2028

About

2028 may be a big year in human history. When Global Democratic Decline began in 2006, we started Factor e Farm - the permanent land base of the open source ecology experiment. Our Roadmap calls for completion of the Global Village Construction Set by 2028. That would mark the point when a civilization starter kit is made available to everyone on earth, with the ability to regenerate any economy from scratch. In practical terms, that means economic transformation to a peacetime economy based on a new culture of global and local collaboration on the overall economic process.

Currently we believe that with about $50M of open source product development of key technologies that drive civilization (manufacturing, construction, agriculture, steel, concrete, engines, fuels, microchips) - we can produce a kernel of Degenerate, modular technology which allows any community to gain full prosperity in its economy. This implies much improved human relations both locally and globally. In practice, this means that civilization will have achieved self-determination, founded on efficient productivity that allows for universal financial independence. Thus, the beginning of a universal possibility of critical thinking, moral intelligence, and freedom from political manipulation. Relevant byproducts include the reinvention of education, end of environmental destruction, and end of resource conflicts, among others.

The $50M refers to an average of $1M spent to develop any of the 50 GVCS machines to enterprise level, namely, the capacity for industrial productivity on a small scale. Small scale refers to village-scale enterprise on the Dunbar's Number scale - and scalable to global scales on a modular basis. Essentially - we are experimenting with the notion that any advanced industry area, of which there may be up to a couple hundred or so - can be achieved in an enterprise on a Dunbar's number scale. For example, producing steel or its alloys to meet any need of advanced civilization - or even microchips - can be achieved within a ~200 person enterprise. Thus, if each of such enterprises can be open sourced, then we entertain the possibility of Distributed Market Substitution in that area. While we are considering technology per se in this argument - the same applies to any other endeavor, from governance to education to art to financial services etc. As such, a number of modular areas of knowhow can be created, and these coordinated such that any human enterprise (businesses, insitutions, cities, entire countries, etc) begins to prosper. This would be the delivery of the promise of technology, applied to human prosperity and self-determination.

Let's examine prosperity, and the myth of technology. To summarize: when production has far outstripped consumption - ie, the human capacity to produce has far outstripped its ability to consume - can we make a correction for the distribution of wealth, the regeneration of the earth, and termination of war and animosity between people and nations? The answer lies in a mindshift to a mindset of abundance, away from the scarcity mindset that pervades current institutions. Just think about this: machines today, such as an agricultural combine, can harvest 30 acres of wheat per hour or about 30 tons [1] - and modern technology provides comparable, ridiculously high yields in any sector of the economy. Taking the wheat example as a thought experiment - if a farmer produces 30 tons per hour, in one year of such time a farmer (and not even a farmer, as an RTK-GPS autonomous tractor) - can produce about 200,000 tons. A person needs the calories contained in under 1 kg of wheat per day - so that 200k tons could feed about a half a million people! This is an extreme example that does not take into consideration many things - but the point is that ridiculously extreme levels of productivity exist - in all areas - so from first principles - why do we even entertain the notion of a scarcity mindset that leads us to conflict and wars? We can do better.

Let's continue with the wheat example. Say there was one farmer who harvested wheat year round, the reality is that one wheat farmer (240k [2]) farmer actually feeds only 200 people

Links

• Roadmap