A Brand New Scheme That Is About To Conquer The World ?
(April 23, 2019) | The library of things: could borrowing everything from drills to disco balls cut waste and save money? Never mind books: in a slightly tatty block in Oxford you can borrow all the things that usually cost a fortune to hire – and its advocates say it’s a scheme that is about to conquer the world
EARTH CUSTODIANS ... and save money?... This is cosmic duality and polarity in full swing. If you are not yet familiar with the Hermetic Principles, check this out: https://earthcustodians.net/blog/2017/10/16/the-mind-and-quest-for-truth-the-7-immutable-principles/
After having spent ourselves into oblivion, for the sake of good deals -- and thus precisely to save money: a few dollars here and there --- the irony is that "saving money" will lead society to its salvation and pave the way toward a money-free society.
Duality/polarity in a full loop bringing us back to square one, back into time "before" the inception of money... and until somebody decided to pen the Eden Tale to instill the need to possess Knowledge and therefore humans. We have been through quite an esoteric ride... and which is far from being over.
As we are about to reach a rock bottom, and the "powers that be" exposing themselves increasingly, the "obvious" will be soon the New Consensus.
A money-free system does not need to be enforced as it will emerge amid contradictory trends, which ultimately will bring it into full daylight as the only self-evident solution.
... Even paying a small fee to cover costs, we would save money, and space in our homes, and the benefits to the environment in waste prevented would be enormous. Indeed, as you browse for Oxford’s belt sander (£8 a week) and projector (£10 a night), you might decide, while you’re at it, to borrow a pressure washer for the patio (£10 a day), and add a disco ball (£5 a week) and chocolate fountain (ditto) for the party. You’ll live a cheaper, cleaner, more enjoyable and more sustainable life.
Because we still live in a for profit society, a small fee is charged. But we'd have many places like in a society free of currencies and managed by passionate handymen, eager to help out.
But for now, let's look at the big picture: why wasn't such a concept not successful enough 20 years ago for example? Simply because we were indoctrinated to possess things and... rely on credit cards -- also because such lots depended on funding.
Possessions are associated with a respective social rank, and our possessions determine who we are. But now the planet is beyond broke and Nature gravely suffers from overconsumerism. The end of this senseless materialistic quest is clearly nearing. And materialism had to teach us that.
To begin with they were just a Facebook group and a plan. Then 12 people came to their first meeting in September, since when they have grown to 16 volunteers, each with different skills to offer. Some work on the website, some rustle up donations and some run the Lot’s social media, to Herson’s great pleasure and relief. “We’re a community group,” he says. “The idea is that people should be involved.” The official launch was February, with any money they generate going back into the project.
This is Voluntaryism in action and the evidence that abundance will come from sharing and contributing. Voluntaryism heals all social PTSDs and brings about order because decisions rely on the "heart", instead of a wallet or bank card.
The saddest thing perhaps, is that such a solution begins to appear self-evident after millennia of sufferings. Will the message go through? Earth Custodians surely think so!
It’s possible that the financial crisis helped, ironically, by making people poorer and more thrifty. “But in some ways,” says the tech entrepreneur Gene Homicki, “they became victims of their own success.” Homicki is a cofounder of the West Seattle tool library, and of myTurn, which was a small side-project a decade ago, but now provides a platform to more than 400 Lots in North America, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Australia, Ghana, China and elsewhere. The problem, as he sees it, was always a matter of scale. “As they became more popular there were more items to manage, more people to manage,” he says, “and the technology to make that really efficient didn’t exist.”
We can see as how and why the need for a better infrastructure might indeed become a problem in a for profit society. But after the paradigm shift, people will be happy to get rid of their "stuff" to help others out, while knowing they can access them whenever needed. This is a win-win for everybody.
Of course, when that happens, corporations will begin to go out of business, and for good!
Homicki also talks about a change of mindset that happens quite rapidly once people can actually browse their local inventory, and see the items that are cheaply available nearby.
... and short on cash! Let's keep in mind that 78% of Americans go paycheck to paycheck and 40% are 500 dollars away from bankruptcy.
FULL ARTICLE
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/24/library-of-things-borrowing-scheme-conquer-world
How To Start A Library of Things - Toronto Tool Library
Library of things - BBC London News
Sacramento's Library of Things let's borrowers try new . . . things
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