Libertarians and like-minded folk love to live in the world of the ideal. We love to sit around discussing minor differences in opinion while the world burns. Do something? Hell no! The time isn’t ripe, the masses are still unwashed, and that student loan isn’t going to pay itself.

Fuck that.

All those pet theories and what-ifs? Time to make them reality.

Here’s a good start.

Starting right this very second (or this morning while I was on the road, if you’re nitpicky), I’ve decided to issue my own currency. Sure, sure… it isn’t legal tender in the sense of “official seal of government approval”, but I promise to honor the face value whenever you want to trade it in. Here’s how it’s going to work:

I’m a technician. I have skills. Specifically, I fix all sorts of computer equipment. Rather than measure my money in dollars or Chads or Unicorn Pixies, I’m measuring thier value in skilled labor. I’ve not decided on denominations, but the idea is that I’ll issues bonds for X hours of residential computer work (probably 1 hour blocks) tradable for currency, your own bonds, or anything else we can come up with to trade. You can trade the bonds to other people (I’ll set a range on how far I’m willing to drive, of course) or trade them back to me for other bonds, should other people jump on the bandwagon.

Pretty simple, right?

Of course, why purchase my bonds over just having cash on hand?

* The dollar is currently losing value. Your dollar of today will likely be worth less in six months. My currency, however, gains value as I gain skill. As it is issued in blocks of time, the hour that you purchase today gets you much more for your money in, say, a year.

* Tax free. I don’t believe that services are taxable, though don’t quote me on that one (yet.)

* Unlike the federal government, I understand how basic debt works. I’ll never issue so many notes that I can’t fulfill the terms.

* You don’t need money to trade. I’ll accept trades for goods and services of interest or use to me too! I might even trade on speculation… based on your future plans and skills.

* We can start to wean people of the idea that they need federally issued currency to live.

* It’s just kind of… fun.

Ideas? Concerns? Angry Flames?