Jacqueline Burke
19th
Century American Economies
Assignment 3:
Establishing and Valuing an SBC
Humans have always sought to make
their various currencies appear appealing to the masses. This has been done
throughout time by striking coins that bear symbols with important meaning to
individual cultures and more often than not these symbols are usually animals.
The ancient Greeks often used coins with lions or bulls, while modern American
and Canadian coins display native birds such as the eagle or the loon. With
this in mind, it would not be a stretch for those at Sweet Briar College to
adopt a form of currency that utilizes this basic theme in the creation of
currency. Therefore I propose that Sweet Briar use Emtec animal flash drives as
a form of currency on campus.
The animal flash drive trend is a
fairly recent one in which the portable electronic drive is encased in durable
rubber shaped like a specific animal. The appeal of this form of portable drive
is apparent to all who see them. All the drives are more visually appealing and
stimulating that than the standard flash drives, which are usually drab and do
not garner attention like those from Emtec. Emtec has created over 30 different
bodies for their flash drives, ranging from snakes and crocodiles to turtles
and clownfish to monkeys and elephants. This wide range provides ample options
for the basis of a currency and cannot easily be reproduced by the common
person because they missing both the resources for the flash drive and the
outer body.
This would not be a cheap combination for
counterfeiters, and would hopefully dissuade them from the task. Additionally
Emtec animal drives have a very unique appearance that combines the realistic features
of the animal with an artistic interpretation of the creature, creates a
cartoonish version of the animal. This increases the difficulty for counterfeiters
who may wish to create duplicates of the drives.
The animal body covering the actual drive
would be the factor that determines the value of the flash drive as a whole.
This means that the amount of data a flash drive may be able to contain plays
no role in deciding the relative value of the currency; although, the two parts
must be together for the drive to function as a form of legal tender on campus.
The ability of the drives to store data and information is merely an additional
use for the flash drives, similar to the use of bead or cocoa in ancient
civilizations.
In the Sweet Briar Currency the currency
would be divided up in a manner similar to that of the current United States
system, the one difference would be that all prices would be whole numbers.
This would remove the hassle of dealing with unnecessary spare change. The highest denomination in this currency
would be a flash drive in the shape of the Sweet Briar Vixen. The Vixen would
be roughly equivalent to fifty American dollars; this would be the highest
amount because college students do not like to carry around extensive amounts
of money. The Vixen is granted this highest honor because of her proud history
as the college mascot and for being historically viewed as a symbol for a
proud, intelligent, strong, independent and cunning woman.
The turtle would represent the next
highest denomination because in Native American cultures it was viewed as a
symbol of the power of female energies. Turtles are also believed to represent
keeping oneself grounded in reality, all of which are important qualities in
everyday life. For this reason the turtle would be worth 20 American dollars.
After the turtle would come the lion,
worth 10 American dollars and would symbolize strength and pride in ones
accomplishments. The penguin, chosen because it symbolizes order and
organization, would follow the lion and would be valued at 5 American dollars.
Finally, the lowest value in this system would be the mouse, valued at 1
American dollar. The mouse would be used instead of various other animals
because the mouse is symbolic of paying attention to slight details, and those
small details can play a huge role in various aspects of one’s life. All of the
flash drives would be emblazoned with the Sweet Briar College crest as a way of
ensuring that the currency is legal tender.
These figurines would be valued for their
visual appeal as well as their ability to store information. However, value
would be primarily attributed to their physical features because they have the
ability to make one smile or cheer someone up. The drives would be more highly
valued by students that the average flash drive because it is a unique creation
and is simply all around more appealing than the typical flash drive.
Furthermore, students would be less likely to lose the animal drives than the
standard one because they would feel as though the animal drive were special.
It is reminiscent of childhood toys and memories, and this association with
pleasant events would act as a safeguard against loss or damage.
The use of this new currency would create
a system in which wealth is more visible to the rest of Sweet Briar society. As
of right now it is fairly difficult to tell who may or may not come from wealth
but if this system was implemented students and faculty would easily be able to
distinguish the wealthy from the impecunious. This would possibly lead to more
perceptible economic divisions, meaning that the wealthy would segregate
themselves from those less endowed and create an elitist group. This group
would command greater economic pull on the campus economy and therefore have
more power in other areas of campus life. The poor on the other hand would
similarly cut themselves off from those with means and create a society among
themselves that operated on different standards than those on the rest of
campus. Those in financial straits would be more likely to use a semi-barter
system to obtain goods and services than the wealthy would be.
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