Anna, what a wonderful article. Money can so easily become the devil’s tail in any project or conversation, quietly steering intention away from what truly matters. I love how you open the space to question where real value actually lives beyond money itself. I’m very much looking forward to your upcoming book. I’ve been dwelling on this question for more than twenty years myself — from the perspective of someone who once lived inside the logic of Wall Street and now finds himself questioning the very archetype he once embodied. I’m sharing a link that may resonate with this dialogue. https://open.substack.com/pub/ernestopvanpeborgh/p/the-currency-of-life?r=3n9m3&utm_medium=ios
I really appreciate this. Money is so wrapped and warped in the power over paradigm. A personal related example......I co-ran very small not profitable nature connection programs in a very liberal/progressive small city. It was very meaningful work for everyone involved and the community highly valued them. We attempted to shift the way we do money. We had 8 regularly paid folks. Of the regular paid folks, some did not need the money from this work at all and a couple others were barely scraping by and those in between. We proposed a needs based model where those who had extra properties, savings, could easefully afford their choice of healthcare, etc opt to make less and those who were barely scraping by, had to rely on the modern healthcare system to get any kind of healthcare and it was usually subpar at best and often not aligned with their values, etc, could get funneled more money. Not a perfect fix but working towards something more relational, more community based. I was shocked when this did not go over well. It did not go over well with people who call themselves activists, who speak about standing for social justice and liberation yet had 2nd properties, who owned their homes outright with their hard earned money in high paying jobs. I left that community and group due to a lot of behavior not matching the words. We attempted many times and ways to co-creatively address the unconscious underpinnings of money, power, trauma, oppression, etc all rooted generations of power over, colonial, patriarchal systems. After years, I came to the conclusion that we were clearly not on the same page on some level. It's confusing because the language can match, the enthusiasm for new empowering ways can match, but then when it comes time for action, if the there arent ways to see some of the old unconscious underpinnings and navigate those together, it often collapses or falls apart.
I think your book becomes on of the resources I'll point to, when I continue my conversations around gifting ecology. I had the life changing opportunity to get Kai Sawyer some years ago in Totnes. It was truly a life changing experience and shaped how and what I did over the last years. The article is quite theoretical and I'm curious what you'd have in your book that's about lived experience. I also think about what influenced and still does influences me. On organisation that I can highl and recommend is the the Greaterthan collective. They offer a great collection of workshops and tools about the exact themes you're writing about in this article. Perhaps you are also influenced by some of their work.
You're touching a topic that deeply matters to me and if you're open, I'd love to connect.
You’ve put words to some of my own experiences—how certain actions cost some people more than others, and how for some, there is a great deal of invisible labor that’s difficult to account for within the ways we currently assign value. “This costs me more than it appears,” and “we enter with different portfolios” really resonate with me.
Reciprocity often feels absent. I’ve noticed that the skills and strengths I bring are either not recognized, or if they are named, they’re not highly valued. For example, I’ve been told that I set the emotional undercurrent for an organization and help facilitate conflict resolution. It was acknowledged, but not necessarily valued. And yet, this is such a vital role—holding vision and creating a container of transparency, accountability, and culture.
Talking about risk feels important too. Some of us have extensive support networks, while others are largely self-reliant, and that fundamentally changes what things cost us.
Portfolio thinking as a practice—and openly talking about risk—yes.
“This is where I have abundance. This costs me more than it seems. This is what I need in order to stay.”
I really got a lot out of this article because I feel that it named the currents flowing/jamming under any collective enterprise.
And it asks the question, who can be on-board for transparent conversations about what efforts truly cost the people who make them.
I feel that governance systems such as sociocracy might scaffold these conversations but the other issue that seems relevant and thorny is trauma. A lot People even with their trusts and second homes don’t feel safe. It’s not logical but somatic. And when they’re safety seems threaten they are going to attack, etc.
I don’t know how collective trust and care can be built so that honesty about real costs can acknowledged and integrated.
Money is, I think, a classic example of mistaking the map for the territory. What started out as a token to represent real stuff became a thing in itself - in our minds at least. As a means to facilitate exchange nobody could accumulate money because you had to have something to give in exchange. Accumulation of money was only possible with rents and interest payments and then of course you didn't need to exchange anything but money for what you wanted. You didn't have to produce anything or create any object of value or give anything of your time or talents. Accumulators are takers.
Money is a tool that has become deified. Imagine if we treated hammers, for example, in that way! Hitting things would be the order of the day whatever the consequences.
I like your means of exchange much better. The teams that have worked for me are those where we understood our strengths and needs and there was a flexibility in filling in gaps that appeared when someone was below par or absent. It is a meshing of abilities and reserves across time that doesn't ask for immediate repayment or even repayment from the same person or even at all if it isn't required.
We are in a time of great change and the success of emerging communities will very much depend on adopting this way of being.
You’re circling around something really important, and I love how you name and frame these dimensions of true collaboration. So often I find myself in the company of people with trust funds who want to pick my brain for free, or people asking for a nonprofit discount for my services even though a quick peek into their organization’s 990 confirms that they are getting paid more than I pay myself. 🤦♀️ The valuing of expertise, networks, risk etc. is so tricky, especially in settings where you also have to interact with legacy institutions that need to shoehorn everything into contract boilerplates and deliverables.
I love your articles, Anna. You articulate things so beautifully that I also struggle with - and you do so with such depth. It’s like you help me understand myself better - what’s underneath my struggle. Thank you for this. ♥️
A very recent, 8600-word explanation of the different kinds of money and how they are used and abused in different circumstances. By Hugh Hendry
Not terribly dense. Comprehensive and very insightful.
https://hughhendry.substack.com/p/bitcoin-and-the-problem-of-hardness [paywall]
-or-
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/modern-money-only-works-cheating-if-youre-long-bitcoin-or-not-long-bitcoin-read [free]
Thank you so much!
Sorry, that got paywalled since I last saw it. Here is a longer version:
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/modern-money-only-works-cheating-if-youre-long-bitcoin-or-not-long-bitcoin-read
Anna, what a wonderful article. Money can so easily become the devil’s tail in any project or conversation, quietly steering intention away from what truly matters. I love how you open the space to question where real value actually lives beyond money itself. I’m very much looking forward to your upcoming book. I’ve been dwelling on this question for more than twenty years myself — from the perspective of someone who once lived inside the logic of Wall Street and now finds himself questioning the very archetype he once embodied. I’m sharing a link that may resonate with this dialogue. https://open.substack.com/pub/ernestopvanpeborgh/p/the-currency-of-life?r=3n9m3&utm_medium=ios
I really appreciate this. Money is so wrapped and warped in the power over paradigm. A personal related example......I co-ran very small not profitable nature connection programs in a very liberal/progressive small city. It was very meaningful work for everyone involved and the community highly valued them. We attempted to shift the way we do money. We had 8 regularly paid folks. Of the regular paid folks, some did not need the money from this work at all and a couple others were barely scraping by and those in between. We proposed a needs based model where those who had extra properties, savings, could easefully afford their choice of healthcare, etc opt to make less and those who were barely scraping by, had to rely on the modern healthcare system to get any kind of healthcare and it was usually subpar at best and often not aligned with their values, etc, could get funneled more money. Not a perfect fix but working towards something more relational, more community based. I was shocked when this did not go over well. It did not go over well with people who call themselves activists, who speak about standing for social justice and liberation yet had 2nd properties, who owned their homes outright with their hard earned money in high paying jobs. I left that community and group due to a lot of behavior not matching the words. We attempted many times and ways to co-creatively address the unconscious underpinnings of money, power, trauma, oppression, etc all rooted generations of power over, colonial, patriarchal systems. After years, I came to the conclusion that we were clearly not on the same page on some level. It's confusing because the language can match, the enthusiasm for new empowering ways can match, but then when it comes time for action, if the there arent ways to see some of the old unconscious underpinnings and navigate those together, it often collapses or falls apart.
I think your book becomes on of the resources I'll point to, when I continue my conversations around gifting ecology. I had the life changing opportunity to get Kai Sawyer some years ago in Totnes. It was truly a life changing experience and shaped how and what I did over the last years. The article is quite theoretical and I'm curious what you'd have in your book that's about lived experience. I also think about what influenced and still does influences me. On organisation that I can highl and recommend is the the Greaterthan collective. They offer a great collection of workshops and tools about the exact themes you're writing about in this article. Perhaps you are also influenced by some of their work.
You're touching a topic that deeply matters to me and if you're open, I'd love to connect.
You’ve put words to some of my own experiences—how certain actions cost some people more than others, and how for some, there is a great deal of invisible labor that’s difficult to account for within the ways we currently assign value. “This costs me more than it appears,” and “we enter with different portfolios” really resonate with me.
Reciprocity often feels absent. I’ve noticed that the skills and strengths I bring are either not recognized, or if they are named, they’re not highly valued. For example, I’ve been told that I set the emotional undercurrent for an organization and help facilitate conflict resolution. It was acknowledged, but not necessarily valued. And yet, this is such a vital role—holding vision and creating a container of transparency, accountability, and culture.
Talking about risk feels important too. Some of us have extensive support networks, while others are largely self-reliant, and that fundamentally changes what things cost us.
Portfolio thinking as a practice—and openly talking about risk—yes.
“This is where I have abundance. This costs me more than it seems. This is what I need in order to stay.”
I'll be reflecting on this. Thank you!
Love you Anna 🤗😘
I really got a lot out of this article because I feel that it named the currents flowing/jamming under any collective enterprise.
And it asks the question, who can be on-board for transparent conversations about what efforts truly cost the people who make them.
I feel that governance systems such as sociocracy might scaffold these conversations but the other issue that seems relevant and thorny is trauma. A lot People even with their trusts and second homes don’t feel safe. It’s not logical but somatic. And when they’re safety seems threaten they are going to attack, etc.
I don’t know how collective trust and care can be built so that honesty about real costs can acknowledged and integrated.
Money is, I think, a classic example of mistaking the map for the territory. What started out as a token to represent real stuff became a thing in itself - in our minds at least. As a means to facilitate exchange nobody could accumulate money because you had to have something to give in exchange. Accumulation of money was only possible with rents and interest payments and then of course you didn't need to exchange anything but money for what you wanted. You didn't have to produce anything or create any object of value or give anything of your time or talents. Accumulators are takers.
Money is a tool that has become deified. Imagine if we treated hammers, for example, in that way! Hitting things would be the order of the day whatever the consequences.
I like your means of exchange much better. The teams that have worked for me are those where we understood our strengths and needs and there was a flexibility in filling in gaps that appeared when someone was below par or absent. It is a meshing of abilities and reserves across time that doesn't ask for immediate repayment or even repayment from the same person or even at all if it isn't required.
We are in a time of great change and the success of emerging communities will very much depend on adopting this way of being.
You’re circling around something really important, and I love how you name and frame these dimensions of true collaboration. So often I find myself in the company of people with trust funds who want to pick my brain for free, or people asking for a nonprofit discount for my services even though a quick peek into their organization’s 990 confirms that they are getting paid more than I pay myself. 🤦♀️ The valuing of expertise, networks, risk etc. is so tricky, especially in settings where you also have to interact with legacy institutions that need to shoehorn everything into contract boilerplates and deliverables.
I love your articles, Anna. You articulate things so beautifully that I also struggle with - and you do so with such depth. It’s like you help me understand myself better - what’s underneath my struggle. Thank you for this. ♥️