What does LETS stand for?
The word “LETS” was chosen to highlight an invitation (let’s) and a culture of consent. LETS embodies the ‘Law of Two Feet’ – “If you like it, you walk in. If you don’t, then you walk away”. Eric Frank Russell, the story writer, expressed this as “Freedom I will, Freedom I won’t” – everybody has choices. (Ref. 1) LETS supports trading which results in win-win outcomes. This is to be contrasted to the more coercive types of behaviour often seen in communities which are short of money – “I’ve got the money, so you have to work for me.” In LETS, there is never any obligation to trade. The use of LETS as an acronym was an afterthought. The most common rendering is ‘Local Exchange Trading System’. However, we prefer to avoid the use of the word ‘local’, as it suggests a geographical emphasis, which can be misleading.
