#116.1: A Message to The People

The time for canvasing and membership drives is nearly upon us.

So, how much money (THEIRS not ours) is this project going to cost?

Each A member pays V1 per year dues. Today (8/31/18), one Valun = $2.82 so it will take membership drives to accomplish this. The demographics of your particular area matter, as will be explained. This “sinking fund” is one of the only points of contact between THEIR system and ours. Since it will be in local currency, it must be accounted for in one of THEIR banks. Hence and of course, each exchange business will be a legal person – for profit tax paying corporation – identifiable in THEIR system.

Based directly on E. C. Riegel's outlines, an A member is a natural person (legal persons may become B members), must be at least 18, must have 2 sponsors who are already A members (B members cannot sponsor membership) and must have some proof of legal domicile (illegal aliens are not eligible to join local exchanges and would better consider returning to whence they came from and setting up Valun exchanges there). We will make special provisions for those who are homeless, but they would have established some meaningful ties to a community.

B members (legal persons - businesses) pay no dues, but may decide to purchase advertising through the exchange. Advertising expenses are usually tax deductible for any business. Here's another point of contact with THEM; each exchange would have an advertising income account in THEIR money in one of THEIR banks. In case you might not have caught it, the “sinking fund” account and the “ad revenue” account are different accounts. Each exchange will need these two accounts in THEIR system using THEIR money of course. Eventually everything will be paid for in Valuns and then perhaps the “ad revenue” account may be taken in house. But until that time, all ad revenue to each exchange would be considered income subject to taxes.

The advertising members buy appears on the reverse sides of our circulating V-Checks in denominations beginning with the half Valun, currently around $1.40, then the V1, V2, V5 and V10. Each obverse side would be designed to represent the community served and would feature the IVES rock symbol. Each V-Check would have a six month expiration date from the date it was taken out of the exchange and could be circulated among members as our cash within that time period. After expiration, each V-Check could be either exchanged for a new one or deposited into an account.

The sinking fund would originally fund the following requirements:

The entire proposed monetary system could be run on open source hardware (laptops and thumb drives with some printers) and software, requires no direct or ongoing connection to THEIR internet, but would require adequate printing technology to produce our beautiful and durable tokens, the V-Checks.

We have elsewhere described the proposed Valun accounting architecture. Each member has an account. The balances in each account belong to that member only. No loans to anyone else ever involve any of that money. But we said that each account has three balances. So three balances means three accounts. Each member has an account made up of three accounts.

For A members, those accounts are labeled Issuance, Income and Escrow. For each B member they are labeled Equity, Income and Escrow.

All Valuns originate in someone's Issuance account unless they are purchased directly in an exchange using THEIR money and especially then, we would operate under strict limits for such exchanges as there is no way back from Valuns, as they would be the rock bottom money of any society and not represent any other call upon it to pay debts in THEIR money. No exchange would likely trade $1,000 into Valuns in a single transaction though we may see times ahead where this is allowed and feasible. We point out that since we can actually – for the moment since it is still THEIR money – hold precious metals, and that all Valun exchanges with THEM must be in precious metals, any of THEIR money proffered in exchange for Valuns would result in a purchase by the exchange of whatever silver or gold may be required to meet the terms of the exchange. Since such exchanges increase the supply of Valuns, the exchange's precious metals holdings back these Valuns though they may not be redeemed for these precious metals as our proposal aims to remove more of THEIR precious metals from circulation which in turn hedges the price of precious metals still out in circulation.

Right here again, we state that the current proposed Valun began on 11/2/11 and until gold rises above $2,160 to have and to hold, the Valun will range between $2.16 at inception and $4.32 were gold to be truly worthless. So should gold rise above $2,160 an oz. the new inception point may be announced by IVES to all exchanges and all Valuns will rise in value accordingly.

Should gold rise to $2,550 an oz. the new Valun inception point would be $2.55 and then if gold falls back in price, the Valun just goes up in price against it; it takes more gold at lower prices to purchase a Valun. You can't beat it! And more importantly, there is no way for THEM to beat it.  Riegel and Kitson before him had figured it out. All we did was take the original sketches and work out a more realistic proposal.

However, all money dies in depreciation of assets. If something is sold for less than it was purchased for, the difference in money terms is lost forever, never to return. Fact not fiction! Therefore all economic theories resting on a static lake of money conception, a commodity basis for money are flat out wrong and lead to erroneous conclusions; one rewards speculators making money on money without work rather than actual producers whether they be “value added” producers or not. Therefore for all economies to remain healthy, more money must enter the system to replace the money that dies in depreciation else the economy dies!

This also explains what Riegel got wrong, though he was witnessing it even as he wrote; inflation can be slowed when fewer people have fewer tokens in whatever money due to depreciation, to spend. The selling off of lower valued assets to replace with new ones does this. Depreciation in Riegel's case took 70 years to accomplish entirely due to this process of the death of quite literally billions of dollars.

Nevertheless inflation is relentless due to government spending over tax receipts, backed and unbacked money participating alongside and unnoticed not distinguished as such so nobody would know the difference and of course now we have digits and plastic cards and anonymity is fading away … until freedom, due diligence, solid work ethics and clear moral ground return to social fashion and are better understood as essential.

So another part of this proposal has to do with building for the future in no way that has anything to do with THEM except and unless by FORCE in which case THEY shall have once more demonstrated the tyranny THEY represent. But for the moment, until all yearly dues are actually paid in Valuns, we will still require some stakes in THEIR system; a “sinking fund” in THEIR money in one of THEIR banks.

How will most Valun exchanges operate? As “for profit” advertising businesses. Each exchange will be operated by a board of 13 officers, 12 regular officers and 1 attorney to advise on legal protection. These rotate and run for office and in such elections each A member gets one vote. Members of this board will generally have other businesses to run so the actual personnel that operate each exchange or Valun counter would be selected by the board. Are we talking a kind of franchise here? What are the advantages?

The symbol on all our V-Checks, the IVES rock, represents the proposed perhaps “for profit” International Valun Exchange Society which will have something to do with recognizing all the V-Check designs out there as well as letting all exchanges know the daily trades for Valuns in THEIR closing precious metals prices in dollars, euros, yen, pounds, rubles, etc.

To begin with, most of the Valuns will be sitting in member accounts. If you are 18 or older, etc. and if you already have a job in THEIR system, paid in THEIR money, you can arrange to earn up to 80% of the value of your present remunerations in Valuns. We admonish all members that any remunerations in Valuns are taxable in terms of THEIR money and that each member purposes to save THEIRS (for taxes, etc.) and to spend ours, which builds a stronger local economy.

If you are receiving any pension or government program support (Social Security) and have been doing so since Valun inception on November 2, 2011, then we allow you 100% of the accumulated value in Valuns from Valun inception right up to the present, of all your benefits, to be represented in your Issuance account balance. The same goes for any union pensions and with all military and police veterans. It would be possible for these people to have opening Issuance balances of several tens of thousands of Valuns, a considerable windfall.

Anyone holding a variety of particular government jobs that are identified by each exchange as beneficial to the community may receive up to 80% of the value of their remuneration in Valuns without the government or agency needing to be a member of the exchange. At this time, no government or government agency may become a member of any exchange.

All remunerations in Valuns are paid into each member's Income account balance and are subject to income taxation according to THEIR rules. This proposal is neither a tax dodge, like THEIR non profit foundations and other NGO's, nor is it a money laundray, like so much of THEIR speculation games in THEIR “buy and hold” markets, including these days, in cryptocurrencies.

The Escrow account is a convenient and essential tool for managing debt. All A and B member accounts will have them. Regularly appearing transactions to settle long term debt instruments are paid out of Escrow accounts balances into other accounts. At certain times, members decide to move funds from one account to another, usually from Income to Escrow balance accounts.

B member businesses have Equity accounts into which are computed the valuations of any capital equipment, land or buildings the business may be worth in terms of Valuns. All these assets must be owned “free and clear” of any of THEIR money, as they may be required at some point to be sold for Valuns.

Additional Valuns may be shifted from Income to Equity accounts as long as taxes on that money have already been paid.

What is the purpose of building more into an Equity account? For one thing we have another 80% rule involving how much any business may spend each month out of Escrow, from whence all labor contracts are dealt with and paid out. Escrow account payouts must never exceed 80% of the combined Income and Equity balances. This is another way we do not allow certain kinds of expenses to run out of hand.

The third 80% rule involves those intending on getting into the Valun lending business; needful finance, making Valuns on Valuns without work, and it is this. 80% of the money raised in any exchange must be lent to members of that exchange. The more productive an exchange, the more financing it gets. We do not get to see so many wasteful and speculative operations get under way without adequate local funding and participation. We do not get to see the fruits of the productive taken off elsewhere and used for some other kinds of ventures to benefit people somewhere else. This rule controls the flow of capital and keeps it where it may reward those who produced it!

Obviously, the older the population of members, the more Valuns the community will have to start with. It may take years for anything meaningful to be seen. So you paid $2.82 this year and maybe only $2.62 next year and nothing seems to be happening. That's the typical reaction to the “let someone else build it and I will come” mentality. It will take some initiative. It will take some additional out of pocket expense to get whatever it takes together to canvas a community for possible support and start collecting membership dues. We keep the initial membership dues small so everyone can join. It's not refundable and we say that right out in the open. So what? How much more are we being ripped off daily for far more money?

We'll need other ways to communicate besides the internet. Perhaps a one page newsletter that every member can come by the exchange and pick up. Remember, each exchange is an intended advertising hub. We want people who are interested in other people and interested in getting rewarded for their very hard work in some cases.

Then, after a while, when an exchange really gets going, it begins sponsoring events in which Valuns are exchanged for works of art to be lodged in a local museum (a treasure house) to be patronized by local members, like a club. Eventually more similar businesses will appear and signs saying “Valuns Accepted Here” will become more numerous.

We fully expect the lower rungs of society to benefit greatly from the proposal but frankly see great benefits for all classes of people and levels of development.

What then would be the minimal requirements for setting up an exchange? It takes three people to form one, all would be A members, each would have the sponsorship of the other two, be 18, domiciled, etc. Each would pay their yearly dues and that would be accounted for. All three of them would begin canvasing and getting additional members. Collect whatever each member will allow for identification purposes and prefigure accounts for all of them so enrolled.

Each new A member, regardless of whatever other Valuns they may be issuing, will be conceded the issuance of V200 (two hundred Valuns) or about $562.00 (8/31/18): each new A member will have at least V200 in their opening Issuance balance. Since this money draws out of each person's will or fiat, it is not accounted as income and therefore not subject to taxation. If THEY ever admitted that THEY take THEIR stolen fiat from anything that belongs directly to us, it would be another admission of tyranny.

The rest is free enterprise. If I decide to use Valuns, perhaps I'll get to do some things that THEIR money has not yet allowed me to do, etc. As I build income in Valuns, I would experience the fruits of my labor to produce wealth (that which must provide income) and when more do the same, things improve. The concepts are already posted here. The canvasing and membership drives are to follow.

We said that we wanted to get three area exchanges up at one time in any of the states in the US. Efforts would be underway to get up to 40,000 A members per exchange. Right on the heels of this, a modest commitment to set up IVES would result in more rapid acceleration of exchange establishment.

At some point, a convention would be held, to draft legal documents for our institutions. Members to this convention would have to be selected from already existing exchanges recognized by IVES. Rather than being some top down FORCE, the convention would discuss structural issues and iron out standards for procedure, etc. for all of our exchanges.
 
In internal accounting terms, each local exchange is a B member in its own exchange and IVES is a B member in all exchanges.

What do B member accounts have? Equity, Income and Escrow balance accounts. What does each equity own in Valuns? Equipment? How about income? Each exchange gets 1/10^th of 1% of each transaction from one member's account to another member's account. If Bill and Jane are two A members and Bill pays Jane V54.25 (fifty-four Valuns, twenty-five cend) then the exchange charges Bill an additional V0.05 (five cend) making Bill's outlay V54.30. But Bill may go to his local exchange to pick up V-Checks and pay V50 out of his Issuance balance for them and pay no transaction fee to the exchange because we want to encourage the use of our cash instruments. Those paper and ink tokens were paid for advertising of our B member businesses who may choose to put anything on these ads as long as the local community staff agrees. All the designs once selected would pass notification by IVES.

Each exchange would be identified under the IVES identification system as we would be operating as one ledger spread out around the world and each of these identifiers would designate accounts on that ledger. For instance, were we each running separate ledgers, an A meber of one exchange might try and secure A membership in as many exchanges as possible and thereby be in position to issue more Valuns than the rules imply. Riegel warned us of scoundrels like this and so we shall take provisions against such open frauds. Once a unique natural person is an A member of some exchange, they may have as many B member accounts as they can keep in the black, but will only have one A member account anywhere. Transfers of A memberships to other exchanges will be possible because people do need to move from one place to another for any number of reasons.

Just some more of the road ahead to get this accomplished.

Best,

David Burton 
dpbmss@mail.com