Just got back from the Geek Dinner, which, conveniently for me, was a minutes away at the Wild Fig in Observatory. Once again it was highly enjoyable, with interesting new people to meet, and great, short, talks. I spoke, really briefly, on mind games and computers.
My pick of the talks was an unscheduled one by Robin (I didn’t get his surname), who spoke on the Ripple project. It’s a great concept, and overlaps strongly with what I mentioned briefly in my talk at the last 27 dinner. In short, right now banks have been given authority by governments to issue credit. If we could issue credit to each other, that would be truly revolutionary. Currently, the Talent Exchange does this in Cape Town, and Ripple is a slightly different take on the concept. I haven’t quite got my head around the practicalities, but my brief talk with Robin afterwards covered such diverse things as anarchism and environmental change, so the inspiration is there 🙂
At first glance, I think it could be more sustainable than the Talent Exchange, which allows anyone to issue credit, without personal liability (any defaulting is shared by the community). The Ripple model, if I understand it correctly, holds the individual liable.
It’s things like this coming into fruition that give me hope that massive change for the better is possible, and indeed imminent.
Thanks to all who helped organise and sponsor the event.
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Something to definately chat about at CES. Ripple even charges interest if agreed upon upfront.
The CES is more revolutionary in that interest charges can be seen as part of the problem, exacerbating the wealth gap (the rich can sit back and earn, the poor work just to pay back interest).
That’s perhaps why a concept like Ripple has more chance of immediate success.
Have you checked out Zopa? http://www.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/
Great ideas in your post above, man. Thanks for the information.