Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 - 2:09 a.m.

Cross My Palms With Silver

No, I don’t mean I want the Lone Ranger’s horse to run over my hands.

Lest you think that I just spend all my time feeling sorry for myself, here’s what I’ve been working on in the last week. I had actually begun work on this in the month before my recent financial disaster, with the intention of making a hobby of it, perhaps making a few bucks on the side. Now, out of necessity, I’m pursuing it as more of a genuine source of income.

Two months ago, I commented on Ilonina’s diary, "As someone looking for ways to transcend this whole mess, I will selectively glean promising ideas from anywhere and everywhere, and I won’t turn away from something just because it’s associated with the right wing." The very next day, I surfed to a new website that had it’s origins in the right-wing Patriot movement (Christian, conservative, libertarian, gun-nut, militia types), but I was so impressed by the soundness of their plan, I paid $250 to sign up.

I’m promoting the American Liberty Dollar. It’s a privately issued currency backed by silver, and in the case of the coins, is pure silver itself. The idea is to gradually get people to stop using the government’s money and start using this stuff instead. It features an ingenious plan tying a certain weight of silver to a certain dollar amount, yet allowing for the currency to maintain its value as the dollar loses value due to inflation. Although it’s national in scope, it tends to function as a de facto local currency. Since banks usually won’t take it, it just circulates locally. And a strong incentive to put more of this new money into circulation has been built into the model: a 20% discount.

What I’ve mostly worked on this past week has been my newest website, Eugene Silver. It’s not good looking yet, nor fully formed, but it’ll give you an idea of what I’m going for. The website is the easy part. Now comes the part where I walk from storefront to storefront, talking business owners and managers into officially accepting the currency. Which means I’ll be canvassing again. Back to people bothering. Can I succeed at this, where I’ve failed at canvassing before? I hope so, since unlike previous telemarketing and canvassing experience, this will build cumulatively. The first may be the hardest, but there will be a greater incentive to sign on later, when more businesses are already participating. I have no idea if I can really make any significant profit doing this, but I’m dying to find out.

When I received my first shipment of silver coins, I was really impressed. They were like little mirrors; I could see my reflection in them. And they weighed a freakin’ ton. Each $10 coin is about 1.5 times the diameter of a US quarter, and twice as thick. Now I have enough silver to kill some werewolves and bribe Judas.

I spent one $10 silver piece at a Taco Bell, purchasing a Grilled Stuft [sic] Burrito (before the Mad Cow scare) but I should have gotten a to-go order, because the manager came back 5 minutes later saying he changed his mind about accepting it. I also gave one to Abbe Normal for a Nonviolent Communication workshop he led. I hope to spend many more in the future.

My more astute readers are probably wondering why I’m associating with anything with the word “American” on it, that also says, ”Trust In God”. It’s a compromise I’m more than willing to make. While there’s some definite nationalism in it, I can tell from what I’ve read that it’s a very anti-establishment, grassroots, isolationist kind of nationalism. The United States Federal Government couldn’t afford its Wars of Petroleum Conquest without easy credit from the Federal Reserve Bank. By circulating more alternative, do-it-yourself currency, the Federal Reserve will be weakened, indirectly undermining the Empire. That, along with my personal profit, is my aim. As for the theism, how many people believe in God just because their money tells them to? At least this one says, “Trust In God” instead of, “In God We Trust,” positing a nebulous “We” and declaring trust. “Trust In God” is just a recommendation, and it respects the reader’s autonomy to make that decision on their own. Plus, with that appearance, it can go anywhere. If it said, “Groovy Alternative Hippy Shit”, it would be forever ensconced in a subcultural enclave. By saying “God” and “America” (what the Empire’s vassals have come to expect to read on money), it’s more likely to become universally accepted. On balance, I think the America Liberty Dollar furthers my political agenda more than it hinders it. I hope it will get more people to contemplate just what money is, how its value is constructed, and whose interests it serves. Now, I’d rather develop strategies to meet people’s needs that didn’t require money at all. But I’ve yet to think of a feasible way to jump to (moneyless, voluntary, decentralized) communism directly. I’ve observed others, as well as myself, being dependent on money, and not willing to make the sacrifices in safety, security, and predictability it would take to give up money altogether, right now. Like with a needle exchange, if people are going to use money anyway, I’d rather they stop using the government’s dirty money, and start using this stuff instead.

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