Where Are We Going?
There are a few questions, the most important questions we as a society could ever ask, but have often missed doing so...
Simply:
- Where, as a society, are we headed?
- What is it we would like to accomplish?
Our culture at large has been aimlessly drifting along 'developing' for development's sake.
Where are we headed? What is our goal as a society? There is no consistent answer, there is no precise image. We at Our NeighbourGood seek to remedy this absence through creating an image of a beautiful future.
Let's ask some basic question:
What is the Ideal Society We Want to Live in?
Vision
Our NeighbourGood envisions a culture free from scarcity, where access to beautiful housing, nutrient dense food, pure water, clean air, deep relationships, and passion-driven lifestyles are abundant and sacred. A culture of unleashed human passion, potential and creativity where our roles in our communities is simply to create beauty! Imagine if we all created from our Heart's, devoting the majority of our time to our true passions. A world where fear of not meeting our basic needs was simply unheard of. A world where 'work' and 'play' are the same, not because we work all day, but because we play all day at creating a better world! Not a world free of labour, but a world full of the labour of love! A world where our HEART's and our minds were no longer in conflict. A world where what was best for the economy, was also best for the ecology. A world reunited!
What this document is about:
Our NeighbourGood (ON) is a design for a new society, we'd like to share it with you here. This article is an introduction to our thoughts, goals, and desires. It's a handshake greeting to those who wish to embark on this journey with us. After years researching, exploring, experiencing and learning about these concepts it's been challenging attempting to condense such a large scope of ideas into a a simple message; so, if you feel something needs further explanation, I encourage you to discuss it with me in the comments below.
Do you feel like something about society is not quite right?
We at ON want to make a more beautiful and good society. This is something we can all probably agree is a goal worth striving for.
So, what is good? What is beautiful?
Goodness and beauty derive from the heart. Up until now we have been living in societies that place limited value on these most potent expressions. So, we need to start our own society!
Why create a startup society?
How much more powerful is it to do something as a group, having multiple hands, eyes, perspectives, and ideas opposed to going it alone?
Imagine you were living in a system where meeting your needs, in turn, helped others meet theirs; which in turn helped you meet yours better! When we work together, we all succeed whereas acting singularly can prove a much more daunting task.
We believe our society has drifted far off that simple course of working together to meet our needs; today we have created a mirage of excessively meeting the needs of a few while unequivocally under-meeting the needs of all of us! We can do better. We must do better!
A Wealthier Society: Let's Talk About More Than Money
Our societies apply disproportionate value on one type of capital (financial). When 'financial advisers' preach to "diversify our portfolio" they rarely (if ever) diversify outside 1 form of capital. They are financial advisors after-all. A financial portfolio is not a truly diversified portfolio, and gets us no closer to security and happiness regardless of the number! As we see in the Secret Fears of The Super Rich, money doesn't bring security nor happiness. I suggest this is because financial wealth isn't security.
10 Forms Of Capital
| Capital | Currency | Utility |
|---|---|---|
| Experiential (E) | Action | Embodied Experience, Wisdom, etc |
| Intellectual (I) | Knowledge | Ideas, Focus, Problem Solving, Skills, etc |
| Spiritual (Sp) | Intention, Faith, Focus, Karma, etc | Grounding, Balance, Attitude, Passion, Love, etc |
| Social (S) | Influence | Connections, Family, Relationships, etc |
| Material (M) | Physical Resources | Tools, Equipment, etc |
| Financial (F) | Fiat-money, Our NeighbourGood Coin, Seeds, Cryptocurrency, Gold, etc | Mediums of Exchange |
| Living (L) | Living Resources | Soil, Plants, Water, Animals, Air, etc |
| Cultural (C) | Song, Story, Ritual, Ceremony, etc | Community |
| Health/Erotic (H) | Energy, Arousal | Motivation, Vitality, Endurance, Attention, Beauty, Strength, Sex, etc |
| Time (T) | Attention | Our Life! |
The chart above draws attention to the many forms of capital and value available to us today. Expanding our diversity of capital flows and focus we can become truly wealthy!
In our society, if magical little bits in a computer (money) disappeared overnight, people would literally starve. What type of security is that? All we have are these numbers in a bank account (or crypto-wallet), what if they all turned to zero?
If you invest in financial capital for security- ask yourself:
What is a more secure food source? Using money (any form) to buy food picked from halfway across the globe and shipped to your local supermarket using global distribution channels, or picking fresh produce straight from a collaboratively owned food forest in your own backyard? (Also, the health benefits of hyperlocal food is unmatched.)
Cryto-currency and the blockchain, are more secure methods to decentralize our currency and aspects of our economy (this is a powerful avenue, and one that we're fully invested in and have designed a currency for ON, ONC. However, this still leaves us vulnerable and dependent on a dominant (globally destructive) economy to meet our basic needs. If the economy were to collapse, food distribution channels would be heavily disrupted and people would starve (even more so than is already occurring!) A global economy for meeting consumable needs is an atrocious waste that wreaks havoc across our world. (This is the reason for depleted fisheries, decimated rainforest's, polluted air, soil, and water, etc.)
The promise of Crypto-currency and the blockchain is decentralization of our economy. But why stop there? What I propose is we bring these new realizations to radically decentralize the meeting of all our needs.
Our culture's technology and wealth of knowledge have provided us with affordable and effective systems and tools for meeting all of our basic needs in a decentralized, local ecology and community that would be virtually unaffected by global market disruption. Many of these technologies are ecologically sustainable or regenerative. Thus reversing and mitigating our effects on our climate and creating a more beautiful paradise to live in!
Evolving to Better Meet Our Needs
Over the previous centuries since our last massive restructuring of a dominant society- a lot has changed. We've grown a lot, we've learned a lot, we've built a lot! We've accomplished some incredible feats. But now, it is time to take what we have learned and build a new paradigm. A new society where we can better meet our needs and the needs of our earth (ecology)!
What do I mean by needs?
I'm not merely discussing our physiological needs, (food, shelter, water, warmth, rest, etc) I'm speaking of much more. Many of our needs have been unmet for so long we hardly recognize them as needs anymore.
A List of My Needs
| Need | Expression |
|---|---|
| Diversity | Variety, Adventure, Challenge, Surprise, etc |
| Significance | Self - Expression, Meaning, Validation, Feeling Needed, Purpose, Wanted, etc |
| Love | Connection, Communication, Intimacy, Interdependence, Community, etc |
| Growth | Physical, Emotional, Intellectual and Spiritual Development |
| Contribution | Effectiveness, To Give, Care, and Serve an Idea Greater Than Myself |
| Routine | Consistency, Stability, Grounding, etc |
| Physical Health | Clean Air, Organic Food, Fresh Untainted Water, Exercise, Sexual Expression, Natural Shelter |
| Autonomy | Freedom, Space, Independence, etc |
| Play | Joy, Humor, Passion, Creativity etc |
| Honesty | Authenticity, Integrity, Presence |
| Bliss | Celebration, Nothingness, Relaxation |
If you study the needs I have addressed above and compare them with what your needs are. You may realize that many of these needs can't be purchased, and the pursuit of money as a primary route of meeting our needs is inherently futile.
Money is Fragile
Making money as a medium to meeting our needs, is a fragile and insecure method that inevitably falls short of truly meeting our needs; as many of our needs can't be bought!
Most organizations focus on making money (primarily by participating in the economy) and do not focus on meeting the needs of its employees (except what is necessary to keep employees 'productive'). This narrow 'economy-centric' objective has created a society where most people's needs go unmet and have been virtually transformed into robots and cogs in a vast economic machine.
We live in a world where progress is quantified by GDP and not happiness nor health. We at ON foresee a near future where falling GDP signifies progress, as we meet our needs outside the money economy!
Decentralizing Our Needs
If you're reading this I imagine you are well aware of some of the 'alternative' technologies, discoveries, governance structures, tools and techniques that work so well in the fringes of our society; but lack mass adoption due to power dynamics. The Internet has decentralized some informational power structures and has allowed many of these discoveries to surface and circulate.
A partial list by Charles Eisenstein:
"Technologies of Reunion include material technologies, social technologies, and also non-material technologies based on a different understanding of what is real. A partial list might include: mycoremediation of toxic waste; composting toilets and graywater blackwater recycling systems; herbal medicine; therapies using psychotropic plants; earth building techniques; sacred architecture; sound healing; hypnosis and mind/matter techniques; nonviolent communication; compassionate listening; sociocracy, holocracy and other group decision-making methods; council processes; gift economics; restorative circles; family constellation work; tantric sexual practices; communication with other-than-human beings; nonviolent methods of political direct action; implosion motors; over-unity energy devices; worker-owned cooperatives and other forms of economic cooperation; biodynamic agriculture; silvopasture; perennial-based horticulture; wetlands restoration; Montessori and Waldorf education; technologies of voice, dance, and mask; the use of trance and dream states…" -Charles Eisenstein
We now have enough pieces necessary to create a more beautiful society.
We know it in our hearts that we can live a more beautiful life. We know that most of what we do today, we don't have to be doing, occasionally we may catch ourselves day-dreaming away from the monotony, thinking. It doesn't have to be this way, it could be so much more beautiful. Our culture has so masterfully taught us to suppress these thoughts, to say to ourselves "that's just the way things are"...
Just as everything in life, the truth is, "that's just the way things were!"
A More Beautiful Way
It's overwhelming to attempt to understand or restructure entire societies, even talking about it is enough to paralyze someone from taking action. For this reason, we address meeting our needs beginning with the most basic elements of society, our families, our businesses and our neighborhoods(communities).
Between these 3 we devote the majority of our active time; we seek to build our own systems of voluntary collaboration where 100% of that time goes towards meeting our needs, and doing so as beautifully, and effectively as our new understandings allow. This is where we'll start to affect change!
Our Families
Our families and personal paradises are the central element in which ON aims to create. A family dwelling where the majority of our needs are met with our closest loved ones! A place to be whole and at one with the beauty of our world. A paradise created by your hands and the hands of your loved ones and the community you are a part of. A place where the plants and animals are familiar with you, recognize you and grow fruit designed specifically for you!. A nurturing home where our hearts and our minds are at ease and in their creative maximum.
Our Businesses
Our business will be the business of life, of promoting more life, and creating more beautiful lives! ON will act as an incubator for like-hearted people to mingle and create personal economic ventures if they so desire. There will be a plethora of opportunity to pair with ON, and leverage the collective capital for personal ventures. The wealth of the entire organization (which includes the individual) is a prime directive of ON through supporting individual creativity and passion. The founders of ON have three organizations that are available for Neighbours to collaborate in, namely Light, Light Alchemists and The HEART Collaborative.
Our NeighbourGood
Just as a healthy forest contains an abundant variety of life, symbiotically creating needs, sharing gifts, and utilizing the 'waste'/abundance of others, a healthy 'NeighbourGood' consists of a wide variety of people, with various passions and enterprise models that will synergistically support the whole! Our NeighbourGood (ON) integrates chosen aspects of sustainable-homesteads, co-ops, and eco-villages with progressive technologies, designs, and systems!
Shared ethics and vision is what unites people to create ON's. These ethics will be as diverse as the possibilities of people willing to connect are!
What
Bill Mollison
An Our NeighbourGood is a registered co-op (or similar) in the country of its incorporation. It is a separate entity that is equally owned and operated by its Neighbours (members).
ON is not labeled as a fully self-sustainable community (though some may chose to have this as an aim). ON is not a commune. ON is a hybrid model designed to transition people out of our current paradigm. ON's aim to provide a substantial amount of our needs while requiring minimal time input and capital requirements. Allowing its' Neighbours to continue employment outside ON if they desire; while also providing a community and environment that will allow Neighbours to thrive entirely independent of the previous systems.
ON will create/provide by/for its Neighbours:
- Land to steward and to build personal housing.
- Potential ON financial dividends.
- Commons to reduce overhead for high-quality of life.
- A regenerative ecological footprint.
- Growing equity. (Your share in ON will become more valuable as ON matures)
- A society and shared purpose (community/organization/passion).
- Radical affordability.
- Radical transparency.
- Relationships with people striving for similar goals.
- Guidance, design, and possible labour for ecological focused housing (financing for housing is personal).
- 90%-100% utilities. (Combined between personal housing and ON's production.)
- 50%-100% required nutrient/vitality/medicinal-dense food. (Combined between personal gardens/forests and ON's food systems.)
Our NeighbourGood, as an organization, consists of 2 main components. I'll use the analogy of hardware and software.
Hardware
Land-base:
Our NeighbourGood consists of a physical area of land where each Neighbour owns an identical share of ON and is allocated land to steward and access to ON assets. Stewarded land is controlled by the Neighbour secured as a lien against ON for that land. If ON were to dissolve the land would become fully owned by the Neighbour. Depending on the environment (rural, suburban, urban) ON's will typically commit 33-75% of the land for stewarded land. The other 25-67% of the land will be held in commons by Our NeighbourGood, and made accessible to all Neighbours. The allocation of land will depend on the environment and shared purpose of each ON. This land will consist of the community centers, community food production systems, beautifully stewarded native lands, community enterprises, short-medium term housing, and the Transition Facilitation Center (a environment ran by THC for facilitating the transition for people into various ON's, this will be part of the first ON).
However, as long as ON is operational, a Neighbour does not OWN the land that they are stewarding, but is fullfilling a sacred duty, of caring for our earth. Stewardship is an act of love and of service, not for your own sake, but nonetheless of your own free will to bring more beauty and life to the land. Stewarding a land-base does not give one freedom to harm, degrade, maim, abuse or abandon the land. If the land is not being cared for, it can and will be taken away and given a proper steward. It's important to remember that you're buying into an organization and community and given indefinite access to the project and stewardship over a domain (as long as the accountabilities towards that domain are kept).
Collaborative ownership reduces the financial burden on any one Neighbour, as land is more economical at scale. Collaboratively owning a piece of land extends our sense-of-self to encompass more than our personal dwellings to envelop the whole community.
Shares in ON act as a "title" for land and equity in the organization. If you want to transfer your dwelling as you would in the old paradigm you sell your shares exactly as you would land (a lien is held against the original title to secure this.) In this case there is a lot more value to be had in those shares opposed to simply a house and land, there is ownership of the collaborative assets of the whole community. However, there may be little desire to sell these shares as each domain will be a tailor-made paradise for the steward/Neighbour.
Food Forests / Intensive Gardens / Aquaculture / Silvopasture Stewardship:
These methods are high yielding food production systems created for/by THC, participants, and Our NeighbourGood! The food created here will serve to lower operating costs for collaborators of THC and living expenses for the Neighbours of ON. These methods aim to provide 90% of the food necessary for THC and ON. Gardeners (outside help, if required) may receive various forms of capital (including financial) compensation for managing these systems.
Community Center and Material Library
Creating access to The Millionaire Lifestyle will be through the creation of a community center and material library. This centrally located beautifully created natural building will be fully equipped with the highest quality materials (made feasible by the economies of scale with collaboration). A community center may contain a:
- commercial sized, high-quality kitchen.
- natural swimming pool.
- theater/VR/recreation room.
- gym/fitness area.
- shared library with unlimited Internet access.
- ideation and design lab.
- collaborative 'home-school' space.
- etc.
And many more materials commonly found in millionaire mansions (where tragically items go unused for 99% of the time).
Not only does this drastically increase our personal access to goods, this model increases the quality of items, reduces waste, promotes social interaction and creates community.
Material Library
A Material Library within the community center will provide access to most things that have a high-overhead cost and low time use. The majority of our materials that we buy today, we use but for a fraction of the time they are capable of being used.
Example:
Say I wanted access to a $3000 camera for occasional pictures. 99% of the time my camera goes unused. I could have collaboratively bought this camera and received the same utility for a fraction of the cost! Further, since it's only a fraction of the cost we may agree to buy a $5000 camera instead (if there were 15 Neighbors I would pay $333 opposed to $3000 and have access to a better quality camera!)
ON's only own assets that its' Neighbours wish to collaboratively own. This is accomplished with simple, streamlined governance and decision-making processes. Further, ON's are a system of rules and structures (agreed upon by all members) that organize the neighbors around the common purpose of better meeting the needs of the whole. This is the 'software' component of ON and is a major aspect of the new society.
Commons Without The Tragedy:
You may have heard of the tragedy of the commons:
"The tragedy of the commons is an economic theory of a situation within a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their action."
We avoid this tragedy by expanding what constitutes one's 'self interest' to include Our NeighbourGood (through direct ownership), further we avoid this issue by removing 'independence' from communal resources. We are interdependent actors within our system, not independent actors.
Let's say a Neighbour (Amy) wanted to use the communal gym to teach yoga classes for a personal enterprise. She would bring a proposal to the other Neighbours and through a well defined decision making process the Neighbours establish a proposal that works for the best interests of all.
The end result may be she offers 15% (opposed to 35%+ typical gyms require) of her earnings (a form of rent) to Our NeighbourGood (which she collectively owns) for use of the gym space. This money is used for purposes defined by the Neighbours. She benefits on the front end from a reduced rent and benefits on the back-end by having all her money stay within the system that she collectively owns and that is dedicated to increasing her quality of life!
A goal of ON's economic system is to retain as much value within the system as possible by reducing outputs (Amy paying rent to an outside gym).
(On a larger scale an ON may adopt a demurrage-based cryptocurrency for interactions within ON. With a taxable exchange to other crypto or fiat to promote inter-ON economics. see ONC and Why you want a currency that is taxed)
Neighborhood of Natural Homes
Naturally Built Intentional Homes will give Neighbours a higher quality of life with heavily reduced maintenance/utility bills. Homes are built using personal funds on land provided by ON. These homes:
- Catch, clean and recycle rainwater.
- Create energy demands for the home.
- Grow food.
- Are optimally designed and built to maintain inside temperature with minimum heating and cooling.
- Recycle human waste generating natural gas as a byproduct (this gas can be used in the kitchen for burning).
- Are built with non-toxic materials.
- Are earthquake and fire resistant.
- Are potentially carbon neutral.
- Are radically affordable and can scale to most any budget!
- Are the most beautiful homes I have ever seen!
Our aim is to have our homes meet 30%-99% (depending on desire) of our basic needs of food, water, energy, and shelter. (With a goal for the remaining 1%-70% to be met with communal resources.)
Further, some of these homes will be built by the hands of our Neighbours and participants of THC, adding story, love and another depth of beauty and relationship not found in our homes today.
)
ON has developed hyper Urban models that incorporated 'tiny homes' in order to create these same models inside densely populated cities.
Software
This is where the real magic happens! How do we optimally organize and relate to each other, our natural world, and our technologies to better meet our needs?
There have been several facscinating appraches to this question lately:
- Holacracy
- Sociocracy
- Deliberately Developmental Organization
- Non-Violent Communication
- Autonomous Accountability: Automatic systems that ensure accountability and create balance.
"Holacracy explores a new tier of organization and culture only recently available to us, and so it is a new practice, one still emerging, and one which takes us into territory still largely unexplored. Fortunately, those organizations practicing Holacracy now have begun to map some of the contours of this new territory, and there is much we can say. It is about living and working together in the fullest possible way, and evolving the organizations and cultures we exist within to the next step along their natural evolutionary journey. It is about embracing everything we've learned so far about human organization and culture, and at the same time seeking to fundamentally transcend all aspects of our current organizational and cultural norms. It is about regrouping around a profoundly deeper level of meaning and capability, so that we can more artfully navigate the increasing complexity and uncertainty in today's world, while more fully finding and expressing our own highest potential. Holacracy is about relating and organizing in ways that enable and sustain this quantum leap – a shift to a new level of organization and culture as fundamental as the leap from the feudal systems of old to the democracies of today." Brian J Robertson (founder holocracy)
Discussing in depth the processes of these schools of thought, and the structure we have developed is outside the scope of this introduction and is addressed at length in the 'ON Governance Practice a Deliberately Developmental Society'
ON will begin with an amalgamation of these approaches. As we practice several methods we'll grow more adept at discerning what are effective methods of interacting and what are not (which will vary per ON but allow cross pollination between ON's). This is why we are called 'deliberately developmental' as we are deliberate in developing new and more beautiful methods of inter-being.
This process is a collaborative open-source endeavor as each ON practices these skills they share with other ON's and this information is open to the public where they can contribute to the process! This is where we incubate and design societies for the new world!
What excited us most about ON is the environment that ON facilitates and the culture this promotes. A culture of dissolved limitations, radical truth, affordability, and transparency. A culture of efficient and beautiful needs creation which realizes the inherent beauty and value in our natural world. A place where our Neighbours are our tribe and help us realize a new world by taking action to create it. A society of abundance where no-one is worried about meeting their needs, or survival. A society unbound by time, where people are free to interact, engage, and create in the moment at the peak of inspiration. A society that promotes deep listening and authentic relationships, that are not based on economic gain, but on the desire to create a more beautiful world. A place where we don't have to worry if someone is trying to 'cheat' us as there is no longer a motive to do so.
The HEART Collaborative, in conjunction with ON will focus on facilitating the internal transformation to rid us of our old programming and prepare us for a new society!
ON is an experimental culture, full of Neighbours willing to be part of this experiment. We will be in the process of living the change and creating alternative societies that will replace our present paradigm while transforming ours.
How
A detailed open-source process will be available on-line for any group of people to create an ON. Alternatively, as a group, they apply to attend an ON facilitation process at THC (The HEART Collaborative), which is focused on helping individuals and groups prepare themselves for this type of organization and living, while helping the group establish community and structure while demonstrating ON. THC is an ON enterprise built to incubate ON's. THC also pairs individuals and groups based on profiles, interviews, and capital offerings to create potential ON Neighbour pairings. Those who successfully completed the Transition Facilitation Center processes will go on to establish ON's!
A group of people (A - J) get together to establish an Our NeighbourGood. This particular group wants this to take place in a suburban/rural context and fortunately one of the potential members owns 20 hectares of land and wants to contribute it as their up-front capital. They organize the land into:
*(15) 1-hectare homesteads. (15 hectares)
*(10) Apartment-style housing. (1 hectare)
*Community center, large living pool, community forests/gardens, pathways, 'jungle gym', park and parking. (4 hectares)
There are 10 parties now all interested in homestead shares, which leaves 5 more domain shares available. Further, this group wishes to allocate one hectare of dynamic co-housing and apartment style quarters for an additional 10 units of housing. The remaining 4 hectares will be owned equally.
The group reasons that 510K USD will be adequate to build all community infrastructure they desire and set that as a financial target.
The Process
The first thing any ON does is establish meaning.
- Will there be a central enterprise, if so what?
- What are their defining ethics?
- What are they aiming to accomplish?
Then we move into setting up Initial capital.
Collaborative Capital Exchange Contracts (CCEC): These are agreements drafted up by members of the existing ON and a potential new member. This allows and promotes people with a diversity of capital to come into the organization and have an equal stake. This process better places value on whole people, not just bits in a bank. This allows Our NeighbourGood to add members who best add value to the culture.
Example, 10 people form an ON. I will give some simple examples of CCEC's. These are done dynamically and on a case by case basis with each ON needing and receiving diverse capital.
Example Collaborative Capital Exchange Contracts (CCEC)
(T) = Time Capital, (F) = Financial, etc (see capital chart above)
Hrs/Wk = Hours a Week
Communal Time Exchange (CTE): CTE's will vary based on ON's needs and is determined voluntarily by all Neighbours in order to meet the needs of ON, some may have no time commitment others may have more, but it is only through voluntary agreements that these commitments are made. The tasks performed during these exchanges vary widely. This diversity keeps these efforts fun, interesting, intrinsically-rewarding and dynamic. Some examples include stewarding communal land, building buildings, maintaining communal spaces, advancing communal owned enterprise, knowledge sharing, etc.
*Note, 8 hours a week was decided by the Neighbours, this is not a fixed time amount for every ON.
Example Our NeighbourGood CCEC
| Name | Upfront Capital | Recurring Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| A........ | 150K USD (F) | 90 USD/Wk (F) / CTE 3 Hrs/Wk (T) |
| B........ | 20 BTC (50K USD) (F) / Expansive Seed Bank (L) / Communal Permaculturist 15 Hrs/Wk for 222 weeks (Valued 30 USD/h) (T, E, I) | Communal Permaculturist 5 Hrs/Wk (T, E, I) / CTE 3 Hrs/Wk (T) |
| C........ | 20 Hectares Land (M) / 50 Fruiting Trees and River (L) | Foster Social Connections with Local Government and Community 2 Hrs/Wk (S, T, E) / CTE 6 Hrs/Wk (T) |
| D........ | 130k USD (F) / Our NeighbourGood Legal Documents | CTE 8 Hrs/Wk |
| E........ | 80K USD (F) / Communal Professional Yoga Instruction 7 Hrs/Wk for 333 weeks (Valued 30 USD/h)(T, E, I) | CTE 8 Hrs/Wk (T) |
| F........ | 50K USD of Homesteading Equipment (M) / 100K USD (F) | Community Facilitator 2 Hrs/wk (S, I, T) / Community Dynamics Knowledge Share 2 Hrs/Wk (E, I, T) / CTE 4 Hrs/Wk |
| G........ | 20K USD Building Equipment (M) / 20K USD (F) / Communal Natural Builder and Architect 20 Hrs/Wk for 184 weeks (valued 30USD/h) (T, E, I) | Communal Natural Building and Maintenance 8 Hrs/Wk |
| H........ | 10K Medical Equipment (M) 100K USD (F) Community Naturopath 4 Hrs/Wk for 167 weeks (Valued 80 USD/h) | Community Naturopath 2 Hrs/Wk / CTE 6 Hrs/Wk |
| I........ | 20K Various Food Production Systems (M) / 10k USD (F) Passionate Horticulturist 20 Hrs/Wk for 200 weeks (Valued 30 USD/h) | Passionate Horticulturist 8 Hrs/Wk |
| J........ | 25 Hrs/Wk for 300 week as an dynamic assistant and apprentice to other Neighbours (T) | CTE 8 Hrs/Wk |
A Shared Vision
Each ON will have its own purpose (vision/mission/aim) driving its existence (some will have a central enterprise; such as hemp cultivation) to reflect a shared purpose of its Neighbours and to meet the needs of the local ecology. This means the diversity of ON's will reflect the diversity of our world's population, effectively designating every person as a potential Neighbour given the appropriate Neighbours and facilitation.
Effective communication can occur on a community platform (similar to slack) where proposals and discussion take place on most topics. This supersedes the need for physical meetings, allowing people to contribute information on their own schedule without dealing with power dynamics typically present in physical meetings. Physical meetings discussing ON will be seldom, as we would like to reserve our physical gatherings for connecting, celebrating and personal development! This forum is designed utilizing the philosophies and discoveries laid out in the aforementioned schools of thought (holocracy / sociocracy / non-violent communication / deliberately developmental organizations). This structure, will make it easy to understand the operation and role for each Neighbour. This eliminates much of the frustration found in similar cohousing and intentional-community systems.
Once established each ON determines parameters for collaboration and creates proposals and visions they would like to accomplish.
The first ON will have a collaborative enterprise that it supports. Many Neighbours of the first ON may not be involved with THC in any capacity and may have their own enterprises. The Aim of the first ON is to:
- beautifully meet our needs!
- provide an environment of abundance to promote and encourage creativity in our Neighbours.
- holistically integrate ecological, economic, social, and cultural dimensions to regenerate social and natural environments.
- explore, research, trial and build a new social structure.
- intentionally design a culture, with our own song, ceremony, ritual, and art.
- acquire skills that will help our world transition and develop useful and valued tools for a transformed world.
- deprogram from conventional society and have a sanctuary in which to develop a passion and calling.
- bond with a cohort who share a common vision of what the world can be.
- test, incubate, and develop technologies to prepare them for further seemless application.
A Path To Ending Extreme Poverty and Homelessness
In New Zealand (one of the first countries to launch an ON) homelessness is the highest rate of any OECD nation..
Take a look at "J" in the Collaborative Capital Exchange Contracts (CCEC) above. Did you notice how "J" did not invest anything outside of time capital. "J" represents those in our world (1% of the population in New Zealand) who are deprived of capital. "J" is someone with minimal training (E/I), no money(F), no family or friend support (S), and no assets (M/L). "J's" represent the 'homeless', the orphans, the refugees, and those in extreme poverty in our world. "J's" remaining capital is the 24 hrs a day that we all share, relative health, and a desire to be part of a community.
10-15% of ON's will consist of Neighbours who were able to make a CCEC consisting of time alone. These positions will be awarded to those who apply for them and are chosen by the other Neighbours. These time commitments will be divided between the Neighbours as "J" becomes an assistant/apprentice to each Neighbor. As "J" cycles through the Neighbours an exchange takes place. "J" is able to learn various skills and have the opportunity to discover a skill they may be passionate about, learn how to apply this skill and assist the Neighbor in creating value. This action provides one-on-one time between "J" and the other Neighbours, creating a space of love and personal bonds that are lacking for many of those in "J's" position. This community-centric approach to assisting those in the greatest of need will provide an opportunity for them to realize their potential and end they cycle of poverty.
Land to steward is awarded in the initial capital exchange, and access to all of ON is provided in exchange for the CTE, which for "J" totals 32 Hrs/Wk. This will provide "J" with all of their basic needs, to include housing (in the form of the community center/short term ON dwelling) until they are able to build a house of their own on their stewarded land. The housing provided is meant to be short-term and providing land to steward gives one immediate route to create value in order to build a house. Requiring 32 Hrs/Wk for "J" to meet all their need requirements and gain proportional equity in ON will provide the ability for "J" to dedicate time above that mark to build(create capital for) a home of their own and create revenue to do so while having time available for family, self and community love and development.
This approach of pairing one party of extreme poverty, whether it is a single person or a family, with a diverse community will foster an environment that ends the vicious cycle of poverty; as the diversity of the community encourages personal growth and development with a common aspiration towards true wealth and abundance.
'Concentration-of-Wealth'
A concentration of wealth is generally considered an issue (it is if it's concentrating into the hands of a few at the expense of the many). However, concentrating the wealth of a society that equally benefits its members and global community has the potential to transform our world!
Our dominate society sees dispassionate jobs harnessing the whole of our (time/experience/intellectual/social) capital, the entertainment industry monopolizing our (cultural/spiritual/time) capital and banks(through mortgages/credit)/non-local organizations receiving the largest share of our financial capital. We seek to divert those capital flows into one organization, Our NeighbourGood, that we own- along with our community. We raise our collective quality of life through meeting our needs in our co-created NeighbourGood, focusing our capital streams and tapping into the abundance provided by nature, (living capital) through this we become the wealthiest (in all forms of capital) communities/organizations/ecologies, attracting others to join/create and assisting in supplanting the dominant culture.
Societies of the Future
Neighbours collaborating in Our NeighbourGood will enjoy more leisure and a higher quality of life than is typically found in our dominant society as we finally reap the rewards our technology has promised. With this increased leisure we'll be able to pursue our passions, which in turn will create more beauty in the world and possible avenues of capital creation for ourselves and Our NeighbourGood. With Our NeighbourGood we provide Neighbours with more abundance, the healthiest food, pure water, meaningful relationships, waste-less habits, economic security, and passion-driven lifestyles! What's best, is that we fully embody inter-being by collaboratively owning the whole NeighbourGood! This means, that as the commons grow more valuable, our personal value increases. This will ensure that our commons are well stewarded, as they have now become a more integrated part of our being and providing us a paradise to live in.
Imagine living in a society where all of your Neighbours were dedicated to improving your community, focusing their time on making the world a more beautiful place. Imagine if all your Neighbours had the same vision as you (though diverse in the approach), were readily eager to collaborate with you, as your success is directly related to their success! Imagine having the time to collaborate with these people regularly as we all played together at making a more beautiful world! Imagine a society where we had enough 'free time' to do the activities we truly love!
Imagine your community was dedicated to being the best community it could be. Imagine if this community constantly supported each other to become the best people they could be!
Many Minds are hard-pressed to conceive of the beauty and wonder a life like this would entail, and since they can't conceive it they tell us it is not possible...
Our NeighbourGood isn't created in the Mind it is created in the Heart! Our Hearts know this world exists and our Hearts will lead our Minds to its realization!
Our NeighbourGood
A semi-Autonomous, Deliberately Developmental, Open-Source Society, and Holistic Cooperative
What's in a name:
- A Semi-Autonomous: Systems and structures that automatically managed certain aspects of ON.
ex: If one member did not contribute their agreed upon CTE, a process can automatically reduce their share of the organization to equitably reflect this imbalance. Thus removing any need for a Neighbour to take an enforcing role, as they system enforces it's own rules and maintains homeostasis. - Deliberately Developmental: Our ethos that we are deliberate in developing ourselves and Our NeighbourGood and have designed our system to accommodate this growth.
- Open-Source Society: We will share all our knowledge and understandings with other ON's and the world as we co-create a new paradigm.
- Holistic Cooperative: HEART-centric ethics.
- (H)olism
- (E)cocentrism
- (A)lturism
- (R)egenerative
- (T)ransfomative
This is an open-source project. If this interests you and you would like to get involved, please share your ideas! Let's create the next evolution of human societies!
I will be releasing blog posts on Steem related to various benefits, economic models and governance structures associated with Our NeighbourGood. Feedback through this process will help to refine the details and is greatly appreciated!
I believe that people are inherently beautiful and kind. I believe that people only act contradictory to this based on their environment and the degree in which their needs are being met. I believe that if we can build a society where everyone's needs are equally met, we will be living in a world of love that is difficult to comprehend. I want this world. I need this world. I need my kids to grow up in this world with other kids growing up in this world. Nearly every living being on this earth, needs humanity to create this world!
I'll leave you with a beautiful quote by Charles Eisenstein.
“The more beautiful world my heart knows is possible is a world with a lot more pleasure: a lot more touch, a lot more lovemaking, a lot more hugging, a lot more deep gazing into each other’s eyes, a lot more fresh-ground tortillas and just-harvested tomatoes still warm from the sun, a lot more singing, a lot more dancing, a lot more timelessness, a lot more beauty in the built environment, a lot more pristine views, a lot more water fresh from the spring. Have you ever tasted real water, springing from the earth after a twenty-year journey through the mountain? None of these pleasures is very far away.” ― Charles Eisenstein, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible
This is the updated proposal of the original introduction: 1st edition
Rieki
Word-Smithing New Societies
It was an amazing read :) thank you.
Your posts are treatises! Will read tomorrow (hopefully!)