Money is Debt. Money is Broken...

Some of you may remember a few years ago I wrote a treatise titled "The Monetary System Is Broken." Or perhaps you have heard me talk about this concept in my more manic moments. Here is a short video that eloquently and succinctly describes the problem in simple terms. "Oh another bloody money is buggered video" I suspect you are thinking about now...

The difference here is there is a solution offered. Mutual Credit. It's like barter, no interest, no debt. We need to start to think about changes to our broken system of greed, consumerism, and the capitalistic ideals that have been force fed to us since we were little children. Have you had enough yet?

Where The Hell Is Gibberagee?

Well It's Official, I've Moved...

It's been a hectic year, that's for sure: Learning to like my own company, going to the rat house, dealing with illness and finding out yet again that sadly not all people are good people. I spent a lot of time travelling and searching this last year. I didn't really know what exactly I was searching for, as such. I just knew I was looking for change. Welcoming change with open arms, an open mind and an open heart. And so I travelled, a lot. Three months back in the green wonder of south island New Zealand was a highlight. After nearly eight years in the dusty outback it was a welcome change of scenery. But talk about cold! I adore the snow clad mountains of south Canterbury but I didn't enjoy the sinking freeze that swept down onto the coast every evening very much at all.

My travels even took me to the big smoke. I spent a month in Sydney last summer. I surfed again for the first time in over twenty years and it was good for my soul. The traffic was not so good however. The frenetic pace of life in Sydney is just not my thing...

Anyways, each time I returned to the Hill I found myself restless and unable to find my serenity. I messed about painting, writing and playing at photographer trying to find my muse. But my muse was elsewhere it seems. Try as I might, I could not settle back into my peaceful outback repose which had become my safe haven in a disturbing world.

As it turns out my cousin got sick, so I decided to head up to the north coast of NSW to visit her in hospital.

After a month here on the north coast I knew I'd found the answer to all my unasked questions. My aunt and uncle own a beef cattle farm and needed somebody to keep an eye on things around the place. I was thrilled to be given an opportunity to learn something new and a sea change seemed the ideal choice, so here I am!

Now my sum total knowledge of beef cattle farming amounts to zip. But luckily in a past life I have gained some experience with dairy cattle, merino sheep and angora goats. I like goats, so intelligent. So tasty!

So I headed back to the Hill, put my house up for rental and loaded up the trusty Landrover with my meager worldly possessions and moved out here to Gibberagee. I must say, life here is really agreeing with me. I have peace and serenity by the truckload. I have a wonderful woman in my life. I have good, salt of the earth, new friends. And best of all I have a start from damn near scratch opportunity to live the fully sustainable lifestyle I have dreamt about since I was a boy! I have already installed the basics, gas reticulation, hot water, solar PVA panel on the roof, a bank of batteries and a tidy little inverter to run my three fifths of bugger all power requirements. So far so good, for sure, with bells on!

So to answer the question: "Where the hell is Gibberagee?" I'll tell you this: It's in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. It's a great place to be stoney broke in order to learn better to value the true riches of living. It's somewhere close to heaven. It's where dreams can and are being realised. It's where hope and peace reside...