And I’ve got a far fetched solution for his nagging Jiminy Cricket¹.

Here it is: it’s essentially a tax, or a forced savings. Whatever you want to call it. But, who imposes it² is hardly as relevant as the solution’s intent. Now this friend of mine, he consumed a lot of pirated entertainment.

From comic and more “traditional” books on his iPad, to music and audio books on his iPod, to Movies and TV shows in brain-wrecking numbers on his Macbook Pro. Did I mention this guy loves his Apple products? We’ve got a lot in common. Not pirating though. I’d never do that.

The juicy part.

This money that’s accrued, however it’s accrued, is divvied up in a vote-like manner by the individual from which it is accrued. Savvy? So, you just watch a movie that changed your life? Give it a star or a maybe even five. Read a comic that was unmatched in it’s prose but mediocre elsewhere, give that write some love juice. (ew?) I think you get the idea.

Now, at the end of the year, say you’ve set aside the equivalent of what you’d, in today’s world, have actually paid for each of these things… or even, what you’d have paid for the things you actually paid for (the stuff my friend just can’t figure out a way to download online). So now, imagine all that money you would have spent on booze and “classy entertainment” is on a jar on the counter. Cause it doesn’t get divvied up straight away in this magic world where my friend isn’t a criminal.

No. In this magic world, this guy I know is a philanthropist.

He’s a real supporter of the Arts. Only thing is, he only supports the Arts he really cares about. Think about it. In a system where exposure is free and the cream rises to the top, shouldn’t we have a way of throwing some cash at the people who really wow us? I know, put it into practice and it’d never work. That is, if there was some way to even put it into practice.

But my friend’s a Dreamer. So, he’s going to start a little TextMate document. And he’s going to make a list. And he’s going to check it twice. And come next year, he’s gonna throw some cash towards those that have been naughty and nice.

That’s what he told me anyway.