And speaking of money, there are other words for it. Cheddar, bread. Deniro. And local currency and crypto assurance. Our community has a lot of questions about this. Is local currency each legal . So we have on facebook all right, keep tweeting, and la toy a. Throughout the show, using ajamstream. Chapter when you lose trust in the dollar . From baltimore to south dakota, there are 100 local occurrences in the works, whether visual occurrences or coins, the goal is to reinvigorate local economies and foster pride. Critics argue that community occurrences dont stand the test of time. So can alternative occurrences sustain communities . Laura aldredge, shes an economist who studies occurrences. Berkshires, a local county in massachusetts. And laura, most viewers are probably wondering, in america, we have the currency, the almighty dollar, and is starting your own occurrence even legal . Its legal. If you listen to the part from the constitution that was read, its illegal to create coins, but its legal to create Paper Currency as long as it looks substantially different from the u. S. Dollar. So you cant make local currency that looks just like the dollar or is similar to it, and as long as the dominations are equal to or greater than 1. So you cant create a 50cent bill. And the other key thing, the income thats earned off of that currency has to be claimed for irs purposes, so you cant use the local currency to avoid taxation, but as long as you follow the rules, its legal. So at the local level. Right, it cant be used for taxes. Thank you for answering andrews questions. Is this a lame fad like lava lamps, and pet rocks, or is there deep historical roots here . There are historical roots that go way way back, but theres a recent trend that goes along. I think with the financial crisis, in 2007 and 2009 where people lost trust in the u. S. Banks, and people have lost some of the trust they had in the dollar, but also, i think it goes handinhand with the buy local movement that has been grown and seen in the past few years. A lot of the local organizations that put forth these local occurrences believe strongly in the buy local movement and try to encourage people to buy local. There are 100 occurrences in circulation, and 10 states have proposed them. And communities are tweeting in, there might be pushback. Scott says that he loves local currency and he says that i have more berk shares in my wallet than the dollars how do we know what the currency is worth . Laura, do you want to answer . Well, most of the local occurrences are tied to the dollar, and one unit of the currency is equal to 1 dollar, so if you go to the Grocery Store that accepts the local currency and you want to buy a 5 gal of milk, you can pay in dollars or the local currency, so you have to have a group of businesses that accept it. And thats where the difficulty can come in, encouraging both the groups and the producers and the suppliers that this is something that they should take part of. Alice, youre from berkshire, massachusetts, and youve been using the berkshare, and what prompted you to use the local currency . Its an area in the eastern United States that is pretty far from the center of government. And we have a long history of taking care of our own problems, and we saw the the problem of chain Stores Coming in and taking over from locally owned stores, and berkshares are one way to identify the locally owned businesses and keep our money here so we can support all of the jobs and the tax bases here. Brian just wrote in and said can you speak a little bit more on that, alex . They might not be a panacea, but they are a local tool in the region, so we dont have to wait around for government stens and berkshares are a nonprofit organization, and its democratically run, a board of directors run by the people of this region, and we can decide what our currency looks like, we can, with our occurrence, we can identify our local heroes and be landscaped that we take pride in. And we can support the businesses owned by the people in our region who are employing people here and playing to our tax base. We just heard alex, but the currency is not regulated by the bank or the government. And how do you maintain oversight . This is where the negative side comes in from an economists point of view. About 40 stays in the community. But if you buy at a big box store, only 13 stays, and there are real reasons why this is good for the community. But you dont have the protection that the u. S. Dollar has. If you put your money in the bank, and most of you have seen that at the bank with all of the signs, that protects your money, so if, for some reason, your bank does go under, you would get your money back, as long as you had 250,000 in your account. With the local currencies, you dont have that same protection, so i think they could be used for small purchases and for smaller transactions but as an economist, i wouldnt recommend someone putting a lot of their wealth into local occurrence. But on the website, it shows a guy who wants to stay in a hotel and you can get a 5 discount using the berkshares, and he uses his money to get the 100 to pay for the hotel. And he can get the discount and keep the money local. And there are 100 Companies Using it. But what happens when a local currency goes digital . Coming up, the founder of mazza coin. How it could be a game changer for native american Al Jazeera America presents a global finacial powerhouse the Roman Catholic church, they have an enormous amount of power accusations of corruption. There is a portion of the budget that takes care of all the clerical abuse issues. Now we follow the money and take you inside the vaticans financial empire. When it comes to money, this is one of the sloppiest organizations on earth. Al Jazeera America presents. Holy money only on Al Jazeera America both my parents are journalists. My grandfathers are journalists. Its just something thats in the blood. There are so many stories out there that need to be told. We want to go in to the trenches, we want to go in the corners that are less looked at. Everyone at Al Jazeera America is dedicated to tell the story the best way that it can be told. Welcome back, and were looking at alternative currencies to the dollar. Coming out of lakota nation in south dakota, theyre testing the mazza coin. 70 live below the poverty line, despite the millions coming into the reservation, but mazza coin hopes to change that. Youre in the second poorest county in the nation, and you could be lobbying for other things, education, and funding, but what triggered the idea for a currency . Basically the need to raise the standard of living for the lakota people. Youre very right when you say that 90 are below the poverty line. We have people in abandoned vehicles, and we have twobedroom houses that have whole families. And this is unacceptable in america, native america in general. And this is unacceptable and we need to find the solution. Were constantly relying on the department of interior and the federal government has proved ineffective, so the responsibility is ours. So i recognized that, just the ability for crypto currency to potentially change that. Its a brave new world for finance. And i look forward to having the lakota, not only the lakota nation, but all Indigenous People in general to explore this brave new world. And see what crypto currency can do and prove the theory correct. Speaking of a brave new world, the irs today said bitcoin is not currency and how is mazacoin different from bitcoin . Its zet aucoin, and its based on the same. We are being unique to ourselves. Were working on a comprehensive tax structure within the tribes commercial code to build a tax base with crypto occurrences, and mazacoin obviously. But we talked about regulation oversight. And taxation is a fact of life. Thats what goes to schools and roads. And it needs to be down. A tax structure. Our community is fascinated by the mazacoin why is this so important to the success of mazacoin . Because it does provide one more Building Block for sovereignty. What people dont understand, native americans are considered wards of the federal government. And we are basically federal property. Were the only ones on the planet that have this designation, and we need to free ourselves from that, and to do that, we have to establish certain things to augment and showcase our sovereignty. We already have a constitution, a unique culture and language and we have our own flag, and now we have our own currency. These are Building Blocks toward the eventual goal as a full sovereign entity, and thats where well be able to build on that nation to nation relationship. And not just between the tribes and the federal government, but tribes and the foreign states like russia, the ukraine, spain, pakistan. I mean, think about this. When the issue thats happening in crimea, as a sovereign state, the tribes would have the unique ability to go there as completely neutral observers and help them northbound through that or help them facilitate a transfer of power, transfer of government, whatever ends up happening, but we would have the ability to be a neutral state to help facilitate this. All right, laura, im going to get you in this conversation. Mazacoin might be the switzerland of north america, but do you think that individuals and companies will invest in the mazacoin . I think that crypto occurrences is very interesting, and its so new that i dont think so that congressmen know how to handle it or consumers or businesses know how they want to handle it. There are difficulties in this, and i have a question for emmet. Im curious, if 97 of people live below the poverty line, im assuming that many of them dont have the hightech equipment that they need for crypto occurrences or others and how do you handle that . Thats so ironic. We have so few people with smart phones or tablets. Technology is a base level. Tablets are now so inexpensive, anybody can get them. And mazacoin has its own app, so you can have it on your tablet. You can go to the College Center and get online. Download standard windows as, and as far as the technology, you know, its there. But its only there at a base level. So i think by deploying it further, it really encourages foundation. I want to get our on Line Community conversation in on this. They have been tweeting in a lot. Alot. Theres a lot about the heart of the currency and can you talk about that . One of the things thats unique is the fact that we have a virtual lack of everything as far as an economic base. You cant buy a tv in pine ridge. You cant buy clothing. About 85 of our goods and Services Come from off of the reservation. Because you know, everybody has this misconception that the reservation is impoverished, which it is, but theres money there. And it comes in through the former, you know, the federal subsidies every month, welfare, child support, different social programs, the casino payroll, and the tribal payroll. Paiute, one question its a good question, what happens if mazacoin doesnt work . One of the things, the leadership and myself as the founder have to basically stand up and say, we tried it, it didnt work, whats next . I think it would be interesting if American Leadership did the same thing. When was the last time president obama went on camera and said, i messed up, i take responsibility, lets go forward. But thats whats great about the crypto currency, really quick, they have been so supportive, when there is a problem, they band together and kind of a hive mind to figure out a solution for t and really quick, you mentioned before about oversight, i transferred, i moved part of our arrive to a more secure drive, and within like 15 minutes, i had probably 100 emails and messages from all over of people asking me, hey, were seeing movement from mazacoin, millions are being moved and whats going on . So within 15 minutes, the community provided its own oversight to say, hey, were noticing this, and whats going on, so the oversight is there, and again, were giving power back to the people. Well, paiute, today you and alice are inspiring the Community Members members and an Inspiring Community member joins us. Consider this the news of the day plus so much more. We begin with the government shutdown. Answers to the questions no one else will ask. It seems like they cant agree to anything in washington no matter what. Antonio mora, Award Winning and hard hitting. Weve heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. Theres no status quo, just the bottom line. But, what about buying shares in a professional athlete . Real perspective, consider this on Al Jazeera America these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested these people have chased a president from power, theyve torn down a state. Whats clear is that people dont just need protection, they need assistance. The local economy, introducing things like alternative currencies, and even bitcoin, you know, currencies and all of these other things, is really only trying to institute certain reforms, to mitigate the effects of all of the mess that we are in, and this is why i concluded that all of that stuff is no more helpful than rearranging deck chairs on the titanic, because this whole thing is going to come tumbling down. Were back looking at the local currency movement. Thats larry chang, who wrote change of heart. And we have tom mac on the other end of the currency life cycle. Youve been trying to get a currency off the ground in new n new york and whats your question for our guest . Were trying to start a local currency called North Country hours. The northern part of no, between canada. And st. Lawrence county is the second poorest in the state. So we were looking for ways to engage local activists as a way to promote global change. And so i have a question for alice. Upcoming with local businesses to accept the currency. One of the first things that we did was form partnerships with local banks, and were lucky enough to have five Community Banks here in the berkshires, and they all participate in the berk share program. And they have storefronts on main street. Everybody uses hem and knows the bankers and the bankers know everybody in the community and the business people. So that partnership is really fundamental to the success of berkshares, and it means that the overhead of berkshares itself is very low. And then that has been the key to how we have gained legitimacy with the wednesday community. Latoya alice. Well, our berkshare currency is not meant to be devaluing the National Currency or anything, but its meant to be a complimentary currency that can react to local conditions better than the National Currency can. Were not looking to devalue it, but fill the gap that we see in the local communities. Right, but the community is bringing up that we might have local consequences. Steven notes thats a mouthful. And laura, can you kind of break it down . That is a mouthful. These local currencies, like alice was just saying, they dont in any way compete with the National Currency. The berkshares, from what i read, it has done a great job, 400 plus, and businesses at the berkshires, and its a local program. Theyre not trying to expand it nationally or even regionally. So i dont see right now it being a problem as far as competing with the u. S. Dollar. Its more keeping the money local. Problem is starting a new one really is getting from both sides, people who want to use the currency and people who wont accept it. If you dont have enough businesses that accept your currency, people dont want to exchange their dollars into whatever currency youre starting, so i think that the most important thing from the start is to get a good core of businesses that will participate. Im assuming that was aimed at me . I guess i can say that because it was named at mazacoin. If you have a coin, and you want to trade it in for mazacoin, were going to be establishing walk up changes. A variety of crypto currencies, so if we try that with our casino operations, its conceivable a person could come up and trade their bitcoins for mazacoin very seamlessly. If you win at the casino, you could be cashed out, or mazacoin or bitcoin. What were talking about is the next generation of financial transactions. Its completely secure. The whole target pack. It doesnt happen with crypto currencies because theres no stolen. Thanks to all of our guests and the community for weighing in. The conversation always continues online. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are ordered to leave urban areas in kenya or face prosecution. Hello from doha. The world news from al jazeera. Alleged war crimes in sri lanka. The United Nations investigates. Venezuela arrests three generals, accusing them of plotting to overthrow nicolas maduro