Hi Shannon,
Am I right in thinking you are referring to sites like http://freecycle.org? Seems like a trend that should be encouraged. And I don't see why barter couldn't be used for large scale international trade - maybe it already is being used for that - something to keep in mind when we get to the stage of proposing simultaneous policies.
One of the ideas for Simpol is that the actual global policies to be adopted will be developed first at the national level with massive citizen input, so all the angles can be considered for inclusion.
VoH is not the right tool for developing detailed policies that will be legally adopted, but we are exactly what is needed to create the spirit of international trust and cooperation that will underpin the simpol process.
I have created a @simpol community. You can join it by clicking on the @simpol link you will find under my name - or click the link above. (We will be developing our community features not that far down the road, but for now, the barebones approach will have to do.)
#simpol, #gr8transition