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| cofi:collaborative_finance [2026/05/19 08:45] – Matthew Slater | cofi:collaborative_finance [2026/05/20 11:25] (current) – [Collaborative Finance (CoFi)] Simon Grant |
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| Being organised at such a large scale ensures that only remote rich people design these systems and derive all the secondary benefits. But what if there was a more appropriate scale, in which trust actually played a role, in which profit was not the prime directive and was ploughed back into the system? In which the people taking risks helped to manage those risks? What if the so-called free market had space for small-scale financial services? House and car insurance in every street. What if pensions were managed by the local government which, after all is the provider of elderly care. What if we could invest in the very businesses that produce and sell our necessities, as a way of ensuring our own security? What if those businesses turned around and invested in us, making our security mutual? And what if this myriad of local human financial organisations could de-risk through voluntary federation? | Being organised at such a large scale ensures that only remote rich people design these systems and derive all the secondary benefits. But what if there was a more appropriate scale, in which trust actually played a role, in which profit was not the prime directive and was ploughed back into the system? In which the people taking risks helped to manage those risks? What if the so-called free market had space for small-scale financial services? House and car insurance in every street. What if pensions were managed by the local government which, after all is the provider of elderly care. What if we could invest in the very businesses that produce and sell our necessities, as a way of ensuring our own security? What if those businesses turned around and invested in us, making our security mutual? And what if this myriad of local human financial organisations could de-risk through voluntary federation? |
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| | One of the first assumptions we unpack is about the role of [[cofi:money]], the thing that integrates all our activities with the omnicidal capitalist machine, and makes *each of us* part of the problem. Money is really good for standardising accounting, taxation and fines but it is quite hard to obtain and hold on to! Maybe if we could enter into different financial relationships we could find other ways to settle debt, to account for exchange and to ensure the future? |
| ===== What are the benefits of collaborative finance? ===== | ===== What are the benefits of collaborative finance? ===== |
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| One of the first assumptions we unpack is about the role of [[cofi:money]], the thing that integrates all our activities with the omnicidal capitalist machine, and makes each of us part of the problem. | Mainstream financed is optimised to maximise profit for the owners by maximising revenue for the customers, at least as far as the cartel allows. The benefits of doing it another way then, are everything but maximal revenue! Instead finance done collaboratively between peers should be less fearful, more flexible and less legalistic, more fun, more participative, more considerate of the environment and community. It should build social bonds, it should provide more non-monetary and serendipitous returns. |
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| Its function is to standardise accounting, taxation and fines but it is quite hard to obtain and hold on to. Maybe if we could enter into different financial relationships we could find other ways to settle debt, to account for exchange and to ensure the future. | This is the dream, but the obstacles are many. Most people very conservative with their money and the incumbent system is the devil they know, it is more or less predictable, and is highly efficient. By contrast a young CoFi initiative has very many ways to fail and potentially lose its members' assets. For this reason it is important not to put all one's eggs in a single #cofi basket. |
| | Another challenge is finding each other and building real, trusting relationships. The people who are awake to the menace of the financial system are thinly spread, which makes it hard for them to meet, to associate, to build trust and to build institutions. |
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| This is the dream, but the obstacles are many. Perhaps the greatest challenge is finding each other and building real, trusting relationships. Many people are awake to the failings of the financial system, but they are thinly spread, which makes it hard to meet, to associate, to know each other, and to build trust and build institutions. In many ways the incumbent system is safer and more convenient than having to build new services, even for those who don't like or trust the institutions we have, and who see the wide mal-effects of participating in them. | |
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| ===== What can I do? ===== | ===== What can I do? ===== |
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| Building large scale, trustworthy institutions from scratch takes years or even decades of patience, yet commoners have achieved it many times before. Building societies took hold and thrived amongst the urban poor of the Industrial Revolution; savings pools can be found in nearly all the monetised societies of the world; the Mondragon Coop still dominates a whole region of Spain. But there is a lot of churn in this field. Many projects fail to get off the ground, fail because of governance or personality problems, and if successful, there is always the danger of being coopted and the temptation to sell out. | Finance is always a shared activity - you can't do it on your own! But you can start by deprogramming yourself from deep cultural indoctination. Reflect on the meanings of words: |
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| The most important thing is to re-frame many of the words and ideas we take for-granted. | * **Money** is a means, not an end in itself. |
| * Money is be a means, not an end in itself. | * **Value** is what YOU value, not the market. |
| * Value is what YOU value, not the market. | * **Work** is the creation of wealth for yourself or for your community. |
| * Work is the creation of wealth for yourself or for your community. | * **Wealth** is not the balance of your bank account but the quality of your life, your health and your relationships. |
| * Wealth is not the balance of your bank account but the quality of your life, your health and your relationships. | * **Security** is emotional and relational, not just physical. |
| * Security is emotional and relational, not just physical. | |
| With this grounding you can work with others to create wealth and security together. | With this grounding you can work with others to create wealth and security together. Building large scale, trustworthy institutions from scratch takes years or even decades of patience, yet commoners have achieved it many times before. Building societies took hold and thrived amongst the urban poor of the Industrial Revolution; savings pools can be found in nearly all the monetised societies of the world; the Mondragon Coop still dominates a whole region of Spain. But there is a lot of churn in this field. Many projects fail to get off the ground, often for governance or personality problems, and if successful, there is always the danger of being co-opted and the temptation to sell out. |
| So building a more collaborative financial system can only happen gradually, cautiously. There's a chance the global economy will crumble first, but if it does, the financial trust relations we have built will become even more important. | |
| | So building a more collaborative financial system can only happen gradually, cautiously, even if you feel the need for it painfully urgently. Even if you never achieve it, the process itself should be immensely valuable for building trust and community around you. |
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| ==== Come to the gathering ==== | ==== Come to the gathering ==== |
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| ===== Further resources ===== | ===== Further resources ===== |
| | Here we point to some examples of new and established projects. |
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| | The Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) is where it started for many of us: local groups serving each other and keeping account using abstract accounting units. The heyday was the 1990s, but many groups remain. |
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| | Any [ecovillage](https://ecovillage.org) involves collective managing of resources, whether it be around housing, energy, work, food or money. |
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| | A newer project, [Kin coop](https://kin.coop) offers fiscal hosting (a virtual bank account) to activist groups, saving them admin work, and ensuring their accounts are transparent. |
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| | In Stroud, UK the team that built this wiki [Stroud Commons](https://stroudcommons.org) is working on a whole cluster of projects related to resource management and finance . |
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| | [Local Loop Liverpool](https://localloop-merseyside.co.uk) is bringing small businesses together to cancel out paymets within the network, reducing cashflow risk for all of them. |
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| | The [Economic Space Agency](https://ecsa.io) is rethinking economics, accounting and money from the bottom up. |
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| @todo | In Kenya, [Grassroots Economics](https://grassrootseconomics.org) has developed its own tools and language to revive and update pre-colonial traditions of cooperation. |
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| ===== Related topics ===== | ===== Related topics ===== |