Cahn making time for the community

TIME MAN: Professor Edgar Cahn, father of time banks. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A US law professor, reformer and founder of the "time banking" movement made his first New Zealand appearance speaking in the Masterton Town Hall yesterday.

Dr Edgar Cahn is a former counsel and speech-writer for Attorney-General Robert Kennedy, and has since been a watchdog for Native American rights and a reformer of legal education.

In 1995 he founded "time banking" - a new kind of currency he says "rewards people for what they can do for the community".

Dr Cahn was invited to Masterton by Living Economies Wairarapa, and event co-ordinator Helen Dew hoped the event would provide the energy to awaken the "dormant" beginnings of a time bank in this region.

It was Dr Cahn's first visit to New Zealand, having been invited to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the nation's first time bank in Lyttelton Harbour - which Mrs Dew said proved its worth in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake.

The meeting was attended by Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson and NZ First MP Ron Mark, as well as kaumatua Mike Kawana, of Rangitane o Wairarapa, who opened the meeting.

Dr Cahn said New Zealand is a "special culture that doesn't know how special it is ... you've got this ... idea that the environment should be respected".

Under time banking, one hour's work has the same value, no matter who does it. Dr Cahn said he had wanted to find a way to "measure well-being by our ability to care for each other".

He said in traditional economics something's value is based on demand, which increases with scarcity.

"So being a human being was worthless, because humans aren't scarce ... I'm not against the economic system but you can't let it be the sole measure of value."

Dr Cahn said his son was initially sceptical of his foray into currency. "He said 'Dad, you're not an economist, you're known for your work on law and human rights, your PhD is on Wordsworth'. "

Dr Cahn found himself studying economic systems, looking for a way to "crack the code" and make the benefit of time banking exceed the cost.

"I realised there two kinds of value - exchange value and intrinsic value."

The latter, says Dr Cahn, is about "How do you feel about yourself?"

"If you felt you were actually worth something, you did more," Dr Cahn said.

"Once I had cracked that code, I knew it could survive if it got people feeling better about themselves."

Ways the system has worked in the United States include having older school pupils mentor younger pupils in reading, or having teenagers act as jurors in juvenile courts.

Former convicts redefined themselves as "homecomers" and "students", designing a curriculum for their own academy so they could learn the skills to integrate back into the community.

Time banking, Dr Cahn said, is "a kind of reciprocity or pay it forward, that says 'You don't have to help me, but I would like what I do to unleash you'."

The focus is on people's potential and what they can give, not just on having their problems solved.

"We forget what it's like to be on the receiving end."

What emerged, Dr Cahn said, "was not like a commercial barter system, it was about new kinds of social networks. It looks suspiciously like extended family."

Dr Cahn said time banking is not political.

"We've got a divisive politics that sells you fear of everybody," he said.

"I've been asked 'Is this left or right?'

"I didn't think either side owned dignity or respect."