TimeBank Hours are what you might call a designer currency. Someone – Edgar Cahn, in this case – made them up. And what he made up was glaringly, almost alarmingly simple: an hour’s contribution earns just one unit of exchange.
Give an hour; get a credit. Spend the credit, receive an hour of service.
That’s it.
So totally inflexible is this currency that it fails even the barter test. Would doctors trade an hour of medical advice for an hour of babysitting? Would lawyers trade, hour for hour, with a person willing to weed the garden?
They won’t. They don’t.
It has taken close on a quarter century of intense effort for TimeBank Hours (also called Time Dollars) to gain any attention at the national level. And it is really no wonder. This currency lacks the usefulness and the raw power of regular money. In the calculus of economics 101, it makes no sense at all.
But with its rough-hewn simplicity TimeBank Hours have, it turns out, a certain magic.
In the social zones laid waste by the cold hard logic of economics run amok, it links one good turn with another to create, in the end, an ever-evolving web of trust.
So a doctor may just choose to offer one hour a month of medical advice to the community pot. And receive, in return, a session in the weekly TimeBank scrabble group. A lawyer may also be a great pastry maker, and make an offering of pies to the community pot. And seek out in turn…some gardening advice? Thereby opening the way for a person passionate about gardening to share that love.
One equals one is simple math that in this case does more than add up. It multiplies opportunities for all to give. It joins giving acts into ties that bind. It builds trust and caring and community.
TimeBank hours, it turns out, reweave community.
That may not say much in the world of contracts, utility, and efficiency, or even maximizing value. But as a complementary currency – an addition to money – a TimeBank hour is, quite literally, priceless.
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This is a fantastic article!
How can I start a time bank in my community?
Call 202-686-5200 X105 to receive information about starting a time bank.
WOW, amazing! I am so happy to find this. One more solution towards a world that makes sense. Any TimeBank in Miami?
I live in Miami FL and I’m crious about this too
are there any time bank organizations in the las vegas nevada area?? If there are any please let us know at bigjohn276@embarqmail.com..will look for your reply, thank you john petze
Here is one just getting started……
http://www.1equalshare.com/
Are there time banks in the Lower Merion, Phila., Delaware Co., Radnor near any of these?
Are there time banks in Radnor township, Lower Merion township, Delaware Co., Montgomery Co., Phila., or any adjoining areas, please? Thank you, Rosa Serota
Are there time banks in Lower Merion, Montgomery Co., Radnor township, Delaware Co., or the Phila. areas, please? Thank you, Rosa Serota
I was just talking with my boyfriend the other day about the days of bartering and wished they still exsisted so I could trade some of my time doing whatever I could, for someone that could help me put up a fence! It is funny that I came across an article in the AARP magazine about time banks! I wish they had one here in Kansas City
I am going to start one in our community. This is awesome. What a way to get people to pull together and to help those in need and to let people fill useful with out the use of money. Thank you Edgar Cahn for comming up with the idea. You are wonderful!
So what if say I’m a professional classic guitarist, and I invite members of my time bank to come to my home to listen to classical guitar playing for 1 1/2 hours. Six people attend, each of whom use up 1 1/2 hrs of their account, right?
So do I, as the classical guitarist who gave 1 1/2 hours of my time, get 9 hours in return? I’m not trying to be difficult, just want to understand.
And, say I’m driving to a major town 5 hrs away, and offer time bank members a ride. They meet me at my home, and where I drop them off in the major town is on my way. Really, they cost me no additional time, hardly anything in gas, so how would you work the time given and received?