That's actually my initial reference book which resulted in me writing the JSR we're discussing here.
Bernard Lietaer and many other experts on the topic have a very firm understanding of the inherent errors of our modern worldwide economy and have repeatedly pointed out that the system is unstable.
As a computer programmer my reply to inherent instability I'm unable to fix on short notice is to keep a backup system available and prepare for failover.
Of course this was a simplification, it's not really a failover, it's more like load ballancing: You keep alternate economies running and leave it to the users to select their system of choice. If the big one fails we can run on the spare tire for a while, while we design a better primary economy, or until we decide the spare tire is actually the better choice.
I think nobody here is going to reject the idea to keep backup systems in case of failure?
It's difficult to generalize this because the part you would like to see generalized is left as an implementation detail. The JSR will concentrate on offering a core specification that will aid in the implementation of arbitrary protocols, XML or not, and arbitrary complementary currency schemes. One of the major modifications to the Java language will hopefully enter the core language standard:
The class java.util.Currency will have to be extended to support non-ISO currencies. This is strictly Java specific and cannot be platform independent.
Providing a platform independent
XML protocol for the implementation of a specific subset of complementary currency design choices is another good idea (and I might give it a try) but it's not within the scope of this proposal.
Why's everybody so eager to invest in old technology? In my opinion our best fusion reactor is safely stored away in one astronomical unit distance but if you have to have nuclear energy in earth couldn't you all just wait for ITER (http://www.iter.org/)? What's so great about fission?
I'm involved in the creation of a complementary currency, which will probably be peer to peer (JXTA) based. It will be similar to the timedollar. A complementary currency would be a useful addition to somthing like i-neighbors. Neighbors could offer and exchange services and goods through your system. Offering a localized Ebay-like platform would allow to exchange or lend used items locally (without any need for remote distribution). My own plans for such a system go even a little bit further and will include a booking system for reserving items electronically and an inventory where items to be sold later can be made visible ahead of time. In the extrem case a person or company can make items visible even before they are bought 1st hand and a 2nd hand buyer (or potential lender) can make a commitment to buy, share or lend the item later on.
I'm also involved in a PGP-based voting project. PGP-based voting might be an interesting addition to usual polls: A peer to peer network (Java JXTA, jxta.org) is used to collect PGP-signed votes which do not have a legal status but can be used to collect a public opinion with a very high credibility (in my case, to prepare for a direct democratic public poll about the european constitution as a next step). More information about this can be found at http://pgpid.sourceforge.net/.
... why not look for it in quantum theory. If you're part of the universe quantum events are your primary source of randomness. Why shouldn't it be possible to tune quantum events to cause whatever effect you desire if you're not a part of this universe? The bible (and the qur'an, too) tell us that god is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. According to physics that's impossible inside this universe anyway.
Outside the universe on the other hand and with some spare dimensions it might even be possible to 'calculate ' future states of the chaotic system universe, or future states of a four dimensional cone around the desired area of effect and induce the required quantum randomness to make this happend the way you intend them to be.
This is just my personal theory how to explain an omnipotent god together with a scientific view of the world.
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Bernard Lietaer and many other experts on the topic have a very firm understanding of the inherent errors of our modern worldwide economy and have repeatedly pointed out that the system is unstable.
As a computer programmer my reply to inherent instability I'm unable to fix on short notice is to keep a backup system available and prepare for failover.
Of course this was a simplification, it's not really a failover, it's more like load ballancing: You keep alternate economies running and leave it to the users to select their system of choice. If the big one fails we can run on the spare tire for a while, while we design a better primary economy, or until we decide the spare tire is actually the better choice.
I think nobody here is going to reject the idea to keep backup systems in case of failure?
The class java.util.Currency will have to be extended to support non-ISO currencies. This is strictly Java specific and cannot be platform independent.
Providing a platform independent XML protocol for the implementation of a specific subset of complementary currency design choices is another good idea (and I might give it a try) but it's not within the scope of this proposal.
That might have been a good hint but you didn't notice the status of the JSR: Withdrawn. Thank you anyway!
Why's everybody so eager to invest in old technology? In my opinion our best fusion reactor is safely stored away in one astronomical unit distance but if you have to have nuclear energy in earth couldn't you all just wait for ITER (http://www.iter.org/)? What's so great about fission?
There's a JSR (Java Specification Request) for complementary currencies at http://dem.sourceforge.net/JSR/.
I'm also involved in a PGP-based voting project. PGP-based voting might be an interesting addition to usual polls: A peer to peer network (Java JXTA, jxta.org) is used to collect PGP-signed votes which do not have a legal status but can be used to collect a public opinion with a very high credibility (in my case, to prepare for a direct democratic public poll about the european constitution as a next step). More information about this can be found at http://pgpid.sourceforge.net/.
... why not look for it in quantum theory. If you're part of the universe quantum events are your primary source of randomness. Why shouldn't it be possible to tune quantum events to cause whatever effect you desire if you're not a part of this universe? The bible (and the qur'an, too) tell us that god is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. According to physics that's impossible inside this universe anyway.
Outside the universe on the other hand and with some spare dimensions it might even be possible to 'calculate ' future states of the chaotic system universe, or future states of a four dimensional cone around the desired area of effect and induce the required quantum randomness to make this happend the way you intend them to be.
This is just my personal theory how to explain an omnipotent god together with a scientific view of the world.