I believe some avid researchers, hot on the trail of this or that, come to my blogs hoping for a lot of insights and tips into crypto, meaning crypto currencies.
Why?
Partly because Alec Nevala-Lee, a Bucky Fuller biographer, has helped spread awareness that Robert Kiyosaki the Rich Dad, Poor Dad guy is a Fuller fan. I don't recall if Alec's book actually makes this connection; I'm recalling a 2022 podcast I recently came across thanks to Nurse Ratched (codename).
Well, not wanting to disappoint, I am cultivating a crypto thread, but it's somewhat narrowly focused to a template ecosystem we find here in Portland, Oregon: that of the food pod, consisting of food trucks, which all take credit and debit cards.
Image: I can stoke up my crypto account with a "tourist currency" (locals use it to), good at participating establishments, that gives me discounts if we reckon dollar for dollar. You could call these "dollars that go further than ordinary dollars" if you spend them wisely i.e. pay attention to where to go, what to buy.
The "stretched dollar" crypto, measured in units, given a name, goes to my account. I've paid for these tokens using a mainstream currency. The card and/or app associated with this account is able to pay merchants in that same crypto currency. They have the requisite device readers.
The crypto is pegged to my identity, like credit card money, meaning transactions leave more of a trace than in a strictly cash-based economy. This is part of the appeal: transaction logging. Big Brother, perhaps the name of a software suite back at headquarters, knows when and where you buy a burrito. We already have shopper cards that work the same way.
That's right: to my influences, I should add having a Fred Meyer card in my wallet, and getting discounts for using it, almost daily. The discount coupons Freddies sends me in the mail are customized towards what purchases I routinely make, I've noticed. Smart. I use the coupons when I think of it. My friend Dave is more of a master at this game, and I've learned from him.
What about Club Med you're asking? That's easy: we had to buy plastic beads, colored gold, copper, tan, and where these around our necks as necklaces. We might be scantily clad in beachwear, so who wants a bulky wallet? If I wanted a drink, I shortened my necklace, by handing over some beads to the vendor.
Club Meds always seemed well-managed and well-designed. That's from a teenager's perspective. We already lived in Europe so joining the French working class on their vacations was actually more affordable than most ways of enjoying some fun in the sun. I especially remember the one in Romania, on the Black Sea. We drove there from Rome, with many stops before and after.
Getting all these ideas more concrete would require a simulation. I've written Python code to simulate a supermarket, with a shopper class, inventory class et cetera, from which instances get made. But it's too simple and has no graphical components. I'm just using it to teach Python, not research crypto carts inside the context of a SimCity. SimCity would be another influence, or Sims more generally.
None of this crypto cart stuff really has to happen in Portland, if that's impractical. I'm thinking more in terms of refugee cities, Asylum Cities. I think refugee camps have already done stuff with crypto, am I wrong? It's time to hit the chatbot I currently favor (Perplexity) and do some more digging.
