Currency ideas

The foundation stone of the Beauty Engine Framework is CIRCULATE, and it has to do with sharing, exchange, and the giving and receiving of gifts. It’s the lifeblood of the Beauty Engine, where goods, services, ideas, creativity and wisdom are circulated throughout the community. It’s the economy, that distributes the riches amongst the people, where each person can write their own bank balance by declaring their talents, skills, passions and resources. Our first step in bringing Beauty Engine into the world is to build on CIRCULATE, by creating an alternative currency which allows people to easily share their wealth.

Creativity as the driving force

The focus of this currency will be to support creative exchange. Although practical every days needs can also be met, creativity will be it’s driving force. We will target our outreach towards creative people, and we will encourage people who don’t see themselves as creative to find their inspiration and participate with a creative offering. By encouraging people to focus on their passion and their creativity, rather than their basic needs, our goal is to shift people’s perception on what has value. Once the network is thriving, it can even pay out small loans to kick start projects, and make all kinds of cool stuff happen. Imagine free events and art cropping up everywhere, instigating activity as a direct expression of the abundant nature of creativity.

Build your CRED

To build this foundation stone we will be using a Local Exchange Trading System based on Mutual Credit which we call CRED. This system will allow people to ask for the things they need and declare the things they have to share. It will give them the means to exchange their CRED online and will keep track of the exchanges. In very simple terms, it will act like a cross between Craigslist and Paypal, where the currency exchanged is not in dollars, but in our alternative currency- CRED

For example-
-You’re a theater company and you’re looking for someone to paint a backdrop for you.
-You find an artist in the pool and pay them with CRED instead of dollars.
-The artist could spend the CRED on yoga classes, a custom pair of boots and going to a party.
-You could then repay the pool by accepting CRED to see your next production.

It’s a simple and elegant system which has been operating in across the world since the great depression. Originally devised in Switzerland in the 1930s, the idea of a Local Exchange Trading System is nothing new, but what is interesting is that now we have the technology to make it easy to do. No more thrifty penny pinching- you can spend your CRED on things you could never normally afford!

Give Tokens of Thanks

As well as giving you the means to exchange goods in a way similar to that of our current money system, where a number value is put on a service or goods and the item is exchanged for CRED this system will also have an aspect of community building which goes beyond an immediate exchange, where volunteerism and gifting are rewarded. Instead of the instant gratification of having CRED in your account, there will be an opportunity to volunteer your time or give your resources for the sake of the community at large, and for maintaining relationships within that community, without expectation of return. This system will not be based on numerical value, but instead the value will be represented in Tokens of Thanks, which show up on your profile. These tokens are represented as thumbnail pictures of flowers, thank you letters, chocolates etc, depending on how they want to thank you.

For example:
- You help your friend with an art project
- To thank you they spend a few CRED buying a Token of Thanks
- That token appears on your profile as a thumbnail picture of a bunch of flowers with a note saying “Thanks for helping me with my art project”
- All your friends know that you helped make something cool happen

Earn your PERKS

It’s all very well to get that fuzzy feeling you get from doing something nice for your friends, but if you volunteer time for an organization, you might also get some PERKS. This means that you’re not only getting recognition, but you’re also getting some extra special treatment! Organizations can choose to thank their volunteers with PERKS which are ongoing rewards

For example:
- You volunteer time at an alternative film festival
- To thank you, the organizers of the film festival send you a PERK
- That PERK appears of your profile as a coupon, with a note saying “Thanks for helping out at the Film Festival! You get 10% off all your visits to your local rep movie theater for the next year!”
- You can print out your PERK to use as a coupon at the movie theater