As the American economy teeters on the brink of the biggest
financial meltdown in history, and the proposed $700bn bail-out
plan looks set to go down as well as David Blaine's stunt, there is
still a small glimmer of hope.
Our ancestors created some incredibly simple things that are
essential to our survival: the wheel (which became cogs, spindles,
etc.), the aquaduct (which became pipes and plumbing), and barter
(which later became economies.) Take away the teeth from a cog and
it's still just a wheel. Take the covering off a pipe and it's
still a simple aquaduct. Take the insanity out of our modern
economy and you have the bedrock, the solid foundation of
bartering.
Back in 2000, Merchants Barter Exchange (MBE) revolutionized how
barter was traditionally implemented, taking it out of the Stone
Age and into the 21st Century. The "Caveman Bank", as it is
affectionately known, was created for just such a time as we are
currently experiencing. Ridiculed and laughed at for being behind
the times, they diligently stuck to their core beliefs and ethics
of "100% trade, 100% of the time", same pricing as cash, and no
cash-barter blends.
Nobody's laughing now.
Founder and President, Steve Bolles, had the foresight back when
everybody else was being duped by the Y2K scare to go back to the
drawing board and reinvent barter into the highly effective
business tool that is now the MBE trading system. "Everybody told
me I was crazy," states Bolles. "They told me it was impossible to
trade anything bigger than pizzas for haircuts."
Today, nobody thinks Bolles is crazy. In fact, he is now being
lauded as a visionary, possibly the man that can offer the only
real solution to the long term survival of our liberties and free
way of life. "We simply put secure systems in place to create fair
trading at fair prices."
MBE-barter benefits everybody. Business members gain from moving
their surplus (time, inventory, or capacity) in exchange for needed
hard goods and services they would have paid cash for. They also
get the most valuable commodity of all: new clients and
word-of-mouth advertising. The consumer benefits also by better
service, happier staff, and a more efficient business. And Uncle
Sam is happy too, as MBE keeps everything above-board by send out
1099B forms to all members.
Obviously MBE is growing and benefitting as a result of the current
economic climate, but as Bolles says, "We can't grow nearly fast
enough to help all the people we'd like to." MBE is currently
looking for sales professionals and managers, entrepreneurs that
wish to own and operate their own local MBE-economies, and news and
media professionals seeking more information.
For more information about MBE or bartering in general, contact:
BarterBrit@yahoo.com