* Setting the trend for a new era of Kings *
Hello Linus Torvalds,
Thanks for your leading role in unleashing a whole new realm of freedom forces. The GNU approach, Linus's Law (the bazaar model) and the wiki wonder have achieved record breaking results with heretofore inconceivable dispatch. The most personally awe inspiring aspect of this whole marvel is the fact that it unfolded without massive mega-dollars of funding! Indeed, the monetary status quo which wholly engulfs us constitutes a hostile proprietary environment that's largely counterproductive to the needs of today's avant-garde talent.
Money - no concept has commanded more innate power to effect vital increases of productivity through economy of scale, cooperative effort, specialization and the division of labor. So what gives, why hasn't money been center stage at it's traditional helm? Revealing studies even suggest that paid employment can actually discourage innovative & creative work. Could we be evolving to an era where orthodox money is moot?
Money has achieved its objectives so well that it literally enjoys life & death reverence even while constantly funneling wealth, power and control to its issuers. Poised individuals always sense these types of systemic problems and will manifest negative reactions at some level. Nevertheless, the myriad of valiant contributors who constitute the very heart of the above cited freedom miracles surely merit a means of recognition befitting their wealth creating fortitude. They deserve something to invigorate sustained productivity - an appropriate tangible gesture offered voluntarily for doing a great job their way (and it could come from anyone).
Doing the right thing here will necessarily result in a whole new order of radical returns. Best of all, a marvelous means already exists to optimally fulfill the real needs of creative beings - a conducive environment for expanding the horizons of peak performance. http://world1tours.com/wPress/home.html is the home-page to my blog dedicated to this very hope. Optimistically, the remainder of this letter will engender sufficient interest to merit an open minded review of this blog.
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Banking empire founder Mayer Amschel Rothschild admonished, “Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes her laws.” I agree. The most grandiose power plays invariably involve monetary control (isn't that what 666 is even all about?). Every conceivable subterfuge is employed to wield monopolistic command. But times change and we no longer need be subjugated by any proprietary monetary system nor scarcity economics (especially given today's readily available technologies). In fact the very importance of money mandates an ‘open source&rssquo; solution. A platform that fully yet flexibly meets the requirements of a rapidly evolving rational society.
Here's the plan: Create a new order of raw individual OWNERSHIP that is thief-proof, indestructible, unforgeable & undeniable - plus basically cost free to 1) create, 2) store, and 3) transfer. (Pretty good start - no?) Moreover, this ownership is based on unique gifts wholly created by an originator and offered to a recipient (as inherently evident a social precept as one could want). Benefits gained from the “principle of shared understanding” are hence quickly maximized and a clean stable moral stage is firmly set to build upon. This new object of ownership is called a YeNom (the righteous reverse of current money in more ways than just name).
The above -to good to be true- characteristics are easy to actualize since -as you may have guessed- YeNoms are simply files that are GPG/PGP clear text signed first by the originator and finally by the recipient (should they wish to assume ownership). All active YeNom files are maintained in a highly accessible open source database available to anyone on the Internet (with third party service providers emphatically welcomed). A YeNom (text file) could be a title to tangible objects, stock in an enterprise, pledged future delivery of work or product, a vote of moral support, or anything else an originator might imagine. This highly objectified digital ownership principle lends itself well to monetization, and thus avails some truly marvelous possibilities. Again, the whole concept begins with and revolves around super-secure ownership as afforded by the GPG signatures.
Clearly this idea aims not at providing a quick cash like medium of exchange. Indeed, the core system (as distinguished from potential third party services) has no provision for relating YeNoms to any other money (a nice advantage at times). Instead, YeNoms are designed to actualize wealth through explicitly objectified and well registered ownership. This system redirects the focus and dependence on money away from centralized governmental control and puts it squarely in the hands of participants (the real wealth producers). Worth is not dictated by decree, but instead depends on a YeNom's freely perceived value.
Of the dismally few forums appropriate for introducing my concept, the hacker community is perhaps the best (as overly orthodox minds frequently fear pioneers). However, once the idea is vigorously validated in one arena, it could spread quickly (given the frailties of the present monetary scheme). Anyone could then better capitalize on personal assets risk free and actualize wealth directly from their good name, expert experience, private property, valued consul, or any recognized talents.
YeNoms are the ideal vehicle for esteemed personages to deliver moral support to deserving innovators. Consider the conscientious luminary who is more endowed with hard earned regard than dollars (the hacker world may have its share); using YeNoms to critique & extol cohorts amplifies the value of these gestures for the whole community. Many thousands of rigorously indexed, freely accessible YeNoms are an excellent source for finding and evaluating candidates for recognition. So those instances where the status gained in the hacker world is awarded traditional economic reward will obviously increase. Moreover this forum is the ideal stage for public acts of philanthropy by purchasing the individual's YeNoms. In any event, being the holder of a YeNom holds zero risks for participants while providing a real and significant potential for appreciation (as more fully examined in my blog).
The formality, value potential and non-finite longevity of a supportive YeNom should help assure that they are carefully thought out to best assure relevance and quality. The quantity of moral endorsements may also increase due to the new possibilities for all to gain. So the originator/payer even stands to gain in addition to the recipient and subsequent owners. This would most obviously come from the gratitude earned through their valued support; but may also result from securing a reputation for recognizing truly key projects which later prove to be a popular solution to real needs.
It is personally perturbing to witness the dismal financial restrictions of exceptionally gifted persons (a tragic situation that's been played out untold times throughout the ages when money flows are arbitrary funneled to preferred places & people). Moreover, those prone to conscientiousness will be repulsed (at some level) by morally repugnant systems. Their success in corrupt financial forums is therefore terribly frustrated. The YeNom hope directly addresses both of these issues.
The change of mental predisposition is however, the truly magical crux regarding the full implication of YeNoms. Money not only holds a dominating fascination for most people, but is literally needed to sustain life (in a non-subsistence society). If you think I'm overstating, then consider the debilitating effects of the great depression and Nazi inflation (opposite extremes of monetary control). An inordinate emphasis on money results in an immensely deep over dependence on it's gate-keepers. Consequently those in control of such ‘authority’ can get by with insane wars, Kennedy assignations, 911, etcetera with mind bending ease. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton, 1887). If there is anything to this insight, then maybe it behooves us to rethink just how healthy it is to subject ourselves to unseen proprietary money magnates. A positive pretty perspective is perhaps more pertinent though. Imagine -at the level of the individual- just how liberating and empowering it must be to switch from a scarcity mind set with graveling dependence on a centralized preeminence to a plenitude paradigm where wealth emanates directly from personal value. Such a radical revision in orientation has got to affirmatively fuel (super-charge) creative minds. The keys to this autonomy lie at our feet - when will we pick them up?
The basics of this obvious idea immediately occurred to me when reviewing PGP key encryption technology some 15 years ago. My reaction was that ideally every single email message should be encrypted (both as a matter of principle, and to keep messages that truly require encryption from standing out). This enthusiasm, however, was eclipsed by the even greater beauty I found in the system's power to create unforgeable undeniable digital signatures. I still remember my awestruck response like it was just yesterday: bye-bye to the main reason for the existence of trusted third parties like banks and notaries.
The basic YeNom system is simple, straight forward and easily implemented. While custom software would be nice, none is needed and so the system is ready to use now. On balance it's a moral courage issue more than some new advancement of technology. The core concepts however, fall outside the set of abstractions normally entertained by most people. My blog consequently examines various blatant yet often unperceived ramifications immediately inherent in YeNom ownership.
Sincerest Thanks,
Zack Clark
Caveat: Hopefully it's understood that the work need to create a financial paradigm meeting ALL the needs of even a subculture is many thousands of times greater than could possibly be accomplished by any work force we might pull together. However, the YeNom idea is only the ‘kernel’, while the rest of the enormous monetary ‘OS’ will be contributed by a multitude of madly imaginative 3rd parties. On top of all this, the greatest value still comes from the distributed mass efforts of millions of users creating wealth through YeNoms. This is reminiscent of the UNIX model where small robust components play together to enjoy maximum flexibility and reliability. The YeNom core is envisioned to afford the clean, unequivocal, thief-proof vehicle from which a new open order of prosperity evolves.