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WHAT does a WEconomy look like?

A successful WEconomy is a robust, resilient local economy fueled by the power of the Sustainable Communities Framework (SCF), a new economic paradigm researched and developed by American 501c3 non-profit organization, the Sustainable Communities Foundation, providing the technology and strategies, plus Money, Marketplace, and Mentors needed to help restore communities in crisis and build sustainable prosperity in neighborhoods anywhere.Over a decade of research yielded detailed evidence of how prosperous communities historically thrived, and continue to worldwide, without the biases, constraints and limitations of the prevailing financial system embodied by national currencies issued primarily in debt by private banks, with interest.The SCF now brings historical models into modern context primarily via three breakthrough technologies: 1) a truly free digital marketplace open to all residents that literally pays its users to set up shop and transact with each other; 2) an online and physical jobs & entrepreneurship development ecosystem featuring incubation, acceleration, mentoring, apprenticeships, fellowships and skills training; 3) a freely available digital community currency (a local dollar) spent into the community by trusted local non-profits, providing living wages, venture grants and no-interest loans. These three primary assets, together, support regional innovation, meaningFULL employment, and ample nutrition...all leading to sustainable prosperity.Please let us know your thoughts on how it would work for you. Just email us at Prosperity@WEconomy.UsA bit more detail on the three M's:1. A truly FREEMARKETplace™ where residents freely list their goods & services for sale & hire, for free.• The FREEMARKETplace will pay residents in local dollars to "hang a shingle" in the marketplace and try out the platform. If they list a product, or introduce the marketplace to others—we pay for that promotion too! More local commerce among regional consumers and producers helps revenue and profits stay local longer—known as the "local multiplier effect"—leading to the creation of more community capital, shared more equitably among local stakeholders—that's us, the community... not just private bank shareholders.• The FREEMARKETplace is “Better than Barter”™, not only for its convenience, like online platforms such as Facebook Marketplace or eBay or Etsy, but where the same local dollars can be used at any business wishing to attract more customers and increase their revenue—i.e., "Buy Local" campaigns. And, unlike profits at big box and chain stores where franchise fees, revenue and profits are extracted from the community to corporate banking centers domestic and abroad, WEconomy communities enjoy the local multiplier effect, circulating local dollars—typically 4-8x further than US dollars can.2. A powerful Jobs & Innovation Hub, whether utilized physically or virtually, combining all the resources of an employment center and leading research university incubator.• Anytime you have that BIG idea, you'll now have the tools and guidance to help you take it to market. Our Entrepreneurship programs have been refined over decades, supporting aspiring entrepreneurs by providing critical resources from product development to startup launch, including mentorship, incubation, and even fundraising after you've proven your project is market-ready. Our program ensures that "when you complete, you can compete"™.• If you already have a small business, our online “roadmaps” guide innovators and job creators in growing and testing their ideas and businesses safely before risking other people's money. And when finally ready to scale and seek outside investment, we can even show you how to thank your customers most—by sharing your success with them through Crowdfunding—turning stakeholders into shareholders of a business they already support.• Support from both global experts and area mentors—the most relevant advisor is usually still in business, and these types of mentors are motivated to perform here because a) WEconomy pays them for their service whatever amount they deem fair, plus b) they enjoy generous incentives such as choosing to exercise options to invest their earnings into early stage ventures emerging from our innovation hub, and c) a deep sense of pride and belonging helping so many local job creators follow their bliss and fortify their communities. Breaking through this common roadblock allows more talent to stay local, build legacy enterprises, generational wealth, and help their communities avoid crippling “brain drain”.• Businesses founded, funded and grown locally keep more neighbors employed and keep more profits local, not sending off homegrown capital to Wall Street brokers and offshore tax havens.• Our Workforce development and training programs build in-demand soft-skills and relevant work experience, helping businesses avoid mis-hires which can have devastating downstream effects to both teams and a company's competitiveness.• All this access to local capital expands local production capacity and increases regional GDP. But Gross Domestic Product is an outdated metric out of touch with the reality of local economic conditions. The WEconomy is driven by a metric we all relate to—Quality of Life (QoL, pronounced "cool" =:-)3. A first-ever digital community currency is used in the marketplace to pay for goods and services made or offered locally.• WEconomy currencies are simply a medium of exchange, on par with the US dollar, no different than things you likely use already, like grocery coupons, loyalty programs, or airline mileage awards.• There are over 5000 local currencies worldwide—a historic standard—still facilitating most transactions. There are also numerous local currencies in first world economies, like this one in California, but these are often stymied from mass adoption either by government restrictions or the margin-killing cost of having to print paper notes ("scrip") requiring expensive tactics to avoid counterfeiting. By contrast, WEconomy's "complementary" currency is digital—as simple as any banking app you may use, or even just a QR code—and we offer limitless ways to earn and spend. Freely available to all residents: there are no means tests, no FICO scores, no collateral, no subjective or artificial hurdles. We'll even pay you to just try it out.• Your WE-bank balance can be used anytime and in more places than just at shops supporting familiar “buy local” campaigns. You can spend your WEconomy money in the FREEMARKETplace just as you shop online now—same as using a debit/credit card, gift card, PayPal or Apple Cash. And with vendors who do business outside the FREEMARKETplace online, you can pay them Venmo style, with a digital “wallet” on your smartphone, or even with your own personal QR code that you can print and keep in your billfold. And unlike gift cards or paper coupons, you can’t accidentally lose your WEconomy money! And if you want to shop in a different region, WEconomy currencies are freely exchangeable with SCF currencies in other states.• Blocks of WEconomy currency grants are issued to and administered by qualified, stable, local non-profits and organizations you already know and trust, and who live in your community and share your values and goals. These organizations will donate money from their allotment of local currencies for community projects, make personal and business grants that match their mission, hire more local workers to expand operations; offer income to vital and otherwise hard-to-find volunteers...all expanding their organization's impact while paying living wages increasing Qualify of Life for their neighbors.

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WHY a WEconomy? Why now?

Because we all know the current economic system is broken, as a vast majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.• "In the 44 years since Reagan first started the practice of massive Republican tax cuts for the richest Americans, there has been a $50 trillion transfer of wealth from America’s working class into the money bins of our morbidly rich."• 3 individuals hold more wealth than 50% of all Americans combined, the top 1% have more wealth than 90% of all Americans combined (tax policy).• 90% of US jobs have been outsourced since 1980 (trade policy).• Creating public money is reserved for private banks (fiscal policy).• Only 7% of American small businesses that seek loans are approved.• 50% of Americans can’t get a loan to improve their lives or their communities (banking policy).So, if the Economic system is clearly broken, but each of the facts above are Policy related, do you think your political representatives have your best interest at heart?• The rules of elections, banking, taxation and trade are written by the same politicians commonly entering congress as median earners, yet most "coincidentally" become millionaires within two years of “public” service. What exactly are they teaching at the Capitol?In recent polls, 94% of Americans blamed wealthy political donors for political dysfunction, and 77% of registered voters said that “reducing the influence of special interests and corruption in Washington” was either the “single most” or a “very important” factor in deciding their votes.Are you better off than your parents?• 72% of Americans are not, and that # has increased 15% in just two years.Will you leave your children better off than you?• Barely half of Americans trade/own stock (other than what may be in their retirement plans).• More than 50% of Americans have less than $5000 in savings.Do you have enough money to pay your bills, much less chase your dreams?• 63% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and most will not qualify for an affordable loan.Do you love your job?• Most Americans surveyed say they only keep a job they hate because they literally cannot afford to lose their health insurance (that most can't afford to use for preventative care anyway—primarily just for catastrophes, which insurance companies regularly manage to deny by employing very small print deep in terms of service).• USA, the richest country in the history of the world, spends more per person on healthcare than any other country, yet American infant mortality is at 3rd world standards and our life expectancy has been shrinking for years, despite paying double, individually, for insurance than anywhere else.Do you believe that multinational mega-corporations are good for/to Americans?• 52 of the 100 biggest economies on earth are now corporations, bigger than most countries.• CEOs now make an average of 400x more than their workers. In 1965 it was 15x.• Corporations have never been larger or more profitable than right now.So, is "American" Capitalism really working for you?• The average American’s purchasing power has not risen since the 1960s.• The top 10% own 67% of the nation's wealth.So, does that help you see that status quo is not working for you . . . or for the vast majority of Americans? Because, if you weren't there to see it firsthand, quality of life was better for everyone, when everyone felt they had a fair chance. What if there was another economy built for the rest of us?• There is. Welcome to the WEconomy, "an economy for the rest of us".

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HOW is a WEconomy different from the U.S. economy?

Before we explain, it's important we all agree on what money is and is not. Many Americans are shocked to learn that there is no law against anyone creating money. In fact, Americans have always used "complementary" currencies. Often referred to as "scrip", prior to the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall), many companies, associations, banks, co-ops and municipalities issued their own money, but typically only to counter cash shortages or financial crises that were somewhat common. And yet, we have since seen several national financial crises, despite legislation designed to prevent it.It is also a surprise to many that, in the US, private banks currently own the privilege of creating new US dollars (not paper currency, but in a digital ledger) often even by borrowing your tax dollars from the Federal Reserve and then lending it back to you for a tidy profit (or choose to deny you a loan, as is now the case for a vast majority of Americans) based on their sole assessment of the risk you pose to their collecting sufficient returns from "helping" you out. Our system is one that starts and runs on debt. And while pure capitalists often insist everything should be for-profit, the system that enshrined the ethos "greed is good" has failed us systematically, and yet no banker was held responsible for the last meltdown they were found to cause directly through malfeasance. The WEconomy does not work for profit and neither encourages nor supports greed.Starting more or less in 1980, Americans have been ill-served by the debt-based system, reflected in the buying power of the common family not having increased since that time. Paradoxically, politicians funded by corporations and the top 1% have grown exponentially wealthy. This is partly what the WEconomy is designed to counter . . . by putting communities in charge of their own destinies, financially and productively. Similar frustrations led to the State of North Dakota to found a Public Bank, which operates for-profit, but whose profits are shared with residents as opposed to shareholders. Good read here.Lacking access to capital is perhaps the main reason holding back entrepreneurs, small businesses, communities, and naturally, our competitiveness as a nation. A WEconomy becomes the first path to rebuilding and restoring regional prosperity by providing ready access to virtually unlimited local capital. Alternative forms of money more common today are often referred to as "local", "community" or "virtual" currencies. These "people's" currencies take shape in the form of grocery coupons, airline miles and buy-local campaigns—things we all use happily every day. NOTE: WEconomy currencies, and most all local currencies in the world are not "crypto" currencies—they cannot be speculated on or lose value. They're just like U.S. dollars, only local currencies are limited in use to a regional area, just like how WEconomy digital currencies work on a state-by-state basis. In Ohio, the first state we created a currency for, we call it the BuckOH. In Michigan, planned to be our second state, they're named BUX.In contrast to what our textbooks insist is already a "free market" economy (hint: it is by no means free), WEconomy's FREEMARKETplace™ is like if Craigslist was safer, or if Facebook took payments, or if eBay sold only goods and services sourced locally, or if Bezos didn’t horde billions (without paying taxes) by selling cheap stuff on Amazon made by slave labor in China. For starters, the WEconomy's truly free FREEMARKETplace takes bartering into the 21st century by allowing anyone to shop for anything listed on the platform, or at local businesses that participate...without needing U.S. dollars. You can even open a shop of your own and sell anything you have or make. The FREEMARKETplace will even pay you just to try it out! And, yes, people with U.S. dollars can shop in the FREEMARKETplace, too, adding even more value to the regional economy in the process.WEconomy money is available to anyone in the region in several ways, including: 1) get paid a living wage by local non-profits and other organizations to do the important work that volunteers are otherwise asked to do for free; 2) earn competitive wages by providing services locally as an entrepreneur or small business, or even by just mentoring, advising, training the next crop of job creators from our innovation hub; 3) apply for grants for community improvements, 4) seek a grant to buy, launch or expand a business; 5) even simply purchase the local currency with U.S. dollars and enjoy a promotional bonus by shopping as you likely already do every day—online. Because not only can you use your new local money while digitally browsing the regional FREEMARKETplace, but equally important, you will use it to hire local workers and support small businesses. For a graphic illustrating what kinds of jobs thrive in a WEconomy, just click here.“Want something you saw online? Check your FREEMARKETplace first, because a neighbor may have it for sale, too. And not only can you pay for it from your WE-bank account, but that money then stays local and multiplies, enriching the local economy, not evaporating to Wall Street or to hidden accounts in foreign banks and tax havens.”

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The graphic below illustrates how a WEconomy circular economy/virtuous cycle fuels prosperity for all residents in any distressed community

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