Having a more connected (and less expensive) Christmas this year.

Merry Christmas …..........
If you bought me a present, many thanks. If you haven't, that's fine. I'm doing some major de-cluttering and I hope that you can help? It might be a bit confusing at first when I say that without spending any money this Christmas, I'm giving you twice the normal amount I'd spend on presents. You might also be annoyed if I mention freelender.org once again. The name is annoying at times, because it doesn't convey all of what's going on here. I simply want you to take whatever of mine you want, up to the value of  £x. Only some of my stuff is on the website, and you might prefer to talk with me about books and films and CD that you like, so that I can help you select a few of mine.
I'd prefer a phone conversation; but if you want to look on-line you only have to press 'Search'. What happens then is that all my stuff (everything in BS7) comes up (Books, CDs, DVDs and General Items). If there isn't something in the list of general items, then I'm confident that a phone conversation will help us find something I have that could be useful to you. The best number to reach me on now is Zero-78-Zero 70 66 202, and I'll be able to call you back, thanks to the generosity of the friends who bought me the new freelender iphone.
I dearly wish you a prosperous new year that costs you less and improves the quality of life for us all.
With love,
Paul

Simon just sent thanks to freelender for the highlight of his summer festival

"Thanks for the best wishes paul...my time in the freelender tent (read: comedy tent) was the highlight of my festival" (Simon)

(NB Here's the link to the interview I did with Simon about his lending and borrowing. Interviewing Simon with his preganant partner brought out some amusing differences of approach to looking after the family resources,and it was all undertaken with such good humour and a sense of the surreal that this conversation produced the most laughter I've had all year. Maybe it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments -lasting 20 minutes. Thank you Simon)

Copenhagen & Generosity

"It is now evident that beating global warming will require a radically different model of politics thatn the one on display here in Copenhagen" (John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK)

"Generosity is right at the top of the list of six perfections for a very good reason, which is that our natural tendency is not to give, but to take. If any new proposition comes up...our usual reaction, at least half-consciously, is 'What's in it for me?'-(truncated Sangharakshita)

User feedback on the freelender site as it currently is came back with the message that "it should just be simplified to two buttons: 'I want to lend' and 'I want to give'. If Edmund and I follow this kind of advice, and record over the coming years the number of people chossing each of the two options, I wonder if post-Copenhagen the number seeing the importance of giving will slowly outstrip the number taking?
I do of course need takers so that I can give; and I need givers, so that I can live.

'(N)either a borrower or a lender be'? That is the question.

I find myself in a number of conversations which refer back to the words that Shakespeare put into the words of Polonius in the play Hamlet: "neither a borrower or a lender be". Most productions of Hamlet that I've seen (and I've seen a few as it was a favourite A level text for me), play Polonius as a bit of an unwise old man dispensing words that he's heard but that have little value to offer his son, Laertes. (Of course, Polonius was referring to money, and my main interest is in borrowing & lending our possessions to each other as a way to evolve consumerism into a more responsible custodianship of limited resources, enabling us to have the opportunity to develop more global justice i.e. to all ive with dignity.)

The phrase 'neither a borrower or a lender be' is one I've been reflecting on further, as I can imagine others saying this to me. I would say that this phrase has (largely) outlived its usefulness. What the attitude behind that phrase produced (which some would call miserliness and some would call protecting one's gains) was a society in which only the most plausible ideas would get venture capital. (What was lost by not supporting requests for borrowing which didn't seem grounded is difficult to tell). Without borrowing or lending of possessions, most people felt some odd compulsion to "Keep up with the Jones" and buy a similar set of articles to those which the neighbours had and which the neighbours only used for a small part of the time eg car, lawn-mower, leisure equipment, collection of films and books etc. The compulsion to own so much led to longer hours of work, degraded family life and community life; not to mention the massive environmental cost which is finally being recognised as a threat to our survival as a species. Comments please, as there is a lot more to learn about the usefulness at times of prudence with our stuff and also about how to make calculated risks to lend for the benefit of all.

Continuing to build-trust and clarity within the non-buying sector

Edmund and I are looking forward to meeting up with two of the key individuals behind letsallshare.com, Stas Murzynowski and David Marrinan-Hayes, acutely aware that Freelending CIC represents both potential collaboration and competition. Walking the talk of responsible sharing is our current challenge and this is today's email from Edmund:

"The meeting is one in which we'll no doubt get more of a sense of each other's projects and where we are at with them. The common ground between us is clearly that we've each spent a lot of time/money developing something that we think will be really valuable once it is widely known and used within a specific geographic area.

Paul and I acknowledge that there is a potential mix of competition and/or collaboration between Freelending CIC and LetsAllShare Ltd. Consequently, we may well want to keep some things private until we've generated some more trust. We are keen to generate some trust between us, and believe that this could well link in with the trust-building messages we put out to our potential users.

We've identified a whole list of things that we imagine that we could offer to your organisation, and, that you could offer to us, either as competitors or collaborators. You might well come up with something similar!  We will be glad of the opportunity to explain the potential for cross-over in the context of our agreed meeting."