Environmental sustainability does not simply require a change in monetary or fiscal policy, but a cultural change, or even a fundamental change in purpose for the modern society. LETS can contribute to this process by creating sustainable communities. Economies are tools to create wealth, and many economists and politicians measure success by size, assuming bigger GNP is better. The most obvious dilemma for environmentalist analysis is how to create reform within a system dominated by defenders of the status quo. Even though the green base is growing, it would seem unlikely that the necessary cultural changes will be made unless projects like the LETSystem become more significant.
People are still overworked and the loan for the family home still takes a lifetime to pay off.
Karl Marx was more confident about the source of the problem. Free market economic ideas have been further fuelled by the collapse of the non-market economies of the communist world. Some economists, such as Schumacher, argued for smaller scaled economies, of which LETS is a good example. Although the merits of 'free' markets may be compelling because of their claims about increasing the GNP of Western Economies, I want to emphasise an environmental point of view. What will be produced in greater quantity at a cheaper dollar price is not necessarily what is needed.