Timebanking

[Deirdre Kent]

Hello

I note that there are several exchanges which use time as a unit. I wonder which of them consider themselves to be timebanks as described by Edgar Cahn and all the websites on timebanks? (Wikipedia says they are in 37 countries) In other words an hour is an hour of anyone's time. A labourer's time is as valuable as a professionals time. It is an appealing concept.

There are lots of fledgling timebanks in New Zealand and not all of us want to spend big money on the Community Weaver software out of US. We need a member as a Community Chest. Some of us need to have groups within our groups.

[John Rogers]

Hi Deirdre

You could check out Matthew Slater's Marketplace software developed on the Drupal platform. You can download it for free and try out time banking functions with it: http://marketplace.matslats.net/

Best wishes

John Rogers

[Deirdre Kent]

Thanks for this John. I had a look at it and it also looks to be in its early stages. And how can I find out if the developers have a deep understanding of timebanking? There appears to be no enrolment form to fill out for security, and no community chest. And is it the seller who enters the transaction or the buyer? This is important as LETS found out. I am still inclined to go with Tim's software.

I know Drupal is open source but I understand Tim will be open source in a couple of years time.

[Dawn Pilatowicz]

Hi Deirdre,
In Cape Town our currency is a 'Talent' which is loosely related in value to our Fiat currency the Rand.
I have an account in that exchange and I use that for earning and purchasing of goods and services.

I also have an account in the GLOG exchange which trades in minutes.
I'm using this as my 'pension fund' - any time I just do work by the hour I use that account - but at the moment I'm not using it to spend.

I have a disability so for me I have to look shorter term rather than longer term for a sustainable savings option. I'm completely trusting our system, and a minute is a minute forever, so it won't devalue.

When I can no longer earn then I will spend out of this account.

Glad to hear you're joining us on the CES.