{"id":309,"date":"2009-09-29T11:22:50","date_gmt":"2009-09-29T09:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/avbp.net\/?page_id=309"},"modified":"2009-09-29T11:42:01","modified_gmt":"2009-09-29T09:42:01","slug":"cogs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/?page_id=309","title":{"rendered":"COGS Circle of Gifts voluntary currency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em><strong>UPDATE: <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em><strong>Membership is free at this time, just sign up on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.community-exchange.org\/docs\/join.asp\">COMMUNITY EXCHANGE SYSTEM<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em><strong>Choose \u201cSweden\u201d as country and \u201cCOGS\u201d as the system.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Introduction<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Point of COGS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COGS stands for Circle of Gifts, and is a complementary currency specifically designed to help local communities re-localise activities. The aim of re-localisation is to provide inhabitants with the possibility of an acceptable quality of life when traditional economic development fails, or their circumstances are against them.<\/p>\n<p>We believe complementary currencies will become more important as energy supplies dwindle and impact the economic growth so essential for interest-based economic systems of nations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ideas behind COGS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When discussing sustainable development, many point to the need to re-localise community activities. This includes growing food locally, small scale renewable energy production and local manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time local, alternative or complementary currency comes up as a possible way to support this re-localisation. Although there are many successful local currency schemes ongoing in the world, they are still not that widespread or developed to the extent that it is easy to get a hands-on experience.<\/p>\n<p>And there are not many schemes that are dedicated and focussed on supporting re-localisation.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this we decided to develop our own scheme, and to specifically design it act as a complement to legal tender and to help communities organise activities to provide quality of life for those in most need. Our scheme will start off as a test-bed, open to anyone who would like to join from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Our currency is one of the GIFT ECONOMY a \u201cpay it forward\u201d scheme.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif,sans-serif;\">COGS is all about being part of the community, giving and receiving in a trusting way to ensure everyone has a quality of life whatever their situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif,sans-serif;\">This is done voluntarily out of love and respect and is not part of a contract. When you participate in COGS scheme you do it as a community member, not an employee or citizen in a formal sense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif,sans-serif;\">This  is completely different from the work aspect of life where you enter into a contract and receive wages and pay taxes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif,sans-serif;\">The diagram below visualises the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif,sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-310\" title=\"How volontary currency COGS works\" src=\"http:\/\/avbp.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Works-300x195.jpg\" alt=\"How volontary currency COGS works\" width=\"380\" height=\"246\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>History of COGS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COGS was developed by Stephen Hinton of the AVBP sustainable consultancy in 2005 after extensive discussions with POST CARBON INSTITUTE and members of the Stockholm Oil awareness\u00a0 meetup group. A lot of information was gathered from the web as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The aim of COGS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To encourage and facilitate:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Local agriculture and food growing<\/li>\n<li>Recycle and Reuse of materials<\/li>\n<li>Development of self help in community<\/li>\n<li>Local energy production<\/li>\n<li>Increase in security<\/li>\n<li>Preventative health services and complimentary      treatments<\/li>\n<li>Local manufacture<\/li>\n<li>Development of more sustainable lifestyle<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>How do COGS work?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You do something for me, say bake bread<\/li>\n<li>Lets us take an example. You bake bread and give me a      loaf. I value the gift as \u00bc COG for the loaf, and register 0.25 COGS to      you in the system. Now my account is \u00bc COG minus, yours is \u00bc COG plus<\/li>\n<li>I help my neighbor with their computer (3\/4 COG ) and      register it.<\/li>\n<li>I am 1\/2 COG in plus<\/li>\n<li>My neighbour gives you a cabbage he has grown, you      acknowledge this to him with 1\/4 COG<\/li>\n<li>And so on<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How do COGS create \u201deconomic\u201d growth<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>COGS may not stimulate growth in legal tender terms,      but it will stimulate people to carry out useful activity in the community      which is one aim of economic growth, to increase the good for all. The      system is always at zero in total credit and debit (right column)\u2013 meaning      the community is never owing nor lending to anyone. Note that COGS are      created by the people using them and not dependent on Governments or banks      to create them (FIAT).<\/li>\n<li>Look at the diagram of some transactions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-311\" title=\"Account in voluntary currency\" src=\"http:\/\/avbp.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Account-300x134.jpg\" alt=\"Account in voluntary currency\" width=\"372\" height=\"166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avbp.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Account-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/avbp.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Account.jpg 873w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 372px) 100vw, 372px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The vertical column is a measure of activity \u2013 the more      people participate the more the good being done grows.<\/li>\n<li>So <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">activity<\/span> grows even if economic activity      stagnates, and the community can develop their living standard. The system      shows how people are increasingly putting in positive activity into the      community<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How are COGS values created<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COGS are for voluntary hours (see diagram above). These calculations are based on Swedish conditions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Under Swedish tax law, all transactions including gifts      are valued. We set an average year as containing 1600 working hours and      1040 as \u201cLeisure\u201d time (2-3 hours a day)<\/li>\n<li>One hour gift is valued at 85 SEK nominally, to be      equivalent to a low average hourly wage (SEK 10,600 \/month after tax)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>COGS and tax<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tax rules in Sweden allow for gifts to any one person      of up to 10,000 SEK<\/li>\n<li>That means if we have 300 people in the community you can give each 10,000 (total SEK 3 million) before needing to declare for tax. That is 125 COG per person or 37,500.<\/li>\n<li>If you spend 2-3 hours a day you can donate 1040 COG to      the system or equivalent SEK 83,200<\/li>\n<li>And get back the same, at roughly 7,000 a month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>So it is our belief that COGS are outside the tax system, as are any gifts below SEK 10,000, remembering that you will get back exactly the same equivalent and not make any profit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How are COGS values determined?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The giver and the acknowledger mutually agree on the COGS equivalent for the gift.<\/p>\n<p>We suggest using time needed to produce the gift as a starting point.<\/p>\n<p>Each person\u2019s time is valued equally. In some cases, like massage, a person needs 1.5 hours to actually produce one hour of massage, so a 1-hour massage would be 1.5 COGS.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How will COGS stimulate re-localisation?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COGS will stimulate the development of Community<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The origin of the word &#8220;community&#8221;<\/strong> comes from the Latin <em>munus<\/em>, which means the      gift, and <em>cum<\/em>, which means together, among each other. So community      literally means <strong><em>to give among each other.<\/em><\/strong> Therefore I define      my community as a group of people who welcome and honor my gifts, and from      whom I can reasonably expect to receive gifts in return.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>COGS are abundant, limited only by the amount of volunteer hours <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COGS is a gift currency and as such is not like legal tender, in limited supply. Anyone can give anyone anything, so COGS are created simply by acknowledging a gift by registering COGS.<\/p>\n<p>The aim of re-localisation is for the community to provide the essentials for all its members instead of relying on outside help of governments and corporations. By starting to use COGS, members will help each other more, utilize and develop essential skills like growing food, repairing equipment, producing essential items.<\/p>\n<p>We believe by using COGS people will start to explore the value of giving and taking in trusting relationships as an antidote to the modern competitive, rat-race mentality where only a few can achieve comfortable living to the detriment of the many.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why do we need an alternative to legal tender?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jobs are increasingly scarce \u2013 creating a burden on the      state<\/li>\n<li>Development of sustainable life style is going slower      than fossil fuels are depleting, something must give at some point and      there is no buffer or emergency plan.<\/li>\n<li>Economic growth is stagnating<\/li>\n<li>Modern life brings much isolation &#8211; even worse for      those with no legal tender resources. Just getting together with neighbors      doing stuff is positive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What about other complementary currencies?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The diagram below shows some comparisons. See<a href=\" http:\/\/www.transaction.net\/\"> <\/a><\/strong><a href=\" http:\/\/www.transaction.net\/\">http:\/\/www.transaction.net\/<\/a> for more information<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-312\" title=\"TABLE comparison complementary currencies\" src=\"http:\/\/avbp.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/TABLE-300x244.png\" alt=\"TABLE comparison complementary currencies\" width=\"413\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avbp.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/TABLE-300x244.png 300w, https:\/\/avbp.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/TABLE.png 826w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 413px) 100vw, 413px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Becoming a COGS member<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Membership is free at this time, just sign up on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.community-exchange.org\/docs\/join.asp\">COMMUNITY EXCHANGE SYSTEM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Choose &#8220;Sweden&#8221; as country and &#8220;COGS&#8221; as the system.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COGS is at an experimental stage. Therefore it can be used by Swedish residents for &#8220;real services&#8221; and for &#8220;virtual&#8221; and &#8220;internet&#8221; services globally. For example, any service that can be done over the internet, like translation, or layout, can be COGS related.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Learn more<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Discussion and learning from the experiments is on the <a href=\"http:\/\/communityexchange.ning.com\/\">COMMUNITY EXCHANGE NING SITE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UPDATE: Membership is free at this time, just sign up on the COMMUNITY EXCHANGE SYSTEM Choose \u201cSweden\u201d as country and \u201cCOGS\u201d as the system. Introduction The Point of COGS COGS stands for Circle of Gifts, and is a complementary currency specifically designed to help local communities re-localise activities. The aim of re-localisation is to provide [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":32,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-309","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314,"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/309\/revisions\/314"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/avbp.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}