BlueBills Hit the News

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A reporter goes into the cafe and witnesses a group bidding up a $1 BlueBill to $15, becoming interested enough to do a TV story. BlueBills are money for a clean world, intended to make the economy more honest, one bill at a time (and one of my projects). Turns out the story that aired mostly missed the point and was also inaccurate. (The second story on that link is more accurate) More harm than good? Probably not, but who knows?

It's interesting though that the story inadvertently points out the difference between the PERSON (who has values) and the INSTITUTION (which has no heart and therefor can have no values.) BlueBills perch perfectly upon the cusp between two worlds: personal and institutional, value and economy, democracy and hierarchy, OK and not OK, fear and love. This confusion is one of the most tragic misunderstandings of our times (ahem, Supreme Court!)

In many ways BlueBills symbolize the very attitude we bring to them. They tend not to work for skeptics, (who can still use them as currency, bypassing their honesty potential) but fill those who "get it" with joy. In this way they mirror the difficulties we face every day. We call some company wanting two things at once: the institution to summarize our account (be accurate!) and the person to listen to how our problem is different (be compassionate!) BlueBills put a clear fence between those intentions and the characters they draw out of us, and they force us to expose ourselves by voting one way or the other: for the supremacy of cold rules or the vision of a better world!