Community Currency (I'm BACK!)

This is a continuation of sorts of my old thread (that you can see here .

I got plugged into the CC (Community Currency) Matrix a couple days ago and today it started paying off…

Where should I begin… Well, for those of you who never read the old thread, I’m really interested in getting some kind of system in place (electronically or with paper money) that would allow people to trade services/products. That eventually led me to a business whose business is helping people get into business managing a barter exchange ( barter-software.com .)

A barter exchange (in a sentence) is a system that allows people to trade products and services multi-way (instead of barter’s usual limited 1 to 1 trading.)

Well, although interesting, these types of Exchanges usually focus on B2B (Business to Business) trading. I’m more interested in establishing something more… community building. Well, someone I Skyped with yesterday gave me a better term for what I want to do “Community Currecy.”

I’m still working on this thing and I’m still talking to the barter-software folk (they’ve been very helpful.) I’m posting this to see if I can pick up anyone that would like to participate in putting this together.

Some of the dialog can take place here and most of it will take place in a Skype conference chat.

I’ve tapped into a group of people that will help me make this turn into what I’m envisioning. I was chatting via Skype to the founder of Solidarity Barter Network in Argentina. There’s not a lot of info on it in English, but [here’s something.]

I decided to get serious about setting this thing up a couple weeks ago, and then things just started happening (the CC MAtrix, Phone calls, etc.)

Right now I’m looking for anyone that would want to help out in anyway. Things are still pretty much “ground zero” but I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge about the whole thing over the course of the year. You’ll get to learn about something about the new PIMP! 'ish on the block.

Any questions. Post them here. I’ll answer. Now I have to go have holiday dinner. Merry Christmas!!

I liked the- ''I’m Back!"

Actually I never went anywhere :smiley:

Is that legal in Taiwan, or do you assume nobody cares anyway?

I assume that if you’re trading in multiple directions, instead of 1-1, you’re giving a value to whatever you provide. ie you’re inventing your own money.

Couldn’t it be seen as tax evasion, though, if someone decided to get their knickers in a knot?

How can it be illegal? no money is being exchanged. It can’t be traced either as such so…
Sounds interesting for sure

It is illegal because you exchange services or goods without paying vat to the government.
And as mentioned before, you are creating some sort of money.

Fuck the government.

Go Miltownkid! Take over the world! :smiley:

Yes, it is legal here (as far as I know.) No I don’t assume “nobody cares.”

Yes, it could be seen that way. But… (see below)

[quote=“robi666”]It is illegal because you exchange services or goods without paying vat to the government.
And as mentioned before, you are creating some sort of money.[/quote]
It depends on how it’s done, but no. It’s not illegal. In the US their are tax forms for people that participate in barter exchanges to report with. What ever gets set up, it wouldn’t be the exchanges responsibility to do the reporting for the individual.

[quote=“lupillus”]Fuck the government.

Go Miltownkid! Take over the world! :smiley:[/quote]
This is the correct answer! :smiley:

I think we should first try setting up a Cummunity Currency kind of thing so people can exchange services (like web help, photography services, Language Classes, etc.) and “products” (old books and whatnot.) I don’t think tax will be an issue at this level. That’d be like trying to get people to pay taxes on language exchanges.

After something like the above gets setup, a commercial exchange (for business to business bartering) could follow. Maybe the two could be worked on simultaneously. The business to business exchange could possibly get heat from the gorvernment because it would allow businesses to potentially side step taxes on a large scale.

Like I said above, the US has paperwork for this sort of thing, and Taiwan probably doesn’t. Whatever gets setup will be legal (in every sense of the word.)

I’ll start by offering 1NT per word towards the purchase of something or other from my movie collection (something I am tired of) for translations of my script “Jidong Finds a Monkey.” (This will likley be the worst pay you will ever recieve as a translator)

:laughing:

Yeah, it works kind of like that. Except with multi-way bartering, anyone can translate the script and spend it somewhere else. You would then pay back into the system by selling your movies (not necessarily to the person that did the translating.)

It allows more flexiblity in trading.

Anyway, here is the script, I need the dialogue translated and transformagirls spelling translated into “correct” PinYin with tone marks and all. Naturally this will never happen so it will never be necessary to decide which movies are worth how many points or exactly how MK’s system works either but on the off chance that somebody would like a movie in the mail some day…

Jidong Finds a Monkey
(the world’s first TPRS old school movie with phantasmagorical elements)

Open to camera moving slowly down a small path. Dense jungle on either side. Silence side from the sound of birds etc. After a few moments the camera emerges into a clearing. A serious looking cast of characters looks straight into the camera as it slowly zooms in, settling finally on Jidongs face. Silence. Suddenly…

Jidong - AM I YELLING?

The cast of characters is startled and jumps in unison, a little too in unison.

Huh - huh?

Transformagirl - TA WEN TA HOUJIAO MA?

bobsaid - Jidong asked if he was yelling.

Oh - Oh, Jidong asked if he was yelling. That’s…odd.

Oh repeats everything bobsaid says, only faster.

Reporter - It’s a tense situation ladies and gentlemen. Jidong asked if he was yelling and huh said “huh?” transformagirl translated and bobsaid repeated the English only in reported speech. Oh repeated what bobsaid but with fast relaxed pronunciation. It’s quite the linguistics lesson. Lets see what happens next

Huh - huh?

transformagirl - Hoa ji de jingquang… Kan kan yixia. Xianzai fasheng shenme…

George - YES.

Jidong - YES WHAT?

George - YES YOU WERE YELLING.

Jidong - Oh, we could dance…

Jidong begins dancing to a song called “jackhammer”. He is eating a banana.

Danny Daoyan - CUT!

Slinky - Oh! I’m hungry.

Reporter - Things are really getting exciting now ladies and gentleman. Jidong is eating a banana and the director is angry about it.

Huh - Huh?

Transformagirl - Oh hao xinfen oh. Daoyan zhuyi jidong zai chi yige xiangjiao. Ta hao shengqi oh!

bobsaid - Reporter said that things were really getting exciting now…

Oh - Oh, Things are… That’s excitING. I’m excitED

Danny Daoyan - There is no banana in the script.

Jidong - How can there be no banana in a script about monkees?

Huh - Huh?

Transformagirl - Zhei bu juben guanyu houzi. Meiyou xiangjiao. Zenme ban?

bobsaid - Jidong asked How there could there be no bananas in a script about monkees?"

Oh - So bob asked… That’s… a good question.

Danny Daoyan - Sacred Blue Tabernacle (Danny Daoyan has quite a strong gutteral French accent)

Huh - Huh?

Transformagirl - Huh?

George - I thought we were going to find a monkey.

Huh - Huh

Transformagirl - Wo xiang women yao zhodao yi ge houzi.

Bobsaid - George said that he thought we were going to find a monkey.

Oh - Oh, George said that he thought we were going to find a monkey.

Jidong - We ARE GOING TO find a monkey. Here’s the map.

Jidong spreads the map out on the ground. It is a roughly drawn but attractive enough looking document with a big X and the words “The Monkey is HERE”

Jidong - We are here.

George - Yes but we are at the wrong here.

Huh - huh?

Transformagirl - Huh?

Slinky - Be here now.

Huh - huh?

Audiolingual (speaking Chinese) - Be Here Now is a literary reference to a book entitled “Be here Now” by Baba Ram Das. It was popular in the seventies…

Note: The script is a work in progress naturally and were anyone so inclined as to translate they would find themselves the object of a gratitude so profound, so unconditional… What can I say? Angels should be so lucky…