economics102
11-12-2012, 08:27 PM
Imagine a group of people within the United States were to establish a marketplace which is set up similar to a barter exchange, with a key difference: nothing is traded, everything is charitably donated. There is no quid-pro-quo. Who-donated-what is meticulously tracked though. The typical participant will have a "Karma units given" count roughly equal to their "Karma units received," and the people will voluntarily shun those whose Karma ratio is poor (though those in need may be aided despite this). The kye is, nobody is obligated to provide any good/service in exchange for anyone else's good/service. It's simpyl a combination of the honor system and people shunning those who run karma deficits.
You could even have a "Karma note" as a sort of not-a-currency currency. Karma notes don't technically entitle you to receive anything, they merely serve as evidence of your generosity within the community.
Obviously, the reason I'm brainstorming this is to try to find some way for free market types to opt out of the terrible system we have. This system would be similar in its legality to a commune, but it's based on trying to emulate a free market rather than socialism.
My goal is to come up with something so clever that the government would not be able to effectively curtail it.
I'd love to get some feedback on this.
You could even have a "Karma note" as a sort of not-a-currency currency. Karma notes don't technically entitle you to receive anything, they merely serve as evidence of your generosity within the community.
Obviously, the reason I'm brainstorming this is to try to find some way for free market types to opt out of the terrible system we have. This system would be similar in its legality to a commune, but it's based on trying to emulate a free market rather than socialism.
My goal is to come up with something so clever that the government would not be able to effectively curtail it.
I'd love to get some feedback on this.