Frequently Asked Questions

about MoneyFree, the AnarChange, and what it means.

Is this for real?
No. It's set up as an elaborate joke on one specific person.
However, that person is not you.
That explains why you can't quite get it.
If you had happened to be the target of the joke, it would all be really, really funny,
just as soon as you realized what it all meant.

For you, though, you might as well pretend it's serious.
It works out the same way, as if you were in on the joke.

You say I will be expected to give money to this project.
Yeah. You are expected to give the AnarChange network some of your resources.
Cash or credit we can use. Real property and other valuables are accepted.
Livestock such as champion thoroughbreds is good.
Manufacturing facilities in factories, that's splendid.
Good faith is understood; good will and other imponderables are enumerated.
The network will accept your services: skills and creativity are appreciated.
We will take whatever you can give us.
We just won't thank you for it, because we're really you.

What do I get out of all this?
You don't get a damn thing back.
Count on that.
This is not reciprocity. This is not fair trade. Don't expect value for value.
It's a political thing, as we say in anarchist meetings.
The money system has for centuries warped our value structure,
so we have come to see life as a series of transactions, giving here, taking there.
We're looking for ways to see life in non-transactional terms.
If you should join us, you will have a share in our common wealth.
It is very considerable.
In anyone's assessment, you will probably be richer as a member.
But you didn't purchase that wealth by giving some money or whatever.
You simply deserve that wealth by being a member.

How will I know I'm getting back as much as I'm putting in?
There you go again! We are trying to reclaim, recycle, renew your concept of fairness:
the notion of equitable, tit for tat, transaction.
If you couldn't swallow politics, try philosophy.
Our ideas of fair are, indeed, instinctive.
But it is these concepts of fairness, reciprocity, equity
which have been poisoned by money.
Money has become established as the pervasive metric
for evaluation of human life.
It's wrong. It's evil.
So we don't intend to give you the assurances you are seeking.
It is contrary to our ethical principles to evaluate your contribution in these terms,
and similarly to evaluate how you will judge what you receive.
We will predict your future state of mind.
You will be really satisfied that you chose to join us.

You want me to give you everything?
You weren't listening. You and we are the same identity.
How can we give and take from ourselves?
But, to answer your question, Hell no. That would be stupid, that's for fanatics.
The network can't take everything from anybody.
We want part of your computer and part of your phone, mainly.
Money, we will relieve you of your filthy lucre as you come to see it as distasteful.
The network will move it to where it does the most good.

How will I know I'm getting the same as everybody else?
You won't be. The kids on the streets will be getting more than you.
You have a computer. They will be getting a computer, not you.
You have a house. They will be getting a house, not you.
You have food. They will be getting fed, not you.
OK?

OK, I'm trying not to think in fairness terms.
Just why should I join the MoneyFree AnarChange?
Finally! You might join because you want to save the world.
That's the reason most of us join.
We want an alternative which does not evaluate our lives in terms of wages.
We want to create a growing alternative, a counter-economy,
which when it reaches some threshold level will replace economy.
We need to organize our production / distribution system
in a way which will scale up,
to meet the load which will be placed on it when everybody wants to be an anarchist.
There are several very good reasons you should want to join,
once you have overcome your initial selfishness.
The network is empowering.
Its wealth enables you to fulfill your dreams in a way you could never afford before.
Your creativity gets a boost by its enablement.
Your computer, to start with, is associated with many others,
in a sophisticated learning system,
so your computer is effectively much smarter than before.
The artificial-intelligence algorithm built into the network
ensures increased efficiency over time.
Your own empowerment includes the cooperation of others who are your peers.
You can build a work of art with the help of someone the other side of the world,
and never have to worry whether it will sell or how much it will fetch.
If you want to design a device, you can get it built, tested and produced,
without going to the trouble of being born rich and inheriting a factory.
If you want to live without an imposed daily schedule, this is the best way.

How do I get into the network?
You will download and run a starter package.
In its installation, it will ask you to set several permissions,
so it can tailor itself to your system.
You will be encouraged to leave your computer on full time.
That is also the preferred way to achieve long life for your hardware.
Doing this will allow the network system to work when you don't.
You will be asked to let your computer hook up to the network in the background.
The system in our network isn't much good standing alone,
like a brain cell without its others.
If you are not charged for connect time,
(or if you are charged but can afford it),
you will be asked to let the computer hook up to the network when you're not around.
More work gets done that way.
The installation will also show you how to meet and talk to other anarchists like yourself.
We are all working on this same grand project.
All of us are on the same side.

What if I don't trust anything taking over my computer?
Go away then. We don't want you.
We don't trust people who don't trust us.
We don't want you if you are brainwashed
by the frenzied hysteria permeating modern life.
If you are so pickled in capitalist poison that you can't even trust your fellow anarchists,
we would as soon avoid your acquaintance.
Your fear could create a contagion which might contaminate our community.
Leave quietly, and huddle with your paranoia in your compartment. Bye.
Truthfully, the application is usually a background task.
You will be able to use your computer and browse the Internet just like before.
You won't notice it until you want to talk on our network.
Then you will benefit from the expertise of the most advanced
system development team there is.
That's our anarchist network, and you're a part of it.

How do you know I'm not a cop?
So what if you are?
Have you seen anything illegal?
Do you have any real reason to suppose
that any illegal activity is taking place, or is planned?
If you think so, take a word to the wise.
You better be sure, before you start anything.
We're not the kind of people easily pushed around.
We don't like you.
Your badge don't mean shit here, pardner.
Get an easier job, come back and see us.

Are you planning anything illegal that might get me in trouble?
We are taking care that no substantive law violations occur
in the establishment of the network.
In the ultimate sense, we are the enemies of law.
We expect to outlive it.
For right now, we expect to organize publicly in a way the law cannot attack us.
That means your membership is, in the eyes of the law,
an expression of your political preference.
In theory, we should receive protection from tyranny.
In reality, we expect some kind of attack from government
after they decide we're a danger.
We believe that they will take too long to reach that decision.
So those are the details. You don't break any law joining us.
Collectively, we're not breaking any laws in what we do together.
We urge our members not to discuss lawbreaking, but that is beyond our control.

At the root of this question is what our network is for.
We are no friends to law,
but that does not place us under a compulsion to break laws at every turn.
We have made a discovery which is unique:
a method to overthrow the law without using any illegal means.
It would be naive to expect to retain this virgin purity while a millon members join,
but in essence we expect we can defeat law and government by our economic choice.
If we can present the world a viable third choice, besides make money or starve,
we will end up eating the money economy.
Then the hollow shell of government will blow away in the breeze,
and people will govern themselves for the first time.

Will the computer take over the world?
In a nutshell, yeah. The computer is a tool to help our thinking.
We're about to learn how to use it for that task.
But this question is really an expression of fear.
That fear is unjustified. No machine is going to rule your life.
Remember who we are. We're anarchists.
Anarchists don't like going to the trouble of ruling other people's lives.
We have an objection to anybody trying to rule our lives.
We disallow that when possible.
Yes, we are launching a networking system which can learn.
It will never be autonomous, in the sense of being beyond human control.
It is our cooperative project, which requires lots of people working full time
just to keep it running.
You're about to become one of us.

Keep on talking! There is so much more I want to hear!
No. Join up and quit wasting your time.

Whithertowards?

rev 980303