Interview by Mark McGivern, Anthroposophical Society in Canada, with T. Michael Cox on his new book Money for a Threefold Society
MM: Give us a brief description of the contents.
TMC: Money for a Threefold Society explores how a new money system can lead to positive social change, following Rudolf Steiner’s indications. On Amazon there is a Kindle eBook sample that provides a free look at the Table of Contents and a Roadmap that overviews the whole book.
The book is a mixture of theoretical descriptions and stories involving fictional characters, who bring the theory to life in an imaginative way. It starts small, with a minimal implementation of the new money system involving just three people, which by the end expands to become a large regional network, where conventional currency has been completely replaced by the new money, threefold dollars, and a fully articulated threefold social organism has come into being.
MM: How did you come to the realization that a new money system was needed?
TMC: Steiner wrote about a new kind of money in the latter part of Chapter 3 of his book, Towards Social Renewal, where he says that money needs to be administered, not by governments, but by bodies of the economic organization. In my book, I build on Steiner’s indications for a new currency, and imagine how such an administrative body, called a financial community, might work.
Steiner also spoke about a different kind of money in the last few lectures of World Economy, which he gave in 1922, right as massive hyperinflation in the German Papiermark was occurring – a situation that just a few weeks later led him to place a temporary hold on the whole social threefolding movement in Central Europe.
After that, Steiner did not say anything more about his ideas for a non-inflationary, asset-based money system. However, I believe his indications for a new money system are essential to bringing about social threefolding – because money and financing are closely tied to ownership, including the private-social ownership framework he describes, in which property is owned by a social body, who transfers it from one competent private manager to another. In my book, I explore how all these things fit together: money, ownership, and social threefolding.
MM: What inspired you to write this book?
TMC: Well, first of all, I had been reading and thinking about Steiner’s threefold social organism for decades. Then several years ago I stumbled upon the WIR Bank, which has been working with a different money system in Switzerland since the 1930s. I did a bit of research and learned that the founders of the WIR Bank had been in close contact with Steiner in the 1920s, but apparently after some disagreements, had parted ways.
However, I noticed how the WIR Bank’s money system was, in many ways, close to what Steiner was indicating. Thinking about the WIR money system, I realized that with a few tweaks, it could serve as a basis for the separation of economy and state, and bring about the threefold social organism. As I wrote out my thoughts, more details became clear, which eventually evolved into this book.
MM: What need do you think it will fill?
TMC: The social threefolding movement needs to be reinvigorated in our times. Young people in particular who want to bring about positive social change need a practical blueprint as to how to achieve this – and this is what my book provides. Everyone who wants to create a better society for future generations should read it.
For more details about Money for a Threefold Society and how to order, click > here