The Kroger in Macon had raspberries in the reduced produce department (right next to the tortured poets department) that were like 2 packs for $.99 which are normally like $3.99 each which is like a $7 savings and so naturally I bought three of them which is a $21 savings. Then I came home and washed them and remembered that they are so delicate like flower petals, and I felt like I ought to apologize for man-handling them so much in the colander. Is rinsing raspberries what washing a baby is like?
Yes, I'm back to posting about fruit sensitivity and price savings. All is right in the world.
What can I say, I'm in the business of manufacturing ideas and not seeing them through myself.
But I currently have another idea in incubation that could actually be the next big thing, so if you want to take the idea and run with it, feel free.
Feel so free.
If it does take off, cut me in later, maybe. Or at least let me be on some advisory board.
Here's the idea:
Tusk: Bartering Done Right™
The backstory, a True Story:
I had "sweep the porch" on my to-do list, but I was so unmotivated to complete the work, I only did a quarter of it.
And then Mike was like, "You didn't sweep a quarter more."
That's a square dance joke.
He's so clever.
But then I thought of how great it would be to have somebody else just finish sweeping the rest of my porch, Tom Sawyer style.
"The River!" - RUSH
I wouldn't pay people. No, that's so pedantic. I would merely provide consumable rewards such as a high five, a pat on the back, or a pastrami sandwich.
You might be like, "Dude, bro, that already exists. It's called TaskRabbit."
And I hear you, but no.
Tusk is different because of the consumable rewards.
Consumable. Rewards.
Not money.
Consumable.
Rewards.
This is key.
Now you may be awkwardly wondering if sexual favors count as consumable rewards.
No, they are not allowed on Tusk.
Awkwardly enough, lower-vibe bartering economies could necessitate a sister app developed on the black market called Tsk, and that's all I can say about that.
So my idea would work like this:
An app called Tusk
A strictly peer-to-peer platform that matches people who want to barter ("down to tusk").
Our mascot and logo would be a walrus with a tusk, maybe two because it takes two to tusk.
Let me show you what I mean:
"Tuskers" - individuals that design tusk lists
The bullet points on each list would be tusks, obviously, because it's cute.
Tusk lists break down projects into bite-size portionable tasks.
Tuskers are the project managers and consumable reward providers.
"Tuskees" - individuals that complete the tusks in exchange for consumable rewards.
These are not employees, workers, servants, hired labor, or anything done in exchange for money.
These are volunteers that get consumable rewards.
It's as scalable as as someone wanting a house built on their property and architecting that into a tuskable list, or a grandma needing some house chores done in exchange for providing homemade macaroni and cheese.
When I was fleshing this out with Mike, he was like, This sounds a lot like Ben and Autumn's "deals" which is where my niece and nephew agree to do each others chores in exchange for their other chores that they hate and maybe some gum.
You see, Gen Alpha is embracing this core tenet: that you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. It is a truth of freedom that flies in the face of boomerism which perpetuates suffering because they believe work has to be
hard
and feel like work
At Tusk, we believe that is false.
So, yes, we're resurrecting the spirit of sibling bartering systems while building a community around volunteerism, recreation, and human empowerment while reducing the dependency on the fiscal system and overall cringe of capitalism while we still sell cool walrus merch in our app store.
That's a quite long mission statement, so we can shorten it to:
It's cool to Tusk™.
How it works:
A lot like church sign-up sheets, actually
So you know how you go to church and they want you to get "plugged in" and "sign up" for church "work day" or "volunteer" on a 6 week rotation in the "nursery" which in fact is not houseplants but a bunch of screaming children that you have no experience in dealing with but because you are a woman, that is where you are "encouraged" to "sign up" because it would be a "wonderful opportunity" with "spiritual dividends" but I have digressed so much with too many quotes so let's start over.
And I will show you, but with Drake:
See, when you break down huge, hairy projects into small little tasks anyone can do, not only do the things get accomplished, but people WANT to come do the things because it's so easy.
If you want money for doing things, there are plenty of other places you could go. You could get a job. You could start your own business. I don't care. You're a free and ascendant soul. But we've tried capitalism, and with scarcity and the 1% running our economic structure, it keeps the majority of people enslaved to the mindset that money is required to live here on earth.
At Tusk, we believe this is false.
Look at the animals.
Just look at 'em.
Especially the anteater.
Just look at it.
 |
| Just here. Just eating ants. Wow. How incredibly valuable I am to the ecosystem. |
Tusk gets away from the fiscal system by incentivizing pure hearted human energy output with the intention to Tusk, plus consumable rewards to boot and also maybe a boot.
Like white elephant, but with services?
Maybe our logo will be like a white walrus.
Tusk: The white elephant swimming in the vast sea of human consciousness™
There is MASSIVE GDP being generated with NO WAY to report or compare it.
AND I LOVE IT.
There are no stupid 1099 forms to submit for free people being free people doing free people things.
There are no payroll submissions or taxes or labor laws to comply with.
It's...free.
Tusk profiles are free. It's free to Tusk. That's what makes it so cool.
It kind of works like a dating app, or like the old and really creepy relationship section on Craigslist.
You list your tusks that you don't want to do (sweeping your porch, mowing your lawn, fixing your mailbox)
And you list categories of things you would want to do (fold laundry, cat sit, chop vegetables)
The algorithm (to be developed) in the app would link up profiles in your area based on your opposite matched interests.
These local connections would be logged as a friends list, or as we call them, your Barter Buddies™.
You could either complete a tusk for a consumable reward, or you could propose a tusk of your own in exchange.
TRUE, FREE BARTERING.
The value of exchange depends on each person and if they're up to the tusk, as it were.
By tusking in your area, you build your organic network of people who you met on Tusk. You know you would be happy to trim the hedges of Susan for the consumable reward of a slice of her homemade rhubarb pie. She'd be happy to watch your cats over the weekend for the sheer delight of petting kittens.
The app provides visibility and fosters the inherent kind heartedness and help of people if you only knew them.
Consider being a middle aged something that just moved to a new city. You don't want to find a church because you don't believe in it anymore, so how do you meet people? Like at all?
All your hobbies are not team sports and often take you deep into nature and remote areas. You don't go to the bar because you don't fancy loud country music. You're a freelance artist who works from home and not at a workplace.
How in the WORLD do you meet people in this day and age?
Tusk.
You perform tusks in exchange for the sheer delight of doing something for another (and a consumable reward).
Here is why the rewards must be consumable:
It represents value above and beyond the physical realm.
It gives you that serotonin hit without having your inherent human worth tied to a monetary value or variable or career.
Reread that sentence. That was a good sentence. Here, I'll say it again except I'll change a couple words:
It gives you meaning without having your inherent human worth tied to a monetary value or variable or career.
Rewards must be consumable because they cannot be the reason why you are doing what you are doing.
You are doing the Tusk because you want to. There is always a deeper purpose for why you do things: Intention.
You want to know people in your community, you want to help out people around you, you want to make a difference TODAY, you want to see someone smile, etc
All those feel-good volunteerism spirits be flying around up in here.
We're talking about those intangible spiritual benefits we were always promised on the 501(c)(3) letters, food, drinks, nonsexual physical gestures (hugs, handshakes, massages, etc), other tusks...
Tusk, The exchange is infinite™
Because ultimately, people don't want to do what they don't want to do.
But at the very same time are more than willing to do things they WANT to do, especially in exchange for those things they don't.
We free up the energy of individuals by giving them the opportunities to act in a capacity they desire.
This leads to a high-vibe community where everyone is taken care of and no one worries about a thing.
By flooding our platform with participation, creative tusks, and consumable rewards, we rebuild our economy from one of slavery and entrapment into abundance and freedom because everyone is doing what they want to be doing.
We're simply removing the middleman of money while giving people the opportunity to empower themselves.
I especially love how this works on a human level regardless of age, race, gender, religion, or cucumber-on-salad preference. It's like the Connect Four game box that says ages 5-99 except we do not discriminate against triple digit Tuskees. You're valuable, too, and could probably provide a wise yet consumable reward of a discussion over a cup of tea.
If you can read and use an app, you can Tusk.
And the walrus will be all like, "You want Tusks? I have Tusks."
 |
| Look at the animals. |
Also, greed and fraud don't work in a community or a bartering economy.
Imagine just for a second: if we stopped building legal, economic, and tax systems that incentive scarcity, crookery, and loophellishness, then people actually take responsibility for their actions and realize that acting in their true best interest (and not out of lack mindset) naturally benefits the collective.
The current system fails because the current system is broken.
Not. The. People.
The current system fails because the mindset of people, trained by the current system, is broken.
Not. The. People.
Imagine.
A bartering world built for the people, of the people, by the people.
IMAGINE.
To design and create a world in which participation requires honesty, integrity, and selflessness.
"When they found a better planet, only the gentle survived."
- Taylor Swift; I Hate It Here
If we want to experience heaven, we have to start being heavenly material.
It's in the Tusk terms and services.
Ok, so let's recap:
- Sibling barter system, but worldwide and local access on an app
- You don't have to do anything you don't want to do
- You are an inherently worthy human
- Cool merch
In our current reality, how do we build this platform that ultimately will be in the New Earth?
For now, Tuskers get a few months free to incentivize app activity and then they pay a monthly $5 subscription to maintain their lists because we will have to pay for the app and development and all only because that's how we've got to get things started. Tuskee profiles will always be free, but the ability to create a Tusk List will require the subscription.
However, we dream of a day where we can make a Tusk list for creating (or maybe expanding) Tusk, and it will all be accomplished by willing Tuskees for consumable rewards. ;)
At Tusk, we dream of a better world. It is encouraged.
We have remote staff meetings where we all fall asleep (I mean, naturally...it is a staff meeting after all) and then astral project into higher consciousness together.
It's pretty tight.
Also, for every tusk completed, you earn TuskCoin, an in-app currency redeemable for cool merch like walrus swimming trunks, flip-flops, and T-shirts with our cute logo that say "Watch me while I Tusk™".
Obviously, we will launch our own cryptocurrency of TuskCoin which will be a lot like Dogecoin, just for the fun of it, but also provide the current financial resources needed to build the app, run the company in the beginning, source and manufacture the cool merch, and mess with the minds of financial analysts who try to understand how a bartering company infiltrated their S&P500 and threw off their forecasts for fourth quarter.
"Quick, quick. Tell me something awful
Like you are poet trapped inside the body of a finance guy."
- Taylor Swift; I Hate It Here
Honestly, that lyric hit a little too close to home for me when I heard it. True story.
Again, our only financial impact will just be for the purpose of growing our beautiful bartering community until we just don't need it anymore (e.g. Tusk tusks to maintain Tusk will be completed by willing Tuskees for consumable rewards). That's why I don't care about selling this gazillion dollar idea. Just let me be on a board or something. I could design the walrus logo.
And the consumable reward would be: Having someone sweeping the other 3/4 of my porch!
So, like any Tuskee would be, I'm not here to make money.
Some may not even call Tusk a business idea, and they're probably right.
It's more like a social change idea. An organic community building idea. A vehicle for recreation.
OMG, did I just invent an RV?
I think the collective consciousness is expanding enough to be receptive and supportive of it because we're just so done with wasting our life force energy on things that don't matter. We saw this a lot during covid with people just having it with the system and wanting to go off the grid and back to homesteading. What if you had a surplus of garden veggies that you could exchange for something you needed done?
With Tusk, suddenly, you have exchanged your lack for your abundance with the freedom of your choice. How very fifth dimensional of you.
By the way, the only reason we need the app and all is because we're not telepathic yet, so we still have to use the 3D means of the internet until the collective consciousness works out its remaining kinks. Thank you for your understanding.
So yeah.
Tusk.
Where the creepy relationship section on Craiglist meets church sign up sheets but with cool merch™
I'm just saying, if you are willing to sweep the other 3/4 of my porch, I have rewards.
Consumable. Rewards.,
TWS
