The Genius of Money | Part III Interview

An interview with an Lynne Twist

-- Founding member of The Hunger Project, co-founder of the Pachamama Alliance, author of The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life.

At the beginning of the interview, Lynne told us her childhood story and background. It surprises me that she is so successful in her school life. At the same time, she has her very religious side, especially after the death of her father. She blames on herself for her father’s death, and was trying to do something to make up for it, to make her father proud. 

Then the Hunger Project came along, which gave her a platform to combine her public and religious life. She came to the realization that “the commons and communal values were much higher than individual values” (167). 

The later part of the interview got really deep with the talking about sufficiency and money. It is so deep that my brain could not process their talking. Instead, I just thought they are talking something so deep to make themselves higher than they are. 

Overall, I like the character of Lynne, who is sincere and kind, doing good for the humankind and the economic system. She thinks of beautiful things, such as turning money into a carrier that has taken her “deep into he soul of humanity”(169). I think I am just not as romantic as she is, and I rather to view money as practical as it is. It was interesting that there are so many different kinds of people exist on the plant. 

The Genius of Money by John Bloom

Part II Chapter 2. A Window into Transparency

The Desire for Connection through Finance (pg74-79)

“Transparency is a window into the other side of financial transactions” (75).

This chapter is talking about the relationship between money and our society. It begins with one of his friend’s story, which bring out his thesis statement: “the trust and accountability that comes of living in the same community, seeing each other at the marketplace, and the awareness that failing to pay a loan could have consequences for neighbors and the local economy” (74). The author points out the current banking condition: an unhealthy imbalance between the desire for economic gain vs. sustainability in the contest of our communities. 

He has used the article “Your Money” in The New York Times, Easton Bank & Trust, and the system of community farming as examples in explaining this concept. I like how he used the words that identify reasons “first…second…third” (78), making the passage easy to read. Reading the last few paragraphs, I found it funny how the abbreviation “CSA” appear in the passage, because the organization I am leading in USC is also called CSA. (Okay, let’s go back to the topic.) At the end, he went back talking about The New York Times article. Again affirm his statement that human relationship is important in today’s financial and banking world. 

The Genius of Money by John Bloom

Part I: 7. Begging to Differ - Charity at the Threshold (pg29-33)

In the chapter 7,“Begging to differ,” John Bloom provides a different perspective towards begging. He pointed out the fine line between begging as a social phenomenon in the olden days, compared to a sign to injustice in the society. As seen in the chapter, the two paintings – Beggars at the door and Feeding the Hungry, Bloom stated “the beggar’s condition did not symbolize injustice; it was nothing more than a fact of lie and object of pity.”

On the other hand, begging in a spiritual and religious context can be seen as a path towards enlightenment. It is through giving up all the materialistic presence that bridge the individuals towards liberation of the mind. Bloom also talked about how begging transformed itself through the Internet. Websites such as Cyberberg.com provide a way for people who are in need to ask for help, and at the same time fulfill donor’s desire to help and chartable nature. Begging has its negative side, but the act of giving also has its importance in humanity.

Genius of Money Part I: 12. Free Market Money in a Pop Iconomy (pg.47-50)

I like how the artists use money, the dollar bills as an art subject. “When artists focus attention on and use as subject matter such a common and desirable object as money, it takes on a new meaning simply by asking viewers to take pause at their own experience of physical money”(47). “By Co-opting these popular images, artists, along with a host of others in the Pop Art movement, were paralleling the emergent free market economy with a free market of images” (50).

This article is really concise but deliver a lot of information to make its readers to think. First the author was talking about artists, and how they use money as art subject. Then he transfer smoothly from the “work of art” to the talking about free market economy. The role of money played in the different systems: as values for accounting transactions, or systematic reward for competitive behavior. Toward the end of the article, the author refers back to the artists and make a parallel analogy to the free market economy.