Today I am proud to announce the launch of the Anarcho Jesse Labor Note. Backed 100% by the labor of myself, the Anarcho Jesse Labor Note is another transitory measure in bringing the idea of alternative currency to reality.
I wrote up a brief FAQ on it.
What is the AnarchoJesse Labor Note?
The AnarchoJesse Labor Note (AJL) is an alternative currency established in New Hampshire by myself, Free State Project member "AnarchoJesse". Breaking from the Federal Reserve Note, which is backed by nothing but "faith and credit" (read: literally nothing), the AJL is backed by the promissory labor of myself, AnarchoJesse.
Why have you created the Labor Note?
I have created the AJL as a means to combat the inflation of the Federal Reserve Note by giving consumers something more tangible to invest in. Additionally, the Labor Note would possibly open up those who aren't familiar with Alternative Currencies to accepting the legitimacy of them, as well as understanding that their investment in the FRN is that is inevitably at their own loss.
How many labor notes will you have in circulation?
Approximately One Hundred (100) hours of labor will be in circulation in One ("1") Hour, Four ("4") Hour, and Eight ("8") Hour denominations.
How can I come to possess AnarchoJesse Labor Notes?
There are a few ways of coming by AJLs. The most direct would be through direct purchase from myself, which are being sold at a price of Two Federal Reserve notes per Hour. Another method would be through barter, which can either be done with myself or whoever might have some on hand.
Two Federal Reserve Notes for an Hours worth of Labor? Are you Crazy
Yes, and while questionable, most would say yes.
However, my goal here isn't so much making a quick profit, but getting the Note into circulation. If I do find in the future that I may need to raise the FRN-AJL exchange rate from myself, I will- but how everyone else exchanges them is totally between the people making the exchange. God bless the Free Market, mirite?
What do the AJL notes look like?
(http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/4321/jesselabornote1watermarwl2.png)
(http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/7783/jesselabornote4watermarde6.png)
(http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1613/jesselabornote8watermaryd4.png)
They look awesome. Who designed them?
The credit for design goes mostly to Dale Everett of AnarchyInYourHead.com (http://anarchyinyourhead.com) (I say mostly because I did have input on how my note was designed).
How am I supposed to know that you'll back the AJL? What is to stop you from just turning me down when I try to redeem?
A very good question: how can you trust me with your investment in my currency? Well first off, it's a matter of actual trust. While I can't 100% instill trust in my Alternative Currency for those that possess it, it certainly wouldn't benefit me in any way to bilk out, because I would lose the trust of fellow Free Staters, and I'd be doing harm to my own cause. I have absolutely nothing to be gained by failing to back the note. However, it must be expressly stipulated that I cannot possibly perform all tasks that might be asked of me, so I will give a general list of what I can and can not do:
Can:
- Manual Yard Labor (Mowing grass, weeding, planting, transplanting, raking, snow shovelling, general landscaping, fruit/vegetable harvesting, etc.)
- Manual Construction Labor (Demolitions, handywork, basic plumbing, basic electricians work, most renovations work, basic carpentry)
- General Manual Labor not specified above
- Housekeeping
Cannot:
- Something that you as well I know is utterly absurd (build you a rocket ship, etc.)
- Advanced work in carpentry, electricians work, plumbing, etc.
- Watch you children (I love kids, but not YOUR kids)
If you are not sure if a job you have in mind is do-able, just drop me a line and ask.
I'm liking the sound of this. How can I get in touch with you to get my hands on some AJLs, and how can I contact you when I want to redeem them?
You can contact me here, by e-mail at AnarchoJesse@gmail.com, or on my new webpage for the notes, www.myspace.com/anarchojesselabor.
I have a small project in mind.
Show up in Henniker on the 19-20 and we'll work out a deal for FRN - Shire Hours - AJLN's versus unskilled labor provided. There are 5 of us so far, more would b better.
Nice work on the design Dale. :)
Quote from: Puke on August 12, 2008, 02:51 PM NHFT
Nice work on the design Dale. :)
Thanx, Puke. I'm building up a portfolio. Even more than before, I'm interested in bumping heads with you about a free lance design op.
Nice. ;D
I'd like to order 10 hours from you, assuming you can lock in the price at 2 bucks between now and when I see you. also assuming you are up for doing internet work...I'd probably have you posting ridley reports to varioius web forums. i can get them from you whenever i see you; will probably be at the lfod festival in late august in jaffrey, and in keene around the 24th.
Thanks for doing this!
also a suggestion: sign each note after copying it so as to deter counterfeiting
Quote from: DadaOrwell on August 15, 2008, 02:35 AM NHFT
also a suggestion: sign each note after copying it so as to deter counterfeiting
See the box that says "Authorization of Contract" ? That's for his sig. :)
Awesome :icon_pirat: If you decide to "go online" feel free to use ShireHours.com. I think Russell is going to add "Cardinal Shire Hours" or something like that to denote his own personal labor. You can do the same. If people value your bills and see that you work harder than average, perhaps the ratio could be set greater than 1:1.
Quote from: DadaOrwell on August 15, 2008, 02:35 AM NHFT
I'd like to order 10 hours from you, assuming you can lock in the price at 2 bucks between now and when I see you. also assuming you are up for doing internet work...I'd probably have you posting ridley reports to varioius web forums. i can get them from you whenever i see you; will probably be at the lfod festival in late august in jaffrey, and in keene around the 24th.
Thanks for doing this!
Thanks for supporting it! That's the biggest part! And I have no intention of raising the price till at least the winter months when I might end up doing some grueling work in the cold.
Quotealso a suggestion: sign each note after copying it so as to deter counterfeiting
Already on that like a pack of dogs on a three legged cat ;)
I may hire you to do some light digging.
This is an interesting concept to say the least. :icon_pirat:
Bring a pile of AJLNs to Social Sundays. We'll be needing 10 or 20 hours.
My first batch of AJL notes are now in circulation :D
Very cool idea.
The Jesse notes were circulating today. I can attest that he is eager to fulfill labor requests and arrives on time.
Is there an online purchasing method? How many total do you plan to circulate? Just wondering in case I want to speculate.
Better hope he doesn't make like Emperor Norton and die on us before the debts come due . . . !
Quote from: William on August 28, 2008, 07:13 PM NHFT
Is there an online purchasing method? How many total do you plan to circulate? Just wondering in case I want to speculate.
While I don't have a PP account up yet, I may think about setting one up, and I will have a total of 100 hours in circulation.
yes the dying thing ocurred to me too. maybe there should be some way of setting these things up so they can be redeemed even if God forbid jesse isn't able to work for some reason?
btw i've bought ten hours and wish i'd bought more
ok i have just started cashing in some of my aj labor notes. I will plan to keep you guys informed as to how well and quickly jesse comes through with the labor backing his notes.
I promised this community, and also promised Jesse, that I would keep you all up to date regarding Jesse's effectiveness and reliability in redeeming his Labor Notes. I promised him specifically that I would report to you on October 22. It's now October 22.
At this point I am giving Jesse a score of "C"
I have bought a few dozen hours worth of his labor. About 10 days ago I contacted him to redeem them for some more or less unskilled internet work. Jesse responded quickly to my initial request, and I gave him some bad information that kept him from getting started right away. He did make an initial attempt to carry out the assignment, and did report the problem...about five days ago. I've contacted him a couple times since then with the correct info, or with additional questions for him. But over at least the last three days (unless I"m missing something) he has been unresponsive.
He is apparently having some internet issues, and it may be that once he has them resolved he will be able to begin completing my assignment. If Jesse begins showing good results soon, I will improve his grade and may begin recommending Jesse for work. If not, I will report back in with less encouraging news and recommendations.
I will plan to report in around October 30 to let you know how he's doing.
As compared to the US government... a 'C' isn't that bad. >:D
I admit that I haven't done much in anything of the way of the work that Dave has given me, but it has been due to internet issues. I have a plan to resolve those issues, and I simply am awaiting response from another party to make this easier on me. I look forward to doing Dave's work and earning that 'A' rating.
Hey! Whats wrong with a C average? I'm taking an online Bureaucrat course cause I got elected and I have a C+ average. I hope to get it up to C and perhaps D- before I'm finished.
Quote from: DadaOrwell on October 21, 2008, 11:21 PM NHFT
I promised this community, and also promised Jesse, that I would keep you all up to date regarding Jesse's effectiveness and reliability in redeeming his Labor Notes. I promised him specifically that I would report to you on October 22. It's now October 22.
...
I will plan to report in around October 30 to let you know how he's doing.
I'm sure many appreciate the updates. Thanks.
Thanks for the response and explanation Jesse!
Quote from: DadaOrwell on October 24, 2008, 09:32 AM NHFT
Thanks for the response and explanation Jesse!
His roommate has verified they are having internet issues. I will also be hiring Jesse to do some manual labor. Will report back, but I have to wait for Mark's schedule to clear up, first.
I guess Jesse's idea of selling his labor would be illegal in NY
From the NY Constitution
Article 1 section 17 "Labor of human beings is not a commodity nor an article of commerce and shall never be so considered or construed."
Huh?
Labor is the only true value... all material exists naturally, only labor makes it useful.
Tell the NY Legislature to stop breathing (human labor) and see how long the oxygen in the atmosphere becomes useless.
I indicated i would provide an updated report on jesse's reliability.
He has completed a small amount of work for me now, on october 31st apparently. He has also been more responsive. He has verified that there are internet issues he's facing.
However since it has taken him so long to get that small amount work started , and since I understand the library internet is an option... I'm keeping him at "C" for now. Of course I look forward to upping his ratings if he gets more effective and more responsive.
OK as promised I have more information to report regarding Jesse's reliability (or lack thererof)
around October 9th I began attempting to redeem the AnarchoJesse Labor notes I had purchased from Jesse around September. I've communicated with him about 10 times since then, and I have perhaps ten hours of internet work for him to do. During that nearly-month-long period, Jesse has completed almost no verifiable work at all. He has uploaded two videos for me, something that would take me about thirty minutes to do, something that an enthusiastic novice would have been able to accomplish within an hour.
In fairness to Jesse, the first login information I sent him may have been confusing. That may have caused a legitimate four or five day delay. He has been willing to offer the use of his labor note design for free before I began attempting to redeem them Also he has claimed to have certain internet access issues. This has been corroborated to some extent; however he appears frequently on NHFree.com ... and his mission does not involve high bandwidth activity.
It's been almost a month, and Jesse is not even reliably responding to my e-mails. I get a response about every other time I contact him. He declines to call me though he has my number and I've suggested calling might be helpful. He has made claims to the effect that he has uploaded many videos, and worked on this project at Dale's recently. Dale is not able to confirm the "recent work." only two video uploads appear on Metacafe. Upload, BTW is not exactly the right word...his job is merely to send information to MetaCafe...which lets MetaCafe dupe my old vids.
I must reluctantly reduce Jesse's rating from C to
"D"
I'm sending Jesse a note now (essensially a copy of this note) requesting that he either return the money I gave him for his labor notes by November 15 or complete by then an amount of work acceptable to me. I will provide him an option that does not require internet access.
If it turns out that Jesse is not willing to carry out his promises of labor, labor already paid for...or accept a return of the notes: Then I have certain responsibilities to the wider liberty community, to inform them of this.
That sucks, I hope he makes good.
damn i was kind of considering having him do some yard work just to help him out but now ... not so much ...
Well he's downtown right now getting us more freedom... I mean protesting the war.
I'm not shocked with Dave's report.
This saddens me, because I like Jesse, but I was hoping to rely on him to paint our downstairs soon. But this is making me worry that, that wouldn't work out. I too hope he makes good and turns this around.
Just hire him in the usual way and pay him as he does the work.
Quote from: dalebert on November 08, 2008, 03:26 PM NHFT
Just hire him in the usual way and pay him as he does the work.
I wish I could do it that way; unfortunately I already purchased the labor notes and feel I am holding the bag. Obviously this behavior will hurt jesse more than me, but I wish it didn't have to hurt anyone.
I'm checking now again to see if he still has not gotten any real work done on the backup metacafe site.
well he has logged into the site just this hour and perhaps is doing some of the work ... i'd like nothing better than to report that he's getting on this.
I just saw this all. It's my first time on the computer today, and I just started working on it. Youtube is moving a bit slow right now for my tastes, but there should be results starting from now till... well, not really ending. I'm kind of making it a personal goal to try and get 18+ pages done before the weekend is up.
Quote from: DadaOrwell on November 08, 2008, 05:53 PM NHFT
Quote from: dalebert on November 08, 2008, 03:26 PM NHFT
Just hire him in the usual way and pay him as he does the work.
I wish I could do it that way; unfortunately I already purchased the labor notes and feel I am holding the bag.
Yeah, I know. It was directed at Porcupine. Don't think he's bought any hours yet.
arright good, jesse has copied at least five more ridleos to metacafe
thanks jesse
Yes, but does Jesse tip well? We must strike at the root on this issue.
Quote from: DadaOrwell on November 05, 2008, 01:57 PM NHFT
...requesting that he either return the money I gave him for his labor notes by November 15 or complete by then an amount of work acceptable to me.
How did this work out?
Wanted to mention that Jesse has made good on his notes....actually over a month ago and I forgot to post this update.
I should have been just as quick to praise Jesse as I was to question his speed....
However he has maintained his positive demeanor and never requested that I improve his "ratings" on this matter
my apologies to him for the delay, and thanks for making good!