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The one dollar message, slightly framed: introducing GeorgeGives.org!
by erica20 12/16/2011 - 10:28 pm
Dan K's "one dollar message" made me decide to get back in the saddle on a crazy idea which has been languishing in internet limbo for a couple of years now.
Dagbloggers, I bring you "GeorgeGives.org" in which we write messages on dollars, give them to homeless people (or anyone you think needs a dollar, if you're not into giving money to homeless people) and keep track of what happens to the money by recording the serial numbers as the bills move around the country.
If you go to the site, don't be too hard on me, I'm still figuring out how to do the program. Somehow I turned it into a blog by mistake last night, so I just did my homepage message as a post instead. It looks pretty bad, but hey, what can you do? (If anyone knows how to do Dot Net Nuke, please feel free to hop in and help out.)
I'm hoping this thing will catch on and become an "occupy my street" in terms of meta messaging. It will really be interesting if homeless people start writing messages on dollar bills themselves...like a self-advocacy thing, you know?
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For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice
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Oh by the way, the site is at www.GeorgeGives.org and I will try to make it look a bit better very soon!
About five years ago, I got a dollar bill with this website stamped on it: http://www.wheresgeorge.com/faq.php
Just out of curiosity, I went to the site and found that the dollar bill I had in my hands had somehow gotten to me in Manhattan from it's last checkpoint in New Jersey. (I was hoping for something a bit more exotic.)
I like your idea better; passing on political messages or encouraging words (or perhaps even haiku.) to people that need the money, rather than just passing the money in the course of everyday commerce. That takes the idea into the realm of conceptual art project, rather than merely hosting a bill tracking site.
P.S. The tracking only works if you encourage people to check back in when they find a bill with the website's stamp on it so they can trace the journey and see how money circulates.
GeorgeGives is an, er, homage to the "Where's George" concept. I got one of those bills, too, and the idea stuck in my mind. It seemed kind of aimless to just track these bills, and I always wondered what would make it seem more worth doing. A couple of years ago I drove past a homeless person who seemed to really need a few bucks, and I guess guilt is a powerful teacher. Of course, it took me awhile to actually post anything on the domain, but you know, maybe it's an idea whose time has come.
Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying the idea.
ps I will try to figure out a way to encourage people to check back in!
Perhaps if you gave them the first line of a haiku, tell them to write either the second or third line on the bill and pass it on. Instruct the person with the third line to post the finished haiku on the site. That way all three people have an impetus to check the web-site.
Just a thought.
What would be a good first line?
"Given is the gift..."
"Giver gets the gift..."
Habitual focus on full communication has made it difficult to produce anything metaphoralicious.
How about: "Here's my gift to you ..."
or: "Starting here and now ..."
or: "Please spread this around ..."
or: "From me, comes this gift ..."
or: "Connect with me through this ..."
or: "Pass this on, my friend ..."
I will use them all, one on each dollar I put out there. If you do the same, maybe we will end up finishing each other's haikus!
I suspect that yours
Will kick mine in their asses
Yet we must go on.
P.S. The margin on the outside of a bill allows for a fair amount of literary experimentation.
And if you've ever seen a haiku kick another haiku's ass ... well, it's amusing to say the least.