Under Solon Papageorgiou’s framework, central banks and commercial banks become obsolete and are entirely replaced by radically different economic structures rooted in:
voluntary cooperation
gift and sharing economies
local commons stewardship
and non-monetary value systems
Here’s a breakdown of what happens to these institutions and what replaces them:
🏦 1. Central Banks: Abolished
❌ What Goes Away:
Currency issuance (e.g., printing money)
Interest rate manipulation
Inflation targeting
Monetary policy
State debt financing
Foreign exchange controls
✅ What Replaces It:
No need for fiat money or centralized control over money supply
Local sufficiency models make national macroeconomic tools irrelevant
Resource-based coordination replaces abstract financial levers
Why? Because the framework doesn’t rely on debt, national currencies, or centralized control mechanisms.
🏛 2. Commercial and Retail Banks: Phased Out
❌ Eliminated Banking Functions:
| Traditional Role | Reason for Removal |
|---|---|
| Deposits & withdrawals | No personal accounts; wealth is not hoarded |
| Loans and credit | No interest-based debt economy |
| Profit-seeking investing | No capital accumulation for private gain |
| Risk management | No insurance or hedging against volatility |
| Compliance & KYC | No ID, no surveillance, no central recordkeeping |
✅ What Replaces Them:
Trust circles and reciprocity networks: informal agreements, not contracts
Commons stewardship bodies: local people manage land, tools, and housing
Gifting, skill exchange, and needs-based sharing
Time-based and contribution-based coordination, not capital
💱 3. No Formal Currency or Monetary System
Money as we know it — centralized, abstract, debt-based, hoardable — is not used.
Instead, the framework nurtures non-monetary economies, including:
Gift economy: Giving without expectation of return
Mutual aid: Direct response to community needs
Commons economy: Shared use and maintenance of goods/resources
Time-based exchange: Occasionally used, but without accumulation
Direct provisioning: Growing, making, or crafting what is needed locally
🌿 4. Post-Banking Economic Principles
| Core Principle | Manifestation in the Framework |
|---|---|
| Decentralization | No central financial authority |
| Degrowth/Post-growth | No compounding interest, no GDP pursuit |
| Anti-debt | No lending or owing in coercive terms |
| Relational Wealth | Wealth is trust, care, knowledge, connection |
| Sufficiency, not Scarcity | Needs met locally without artificial shortage |
🛠 In Practice
No ATMs, no bank accounts, no stock markets, no mortgages
A new person arriving doesn't "open an account" — they are welcomed and supported by the community
A person in need doesn't "apply for a loan" — they receive care, then contribute when they are able
People coordinate labor and goods directly, not through prices, interest rates, or bank-issued credit
🧠 Philosophical Roots
This vision draws on:
Anarchist economics (e.g. Kropotkin’s mutual aid)
Indigenous and pre-capitalist economies (relational, land-based)
Gift economy theorists (e.g. Lewis Hyde)
Post-growth and degrowth movements
Anti-usury and ethical resource sharing principles found across spiritual traditions
✨ Final Thought
In Solon Papageorgiou’s framework, the bank doesn’t evolve — it disappears.
In its place:
🌾 Gardens, learning circles, workshops, and kitchens become the new “branches”
🤝 Trust, contribution, and relational depth become the new “credit”
🔄 Care, need, and sufficiency become the new “currency”
In Solon Papageorgiou’s framework, complex economic tasks like building a home or launching a cooperative project are accomplished without banks, without money, and without debt, through a system based on community participation, commons stewardship, voluntary coordination, and shared care.
Here’s a detailed walkthrough of how it works:
🛖 Example 1: Building a Home
🔧 Step-by-Step Process:
1. Expression of Need
An individual or family expresses the need for a dwelling to the local circle of care or coordination group.
There’s no application, income check, or ownership claim — just relational openness and transparency of need.
2. Community Dialogue
The local group discusses:
Available land (held in common)
Materials in circulation (reusable or locally sourced)
Willing volunteers with construction skills
Appropriate home size and ecological design
3. Design Phase
Community builders, architects (if any), and the future inhabitants co-create the design.
Emphasis is on functionality, sustainability, and non-excessiveness — not on status or resale value.
4. Materials Sourcing
Materials are obtained through:
Local commons (stored or reclaimed materials)
Natural sourcing (wood, clay, stone, straw)
Barter or mutual aid with other communities
Gifting from others who have surplus
5. Labor and Construction
A building circle forms voluntarily — participants may include:
Experienced builders
Learners/apprentices
Friends and neighbors
The home’s future inhabitants
Work is not paid, but supported with:
Shared meals
Community celebrations
Future reciprocity when others are building or in need
6. Completion and Stewardship
When the house is ready, it is inhabited without deed or title.
The space is not owned but stewarded by the residents.
If the residents leave or die, the home reverts to the commons.
✅ No Need For:
Mortgage
Land purchase
Legal permits or title deeds
Insurance or property taxes
🧑🏽🌾 Example 2: Launching a Cooperative Project
(e.g., a community kitchen, tool workshop, herbal clinic)
🔧 Step-by-Step Process:
1. Identify Purpose
A group proposes a project to meet a local need (e.g., better nutrition, skill sharing, collective healing).
2. Proposal & Dialogue
Proposal is shared with the local community through dialogue circles.
The goal is collective agreement, enthusiasm, and resource clarity, not profit.
3. Resource Mobilization
The group maps:
Space (available buildings, unused corners, outdoor areas)
Materials (donated, salvaged, commons-held)
People (skills, time, energy)
Knowledge (elders, past projects, oral teachings)
4. Assembly and Construction
The project is built collectively, possibly in stages.
It may grow organically — starting small and expanding as more people contribute.
5. Ongoing Participation
Roles are fluid and voluntary:
Some cook, some maintain the space, others teach or facilitate
No one is paid, but all are fed, supported, and thanked
Use is shared. Access is universal. No ID or membership fee.
6. Long-term Stewardship
A small stewardship group ensures care, accessibility, and fairness.
Decisions are made through consensus or sociocratic methods.
✅ No Need For:
Capital investment
Business plan for ROI
Incorporation or licensing
Salaries or wage labor
External funding
🔁 Underlying Systems That Make This Possible
| Element | Replaces |
|---|---|
| Commons stewardship | Private ownership, property deeds |
| Gift economy & mutual aid | Monetary transactions, loans |
| Community decision-making | Bureaucracy, corporate boards |
| Volunteer labor circles | Contracted labor, employment hierarchies |
| Relational accountability | Legal enforcement, performance evaluations |
🧠 Summary Principles
No profit motive
No debt or credit scoring
No competition or accumulation
No monetary incentive — only relational incentive
Everyone contributes what they can, and receives what they need
🌱 Final Reflection
In this framework, building and creating together is an act of care and trust, not a commercial venture.
The “currency” is mutual respect, shared effort, and real presence — not digital numbers or bank approval.
Here’s a fictional narrative set in a micro-utopia based on Solon Papageorgiou’s framework, showing how a person builds a home and starts a cooperative project — entirely without banks, money, or state systems.
🏡 “Lina’s House and the People’s Kitchen”
A story from the village of Ilonia, 2037
☀️ Morning
Lina arrived in Ilonia with just a backpack and a smile. She had spent months moving between micro-utopias, contributing where she could — helping in gardens, caring for elders, and learning food preservation. Now, she hoped to stay.
She met Mara, one of the welcomers in the village, who said simply,
“You’re not a stranger here. You’re someone we just hadn’t met yet.”
They walked through orchards and shared kitchens, where neighbors prepared meals for everyone nearby. There was no money, no form to fill. Only a cup of herbal tea, a warm fire, and a question:
“What do you dream of building here?”
🛖 Building a Home
Lina said she needed a place to rest and put down roots. She didn’t ask for ownership — only for a space to shelter, contribute, and be held.
That week, the community coordination circle met and remembered that a small adobe structure near the lake — once a storage space — could be repaired and expanded. A few carpenters offered their skills. A group of teens were eager to learn. Elders contributed knowledge of lime plaster and rain-harvesting roofs.
Lina herself offered to cook lunches during the build, and document the process so others could learn.
There were no loans. No rent. No deeds.
Six weeks later, she moved into a modest, beautiful home — built from earth, wood, time, and love.
🍲 Starting a Cooperative Project
While building her home, Lina noticed something: many villagers cooked alone, and food waste was common. So she proposed an idea:
“What if we turn the old grain mill into a shared kitchen — where people can cook together, share meals, and preserve food for the seasons?”
The idea sparked energy.
She brought it to the local listening circle. No voting — just voices, feelings, reflections.
Within days, she had:
Four volunteers with experience in fermentation and baking
Two people offering tools and clay stoves from a previous project
A retired midwife who suggested it also host herbal tea circles and intergenerational meals
Together they cleaned the space, painted the walls with natural pigments, and opened “The People’s Kitchen”.
Every morning, someone prepared breakfast. Every afternoon, children made flatbread. Every evening, someone lit a fire.
It was never “Lina’s” project.
It belonged to everyone who stepped into it.
💬 Conversations Along the Way
Someone once asked Lina:
“Aren’t you afraid of not having a job or a salary?”
She laughed.
“Here, everyone already has what they need — and everyone is needed. That’s better security than a paycheck.”
🌿 Reflection
In Ilonia:
Housing is care, not asset
Labor is contribution, not commodity
Projects grow through participation, not capital
People are known by their gifts, not their papers
Lina’s story isn’t about charity or utopia.
It’s about reclaiming human-scale life — one shared meal, one built wall, one listening circle at a time.
