This system allows people to exchange (recycle) clothes, toys, gadgets, coupons and more using “community credit” to get things they need; thereby decreasing the amount of “public money” one must earn to meet their family or individual needs. 

People bring things in to their local exhcange location and are issued credits, they can then take things out, or look on-line at the community auction and buy something from another community using their credits.  Whatevere is in the drop-off location is now backing the number of credits available within the community.

Through our global Access Points project, any local SCALE will be able to trade with others SCLAE communites from across the world.  

In the most impoverished regions, the earned wealth from Internet use of but one child using the FDU economic system (at a Access Point) can now be imported into their local community currency and thereby be exchanged for local farmer’s food.  The farmer will never use a computer, nor will the dressmaker he gets dresses from with his new SCALE community credits, the dressmaker uses the credits to get pottery, the potter uses it to get food, and so on – only a few need to use the system to import free circulating wealth into a SCALE empowered community.

This is particularly important in developing nations where people have one of two choices for developing out of poverty; information wealth, or wealth from harvesting more natural resources.  

Simply put, one can either shoot an animal for thier skin, or instead one can shoot a animal video.  The animal, say a lion, can be shot only once but the video may be sold infinite times over with little to no reproduction or delivery cost!  Only by importing digital wealth can the poor develop out of poverty in a sustainable manner. 

One purpose of SCALE as a Open Source Solution is to connect SCALEs in the developing world with those created in the 1st world by individuals such as your-self.

Creating a SCALE is easy, it has two parts:

1.      Legal Structure: Create a Social Cooperative or Mutual Benefit Association Charter so people can contract in as members.  Members agree to use the Cooperative Credits (currency) under the agreements of membership. A community may call there currency aything they wish, and devise their own rules relative to their local culture or beliefs.  *A sample Word Doc file of a SCALE Charter will be attached to this page shortly.

2.      Physical Structure: A local place for drop off of goods, with a trusted staff working under the Associations rules, is the 2nd step.  We have found local churches starting the association as a inter-faith project with complimenting educational opportunities is the best approach.  In many ways, a SCALE is a bigger version of a clothing exchange you might find at any community center or church, instead of issuing tickets for clothes or items put in to balance what goes out, we use digital credits.    A SCALE leverages the potentials of the Information Age.

To decrease the number of items being placed into the wharehouse a local on-line auction site is provided (free to use) so people with credits can find things from other members.  For example I may bring a item into the SCALE and be issued 22 credits, but there is nothing in the wharehouse I want.  So I go on-line and see you have something you're offering for 20 credits, so we get together and exchange by my transferring the 20 credits to your on-line account, and you giving me the item.  In this way whatever is "in the wharehouse" is acting as backing for community credits being passed around in the community membeship at large.

The legal structure for a social cooperative, and the credit accounting system options may be obtained through Peace Portal; the physical location you and your staff will need to work out.

Complimentary Projects:

1.      SAFE – Sustainable Alternative Farming Experience: SAFE provides a place in local communities where people may participate hands on in planting of trees and growing of gardens that demonstrate ecologically self-sustainable techniques or practices.  Community gardens are funded by the participants own tax-deductible donations, thereby directing taxes from federal direction to local use.  If a SCALE and a SAFE get together, they can create a farm cooperative that provides the SCALE with food items.

2.      Access Point Project (APP): Designed for the developing world, Access Points are community centers offering education, access to computers, a SCALE, health care, sustainable development projects, and missionary staffing.  Participants funded by the Peace Portal Humanitarian Trust to provide infrastructure to each Access Point include: INVENEO, Room To Read, KIVA, OLPC, Doctors Without Borders, Feed the Children, Aprovecho Institute, Association of Unincorporated Ministries (AUM), and SEEN.

3.  Prosperity Project:   Through this project globalization is addressed by empowering Internet users who have no credit card or access to the digital marketplace to start participating, by earning purchasing power in a private economy.  Access Points provide computers, a SCALE, educational training by MadeByKids Foundation, and other services as appropriate to a particular geographic location.

"We are asking for the opportunity to compete, to sell our goods in global markets; in short we want to trade our way out of poverty." ~ Pres. of Uganda

Prosperity Project is  part of the FDU charitable fund raising game overseen by Worldwide Developers Foundation so that any anyone may gain access to the global marketplace using a common Sovereign Digital Soule - the same one used here on Peace Portal. 

Activities of the Soule reward the user while also supporting humanitarian organizations.  Prosperity Program launches with FDU charity fund raising game in Phase Two in 2009.

The Soule creates new wealth in the FDU which will differ from the current public wealth in an important way: it will not be based on the value of Earths extracted natural resources. Instead Digital Publishing is the cornerstone of wealth.  Prosperity Program combines all aspects of FDU to combat poverty at the grassroots level by providing impoverished people globally with direct access to a commercial forum with Equal Treatment, Compensation, and Protection under the law.