Citlali Molina
Professor Rainville
American Economies
September, 10, 2012
SBC
Currency
Here
at Sweet Briar, Apple products seem to be a huge commodity. Yes, it is true that not all students have Apple
products on campus, but almost every student has some form, whether it be a
computer or a small iPod shuffle. I
purpose a barter system at Sweet Briar between Apple products since it seems to
be in great use. Although Apple products
are specifically designed, this form of “currency would be made in SBC colors:
green, pink and brown. Any product
bearing those colors would be considered valid for trade.
Ideally,
Apple products would still be assigned a value to barter. Since apps are virtually inexpensive most of
the time, that would be the cheapest way to trade; app for an app. In our society it would be considered
anywhere from a cent value to a couple of dollars. Then the cables, adapters, small iPod
shuffles would follow as a substitute to the 5-20 dollar bills. iPod Touches, iPhones, iPads, and Apple
computers are valued higher therefore those would serve the higher bills. Since all Apple products are valued
differently, in this society there would be a rule as to what object you can trade
for another. One way would be to trade
an app or an app, or apps for cables and small devices. Of course to purchase apps, we would need
iTunes cards, which can be acquired by trading apps for them as well. If one wanted a bigger device, you could only
trade it for cables or the smaller devices, not apps. The difference in value of the bigger devices
to the small ones is so great that it wouldn’t suffice to trade an app for
something like a laptop. If that were
so, the value of a laptop would deface.
Trading with apps and smaller devices would seem more valued in this
society because everyone would need to charge their device every so often or
find an app that makes their life easier.
Even in our current society, human beings are forever finding that which
will facilitate their lives. In contrast,
bigger devices would be traded less because their value is so high, most
wouldn’t want to trade them. Also, bigger devices would be more likely owned by
an elite group.
There is a matter of the people who don’t own
Apple products. These people would be
given ITunes cards in which they could invest in apps and later bigger
product. In essence they would start on
the lowest rung of this economic system.
Eventually, if done correctly these people can participate with the rest
of society. The reason is not a
punishment, but in order for an economic society to function their needs to be
both the high and low standards of society.
The reason I gave
this form of currency great value is because in our current society, technology
is greatly valued. Every person longs
for the latest phone or tablet. We are
an ever consuming community and as long as technology continues to improve, we
will only want more. This being said, Sweet
Briar would become a digital school if this form of currency was applied. As stated before, this form would allow a
wealthy class to dominate because those with the bigger devices would have more
power to trade for any object of their choice.
There will always be a middle class depending on how well everyone can
barter. Although, I do believe that this
kind of society will cause people to be greedier and hold on to their valuable
items. My overall impression of this
economic system is that if people are satisfied with their possessions there will
be less trade, causing the system to fail.
It is a system that can only be tested and never fully applied to modern
times.
