Cheese for Cash - Real Value and Mattersville

 So we all know the crisis sucks. It's hitting us all hard, and causing a great deal of re-organization in the world. This desperate time does have at least one upside in my opinion: the validity of existing systems is being openly questioned, and new ones are being proposed. This is always a healthy thing. I know from experience how the business models of the game industry are changing, evolving to cope with the times, and see the same happen elsewhere.

A curious example of this is the story of 71 yr-old Giovanni Gualdi: an Italian Parmigianno Reggiano maler. His cheese is the finest type of Parmesan, and it's all the wealth he has. The production of this cheese takes 2 years to mature before it's ready to sell. During this time, he needs to pay wages and upkeep.  Problem is, the man has no cash to do so.

In steps Credito Emiliano, a Northern Italian bank with uncommon good sense. Result: Signore Gualdi gets a loan to keep his business running and gives the bank 1000 wheels of cheese every month in return. Apparently, he gets 3% interest on his cheese as well, and the contents of the bank's cheese vault (cheese vault... wonderful) are worth $200m. He defaults on his loan - bank's got some cheese to move.
[Original Story]

Giovanni Gualdi and his cheese - able to continue doing what he does because someone understood his real value.






This reminds me of a recurring thought I have; more of a philosophy, even. Essentially, the constant frustrations that stems from needing money. Oh, I won't go into a hippy rant about burning your possessions and living off the land or anything. But I do think some modern, high-level approaches are possible that bring these values of service-based value and communal living into a context suitable for someone who wants to remain in the civilized world.

I'm blessed to have best friends since my school days as well as a beautiful woman I can work and make plans with, and now as we begin to settle into our careers, we often discuss our ideas  for the future, how we can work together. One thing is clear - we help each other. The point being, if one succeeds, he uses the fruits of that success to help the others. With all of us being in somewhat complementary creative fields, there are even likely possibilities of bringing each other into projects we get.

What I'm talking about could be the extreme of having a group with ability to provide for the needs of its members so they only require some basics from the rest of the world. Imagine, for example, a group of friends that make entertainment for each other, from games, to music and film, needing only to obtain products like food from the outside world. They could even discover their creations could be enjoyed by others, and monetize them.

Now this is a very naive and simple example, but it illustrates my point. I find the pragmatic reality is more one of people helping one another out, with tips, warnings, perhaps favors, and the general sharing of resources and opportunities.

This kind of system seems ideal to me, requiring only one key element - trust. Friends, loved ones. I define my family not only by blood ties, but those I love, those for whom I'd die. I think in today's world a family can have many many configurations, and considering only a nuclear one is limiting. I wonder how many people believe their progress must happen through a nuclear family, just because that's the prevailing example?

And how much better would we be for it if we worked together, lived together, pooled and shared resources? There's a song that brings this ideal so strongly into my mind, Mattersville by NOFX, a description of how these punk rock buddies could come together at the end of their career, neatly sidestepping all the annoyances of living with people who just don't get it.

And there's real career value in a concept like this: take newly graduated students. Why not form a group, a team, multiplying business opportunities, expanding networks, and so on. The power of unity, right?

I know it's hard to trust people, hard to create those firm bonds. But I guess my point is, if you have these true friends, or their potential, nurture them, and see their value for what they are. We don't have to merely hang out in our free time - we can work together so that the company and personalities we so enjoy are the very tools that allow us to make a living. There's no denying the chemistry between trusted ones and friends like this can vastly improve the quality of any activity.

I'll always be pining for my compound, my Mattersville, in Sicily with all my friends, with dreams of working together on projects across the world using the miracles of technology, among the orange trees and sunshine. How about you?