Get checks that send a message

Does money run your life? Do you find yourself balancing your checkbook more often than you get a full night's rest? Does it seem as though every time you write a check, you're signing away part of your soul? Money has become an integral part of our lives whether we like it or not. Ever since the end of the barter economy, money has become our only form of trade, and if we're going to constantly have that reality shoved in our faces, we might as well shove back!

A new company called "The Cheque Republic" has found a way to use money to speak out against the importance of money. Sound contradictory? Perhaps that's the point.

Kathryn Weinstein, a photo editor and free-lance graphic designer, created the designs of four checks originally as an assignment for a graphic designing course she was taking at the School of Visual Arts. The assignment was to bring in designs for postcards, but instead, Weinstein came up with the catchy slogans that are now accepted at businesses throughout the country. She said that, at first, her ideas were "a personal feeling I had about money. It was a way of venting about the role of money in my life."

After showing her ideas to her classmates and friends and family, she was encouraged to take them to the next level. Weinstein showed her checks to Bill Anelli, a philosophy professor at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif. After a few conversations, they decided to start their own business, and after collecting the means to pursue their dreams, "The Cheque Republic" was born.

Weinstein and Anelli offer four designs, each with their own purposefully offensive and blatant phrase. You can choose between "Wageslave", "Warning: Economics Has Made Me Selfish", "C'Mon Take It", and "Pound O' My Flesh."

The first is designed for those who feel as though money owns them, for those who live for Friday because it's Payday, and then realize two days and twenty checks later that they're broke. You have to eat, don't you? Write a check at the grocery store. You need new clothes because your old ones are falling apart, don't you? Write a check when you go shopping. You're going to have to give up your money anyway, so you might as well let those companies and businesses know just what they're taking when you write them a check - your pride.

The second design is for those who have become greedy by living in our society. It is the perfect choice for someone who buys an Armani suit and a new Rolex every week. Somehow, though, I think someone would laugh when writing out a check for a new leather coat on a piece of paper that says "Economics Has Made Me Selfish". Those bastards are probably quite proud that they have more money than they know what to do with. The third plays around with the idea of money as something you love and hate at the same time. Are you begging them to take away those vicious dollars and cents that have destroyed you, or are you threatening them, trying to keep one last

ounce of pride? Apparently, with the last design, all pride is gone. Here, take my money, and take my left arm while you're at it. In fact, take my left leg. Did you want my right half too?

For Weinstein, the purpose of the checks is more "to get people talking and generate questions". Obviously, however, the checks can be taken on a much more political level, as is the aim of Anelli. The checks speak out against capitalism and the dictatorial role money plays in life.

According to Weinstein, she believes Anelli would argue that "Anything to do with money is political". Whether you use the checks for their entertainment value or to make an anti-capitalist statement, they will definitely make an impression wherever you hand them over, signed and dated.

With the economy we live in today, we get the pleasure of holding on to the money from our paychecks for a total of about 2.3 seconds, and how can we forget the fact that taxes take about 30 percent anyway? It seems as if all money has become blood money and there's not a damn thing we can do about it except cry every time we write a check and have a heart attack every time we balance our checkbooks. Sound like a decent way to live? I didn't think so, and neither do Anelli and Weinstein. Take back your pride! Regain your dignity! And if you're going to be forced to sign away all of your money, you might as well take a stand and let the economy know that you have not been fooled. You know exactly what's going on, you're on top of the game, and you won't let those Looney Tunes or Baltimore Ravens checks give the impression that you enjoy sacrificing your life's work. Visit http://www.thechequerepublic.com and order your own set of checks today.