How ya doing Pardna?

I am always fascinated about the way in which people see what is of value and why. The exchange of beads, crystals, diamonds and gold; the use of barter to exchange sheep for goats for weddings; the emergence of digital exchange for tokens; and, of course, the issuance of cash backed by governments that are now used mainly in mobile wallets.

Interestingly, there are many ways to view and use money for exchange, and a huge debate about how money is used to abuse people through debt and interest. This debate ranges from everything like hawala, usury, zakat, Islamic finance, microfinance as exemplified by Grameen Bank, and more (oh, and always take note of the Yapp Islands). These are different ways of doing things to the things I grew up with called retail banks.

However, if we take a step back, money is an invention to force us to work and be indebted. That is not how the world began. In fact, most people cite that money – cash – came as a replacement for barter – trading my goods for yours. It didn’t. It is a false fallacy. Money was never needed. We just invented it. In fact, if you go back to pre-commerce human societies, our ethos was all about community and caring. The invention of money changed our behaviours to focus upon status and spending.

Anthropologists have written many case studies about early human societies and most conclude that you would do things for your neighbour out of caring and a good heart, without any expectation of a return on your investment of time. These are the basis of community currencies, of which I’ve written often.

The reason I am thinking about these things is that I heard about another form of community exchange recently called Pardna. My Caribbean friends will immediately smile quietly and go yea. This is because the Pardna system originated in Jamaica, with people believing that this was a way for those enslaved to save for freedom and business. There is not date it began, but it looks like the late 1700s as the slave trade moved full force.

So, what is Pardna?

Well, I would call it an insurance. If you know insurance, members pay funds into a common pool to ensure that if someone has an accident, they are covered. 95% of members never have that accident but, for the 5% who do, they are reassured that there is their safety blanket. I could bore you for hours on this stuff as my origins were in insurance and technology. Uberrima fides (google it).

Being more exact, Pardna emerged as a way of everyone contributing funds as savings to cover those who needed it in an emergency or, as often referred, to give them a Hand. Originally an informal system for those who were unbanked, it has now grown into a more formal systems called Pardna money. Pardna money in the Caribbean works as a rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) where a group of people, known as “pardners,” contribute a set amount of money at regular intervals to a central fund managed by a “banker”. In this case, they trust the banker won’t abuse the system as Pardna is not formally regulated.  The system is an informal, community-based scheme not regulated by the government, with each participant taking turns to receive the entire lump sum of money collected that round from the scheme, or a “hand” as it is called, to give them a life. This trust-based system provides access to funds for individuals who may not have access to traditional banking services, helping them save for purchases, businesses, and homes.

The funny thing is that once I stumble across it, there is loads out there about it. In fact, for those who are British, you may know the term the Windrush Generation. If not, it is basically a ship called The Windrush that brought many people to Britian from Caribbean Commonwealth countries during the 1950s and 1960s, to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.

Half a century later, the principles of Pardna are now wrapped up in an app and a game. In fact, this video explains the whole concept brilliantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgyMl9mbYm8

All in all, it just brings it all home to me that we live on this planet to earn money but to members of communities that care for each other. Fortunately, some know this but, unfortunately, others don’t.

The core of this is that I’ve said on many occasions that money is our second most important aspect of life but, in writing this, I’ve got it wrong. Money is not the second most important thing in life. Family and friends are, and that’s where we should focus. Money is just the enabler to help our family and friends build a better, strong community.

Keep it in perspective folks.