There’s a name for these… I forgot what it’s called, but it’s what people did back in the day before there was insurance. Actually, the organizers of such groups back in the day ended up turning into some of the larger insurance companies we of know now.
My point is, insurance companies could do a better job of handling this stuff than we could.[/quote]
I was flipping through one of my notebooks yesterday and came across the term I was looking for. That term is “friendly society.” Check out the Wikipedia about them: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Society
Searching google bring up more results of course. They are basically the same as what is described above. A bunch of people put money in each month to help people with problems now and to know someone will be there to help them in the future.
I have no clue. Don’t know if anyone would want to go to the task of setting one up. I would give a stab at it, but I’m currently totally full in the projects department.
The barter-exchange I’m setting up could be used as a means for people to donate resources to different people/organizations. The people/organizations could use those credits to buy services/products from other people in the group.
I think the barter-exchange would work well with a friendly society type thing. I have a bunch of ideas surounding this stuff scribbled in notebooks…
I plan to join someday, if I learn that I have a costly medical condition, and suspect that I might be chosen as the recipient of the society’s charity in a month or so. Y’all down with that?
These things aren’t exactly just open to anyone that wants to join. Where insurance just gives you money (for the most part), these societies help each other out ways other than money.
Then it sounds like a mutal fund. Can get those in the States. But I think there’s a fine for taking it out too soon… [/quote]
I guess no one googled or looked at the Wikipedia.
A group of people pays dues every month. If no one is in need of the money, the money is invested. If something goes down, then some of the money is used to help the injured person, but the rest is left in the investment.
The money is only one aspect of them. There are doctors that are a part of the group who will give care to the sick at no charge (or maybe a very reduced one.) People in the group would visit the sick person and make sure their loved ones are taken care of. They’d also help with maintanence stuff like cutting grass or something if needed.
A group like this could probably get made with no money involved and just a pact that the people in the group would help each other out when shit hits the fan. These were created at a time when there was no such thing as insurance.
In the event that something happened and you were stuck in a hospital (and were a part of one of these) the other members would keep you company while you were in the hospital, maybe bring you some books and stuff. What if you had dogs to walk or fish to feed. The members would make sure something arrangements were made to take care of this.
A friendly society would handle these kinds of things. This is the cool part. Not the fact that you’d get some money. That’s what insurance is for (and I said that in the first post.)
A friendly society is a society of friends, right? So it’s not something you “sign up” for - it’s something you’ve already got. And if you don’t have it, it’s because you have a personal credit deficiency. This can be remedied by being in a place long enough for people to get to know you and by being involved in the community. If you’re a short-termer, or if you’re not involved in the community, I would be less generous with my help than I would with people who have earned my respect and trust over a period of years.
Edit: Unless you have something in mind like the Loyal Order of Water Buffalos. That would be cool.
it sounds dodgy to me. Whats the benefit given that I as a healthier than average person was to join when its more likely than that alco smoker or the other fat bastard or the uncoordinate guy is more likely to get into some kind of problem?
