It’s such a neat concept that can make certain expensive services like lawyers or therapists more accessible. I could trade a few hours gardening, sewing, cleaning, or baking, for someone else to give me a hand building a larger project. It’s a beautiful way to connect a community through acts of service 🥰
I agree that this is a cool idea, but I also wanted to note that these kinds of labour trade systems remain inaccessible to many people with disability, as well as to single parents, carers, and other people who are time poor.
Thats true which is why we still need our usual safety nets in society like subsidised childcare, respite care, and disability benefits. This wouldn’t replace normal society, it would just add to it. I would love to see increases in those areas as well as a timebanking system for those who are interested and able to participate. It’s all about doing what you can, even if that’s just sitting and chatting with a lonely someone so I think it could be something pretty disability friendly compared to the corporate work world.
Fwiw as a PwD it doesn’t feel or look very disability friendly. I’m not dismissing the whole initiative, though, I just wanted that to be part of the conversation.
I just tried to post this but it didn’t show up apologies if this is double posted.
Oh also, my own preferred systems of community organising is standard mutual aid along the lines of “to everyone according to their needs, from everyone according to their abilities”. I get that it feels like nitpicking but it does kind of hurt as a PwD to see these kinds of initiatives (and, e.g., trade unionism specifically) be discussed, knowing that we don’t really fit into the framework and that just never really coming up.
I think people engaging with their local communities is great though and I’m not trying to diminish that.
I’m disabled and like this idea. Obviously folks with disabilities aren’t monolithic and I can’t speak for everyone. Certainly there are more disabled than me. But I like the idea because it values time equally rather than valuing ability. Disabled folk are often relegated into shitty jobs with low wages because no one else wants those jobs and disabled folk often can’t get traditional roles due to lacking the ablebodiedness to perform them. This way disabled folk can do anything within their ability and an hour of their time is just as valued as an hour of an able bodied person.
Could it use some improvements? Of course! But I think it’s far and away a better system than what we have currently which not only devalues disabled folk but actively oppresses us.
That’s valid. Do you have any suggestions on how to make something like this more PwD friendly and feel more accessible? Part of the appeal to me is that not ever task needs to be a trades job or something highly skilled. I just read an article where an organisation (a hospital) “paid” time bankers in hours of language lessons and skilled job training for the members to help PwD and elderly community members. It’s just another way to get more people volunteering in communities and fostering that connectedness but I absolutely want to keep from having PwD feel excluded from yet another corner of society.
I’m interested to know what would prevent someone with a disability from being able to offer an hour of their time for a service which is within their skillset?
The single parent is a great example of being time-poor, but an example of something they could more easily offer is an hour of babysitting/playdate.
For me, my disability is MS and my most disabling symptom is fatigue and double vision that develops from fatigue (also heat and cold sensitivity…). I spend all my energy raising my daughter, and still don’t have enough energy always to do that the way that I would like to. Honestly I am not sure where you’re going with this question, but it feels like asking pwd to satisfy you that we have different capacities and it doesn’t feel great.
Honestly I am not sure where you’re going with this question
Trying to gain knowledge, and you’ve provided something new which I didn’t know about, so I thank you.
but it feels like asking pwd to satisfy you that we have different capacities and it doesn’t feel great.
If I may be honest, this struck me as a very strange part of your response. How can people learn or understand if they can’t ask for help to learn?
