Doing Business in a New Way

Greetings, and welcome to nearly half-way through 2012!

In today’s world, it’s easy to get so tied up in trying to keep our heads above water that it seems nearly impossible to find time to stop and smell the roses. Most of us are over-worked, under-paid and wound up so tight in the ever-increasing squeeze that we fail to take a moment and reflect on how good life actually is and how much we’ve accomplished.

Since day one, we struggled with this at the American Open Currency Standard. Even now, it seems that as soon as we’re poised to enjoy the fruits of our labor with one successful project, it’s time to move on to the next. This can become demoralizing, especially not knowing where the finish line is and how long it will take to get there.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” – Thomas Jefferson

For me, I know what the future will bring. I understand enough about money, banking and currencies to clearly see that the system in place now is not sustainable, and will ultimately come to a spectacular finish, taking with it most of what we consider “life as we know it”. I don’t bother predicting when this day will come. Instead, for me, the real question is: do we have enough time to do something about it?

Here at the AOCS, we’re working hard to be part of the solution. I’m continually amazed at how well we are able to stay focused on our mission of restoring honest money, keep the bills paid and continually pioneer new and better ways to reach our goals. I would like to personally thank my teammates for the dedication and skills that you bring to the table.

So where exactly are we going? Last week, I had a rare opportunity to present for our partners and teammates the full spectrum of the AOCS vision, mission and strategy. We discussed how all the various pieces of our puzzle fit together, and how they all contribute to one goal: Commodity Banking. What? Commodity Banking : you’re going to hear a lot about it over the next year. Some of the biggest names in the industry are coming together to help make it a reality.

What exactly is Commodity Banking? It’s the end-game. It is the finish line. It’s the system that can be used by every man to store value in hard assets and easily use it to pay rent, utility bills, and buy food without ever having to touch federal reserve notes. And with the trailblazing work being done by our Lakota nation partners, it’s a lot closer than you may think. I encourage you to explore it in detail.

But be warned: we’re heading into uncharted territory. As new systems are created based on free-market principles, void of government coercion and interference, a lot of questions and concerns are uncovered: can a company create its own bond program to raise capital? Can a Native bank be trusted? Is a privately-minted currency more reliable than the government’s?

Doing business in a new way means new opportunities and new risks. As the groundwork is laid for what the future will bring for money and banking, a new set of rules will be written for what is and isn’t acceptable. The difference now is that the market will decide who can be trusted, what constitutes a ‘fair deal’, who wins or loses, and just exactly what will succeed in the marketplace.

I encourage you to take a moment and catch up on our updates from the last few months. If you see the future as I do, you may agree that we have the potential to avoid or at least seriously reduce the impact the financial collapse will have on us, our families and our communities. The tools for our own salvation are in hand. The real question is if we’re willing to think and act differently, and do both of these now.

Until next month,

Rob Gray
Executive Director
American Open Currency Standard