Barter coming back

Just like necessity, adversity  too is the mother of invention.  Everyone knows the situation in Greece, the dire straits of people living there.

When the banks were shut down before the famous referendum,  many people, mainly those in the rural areas were left struggling to sustain their small businesses with limited cash. At that time, to keep going, many of the Greeks went back in time – barter exchange. They started swapping goods and services to help keep their households and business going. One farmer said when he rented a field this month, he agreed to pay with part of his clover production. And though banks have reopened, the Greeks seem to have found this to be a great idea and are continuing with it.

In fact there a couple of websites too which have now opened which links farmers wanting to share their heavy farming equipments for cash or other goods. Known as “Mermix” and “Tradenow”, they already have a few hundred farmers registered on its website. Farmers can log in and see if there is someone willing to trade a good which they require. The site often has small deals – like tyres for a shower cubicle, animal feed was swapped with wheat. These websites earn commission from the cash portion of any transaction and it seems most are nearing breaking even.

Barter is not illegal in Greece as long as every trade is covered by a legal document. Wonder why we cannot have such a service back in India, not just in rural India but even in cities. Why not exchange services of a housemaid for one month tuition to her school going children? So many innovative ways to help people; everything need not boil down to money only!