Buying Time:Ithaca Hours struggles to keep current

Finger Lakes Community Newspapers ^ | 12/03/08 | Glynis Hart

[Behind Liberal Lines]

From the beginning, Ithaca Hours was tied closely to the activities and the personality of Paul Glover.

Glover's energetic championing of Hours included soliciting grants from a multitude of organizations, both local and national, ranging from Ben & Jerry's to the Whole Earth Quarterly. He fought to have Ithaca Money distributed more widely, such as taking on Center Ithaca when they balked at stocking the newsletter, and he spoke extensively and exhaustively to media ranging from local news outlets to international film crews. He networked with other local currency supporters and sold a mail-order "Hometown Money Starter Kit" for $20. Hours supporters met twice a month, at first, for potluck dinners.

Meanwhile, cracks were appearing from within the system. Since the Ithaca Hours were largely service oriented, their usefulness was limited. The exchange problem had never been solved to everyone's satisfaction, and after a certain point, Hours seemed to have spread as far as it was going to go.

Then because the currency was so closely tied to Glover himself, his relationship to the community began to affect people's faith in Hours. Signs that the attention was going to his head began to appear; in an e-mail to Peter Warshall of the Whole Earth Quarterly, Glover expounded:

"When I began to announce in October 1991 that Hours were better than dollars and that they were sweeping our country, I was lying because Hours were practically useless and few people had ever heard of them. By persistent creative lying, however, Hours have actually become extensively accepted, useful, and beneficial."

The Hours directory lists many services, such as massage and spiritual counseling, but it falls short on stuff like food.

Meanwhile, the Hours directory, which lists businesses and individuals willing to take the currency, is shrinking

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Ithaca is the City of Evil.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

"When I began to announce in October 1991 that Hours were better than dollars and that they were sweeping our country, I was lying because Hours were practically useless and few people had ever heard of them. By persistent creative lying, however, Hours have actually become extensively accepted, useful, and beneficial."

Sounds a little like he just admitted to securities fraud to me.

City of Evil bump:

[Oratam]

Arrest this guy already.

[mewzilla]

I was just thinking of you....

Milwaukee neighborhoods could print own money

:)

[ETL]

There are some beautiful state parks in and around Ithaca:

Ex: Watkins Glen:

[Ouderkirk]

Sounds a little like he just admitted to securities fraud to me.

tax fraud too !!!

[KarlInOhio]

"When I began to announce in October 1991 that Hours were better than dollars and that they were sweeping our country, I was lying because Hours were practically useless and few people had ever heard of them. By persistent creative lying, however, Hours have actually become extensively accepted, useful, and beneficial."

Sign him up for the Federal Reserve Board.

[mewzilla]

The Glen is exquisite and the surrounding wine country also well worth a visit.

Heaven knows Upstate could use more visitors. We sure can't get folks to live and work here.

[Ouderkirk]

Uh, Watkins Glen is in.....Watkins Glen, NY South end of Senaca Lake...not Cayuga Lake.

[gwilhelm56]

As a side note for fellow FReepers, Mr. Glover was the same said Individual who tried for several years to BAN all Vehicular TRAFFIC from the City LImits.
The more I think about ... Ithaca is even more Leftwing than SanFranSICKO!

[ETL]

Watkins Glen is in.....Watkins Glen, NY

That's why I wrote 'in and around Ithaca'. The entire area is loaded with gorgeous parks and waterfalls.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

By persistent creative lying,

The ends always justifies the means.

[Scothia]

When I lived in Ithaca in the 90s, I had a part-time job cleaning for a small home farming business. They paid me in Hours, which I then spent at the Farmer’s Market and various other venues. I felt like I was getting a fair deal for my effort.

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[Chode]

thank you...

[Behind Liberal Lines]

bfl?

Body for Life?
Birds in Forested Landscapes?

[neverdem]

bfl = bump for later

[tioga]

Watkins Glen is in Watkins Glen, NY....Ithaca has Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls.

[dayglored]

> When I lived in Ithaca in the 90s, I had a part-time job cleaning for a small home farming business. They paid me in Hours, which I then spent at the Farmer’s Market and various other venues. I felt like I was getting a fair deal for my effort.

I view Ithaca Hours as an interesting demonstration that paper money is simply a medium of exchange, nothing more. I've never viewed US Dollars in any other way. No intrinsic value, just a representation of potential value if somebody who has something you want will take the paper in exchange.

Having lived in or near Ithaca for 30 years, I will say that the Ithaca Hours experiment was one of the less disastrous ones. As long as one could find someone with a service you needed, and they accepted Hours, you could do fine.

Being able to buy at the Farmer's Market or Greenstar is good, but unless your other worldly needs are along the lines of spiritual healing or chiropractic services, you might be out of luck.

My (sliding) rate as a computer consultant was typically between $50 and $75 per hour. Why would I work for $10?

The Ithaca Hours site (http://www.ithacahours.org/ indicates that about 10,000 Hours are in circulation. That's $100,000, not bad for Ithaca, but small potatoes anywhere else.

[ETL]

One of my favorites in the area is Lucifer Falls in Robert H. Treman State Park. It's about 6 miles from Ithaca.

http://www.gowaterfalling.com/waterfalls/lucifer.shtml