Lokal Exchange Trading System Spania

LETS Changed My Life av James Taris Artikkel for New Community Quarterly Australia mai 2003 issue. Once du har skjønt LETS-filosofien, blir handel i LETS-poeng en hyggelig og givende opplevelse. Min LETS-filosofi er at du ikke tenker på LETS-poeng som dollar Tenk på dem som favours. LETS eller Local Exchange Trading Systems er lokalsamfunns handelsgrupper hvor medlemmer bytter ut sine varer og tjenester med hverandre i en ånd av harmoni og et genuint ønske om å hjelpe hverandre. LETS gruppens funksjon er å opptre som en bokholder for medlemmene transaksjoner, holde oversikt over disse favoriserer også kalt bønner, auraer, skaller, talenter, takk, osv. og sette medlemmene kontoer til debet eller kreditt tilsvarende. En konto som er i kreditt identifiserer et medlem som har gitt flere favoriserer enn han mottok En konto som er i debet identifiserer et medlem som har fått flere favoriserer enn han er gitt. Det er ingen interesse betalt til kontoer i kreditt, og ingen inter Jeg er involvert i LETS siden 1994, og når jeg forstod og aksepterte prinsippet om å gi og ta med min kollega LETS-gruppemedlemmer, la jeg raskt merke til en kraftig økning i kvaliteten på min livsstil. Å ha en begrenset inntekt betydde at jeg bare hadde råd til å betale for det viktigste i livet mitt, leie, gass, elektrisitet, telefon, bensin, mat, klær og så videre Alt annet ble en luksus som jeg heller gjorde uten, eller valgte å gjøre meg selv. Men det var alt forandret med LETS, fordi jeg fant at jeg til slutt kunne nyte noen av disse bekvemmeligheter ved å tilby et utvalg av varer og tjenester gjennom min LETS-gruppen Svært snart klippte jeg plener, fjernet søppel og malerom. Senere ble jeg også utformet visittkort, brosjyrer og nyhetsbrev. Jeg handlet også små billedrammer, små bokhyller og kjøkkenutstyr. Til gjengjeld fikk jeg massasje, pianoundervisning og restaurant måltider Datamaskinstøtte, dataprogramvare og webdesigntjenester Gratulasjonskort, bamser og bonsaiplanter Alle disse varene og tjenestene ville vært motvillig forbudt hvis jeg måtte betale penger for dem. Heldigvis gjorde LETS dem alt mulig. Men problemer kan dukke opp når medlemmene tillater at kontiene deres går raskt i debitering. Ofte legger LETS-grupper inn en maksimal debetgrense på medlemmernes kontoer for å holde dette i sjakk og oppfordrer dem til å treffe hensiktsmessige skritt for å redusere debetnivået så snart som mulig. Dette kan oppnås på flere måter ved å øke antall varer og tjenester som de tilbyr ved frivillig arbeid for å levere varer og tjenester fremmet i Wanted-delen av LETS-nyhetsbrevet ved å markedsføre seg som Keen Traders i LETS-nyhetsbrevet ved å bringe varer til handel på den månedlige handelsdagen Markeder ved å akseptere forespørsler om handel når det blir spurt. Men handel er ikke den eneste måten medlemmer får fordel av. Det er bare en del av hva LETS handler om. viktig er rollen det spiller med å utvikle ferdighetene til sine medlemmer. Da jeg ba om å være involvert i å produsere nyhetsbrevet til min LETS-gruppe, visste jeg ikke engang at Publishing-programvare eksisterte, enn si hvordan du bruker det LETS ga meg muligheten å lære disse ferdighetene, mens jeg aldri ville ha fått samme mulighet i kontantøkonomien. Og til slutt forbedret denne erfaringen mine ferdigheter til et slikt høyt nivå at jeg begynte å tjene penger utenfor LETS-systemet. På grunn av LETS klarte jeg å bygge min ferdigheter tilstrekkelig nok til å bli en profesjonell Desktop Publisher. In oktober 2001 tok jeg mitt engasjement med LETS til et mye høyere nivå Jeg grunnla nettstedet som er en internasjonal LETS katalog Og det er siden vokst til 80 sider med over 1500 LETS og fellesskap Valutagrupper fra 39 land på alle kontinenter i verden Det har også lenker til over 100 nettsteder som har informasjon om LETS, pengesystemet eller fellesskapets valutaer. Dette var rent arbeidskraft o Jeg elsket, og lite visste jeg at det ville være katalysatoren jeg trengte å gjennomføre en av de største internasjonale utvekslingsvirksomhetene som noen gang forsøkt gjennom LETS. Min bok, Global Quest For Local LETS på, er en samling av mine reiseopplevelser i 2002 til og med 8 landene England, Spania, Frankrike, Tyskland, Holland, Norge, Sør-Afrika og Japan handler mine talende tjenester i bytte for overnatting, måltider, lokal transport og bruk av datamaskiner. Mitt engasjement og samspill med disse LETS-gruppene skiller seg fra hvert land jeg besøkte. Bristol England Jeg fikk hendene mine skitne og hjelper et LETS-medlem til å renovere huset hans. I bytte fikk jeg en sykkel til uken der jeg var der For å behandle mine transaksjoner ble det åpnet en midlertidig konto og alle transaksjoner gjennomført. oppføringene ble gjort, den endelige balansen på kontoen min var null og kontoen min ble avsluttet Så alle medlemmer involvert i mine transaksjoner ble riktig belønnet. I Erlangen Tyskland tilbrakte jeg et par dager med Gunter Koch, grunnlegger av Goldring Han hadde utviklet et unikt handelssystem som til og med belønnet medlemmer som ikke kunne, eller kunne ikke handle med andre medlemmer, ikke-produsenter, og han betalte dem alle et månedlig beløp i ekte gull. Jeg tilbød tjenestene mine som en redaktør for sin Goldring-presentasjon Engelsk oversettelse og fikk en 5gm gullbiff i bytte. I Amsterdam Holland møtte jeg representanter fra alle 120 LETS-gruppene i landet. Den største gruppen, Noppes, hadde 950 medlemmer. Vi byttet ideer om hvordan å tiltrekke seg mat leverandører eller forsyninger til deres LETS-grupper I Cape Town Sør-Afrika var jeg involvert i lanseringen av LETS i landet. Ingen grupper eksisterte der da, men innen 5 dager hadde flere mennesker tatt skritt for å gjøre LETS-gruppene i Cape Town til en realitet. fokuser veldig mye på å etablere LETS-grupper i de fattige, svarte befolket områdene i byen. I Fukuoka Japan møtte jeg med bystyrets representanter og Idemitsu, direktør for IDEX Petroleum, en av de 1 0 største selskaper på Kyushu Island, for å diskutere måter å introdusere et fellesskaps valuta system inn i deres by. Jeg møtte også med sliter LETS grupper rundt øya, og i Kagoshima ga jeg en introduksjon til LETS presentasjon til 2000 lokalbefolkningen på deres årlige Harvest Day Festival . Men det er LETS-familiefaktoren som gjorde et så stort potensial mulig. Mitt mål var å reise verden og dele LETS-filosofien og fremheve fordelene med å handle gjennom LETS Jeg er lidenskapelig om LETS, og min tro på systemet er urokkelig Mine LETS-verter rundt om i verden visste jeg at jeg var ekte om mitt ønske om å hjelpe dem, min LETS-familiekrets, og de reagerte villig med mine reisekrav. Når det gjaldt å snakke om LETS, ville jeg snakke med noen når som helst jeg ikke holdt meg tilbake tjenester, og jeg fant vertene mine ikke holde dem tilbake. Vi handlet med en fellesskapsånd, så det var harmonisk, i motsetning til kontantøkonomien, som er rent fortjeneste motivert. Så bare for å oppsummere. S-poeng bør betraktes som favoriserer, ikke dollar LETS-handel bør utføres med fellesskapsånd, i stedet for å være profitt motivert. LETS er den perfekte måten å forbedre livsstilen din ved å tilby luksusvarer og tjenester. LETS-grupper kan hjelpe medlemmer med å redusere store debetbeløp LETS tilbyr medlemmer muligheter til å lære, forbedre eller perfeksjonere ferdigheter LETS kan brukes internasjonalt hvis du er reell om å hjelpe LETS-medlemmer og godta å besøke steder der du blir invitert, i stedet for steder du spesielt ønsker å gå. De 20 mest stillede spørsmålene om LETS Dette dokumentet ble utarbeidet av John Croft fra Gaia Foundation. Det har blitt redigert litt. Det beskriver hvorfor, hvordan og hva med LETS-ordninger. Vi håper følgende spørsmål og svar oppfyller alle dine krav og oppfordrer deg til å være en aktiv handelsmann i ditt LETSystem. Q 1 Hva er et LETSystem. A LETSystem er et lokalt initiert, demokratisk organisert, ikke-for-profit samfunnsvirksomhet som gir ac UMMS-informasjonstjeneste og registrerer transaksjoner av medlemmer som bytter varer og tjenester ved å bruke valutaen av lokalt opprettede LETS-kreditter. LETS Kredittvalutaen omfatter ikke mynter, papirpenger eller tokens av noe slag, men fungerer snarere som et scoring system, holder styr på verdien av individuelle medlemmers transaksjoner i systemet Det er ganske enkelt et fellesskapssystem knyttet til sitt eget markedsplass. Ulike LETSystems kaller deres LETS Credits etter forskjellige navn, legger til en lokal smak. Q 2 Hvordan virker LETS? LETS fungerer litt som en baby - sitting club, hvor medlemmer tjener kreditter ved å sitte barnas andre barn, tilbringe hver gang de trenger barnesyn. I motsetning til en barneklubb, utvider LETS utvalget av tjenester til det som er tilgjengelig lokalt. En vellykket LETSystem kan gi medlemmer med mat, klær, bolig, transport, helse og juridiske tjenester, reparasjoner, utstyr, forretningstjenester, underholdning og mye mer, til redusert eller ingen kostnad i Federal dollar, gjennom driften av en samfunnsbasert kredittøkonomi. Den er tilgjengelig for alle som er medlem av samfunnet, og som er med i et LETSystem Personer og bedrifter kan bruke den til å annonsere varer eller finne det de vil, enten via telefon, post eller personlig. Informasjon oppdateres regelmessig, legges til eller slettes på når som helst, og sirkuleres regelmessig til medlemmer. Det er ingen begrensninger eller forpliktelser for bruk. LETS er navnet og lar er sin natur. Ved å betale en liten registreringsavgift utstedes medlemmer med et registreringsnummer som fungerer som et lisens til handel. også liste over varer og tjenester de er forberedt på å tilby eller kreve fra LETS-fellesskapet. I de fleste systemer velger medlemmer også en LETSystem-komité eller et styre av rådgivere på en ordinær generalforsamling, og etablerer et system for å opprettholde LETS-kontoer og oppdatere handelsark , annonsere varene og tjenestene som er tilgjengelige eller nødvendige. Q 3 Hvorfor starte en LETSystem. Når vanlige penger mangler, trengs fellesskapsprosjekter på ubestemt hold, lokal busine sses mislykkes, folk blir arbeidsløse, og enkeltpersoner og familier lider, ikke fordi de ikke har noe å tilby, eller fordi de mangler ferdigheter og evner, men bare fordi det ikke er nok penger til å gå rundt. LETSystems bidrar til å utvikle og frigjøre lokale markeder ved å operere Som en fellesskapsbank hvor medlemmer åpner en konto I motsetning til en bank gir den ubegrenset rentefri kreditt, generert ved salgsstedet, for å lette handel med andre medlemmer. På denne måten virker LETS som en tilleggsvaluta, og skaper et ekstra system av verdi i et fellesskap Ved å supplere konvensjonell kontantstrøm med en lokal valuta, kan et samfunn opprettholde full sysselsetting og beskytte seg mot endringer og svingninger i pengemengden. Q 4 Hvilke andre fordeler er der ved å starte en LETSystem. There er mange fordeler med LETSystems Noen andre er .- Mobilisere den virkelige rikdom i et fellesskap Kunnskapen og ferdighetene til sitt folk er det virkelige riket av et samfunn. En lokal valuta eps denne rikdommen jobber i samfunnet selv om konvensjonelle penger renner bort, genererer sysselsetting og inntekt for alle involverte personer som har akkumulert et bredt spekter av ferdigheter og evner, plutselig blir igjen høyt verdsatte medlemmer av samfunnet. - Hjelper fellesskapets grupper LETSystems hjelp andre lokale kommunistiske organisasjoner ved å gi dem tilgang til ressurser for å utvide sine tjenester til kunder eller kunder som ikke nå tilgang. Frivillig utbrenning reduseres som LETS hjelper organisasjoner til å gjenkjenne og anerkjenne donert tid og krefter, slik at frivillige kan møte sine egne behov mens de møtes andres behov .- Oppmuntring til selvtillit Selvtillit I våre lokalsamfunn vokser arbeidsledigheten samtidig, og økende antall mennesker er ikke i stand til å møte sine behov. Støttende enslige foreldre kan trenge pusterom eller andre tjenester til sine barn. Eldre pensjonister trenger en rekke spesialiserte tjenester eller kan bare kreve at selskapet skal bekjempe loneline ss For tiden er en persons evne til å få tilgang til disse og andre tjenestene proporsjonal med deres kjøpekraft. LETS bryter denne flaskehalsen ved å gjøre det mer mulig å matche en persons behov med en annen s tilgjengelig arbeid. Mennesker er ikke lenger avhengige av velferd eller veldedighet, og alle er selvtillit fordeler .- Økt personlig besparelse disponibel inntekt Fordi medlemmer kan få lokale varer og tjenester gjennom et LETSystem, kan medlemmer erstatte LETS for føderale dollar. Den disponible inntekt i Federal dollar, tilgjengelig etter grunnleggende behov er oppfylt, øker faktisk for de involverte hvem som regelmessig handler i LETS, vil finne at de har mer penger igjen i lommene deres ved slutten av hver uke. Ressursbesparelsen, og dermed av samfunnsinvesteringskapitalgenerering og dermed livskvaliteten for alle, vil bli bedre. Muligheter for bedrifter LETS legger til et nytt nivå til en lokal økonomi og genererer formue som ikke kan nås gjennom konvensjonen al monetære system Denne rikdommen skaper nye muligheter for utvidelse av eksisterende lokale bedrifter, eller til og med markeder for nye varer og tjenester som tidligere ikke var tilgjengelige. - Opprette lokal økonomisk kontroll LETS bidrar til å koble til den lekkede bøtte av lokaløkonomien ved å skape en lokal valuta som ikke kan gå ut av samfunnet, og dermed redusere ukontrollerte og aktivitetsbegrensende kapitalutganger. Som LETS-kreditter har bare verdi i fellesskapet der de ble generert, forblir de sirkulerende for å skape mer rikdom for alle. LETS gir fellesskapsmedlemmer et kraftig nytt verktøy for å Styre den lokale økonomien i retninger som fordeler alle. - Støtte for å kjøpe lokalt For tiden gir stordriftsfordeler, overføringspriser og kapitalisering på billig tredje verdenskraft eller råmaterialer større multinasjonale og interstate produsenter og forhandlere til å tippe det såkalte nivået spillefelt i deres retning, til skade for lokale bedrifter LETS gir en føderal dollar d er det til de som bruker lokale bedrifter, produsenter og forhandlere, mens de ikke ofrer total inntekt i håp om å gjøre det opp gjennom økt virksomhet. Lokale bedrifter trives. - Bygg fellesskapsstøttenettverk fordi LETS plugger medlemmer inn i et lokalt informasjonsnettverk, gir det nye eller isolerte Innbyggere som bor i et lokalsamfunn med et øyeblikkelig fellesskapsstøtte, som unngår forlegenhet på introduksjoner til fremmede. Gjennom LETS-nettverket har alle medlemmer en klar grunn til å kreve støtte eller hjelp. Eldre pensjonister, arbeidsløs ungdom, støttende foreldre, nyankomne og Enfamiliefamilier med partnere fanget i en sovesal forstad, kan alle bygge faste vennskap på relasjoner opprettet gjennom en LETS-forbindelse. - Fostre sosial rettferdighet Likestilling Fordi verdien knyttet til ens tid og engasjement settes individuelt blant de deltagende medlemmene, er en LETSystem utligner lønnsforskjellen som eksisterer i verdien attache d i konvensjonell økonomi til kvinners arbeid i forhold til menns arbeid Denne større likestilling bidrar til å forhindre polarisering av fellesskapet mellom de som har sammenlignet med de ikke har. Det er ingen verdi i å samle LETS-kreditter, som de ikke kan tjene interesse Det er bare ved å sette dem til produktivt arbeid som individet eller samfunnet har til fordel for LETS fremmer lokal deltakelse i samfunnet på alle nivåer. - Hjelpe Fellesskapsprosjekter Det er mange verdige og verdifulle fellesskapsprosjekter og aktiviteter som slipper for mangel på penger. donere LETS-studiepoeng til et fellesskapskiste, kan store samfunnsinitiativer for lokal forbedring eller veldedighetsarbeid genereres uten å legge en alvorlig belastning på en s-dollarinntekt. Fordi de lokale LETS-studiepoengene forblir i lokalsamfunnet, vil den formue som tilbys sirkulere tilbake til giveren som en form for langsiktig pengene tilbake-garanti, for å generere etterspørsel etter varer og tjenester de gir til deres medarbeidere mmunity.- Bygg en følelse av fellesskap Den stadig transiente, midlertidige og mobile livsstilen i Australia har sterkt skadet vår følelse av å tilhøre et meningsfylt samfunn. Fordi LETSystem bygger lokale relasjoner, er det et kraftig middel til å regenerere en følelse av tillit blant medlemmer, en nødvendig komponent til helsen til et fellesskap Som lokalsamfunn blir mer selvbevisste og selvhjulpne som følge av et LETSystem, reduserer fellesskapets isolasjon, frykt og ensomhet og alle fordeler. Q 5 Hva er Multi-LETS. A Multi-LETSystem er en LETSystem som alle andre Som alle andre LETS, gir et Multi-LETS et register over medlemmer, der transaksjoner registreres, erklæringer og kontoer utarbeides, og et oppslagstavle eller handelsblad med tilbud og forespørsler er utarbeidet. En Multi - LETS har dessuten muligheten for at et antall separate nettverk eksisterer i det enkle registret. Disse nettverkene ligner separate LETSystems, ved at de belaster sine egne medlemsavgifter, at medlemmer av et bestemt nettverk kan handle varer og tjenester i sin egen lokale valuta, i henhold til de regler og vilkår som medlemmene er enige om, kan de gi sin egen særskilte liste over tilbud og forespørsler, og deres eget nyhetsbrev Igjen, som et LETSystem, LETS Credit-enhetene kan ikke overføres utenfor medlemskapsbasen eller tas ut av systemet. Forskjellen med en konvensjonell LETSystem er at i Multi-LETS begynner folk i første omgang å legge til det generelle registret, og spesifisere hvilke nettverk de ønsker å delta i. De mottar et enkelt handelsregistreringsnummer som kan brukes i det generelle registret, og i ethvert nettverk som de tilhører Folk, kan man velge om man skal registrere transaksjonen i det generelle systemet eller på nivået av et bestemt nettverk. Multi-LETS, alle transaksjoner registreres på Multi-Lets-registeret, slik at nettverk kan ha fordelene ved et LETSystem, uten å måtte bekymre seg for Registrering av transaksjoner eller utstedelse av uttalelser Dette kan være en enorm fordel for en bestemt klubb eller gruppe som ikke har noen medlemmer interessert i å kjøre systemet, men som ønsker å bruke LETS til eget formål uten å nødvendigvis gå gjennom bryter med å starte egen egen LETSystem. Medlemmene får også tilgang til et bredere utvalg av varer og tjenester gjennom det generelle registret enn de ville i et mindre system av eget nettverk. I en Multi-LETS-personell har man større valgfrihet, slik de kan velg hvilke nettverk de vil delta i, og hvilke lokale årsaker, klubber eller grupper de vil støtte når de handler i LETS. Q 6 Hvordan inngår jeg i en LETSystem. Hver LETSystem er uavhengig og har sin egen kontaktperson eller epostadresse. Når du har har tatt en beslutning om hvilke LETSystem eller systemer du vil bli med, ta kontakt og de vil fortelle deg hvor mye det koster. Generelt fyller folk deretter et ark med tilbud og forespørsler, deres navn, m svikende adresse og telefonnummer LETSystem vil da informere det nye medlemmet av deres registreringsnummer innen dette systemet, som fungerer som deres lisens for å begynne å handle. Ulike LETSystems har forskjellige måter å forny medlemskap på, men generelt må medlemmene fornye medlemskapet en gang i året. Q 7 Hva skjer med min liste over tilbud og forespørsler. Du har allerede oppført hva du vil motta fra LETS-fellesskapet, og hva du er villig til å bidra til dette fellesskapet i retur. Disse er innarbeidet med andres inn i handelsarket der er en avgift på en andel av en LETS Kreditt per linje for oppføringer i hvert handelsark for å betale forvalteren som oppdaterer noteringen. Din konto kan gå bakover, derfor hvis du ikke handler. Det er derfor en god ide å regelmessig sjekk listen din for å sikre at den gjenspeiler det du er forberedt på å gi, eller er villig til å motta. Som du vil oppdage, kan det være frustrerende for medlemmene å måtte lage en stor n umber av telefonsamtaler før de finner en ekte handelsmann i det aktuelle elementet, eller om de oppdager at det ble solgt 6 måneder siden Dette kan delvis overvinnes ved å holde listen oppdatert. Dette er ditt ansvar Det koster deg ikke å slett et element og vil lagre kontoen din for å registrere uønskede eller ikke-handlede varer og tjenester. Q 8 Hva skal jeg gjøre nå Hvordan starter jeg trading. Your LETSystem, som alle LETSystems, fungerer best gjennom din deltakelse Rather enn å vente på at noen skal kontakte deg om dine oppføringer, vil LETSystem best tilfredsstille dine behov hvis du bruker den aktivt, i stedet for passivt. Kontakt noen kanskje hvem som ber om noe god eller tjeneste du kan tilby. Det kan være noe du ikke engang vurdere notering i tilbudene i handelsarket, noe som du aldri har vurdert før. Uansett hva det er er personen du telefoner, glad for å lage en ny LETS-kontakt. Dette vil gi deg en smak av handel, og vise deg hvordan det gjøres Hvis den pers på er interessert i din hjelp, må du sørge for at du tydelig fastslår nøyaktig hvor mange LETS-kreditter du foreslår å lade. Dette kan resultere i litt vennlig pruting, men fortsett ikke før en gjensidig pris er satt. Sørg for at begge parter i transaksjonen har det riktige navnet, registreringsnummeret og beløpet før du fullfører kontrollpanelet, eller ring transaksjonen til Trustees. Q 9 Hvordan får jeg mest personlig nytte av min LETSystem. Your LETSystem vil ha størst økonomisk bruk for deg hvis du se på hvor du bruker penger for tiden Har du bygget et personlig forhold til de involverte personene, eller er det bare en kommersiell transaksjon Hvis du kan rekruttere til systemet individer med hvem du vanligvis bruker Federal Dollars, vil du finne at du kan kjøpe samme varer og tjenester til dels for LETS vil ha stor effekt på økt besparelse og disponibel inntekt. For eksempel, hvis du kan kjøpe lokale matvarer og dagligvarer for LET S det vil ha stor innvirkning på utgiftsmønstrene dine, og du kan spare Federal Dollars Hvis du vil ha hjelp til å registrere noen inn i LETSystem, spør du områdekoordinatoren, Trustee eller LETS-komiteen. Hvis du har lykkes, kan du begynne å bruke lokal valuta i større grad, så skape flere arbeidsplasser og øke rikdommen i lokalsamfunnet ditt. Prøv å utvikle LETS-vanen ved å bruke LETS først, Federal Dollars Second, bare hvis du må LETS gir folk en sjanse til å møte sine naboer på en ny måte, beriker ditt samfunnsliv og gir deg et fellesskapsstøttenettverk med stor styrke og holdbarhet. Q 10 Hvor mye er LETS Kreditt verdt. For de fleste forretningstransaksjoner er det lettest å likestille en LETS Kreditt til en føderal dollar Forretningsfolk finner det vanskelig å takle et system av verdi som varierer mye mellom ulike tider og forskjellige mennesker trading. Most transaksjoner i et LETSystem er imidlertid for varer og tjenester som ville bli kalt personlige ordninger, sosiale arrangementer nts, ​​hobbies eller pass-times For disse er folk fri til å sette sin egen verdi skala, som kan variere vilt mellom tider av dagen, avhengig av hvor mye fritid man har, eller arten av andre press eller krav de kan ha på sin tid. Som et resultat i et LETSystem kan du finne et bredere spekter av priser enn du ville i et konvensjonelt markedssystem. Prisene for slike varer forhandles fritt mellom de to som deltar i transaksjonen, og det er sjelden et sett ta-det-eller-forlate-det-prisen som man finner i et konvensjonelt pengekjøp Dette hjelper forholdet til å bygge en LETSystems relasjonsbygging. Fordi folk fester sin egen verdi til det de endrer, er mange av ulikhetene som finnes i det normale økonomi er ikke funnet i et LETSystem. Spaltet i timelønn mellom faglig og arbeidsmessig arbeid, mellom menns arbeid og kvinners arbeid, og mellom oppgaver som normalt ville bli ansett som frivillige eller ubetalte, og de som er betalt for, er snevret eller eksisterer ikke Generelt er en persons kjøpekraft i et LETSystem lik likviditeten til noen andre, selv om etterspørselen etter deres tjenester kan variere mye. Q 11 Kan jeg lade del LETS Kreditt del føderale dollar i en Transaksjon. Ja Hvis du ved å levere den tjenesten, må du betale føderale dollar for å levere en del av det som blir bedt om, for eksempel for maling, bensin, avgiften din dersom du er en handelsmann eller profesjonell som utøver sin vanlige stilling, kan du be om dollar for å dekke denne nødvendige komponenten. Sørg for at at den andre personen forstår hvorfor du lader dollar, da dette hjelper med å sikre at de føler det du betaler for, er rettferdig. Q 12 Hvordan skal jeg betale i LETS hvis jeg driver en bedrift. Hvis du driver en bedrift, er det en nyttig måte å start er å tilby det du tror ville være en god prosentandel i LETS Credits og føderale dollar. Den andre personen i transaksjonen er fri til å akseptere eller avvise, som i LETS, er det ingen forpliktelse. LETS er navnet og LETS er dens natur. på ly kravet er at du er forberedt på å vurdere handel med LETS Credits for hele eller deler av transaksjonen. Sørg for at den andre personen forstår på forhånd om å levere varene eller tjenestene dersom du ikke handler noe for LETS. et ubehagelig sjokk for kunden din, og kan føre til at de forteller andre om deres uheldig erfaring, med det resultat at du kanskje finner at du gjør lite handel i fremtiden. Hvis du driver en bedrift og ønsker å handle i LETS, spør oss om LETS Gjøre forretningsinformasjon Vi kan forklare hvordan du kan registrere transaksjoner i en del LETS del dollar på en enkel og pålitelig måte Medlemmer av LETSystem foretrekker å handle i lokal valuta, så du vil sikkert finne ut at antall salg og totalt Kontantomsetningen vil øke etter hvert som virksomheten din blir med i det lokale systemet. Q 13 Må jeg være i kreditt før jeg begynner å kjøpe. Nei. Du trenger ikke å være i kreditt før du foretar din første kjøpstransaksjon. På denne måten din L ETS-kontoen er svært forskjellig fra en vanlig bankkonto Hvis du ønsker å kjøpe en god eller tjeneste fra LETSystem, kan du gjøre det med en gang, som når du går inn i debet som i LETS er et mål for din fremtidige forpliktelse til systemet, noen andre vil gå inn i kreditt Systemet vil på denne måten holde seg balansert på null. Det er ved å kjøpe at nye LETS Credits går inn i systemet, og skaper mer formue i det lokale handelssamfunnet. Som LETS Credit kan ikke forlate ditt LETSystem, vil de til slutt komme tilbake til deg i form av noen som vil ha det du gir. En debet eller forpliktelse er dermed en pengene tilbake-garanti. Dette er veldig forskjellig fra penger. Q 14 Hva skjer hvis jeg forlater området. Det er en god ide å informere Trustees eller din områdekoordinator umiddelbart du skift bolig Dette hjelper med å sikre at de kan sende eventuelle fremtidige handelsblader eller nyhetsbrev til riktig adresse. Hvis du skifter ut av LETSystems region, har du en rekke alternativer. Først, du c Hold kontoen din åpen hvis du besøker området og ønsker å gjøre noe med handel, eller hvis du er forberedt på å tilby tjenester til LETS-medlemmene som besøker ditt nye bosted. For det andre kan du lukke kontoen din Dette kan være best oppnådd ved å returnere balansen til null Din områdekoordinator eller LETSystem Trustees kan hjelpe deg med å vise hvordan dette kan gjøres. For det tredje, hvis du går med enten en kreditt - eller en debetbalanse, bør du ikke bekymre deg for mye, som LETSystem som helhet vil fortsatt bli balansert til null, og LETS-kreditter, i motsetning til føderale dollar, kan aldri forlate området Folk vil fortsatt kunne handle, og få deres behov møtt. Selvfølgelig, hvis alle forlot ditt LETSystem, ville det bli inaktivert og transaksjoner ville tørke opp Dette har skjedd med LETSystems tidligere, men ingenting går tapt, og ingen blir skadet av prosessen igjen, i motsetning til det vanlige pengesystemet. Q 15 Hvordan kan en person rive av LETSystem. kan ikke overraskende LETS Credits gi en av de eneste tyverisikrede, ikke-rip-off-mulige valutasystemene som er mulige i verden. De enkle reglene fungerer på en måte helt forskjellig fra konvensjonelle penger, som kan bli stjålet, og blir ofte dratt av LETS Credits opererer på en måte helt forskjellig fra føderale dollar. Vurdere for eksempel spørsmålet om gjeld Hvis jeg låner 100 føderale dollar fra deg, så har jeg faktisk 100 av pengene du ikke kan bruke til jeg betaler tilbake. Dette er ubeleilig for deg, og som et mål av denne ulempen belaster du meg interesse. Jeg må kanskje betale tilbake 110 til slutt. I LETS hvis kontoen min er 100 LETS Kreditter i debet, betyr det at jeg allerede har betalt noen 100 LETS Kreditter Ingen er ulempet, og så er det ingen interesse Jeg kan frigjøre min forpliktelse når det er mest hensiktsmessig for meg å gjøre det LETS etter navn og LETS av natur. Q 16 Hva med Skatt Må jeg betale skatt på LETS Credits. Australian Taxation Office-avgjørelsen om LETS, utgitt 13. februar 1991 sier at det er ingen skattemessige konsekvenser for personlige ordninger, sosiale arrangementer, hobbyer eller passeringer. Disse utgjør om lag 70 til 80 av alle LETS-transaksjoner. Bare om jeg er en handelsmann, en profesjonell, en bedrift eller en forhandler eller grossist, og jeg handler i min Virksomheten er der noen implikasjoner for skatt I slike tilfeller er inntekt inntekt, og jeg må betale skatt på min LETS Credit inntekt akkurat som jeg gjør på min føderale Dollar inntekt I dag bør du estimere hvor mye skatt du måtte betale på transaksjonen og belaste det som en del av den føderale dollarns komponenten til den personen som kjøper tjenestene dine eller kjøper varene. LETS Do Business Guide hjelper deg med å holde oversikt over beløpet du må betale. Disse dollarene du samler må betales, til slutt , til Taxman, akkurat som du gjør med noen føderale dollarinntekter. Det er ingen forskjell med LETS. LETSystems over hele Australia, mens du godtar å anbefale medlemmene sine å følge skattemyndigheten, tror også det er unfai r Skatt på LETS skal betales i LETS - Skatt på dollar betalt i dollar Dette har effekt på å holde skatter samlet på lokale transaksjoner i lokalsamfunnet. Hvis du vil hjelpe LETSystem lobbyen, får regjeringen i denne saken i kontakt med dine forvaltere eller områdekoordinator. Din LETSystem mener at skatt er en individuell sak og et individuelt ansvar. LETS er ikke et skattebeskyttelsesprogram. LETSystem tar ikke ansvar for å samle eller polisere skatt og vil ikke fungere som agent for Taxation Office Under law, it cannot prevent the Taxation Office obtaining legal right to view our documents. Q 17 What about insurance. Your LETSystem does not provide insurance, workers compensation, public liability nor any other coverage These are individual matters and should be checked, if required, between the individuals involved in the transaction If insurance is required, you may have to pay federal Dollars to help the other person cover the cost of the premiums unless the LETSystem has managed to enrol an Insurance Company If you would like to help enrol an Insurance Company, contact the Trustees or the area coordinator. Q 18 What about Social Security. It is a matter of interpretation whether and what degree LETS is valuable consideration under the Social Security Act If you are concerned about Social Security, it is a good idea to keep your LETS account as balanced as much as possible, close to zero For each positive transaction, try to provide a negative one balancing up as soon as you can If Social Security becomes a matter of concern, contact your LETSystem, or ask Social Security about the Appeals Procedure, as an appeal against any Social Security ruling that is open to interpretation is your right under the Act In Western Australia 50 of appeals are found in favour of the appellant, and Social Security have to reimburse any payments lost. If you receive Unemployment Benefit, and you wish to continue to do so, you should not allow your involvement in the LETSystem interfere with your ability to seek full time or part time work After - hours involvement is probably best. Q 19 How are decisions determined within this LETSystem. LETSystems are democratic organisations, controlled by their members Your LETSystem will probably have an annual general meeting for the election of office bearers and committee members Committee meetings are usually open to members and all are invited to participate If you are interested in participating in either the administration or development of this LETSystem, you should get in touch with the local contact or LETS Committee Increasingly, all work done for LETS Administration or Development will be acknowledged and paid through the system. Q 20 Where can I get more information. The Community Development Branch of the Department of Commerce and Trade have a LETSystems Training Pack which provides groups and individuals interested in LETS with the all information required to start the ir own system 25 00 3 70 postage handling There is also a video available. email Permaculture Applications Consultancy Education 46 Bay View Crescent Dunsborough Western Australia 6281 Management Consultant - Helping Managers Learn Permaculture Designer - Helping Land Managers Learn Learning lots developing a 140 ha farm village at 3339S 11504E. This article was taken from 20 Most Asked Questions web email. The websites below have managed to stay fairly general about LETS or community trading I found that many articles related mostly to one particular country. So you ll find those website links listed on the same page as the country they relate to. Buddhist Economics web. Davies Roy Local and Interest-Free Currencies, Social Credit web. The Fatal Trap In The Global Economy Graham Ferguson and Michael Bond - revised 26 Jan 2002 web Graham Ferguson email Michael Bond email mobile phone 0417 677 405 Australia. Lietaer Bernard web. Sid onie Seron thesis This site covers the LETS exchange system mor e thoroughly than any other site I ve come across A real education web But you really need a reference with clickable link to the core source material that is only really accessible from LETSystems - The Home Page at web Sidonie s thesis is indeed a good analysis, and she refers often to the source material, but includes NO URL LINKS to it at all, leaving many people without any clickable link to these prime resources for a deeper understanding of the basic LETSystem principles. WIR Economic Circle Cooperative web. Please send corrections or updates to current email address as shown on homepage. Other James Taris web sites. James Taris Xian, China, Dec 2010.Don t miss the Joke Of The Month at the end of this article. extract from The LETSaholic Twist. Keeping Score Nothing More. So, my LETS philosophy is. Don t think of LETS points like dollars Think of them as favours LETS Favours. It was easy for me to accept this attitude because my first contact with LETS members, at the NM LETS Get-Together, presented them in the same way They were offering their services to me without any hint of obligating me to give back to them Then, when Robert cycled all the way to my home maybe over an hour s ride and gave me a massage that lasted for two long and extremely relaxing hours, I felt he was doing it in the same caring way I didn t ask for a two-hour massage, but Robert noticed my muscles were very tight due to stress and needed additional massage, so he did what was best for me And when I volunteered to design the newsletter for C D LETS, whenever I was stumped and needed help, it was given to me at once and without hesitation. I am very similar to most people so I am sure I would be hesitant to give if I felt t he LETS members were trying to take advantage of me It is human nature to treat people as they treat you, so when LETS members gave to me unselfishly, I gave back to them in the same way This is the LETS attitude I tried to instill on every LETS member I came in contact with ever since. So what is a LETS point to me. Let me start by saying that the generally accepted view by all LETS people is that a LETS point is not cash, or federal currency, and I agree However, I do not feel comfortable viewing LETS points as an alternative currency with an equivalent value in cash I prefer to interpret LETS points as being like LETS favours That has always made trading more enjoyable for me I love doing favours for members and they show genuine appreciation for the favour in LETS points It doesn t get any better than that. I view LETS more like a voluntary self-help group where like-minded people in a local community give their time and experience to help their fellow members and feel welcomed to ask for the same in return just as they would from family and friends. But rather than do all this helping without any recording at all, keeping LETS accounts allows the group to keep track of the members activities so they can balance their trading activities fairly, knowing that once their accounts are back to zero, they have given to the group just as much as they have received Basically, it s just a matter of keeping score and nothing more This is how I like to explain LETS accounts to new members. The LETS group s function is to act as a bookkeeper for their members activities keeping record of these favours and putting the members accounts into debit or credit accordingly An account that is in credit identifies a member who has given more favours than he has received, and an account that is in debit identifies a member who has received more favours than he has given These credits have no value and cannot be exchanged for cash Their only purpose is to keep track of each member s involv ement in the group so they can aim to bring their accounts back to zero a sign of fair and equitable participation in the system. The presentation I gave to LETS groups around the world was aptly titled. LETS Favours Improving your lifestyle through LETS. I noticed the biggest impact I had on an audience was when they grasped the LETS Favours concept That mind-shift produced a couple of results I am very proud of an immediate increase in membership half the guests in the audience joined on the same night and an increase in trading for the following month usually about thirty percent The type of feedback I received from audience members, especially from inactive members was, I feel much happier about trading if I think I ll be helping people So, it seemed that members would rather trade when they thought of LETS points as favours rather than money. I also found that focusing on helping members built a community-spirit within the group, and placed a friendlier tone on each trade That motivat ed me much more than being profit-motivated As far as I was concerned, LETS points did not have any monetary value They simply represented the value of appreciation shown by the member who had been assisted. The LETS members I helped over the years knew I was not obligated to help them Trading through LETS was never compulsory it was always and still is optional The members were grateful to get my help in fact, any help It was obvious just how appreciative they were because when I performed tiring services for members such as lawn mowing, painting and rubbish removals they always offered me snacks and drinks They never even complained if my work was not spot on Why would they Would you complain to your neighbour if he agreed to help you with some tedious chore Wouldn t you just be grateful that he agreed to be there and help you as best he could That was how a community-spirit was built within the group That was how trading became a friendlier and more enjoyable activity And that was ho w I saw LETS a voluntary self-help group of members who were willing to help each other in times of need. Here is a detailed example of the caring and sharing that took place with my LETS hosts while I was travelling overseas. IT S ALL ABOUT CARING AND SHARING. In March 2004, Kit, my LETS host in Kitchener Ontario, Canada asked, Can you paint a room for me. Now, you had to keep that request in perspective. My stay in Kitchener was originally supposed to be for only one week January 11-18 Nine-and-a-half weeks later, however, I was still there Apart from a couple of weeks spent in Welland, Brantford, Montreal, Granby, Ottawa and Toronto, I spent the rest of my time in Kitchener and it looked like I would be there for another seven weeks, making it a total of over three months. Now I was not in the habit of staying in the same place for such a long time my average stay with a host was about a week But things just turned out that way when my plans to visit South America fell through a couple of months earlier. Not only that, but Kit also organised two performances of my play, The Glory of Athens three speaking engagements with local Toastmasters groups a Murder-Mystery night a winter camping weekend with thirty-seven other crazy Canadians a visit to an Emu farm a lift to Montreal, which was a six-hour drive two lifts to Toronto and back an hour each way a cross-country skiing trip and an ice-hockey game plus my day-to-day needs, as was originally requested when I first made contact with KW Barterworks, the LETS group Kit belonged to. My commitment to the LETS group, and their commitment to me, ended after my first week, so all those extras had been provided by Kit. When the visits to the South American countries had to be cancelled, Kit immediately offered to host me a while longer, because I was the ideal travel guest. Here s why I washed the dishes every day I regularly shovelled snow from the paths and driveway around the house I registered a domain name for Kit s business w eb site I also provided the web hosting I gave web page design tuition and I was good company to have around, always having something positive to say. The more I did for my host, the more my host did for me It was all about caring and sharing, and having said that, I wasn t going to paint a room I was going to paint the whole freakin ground floor That was four rooms and a staircase, which meant stripping paint off all the woodwork doors, windows, skirting boards, and staircase filling in cracks in the plaster then painting the ceilings and floors. Why wouldn t I. On my travels, there were many times when I had given more or received more than our original agreement had stipulated To be quite honest, I found my hosts exceeded their obligations on almost every single occasion Here are a few examples I recall from my European and African LETS Speaking Tour in 2002.In England, I had use of a bicycle for a week and repaid the favour by doing a few hours of house renovating for another member. A lso in England, I cleaned a kitchen, bathroom and toilet I got no extras in return, but I knew my host was expecting a visitor for the next couple of days, and because he was working all day, he wouldn t have enough time to clean those rooms himself So I did it for him, and when he got home he couldn t believe his eyes. In Spain, I washed the dishes one morning while my hosts were sleeping in I just wanted to be helpful. In Norway, I was given a Polynesian Massage and repaid the favour by helping out in a couple of ways before I left details Chapter 3.In South Africa, I got my first taste of working my butt off for LETS I was giving up to three LETS presentations each day for four days, and by the fifth day I lost my voice. As you can see, we just helped each other out whenever possible But I digress, so back to painting those four rooms for Kit. When was the last time you stripped paint, that is. Well, I only allowed two days for paint stripping Meanwhile, six days later I was still stripp ing. I had a couple of agonising days sanding the woodwork to a neat finish Why agonising Because I did not use sandpaper I used steel wool soaked in mineral turpentine Very soon I found that applying pressure with my thumbs gave the best results Unfortunately, it made them ache so much that I could not snap my fingers for six days Just as well I was not performing my play during that period because when I played the role of Archimedes, snapping my fingers was an essential part of my act. What started out as a simple weekend paint job, turned out to be a self-inflicted sentence lasting about three weeks The results, however, were very worthwhile and I never regretted it for a moment. How did I go about my work In a very organised fashion just like everything else I did. Here is how long it took - one day of planning and re-organising four rooms - one day of emptying three rooms of all furniture - one day of removing a wallpaper strip, filling wall cracks and seventy-nine holes, repairing a do or handle, removing loose plaster off the kitchen ceiling, buying paints and painting equipment - six days of stripping paint off the woodwork - two days of sanding - two days of painting - and one day of replacing furniture in rooms and stacking books and CDs back into shelves. That completed three rooms of painting before I had to leave on my Ottawa LETS trip However, on my return I completed the job by painting the kitchen as well. That took another - two days of stripping paint - one day of filling cracks - one day of sanding - and two days of painting. A grand total of twenty days. But what a great job I was very neat and considerate, cleaning up after myself at the end of each day In fact, it was very reassuring to know that if I ever ran out of audiences to speak to, and web sites to design, I could always offer to renovate houses. By the time the soldier pulled into the little town, every hotel room was taken. You ve got to have a room somewhere , he pleaded with a proprietor Well, I do have a double room with one occupant, but he is an Air Force guy admitted the manager, and he might be glad to split the cost But to tell you the truth, he snores so loudly that people in adjoining rooms have complained in the past I m not sure it d be worth it to you. No problem the tired Army guy assured him, I ll take it The next morning the soldier came down to breakfasts bright-eyed and bushy tailed How d you sleep asked the manager Never better , said the soldier The manager was impressed No problem with the other guy snoring all night long No, I shut him up in no time , explained the soldier. How d you manage that asked the proprietor. Well, he was already in bed, snoring away, when I walked into the room, so I gave him a kiss on the cheek explained the soldier Then, I whispered in his ear Good night beautiful , and he sat up all night watching me. FREE linkup to local community exchange groups worldwide International LETS Groups Directory FREE listings Your guide to over 1,500 LETS gro ups from 39 countries LETS Local Exchange Trading Systems LETS is a group of people from a small community who all agree to exchange goods and services with each other without the need for cash CLICK HERE for more information on LETS. LAST UPDATED Wednesday, 9 March, 2011 writing from Shanghai, China. The LETSaholic Twist - Everything you always wanted to know about LETS but didn t know who to ask About the book. Dear James, Thanks so much for sending your wonderful e-book so promptly There is so much useful advice and so many excellent suggestions that I found myself wanting to give our core group members a digested version but restrained myself as it s often better to give people a chance to discover things on their own But we do have a Christmas Fair on Saturday and auctioning off unsold items is a great idea Of course we will be happy to credit you in any excerpt we may use in our newsletter or handbook With thanks and best wishes, Suzon Forscey-Moore Membership Secretary, CamLETS, Ca mbridge - 8 Dec 2008.James, I contacted you earlier to order an e-book, The LETSaholic Twist It s really a good book Well we decided to order 20 books soft cover, to give away as a present to all the LETS groups that will visit our yearly LETS happening Erik LETS Vlaanderen - 8 Sep 2007.Dear James, I have read your book The LETSaholic Twist and found it a great inspiration when you next come to England I would love to host you and have some help at giving our LETS group a boost Katy Dorchester, Dorset - 6 Jan 2008.For More Information About LETS. A very sad accident happened to Bosse Maybe you know already He is dead, drowned in his well Since you met him he had moved to another place in the middle of Sweden I am so sorry for him He was a fabulous guy and during a few years we had very close contact and cooperated in money matters. Love and respect to you and your work. Marianne P sse 9 January 2011.Bo Ljungqvist left one of the most interesting LETS characters I ever met. Viktor, my LETS host in Goteborg Gothenburg had arranged a trip to Branno Island with Melina a LETS researcher from Italy , her boyfriend Eli, and Eli s parents, Aldo and Marina, who d only just arrived to Goteborg the day before But they were late getting to the port and missed the ferry by only a minute or two Viktor and I got on board because it would be another 2 hours before the next ferry, and we had an important person waiting to meet us. Bo Ljungqvist pronounced Bor Lioongvist is a very lean man, about 58 years old, and looks like a hermit But he s an ideologist concerned about world problems trying to solve problems that are called normality. Bo lives on Branno, an island inhabited by only 800 people, which is only a short 10-minute ferry ride from Goteborg, Sweden s second largest city situated on the east coast Up to 3 years ago this island was out-of-bounds to foreigners because of sensitive military issues And this coming from a country that has not been at war for nearly 2 centuries Though their historically neutral military status had to change recently when they joined the European Union. Anyway, Bo has lived on Branno for 30 years and relishes his natural lifestyle First of all, cars aren t allowed on the island so he walks or bike s his way around And his house is an ecological project that he works on relentlessly. Bo was a Human Ecology university lecturer for 15 years and he s put much of this expertise into practise He has a large glasshouse butting on to the back of his house and apart from providing an endless supply of fresh vegetables it also helps keep the heat and cold from getting into the house I admired the tomatoes as soon as I saw them. Help yourself, he said The tomato was delicious. Above the glasshouse, Bo had covered the entire wall with solar panels You could see his handy-work everywhere In fact, you could even see his workshop in the lounge room. Most people don t like that I have my workbench in here, but I can t be without my tools, he said. Bo Lju ngqvist one of the most interesting LETS characters I ve met We sat outside in his overgrown and naturally wild yard, eating homemade tomato and lemon marmalade on bread And he kept bringing out the hot coffee He was enjoying the hot Swedish summer and was only wearing a pair of black shorts, which contrasted heavily with the long white hair on his chest and head, though many years of smoking had given him a nicotine-stained beard. I smiled as he wandered from the table to wash his hands in a nearby bucket that still had rainwater in it And I followed suit shortly afterwards A lush green reed plant, over 2 metres tall, grew nearby. I didn t think it would do so well, he said, but it s growing beautifully It s wild you know. The crowing of a neighbour s rooster was constantly interrupting our conversation. I thought roosters only crowed in the mornings, I said, and I made a gesture implying that I d like to shoot it. Then as I turned, I saw a wire enclosure only metres away from me with a lo ne black rooster in it Oops I said, Didn t know it was your rooster. He crows all the time , Bo said The other rooster you hear is across the street, and has 5 hens So mine is probably just jealous I suppose I should get him a hen. A visit to the bathroom was an ecological experience. As long as you sit down, everything will go in the right place, he said. On close inspection I found that a metal funnel was positioned to catch the urine and direct it into a different container to that of the heavy stuff So in this way he was able to recycle the human waste most efficiently. By the end of the day we had quite a gathering in Bo s backyard, with a couple of neighbours joining us for a chat over coffee. But the day s classic line went to Eli s mum, Marina, after I mentioned that in China I insisted on being photographed with a large toad and snake before I ate them. She couldn t pass up the opportunity, and with a big smile she said, Then it s dangerous to be photographed with you. MESSAGE FROM BO November 24, 2003 Subject Renaissance of a LETS on Br nn Island, Sweden. Hello James, I am glad and proud to tell that our system Br nn Bytesring Sweden with approx 30 members is now in operation again All the best from, Bosse - accounter and ex-co-ordinator. A word from James Taris 4 Oct 2010. extract from The LETSaholic Twist. Any committee is only as good as the most knowledgeable, determined and vigorous person on it Lady Bird Johnson. THE 10 COMMITTEE ROLES. The most successful administration system we had, in the LETS groups I was involved with, was the 10-committee-roles system where ten members were voted into specific committee roles by the LETS membership By giving the committee members specific roles, and giving them the authority to perform their duties to the best of their abilities , the administration of the group got the freedom it needed to advance in leaps and bounds Why Because, rather than trying to run the group by bringing items for discussion to a once-a-month commit tee meeting, decisions could be made by individual committee members responsible for their specific roles at any time of the day, or day of the month They carried out their activities with more enthusiasm, accepting praise for a job well-done and taking personal responsibility for jobs not-so-well-done. Here are the committee roles that were allocated in the LETS groups I was associated with along with their duties.1 - Group Co-ordinator 2 - Meeting Secretary 3 - Cash Treasurer 4 - Promotions Co-ordinator 5 - Membership Co-ordinator 6 - Events Co-ordinator 7 - Newsletter Publisher 8 - Directory Publisher 9 - Website Webmaster 10 - Office Co-ordinator with Office Helpers. Over the years I noticed that the success of a LETS group, just like any other organisation, was usually the result of good leadership, that is, having a good Group Co-ordinator What was our Group Co-ordinator supposed to do NOTHING Now that I have your attention, let me explain what I mean by nothing. The most common rea son for a new LETS group dying was the reluctance for members to replace a retiring Group Co-ordinator And why would they want to. The typical profile of a LETS Group Co-ordinator for a newly formed group was like this.-had a passion for LETS - would seek help but would accept doing things themselves if they could not find anyone to help them, or their helpers were not doing their job well enough - thought about LETS twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. So, one day they would get out of bed and say, Gee, that was a stupid thing to do I was so comfortable in bed I don t really need this LETS headache any more Nobody helps me, nobody cares, and I don t get any thanks for it And guess what I don t care any more either, and they would go straight back to bed again, getting the best sleep they had had since they started their LETS group their LETS baby. Of course, when a replacement Group Co-ordinator was sought, the response was always the same. Are you kidding Jil l looked great before she started LETS In the last twelve months she s aged ten years Her hair wasn t always grey, you know. I could never do what Jill did She produced the newsletter, and the directory she arranged all the group s promotions she handled all the membership enquiries and organised the LETS events she kept all the member trading accounts, and goodness knows what else she did. Yes, Jill had suffered from burnout, a very common problem affecting overworked, and overwhelmed, people in the workforce, businesses and organisations. HOW TO AVOID CO-ORDINATOR BURNOUT. To avoid this happening in our LETS groups, I made several recommendations. First of all, the Group Co-ordinator should to do NOTHING That is, NOTHING ELSE but co-ordinate, or oversee, the activities of the other committee members By sharing the workload with nine other committee members, nobody would ever get overwhelmed again, thus ensuring the survival and growth of the LETS group In fact, because each committee role was reduced to only a small time commitment, whenever that role became vacant it was not hard to find another member to replace them Actually, the best, and an often overlooked source for new committee members, were the new LETS members They were keen about LETS and could earn LETS points while performing their new role. Our committee members were rewarded for their contribution, but not in cash, in LETS points After all, LETS was perfectly placed to do that Remember, LETS points were really just thank yous for favours Why wouldn t we show appreciation for the efforts of our committee members Their efforts kept our LETS group running If we chose not to reward them, then it was like using slave-labour, and no one wanted to be treated like that In our LETS groups, the reward amounted to ten points per hour, which was the basic hourly rate asked by LETS members for their services So, a committee member who accomplished his tasks in four hours was rewarded with forty points, while another committee member who required twenty hours per month received two hundred points. All the roles automatically became vacant at the Annual General Meeting AGM held each year That allowed members to elect their preferred member for each role, though I cannot remember that ever being necessary Most members were just happy to see a position filled In fact, once a member had accepted a nomination they were virtually assured of getting the position The reality was that several committee positions usually remained unfilled after the AGM That was not seen as a problem, though We just continued to advertise the vacant committee role in our monthly newsletter until it was finally filled In the interim, the vacant roles were temporarily filled by the other committee members Not jointly, but by several committee members taking on a second role. So, back to the Group Co-ordinator s role. Apart from chairing a monthly committee meeting, the Group Co-ordinator was only required to keep in contact with e ach of the committee members to ensure they were able to fulfill their duties That was it. HOW TO RUN LETS MEETINGS. Holding regular and productive LETS Committee Meetings is a crucial part of running any LETS group Here are a couple of tips on how we ran our meetings 1 Our meetings were open to all LETS members the more the merrier In fact, members were even encouraged to participate in the meeting Basically, each committee member gave a report on how their role was progressing If they wanted any help, they asked for ideas, and any suggestions given during the meeting were just that suggestions. As each committee member was totally responsible for their own role, they decided which suggestions to accept if any at all although suggestions were usually greatly appreciated and accepted Rather than being a recipe for chaos, it worked quite smoothly, avoiding many debates and clashes typical meeting scenarios. We did not worry about having a quorum in order to make committee decisions As far a s we were concerned, even if only two members turned up, all interested parties were present and would therefore make any group decisions that did not impose on any committee member s role We felt that was a much better scenario than putting off decision-making for months on end if we could not get a quorum at our meetings.2 We held our committee meetings at the same location as our LETS events, but they were held an hour earlier There were several benefits from dong this Firstly, it guaranteed we would have several more members at our events us Secondly, it guaranteed that the venue for our LETS event would be open and members would not be kept waiting outside if the person with the key was running late Thirdly, it guaranteed that more new memberships would be obtained because guests would be greeted at the event by a committee member and encouraged to join. These four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided to go on a road trip and party with some friend s from out of town They had a great time However, after all the partying, they slept all day Sunday and didn t make it back home until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they decided to find their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed it. They explained that they had gone to visit friends for the weekend with the plan to come back and study but, unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way back, didn t have a spare, and couldn t get help for a long time As a result, they missed the final. The Professor thought it over and then agreed they could make up the final the following day The guys were elated and relieved. They studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had told them He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, worth 5 points It was List the reason why you were unable to take the test yesterday 5 points. Cool, they thought at the same time, each one in his separate room This is going to be easy. Each finished the problem and then turned the page On the second page was written. For 95 points Which tire. A monkey is sitting in a tree smoking a joint when a lizard walks past and looks up and says to the monkey, Hey What are you doing. The monkey says, Smoking a joint, come up and have some. So the lizard climbs up and sits next to the monkey and they have a few tokes together. After a while the lizard says his mouth is dry and that he s going to get a drink from the river. The lizard climbs down the tree, ditty bops on thru the jungle to the river and leans over the river to get his drink. Well, the lizard is so stoned that he leans too far over and falls into the river. A Crocodile sees this and swims over to the lizard and helps him to the side, then asks the lizard, What s the matter with you. The lizard explains to the crocodile that he was sitting in a tree and smoking a joint with the monkey and got too stoned and then fell into the river while taking a drink. The crocodile says he s gotta check this hippie monkey out and walks off into the jungle where he finds t he tree where the monkey is still sitting and toking on the joint. He looks up and says hey you. The Monkey looks down and says, ffuuucccckkkk dude how much water did you drink. A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates Ahead of him is a guy who s dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans. Saint Peter addresses this guy, Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven. The guy replies, I m Joe Cohen, taxi-driver, of Noo Yawk City. Saint Peter consults his list He smiles and says to the taxi-driver, Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The taxi-driver goes into Heaven with his robe and staff, and it s the minister s turn He stands erect and booms out, I am Joseph Snow, pastor of Saint Mary s for the last forty-three years. Saint Peter consults his list He says to the minister, Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Just a minute, says the minister That ma n was a taxi-driver and he gets a silken robe and golden staff How can this be. Up here, we work by results, says Saint Peter While you preached, people slept while he drove, people prayed. One day an Irishman, who has been stranded on a desert island for over ten long years, sees an unusual speck on the horizon. It s certainly not a ship, he thinks to himself As the speck gets closer and closer, he begins to rule out the possibilities of a small boat, then even a raft. Suddenly, emerging from the surf comes a drop dead gorgeous blonde woman wearing a wet suit and scuba gear. She approaches the stunned man and says to him, Tell me how long has it been since you ve had a cigarette. Ten years, replies the Irishman. With that, she reaches over and unzips a waterproof pocket on her left sleeve and pulls out a pack of fresh cigarettes He takes one, lights it, takes a long drag and says, Faith and begorah Is that good. And how long has it been since you ve had a sip of good Irish Whiskey she asks hi m. Trembling, the castaway replies, Ten years. She reaches over, unzips her right sleeve, pulls out a flask and hands it to him He opens the flask, takes a long swig and says, Tis absolutely fantastic. At this point she starts slowly unzipping the long zipper that runs down the front of her wet suit, looks at the man and asks, And how long has it been since you ve played around. With tears in his eyes, the man falls to his knees and sobs, Oh, Sweet Jesus Don t tell me you ve got golf clubs in there too. A woman was out golfing one day when she hit her ball into the woods She went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap The frog said to her, If you release me from this trap, I will grant you 3 wishes. The woman freed the frog and the frog said, Thank you, but I failed to mention that there was a condition to your wishes - that whatever you wish for, your husband will get 10 times more or better. The woman said, That would be okay, and for her first wish, she wanted to be the m ost beautiful woman in the world The frog warned her, You do realize that this wish will also make your husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis, that women will flock to. The woman replied, That will be okay because I will be the most beautiful woman and he will only have eyes for me So, KAZAM - she s the most beautiful woman in the world. For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world The frog said, That will make your husband the richest man in the world and he will be ten times richer than you The woman said, That will be okay because what is mine is his and what is his is mine So, KAZAM she s the richest woman in the world The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she replied. I d like a mild heart attack. John was sitting outside his local pub one day, enjoying a quiet pint and generally feeling good about himself, when a nun suddenly appears at his table and starts decrying the evils of drink. You should be ashamed of yourself young man Drink ing is a Sin Alcohol is the blood of the devil. Now John gets pretty annoyed about this, and goes on the offensive. How do you know this, Sister. My Mother Superior told me so. But have you ever had a drink yourself How can you be sure that what you are saying is right. Don t be ridiculous--of course I have never taken alcohol myself. Then let me buy you a drink - if you still believe afterwards that it is evil I will give up drink for life. How could I, a Nun, sit outside this public house drinking. I ll get the barman to put it in a teacup for you, then no one will ever know. The Nun reluctantly agrees, so John goes inside to the bar. Another pint for me, and a triple vodka on the rocks , then he lowers his voice and says to the barman and could you put the vodka in a teacup. Oh no It s not that Nun again is it. After 17 years of marriage, a man dumped his wife for a younger woman. The house was in his name and he wanted to remain there with his new love so he asked the wife to move out and then he would buy her another place. The wife agreed to this, but asked that she be given 3 days on her own there, to pack up her things. While he was gone, the first day she lovingly put her personal belongings into boxes and crates and suitcases. On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their candlelit dining table, soft music playing in the background, and feasted on a pound of shrimp and a bottle of Chardonnay. When she had finished, she went into each room and deposited a few of the resulting shrimp shells into the hollow of the curtain rods She then cleaned up the kitchen and left. The husband came back, with his new girl, and all was bliss for the first few days Then it started slowly but surely. Clueless, the man could not explain why the place smelled so bad They tried everything cleaned mopped and aired the place out Vents were checked for dead rodents, carpets were steam cleaned, air fresheners were hung every where Exterminators were brought in, the carpets were replaced, and on it went. Finally, they could take it no more and decided to move. The moving company arrived and did a very professional packing job, taking everything to their new home including the curtain rods. Wishing You a Merry Christmas. 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