the trust between people. It is a mechanism that creates communities, that favors participation, that values the abilities and interests of each single individual.
Though at first glance it might seem a little complex, the time bank, in its various forms, results in simplifying the lives of its users, and makes them less dependent on the need for money in the bank, by which we mean the traditional kind of bank. But lets try to understand what Time Banks are and how they work. And maybe we too will become time bankers.
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