Trust, a Currency for Peace
about the relationship between peace, trust, and wealth
“Trust is the new currency.” – Satish Kumar
In 1961 Bertrand Russell was arrested during an anti-nuclear demonstration in London and put into jail for ‘breach of peace’. The philosopher, writer, mathematician, and peace activist was 89 years old at the time.
11 years earlier he had been awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in recognition of his writings about humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.
In 1961 Satish Kumar was a follower of one of Gandhi’s disciples. He read about the incident in the papers, sitting in a café in Bangalore, India, waiting for his coffee.
Inspired by Bertrand Russel’s dedication and taking personal risks on behalf of humanity — despite his advanced age — Satish and his friend came up with an idea:
“Why don’t we walk for peace? Let’s go to England and support Bertrand Russell.”
In 1962 two young Indian men, descendants of the non-violent tradition, began to walk from Gandhi’s grave in New Delhi to London as a demonstration for peace. Before they set off, their teacher gave them the advice to go without money.
“If you are walking for peace,” Vinoba Bhave said, “you have to trust people, because wars come out of fear, and peace begins in trust.”
For Satish Kumar this piece of advice was a little challenge, but it came from his teacher, whom he trusted wholeheartedly.
When starting my blogging journey 18 months ago I looked around for advice from other bloggers and online entrepreneurs. I had an idea and a vision — I had written the first volume of the Solo System and was ready to share it with my audience.
But before I could do so, I had to go on this long walk through cyberspace. It felt like stepping into a different world. There was no shortage of ‘online gurus’ happy to offer their advice, and a lot of it sounded something like this:
Do your own thing! Share your unique gifts! Generate wealth! Find your life’s purpose! Fake it till you make it! Follow your passion! Know your audience! Create a niche! Download my ebook for free! Learn the tips and tricks of successful advice! Sign up now! Build trust! Position yourself as an expert! Charge as much as you can! Earn a passive income! Pay here! Any questions?
Yes, I did have a question. How do you build trust?
What exactly do they mean by trust, while openly proposing to build an online business with the motto ‘fake it till you make it’?
Surely, nobody in their right mind would (ab)use other people’s trust to build a global empire based on flimsy pieces of advice.
I’m assuming you need a strong foundation of self trust, integrity, and inner clarity before giving advice to others and building trust…
The more advice I hear the more I trust my voice and it’s telling me: Perhaps these ‘well positioned experts’ are more interested in making money than sharing valuable knowledge with others.
In 2011 Satish Kumar spoke at the Healthy Money Summit. His core message was trust is the new currency.
In the online world trust is being turned into a commodity. Online newbies are being taught to ‘make people trust you, so they become loyal followers and buy your stuff!’
Why would I trust anyone who suggests such a thing? Would you?
Deceit is being packaged as trust, and there are probably free downloadable ebooks to tell everyone how it’s done. The new currency is being sold down the river.
But here’s some good news: Real trust is a valuable currency we can all generate within ourselves, and it’s perfectly legal.
When Satish Kumar and his friend set off on their 8000 mile peace walk in 1962, I’m assuming they didn’t try to ‘make people trust them’ so they would give them food and shelter.
They trusted their teacher’s advice, they trusted Bertrand Russell, they had trust in their mission, they had trust in themselves, each other, and the higher forces of the universe. Many people along the way trusted them, some didn’t.
Two penniless young guys from India with their little backpacks and a story about walking for peace — would you trust them?
Trust springs from a natural source deep within ourselves. Does it make money? I have no idea.
I know money creates mistrust, fear, war, violence, greed, avarice, crime, and poverty.
Trust creates friendship, respect, peace, love, community, generosity, and wealth.
With trust as the main currency money can be used if necessary.
With money as the main currency trust gets blocked.
This article was first published on selfknowledgemanagement.org
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