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Social Currency
April 30, 2011

I was recently watching a television ad and introduced to me was the term social currency. Unfamiliar with this term, I began thinking of how this term could be used to impact lives on this planet. I thought a good place to start would be the internet. Wikipedia defines social currency as information shared which encourages further social encounters. Wikipedia goes on to explain that social currency is not a tool to purchase goods and services, but rather to establish one's worth within the community. For instance, a person may have good knowledge about a sporting event, and that knowledge makes that person socially valuable. Another person may wear the latest fashion trends, and that person's access to the latest fashions may make that person socially valuable. Entertainment uses social currency to establish a fan base. If a movie, play, or television show is worth watching, it is socially valuable. Primarily used in marketing, social currency stems from the idea of social capital, and idea of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. While he built upon the ideas of many sociologists, his work does stem from the ideas of Karl Marx, who taught society is the sum of social relationships. Mr. Bourdieu believed that a person gained social capital through the sum total of the relationships maintained.

So how does this fit into the Bible? In thinking that maintained relationships can equate to social capital and social currency, and that this gives the person the opportunity to leverage individual needs against society,it made me think of the mark of the beast. I don't in any way believe that social currency is the mark of the beast, and what exactly is the mark of the beast can be a thorough discussion all to itself. While the mark of the beast could be an implanted computer chip, as is the thought of many, I think of the mark as simply that which signifies ownership, loyalty, and branding, much like how cattle in the American west may be branded to denote ownership. The mark of the beast could be simply a public ovation of the beast, signified by the hand, as in taking an oath, or intellectual acceptance of the beast, signified by the forehead. As a person, I have always been more interested in how the beast sways the masses rather than who is the beast or using the number of the beast to calculate the identify of the beast. I personally think the idea of a computer chip is too simplistic. While brutal force could be used by the beast to achieve this objective, I think a more palatable approach will be used. I also think it is dangerous to discount any thought process about what may be the mark of the beast as the consequences for receiving this are significant. Social currency could be a tool used by the beast to sway the masses. Scripturally, we will look at Revelation.

Revelation 13:11-18
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

What this passage shows is that there are two beasts present in the end time. The first beast is the beast that is worshipped, and the second beast, is the one that causes the worshipping of the first beast. The second beast causes mankind to receive the mark of the beast, and only individuals with this mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name may buy or sell. The idea of social currency can fit into this prophecy. For the beast to be worshipped, there must be social value seen by the masses in doing this. For those to be excluded from buying and selling who have not the mark of the beast, the name of the beast, or the number of his name, also shows the impact of social currency. Evidently by this point, society sees a worth in excluding these individuals from business transactions. Social currency, a marketing tool that can trace its origins to Karl Marx, could very well be the tool used by the beast to sway the masses against Christians. Of and by itself, social currency is neither good nor evil. The advertisement I saw on television is not in any way evil. It is simply a marketing campaign of a business I use to grow its customer base using emerging thought processes. So why did I mention social currency? Social currency is not something we should fear. Because a company uses the term social currency this should be no reason not to do business with it. But social currency is an emerging thought process in our society and society can use this for good and it can use this for evil. One only needs to think of acts of genocide as how social currency has been used to negatively impact members of society. My hope is that social currency be used for good in society and that it never be used for evil.

All verses are from the King James Version.
This site provided by Tom Laign. To all who may believe differently, I also extend peace and love.
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