I was reading about the "Zero Rupee Note" - in India. Made me think a little bit of mail-art flux bucks, except these zero rupees are used to make a political point against bribes.
Zero Rupee Note http://blogs.worldbank.org/files/publicsphere/rupees_front.jpg http://india.5thpillar.org/ZRN http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/paying-zero-public-services "In India, petty corruption is pervasive -- people often face situations where they are asked to pay bribes for public services that should be provided free. 5th Pillar distributes zero rupee notes in the hopes that ordinary Indians can use these notes as a means to protest demands for bribes by public officials. According to Vijay Anand, the idea was first conceived by an Indian physics professor at the University of Maryland, who, in his travels around India, realized how widespread bribery was and wanted to do something about it. He came up with the idea of printing zero-denomination notes and handing them out to officials whenever he was asked for kickbacks as a way to show his resistance. Anand took this idea further: to print them en masse, widely publicize them, and give them out to the Indian people. He thought these notes would be a way to get people to show their disapproval of public service delivery dependent on bribes. The notes did just that. The first batch of 25,000 notes were met with such demand that 5th Pillar has ended up distributing 1 million zero-rupee notes to date since it began this initiative. Along the way, the organization has collected many stories from people using them to successfully resist engaging in bribery. Anand believes that the success of the notes lies in the willingness of the people to use them. People are willing to stand up against the practice that has become so commonplace because they are no longer afraid: first, they have nothing to lose, and secondly, they know that this initiative is being backed up by an organization -- that is, they are not alone in this fight. For people to speak up against corruption that has become institutionalized within society, they must know that there are others who are just as fed up and frustrated with the system. Once they realize that they are not alone, they also realize that this battle is not unbeatable. Then, a path opens upa path that can pave the way for relatively simple ideas like the zero rupee notes to turn into a powerful social statement against petty corruption."" 5th Pillar http://india.5thpillar.org/ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1629446.ece Zero Currency (Select by Country) http://zerocurrency.org/ http://www.zerocurrency.5thpillar.org/country/unitedstates.jpg "Corruption in the form of bribery is prevalent throughout the world. The zero currency note in your country's currency is a tool to help you achieve the goal of zero corruption. The note is a way for any human being to say no to corruption without the fear of facing an encounter with persons in authority. Next time someone asks you for a bribe, just take your country's zero currency note and hand it to them. This will let the other person know that you refuse to give or take any money in order to perform services required by law or to give or take money to do something illegal." Corruption Perceptions Index http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009
