Someone in the DA forum asked what are people doing about retirement savings, pension funds, college funds for kids, etc.; and asked what alternatives people are investing in.
As this person so eloquently pointed out: “It’s one thing to believe in the impending collapse of our financial system, and it’s quite another to voluntary divest of that system in preparation for its demise …”
My response:
I have voluntarily divested. No Wall Street funds or things of that kind. I keep a few thousand dollars in a bank as an emergency repair fund for my house, but may end up investing even that in some sort of local business.
I am an investor in a permaculture education farm, a grassroots indie film, and a small café that’s a learning space. But I haven’t earned any money from those, and if the money I invested were to disappear, I wouldn’t be much troubled (though I do have great regard for these organizations/projects and I’m hoping they succeed).
I own my home outright. Love it and have turned it into a learning space and community asset. It is my workplace: office and studio. But would sell it if I had to. Understanding that there’s no guarantee I would get what I put into it, let alone more.
Part of Deep Adaptation for me is emphasizing social capital over money capital. Social capital is much more durable and flexible than financial capital.
Also intellectual and experiential capital, such as skills learned.