Thanks Jerome – thanks Michel!

Having spent the last seven years designing a community currency that is only just emerging into the world for the very first time this week, I’ve come to realise that what is essential to the success of any currency is the valuation system that underpins it.

You ask: “How can we arrive at common decisions on what is to be valued?”

May I humbly suggest that we begin with “teaching, giving and learning”?

Each of these actions can be quantified using time. Time spent teaching, giving or learning.

This is how we value contribution to our community – teaching giving and learning – by the hour.

Converting it into a currency is really quite simple – we give 60 credits for every hour contributed. The credits are stored in an online account, and are issued in exchange for the actions described. It’s basic time-banking philosophy but is underpinned by equality(ref Edgar Cahn).

In our community, each person’s contribution is valued just the same – an hour of your time is valued exactly the same as an hour of my time. Even if you are a doctor and even if you are unemployed.

In our community, there is a job for everyone. Being disabled is not an excuse. There is work galore to be done – everyone can teach, give or learn and should get the credit for it when they do.

Loneliness is the only disability but producing more community puts paid to that.

So i would like to throw this suggestion out to the wider commons/p2p community to see what sort of reaction there is.

A new valuation system needs to begin somewhere otherwise it will begin nowhere, so please don’t think that i have all the answers, on the contrary i have all the questions. Like why haven’t we collectively acted on this before?

Jerome – thanks. Michel – thanks.

I would sincerely and genuinely welcome critical feedback.

Thanks, Mike