In “Life Inc.,” Rushkoff details how corporations took on their own lives and continued to grow and grow, usually with the help of government. As they grew, we became more disconnected from our neighbors and the products we were using. Eventually we weren’t getting our flour from someone in our own town but from some distant corporation. The brand was created to put a face on things. An example from the book is the Quaker Oatmeal guy. Eventually, we became isolated from our neighbors and dependent on corporations for everything we need.
With this latest book, Ruskoff has prepared a rich, well-researched history of just how screwed up our system is. But “Life Inc.” is by no means a nihilist treatise. This isn’t about letting it all come crashing down and rebuilding on the ashes. Rushkoff insists we still need corporations for some things. When it comes to producing computers or cars, a top-down system is much more efficient. But there is a lot more we can begin doing for each other.

This is where the book outlines tangible solutions for today’s economic woes. During a recent phone interview, I talked with Rushkoff about Lansing’s dependence on the fleeing auto industry and our governor’s promise to “bring” jobs to our state.

Rushkoff said this kind of thinking is precisely the problem. We can’t simply wait for some big corporations to come and rescue us; we need to start rescuing ourselves. Instead of trying to lure companies to Lansing with promises of huge tax incentives and a license to pollute, Ruskoff said we should work on creating wealth for ourselves. We do this by figuring out what we’re good at and what value we have to offer, and then, one option, is to create a complementary currency.

This is not a new thing. “A lot of local currencies were developed during the Great Depression, and that’s what really accounted for our ability to get out of it,” Rushkoff said.

In the last 20 years we’ve begun to see a resurgence of these mediums of exchange. The most famous is the Ithaca Hour time dollar started in 1991. Recently, other cities have adopted time dollars, including the Detroit Cheer, a paper currency that can be traded for goods and services. A time dollar can be earned when you perform a service for your neighbor, whether it be cooking, babysitting, car repair, etc. Time dollars come in denominations of hours of time reflecting actual work done. Rushkoff said this levels the playing field and allows local people to compete with corporations. Since the time dollars can only be spent locally, it also keeps money within communities.