All of my insights are preceded by avocados. Pic from http://thetexaspeach.com/my-recipes/avocado-chicken-salad/
The Daily Post selected my post for the day!
“If the world worked on a barter system, how would you fare? Would you have services to barter? Would you be successful, or would you struggle?”
I think it’s only fair that I do said post, so I’ve been thinking about it all day. I read through all the other replies, and then suddenly– over an avocado chicken salad lettuce wrap– I realized that, if the world converted to bartering rather than a money system, I’d be the bartering equivalent of a mob boss.
It all makes perfect sense.
Though I claim no talents, I happen to have a bevy of micro-skills, talented friends, and sales skills. I also have the ability to piece things together in complex, unlikely patterns.
I think it would start small.
A friend of mine would come over, hungry, and explain how they were limited by their negotiation capabilities. I’d worry and volunteer to negotiate on their behalf so they could eat.
I’d trade their poems to people in need of romantic flair for their special occasions and one of those people, who would know trust me as a salesperson, would inevitably need another service, too.
Perhaps flower arranging, or shelf-building, or design.
I would call in another friend and exchange services. By the end of the night, I would have collected several favors and new friends, and fed everyone.
It would multiply.
My micro-skills err on the side of the obscure, so no doubt there wouldn’t be regular calls for them– but, when they were called upon, they would bring a high price.
We’re talking pounds of potatoes.
Those potatoes would feed the people who would come to me with their services and products, and I would feed them in advance for favors later, and the cycle would continue.
In just a short matter of time, I’d be a sitting on an over-sized chair with a big hat, sending my minions out to do the negotiating and calling in of favors.
“Boss,” my minions would say, “Tony at the avocado farm says he can’t do three today. Just two.”
“Okay,” I’d reply, “Two today, but that means two more tomorrow. I’m not messing around here. He already received two poems, a song, a potato, and the loan of a goat for a day. Remind him that stuff doesn’t grow on trees. I need those avocados by Thursday, but tell him Wednesday. Got it?”
“Got it, Boss,” they’d say.
When it comes to favors, I don’t mess around, kids.
I’m not sure I’d like the person I’d be in a world of barter.
It would be too convenient of an excuse to let loose some more of my more questionable tendencies– to predict the reactions of people, to create a product to suit a need even at the sacrifice of creativity.
It’s too easy to justify too much in the name of feeding friends and family– and in the name of preserving the artistic industries of value to humanity.
I think in the interest of protecting those things, I’d end up losing sight of what makes them valuable.
So would I be successful in a world of barter?
Yes, in a manner of speaking. And no, in the way that matters to me most.
What about you? Where would you be in a world of barter? Living in my evil lair, running an avocado farm, or controlling a sizeable town of your own?
Also, because I love lists, here are 10 of my micro-skills– thanks to many kind and patient teachers– that may come of use in a world of barter:
- I can make shoes, from moccasins and flip flops to high heels.
- I can throw knives with surprising accuracy.
- I can make paper, bind books, and emboss leather covers with basic tools.
- I can design signs and even hand-make them if need be.
- I can knit, sew, and embroider.
- I can train animals, even cats.
- I can make dishware.
- I can identify and cook unusual foods (like flowers).
- I can make candles and soaps.
- I can work with numbers without gouging out my eyes.
What are some of your skills?
