|
You can also do your donations
via:
http://netcontrol.org/donations.htm
Even
though this page has a big, impressive title, it
is about a simple idea which I hope I can convey
in a few words. Here are the main points:
-
Economic principles lie behind many more
human activities than most of us realize. We are
almost constantly exchanging something for
something else.
-
Many economic transactions don't involve
money. In traditional societies, and sometimes
even this one, people trade using favors,
influence, even pure ideas, instead of money.
-
Sometimes money is not the best way to
convey value. And sometimes money is so
completely inappropriate that it destroys the
transaction . CareWare is one of those
transactions.
-
CareWare
*
doesn't involve money, but it is a
transaction nevertheless. Something is
delivered, something is received. Adam Smith's
invisible economic hand moves through the
CareWare economy just like everywhere else. I
can't ask for something more than I am giving,
but I can ask for an appropriate exchange.
In CareWare,
*
the "buyer" gets something of value in
exchange for something the "seller" wants. And
what does the seller want? The general answer is
"Anything except money," but I prefer the really
remarkable transactions, which you recognize
instinctively when you see them.
Here is an example -- here is a hypothetical
transaction between myself and you. I have a
book called "Agustin's Linux Manual" which is a rather
best book ever written, at least that is how
it is judged by several Linux user groups. But I don't
want your money in exchange, I want something
else. So I say "This is what I am offering, and
here is what I want in return." Simple, right? I
have been doing this for a little while now, and
the responses have been very interesting. Many
people think I have religious beliefs -- I don't,
at least not religious beliefs recognizable by a
person of normal intellectual gifts. Others try to
push the transaction in a more traditional
direction for one reason or another -- I recently
received this message:
|
|
Careware,eh? A small price to pay for such a
great software package. My pen quivers over my
checkbook in case you change your mind.
--------------00000000--------------------
Do not write me a check if your pen says no! And if you are
offering me a job, do not offer just a job; offer me a good
job and I will think about it.
And if you are soliciting my services, Please note that the
books are only free. I dress and eat too!
-------------00000000000---------------------
|
This response could arise from any number of
causes, and bartering about the medium as
well as the size of the payment is a normal
part of economic transactions, so maybe I am
picking on this particular correspondent a little.
But the funny part is CareWare is by no means a
small price to pay .
For example, here is a payment I will accept
for a copy of Agustin's Linux Manual --
To own
Agustin's Linux Manual, I ask that you stop
whining about how hard your life is, at least for
a while. When Americans whine, nearly everybody
else in the world laughs. We have so much, and yet
we manage to:
-
Overlook great examples of beauty around
us,
-
Miss our most important opportunities,
-
Manage to make ourselves miserable by
expecting something even better to come along.
Every time we whine about how tough we have it,
apart from the fact that we look ridiculous, we
make it harder for people around us to appreciate
how much we have. We encourage people to overlook
the things we do have, the gifts of man and
nature. We provide a context to dismiss everything
as not good enough, to be miserable in the midst
of plenty.
Don't get the wrong impression -- many things
are unjust, things that should be struggled
against until they are made right. This page is
for people who can't find even one thing to take
joy in, to appreciate. These people not only make
themselves miserable, but they infect others with
the attitude that the world should right itself,
by itself, before they will take simple pleasure
in anything.
So here is my deal: stop whining for an
hour, a day, a week, your choice, and you will
have earned your copy of Agustin's Linux Manual. Say
encouraging words to young people, make them feel
welcome on the planet Earth (many do not). Show by
example that we don't need all we have in order to
be happy and productive.
Agustin
Velasco, Las Vegas Nevada
Also see
Interview With an Extraterrestrial on this
topic.
Important Note: if you don't like this
idea, just ignore it -- you can have
Agustin's Linux Manual anyway, as I am assuming
you already downloaded it. That's one way to
distinguish the world of ideas from the rest of
human history: you can disregard an idea and no
one knocks on your door at midnight.
|
|
