Factor e Farm Social Contract v1.0

Factor e Farm Social Contract August 29. 2009 v1.0 by Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D., Director of Research and Development

Introduction

Factor e Farm is an experimental community for creating post-scarcity, resilient communities. Our means to this end are developing the enabling infrastructure – via open source technology and open source economic development methods. We focus on open source methods in order to facilitate the replication of such communities.

Our means to absorbing new participants are Dedicated Project Visits (DPVs). These are typically one month long. Anyone interested in long-term (one year or longer) must first go through a trial period of three DPVs. Each DPV includes an evaluation period at the end of the visit to determine whether the participant should continue their engagement at FeF. The goal of these three DPVs is to determine whether the participant is a good match for Factor e Farm.

FeF is a rigorous experiment with the explicit goal of determining whether post-scarcity economics can be realized on the scale of city-states or even villages. One requirement of our design is autonomy, intended for the unequivocal goal of eliminating geopolitical compromise. By autonomy, we mean the ability to produce a complete, integrated economy – based on efficient means of production. We note that built-in mechanisms of geopolitical compromise are the norm in modern commerce, which we aim to address by developing open source economies founded on the capacity for post-scarcity production.

It is reasonable to conclude that as long as a community is dependent on remote power centers, it does not have control over its own destiny. This means that geopolitical compromise such as wars, abject poverty, wage slavery, mass culture, and many other deprivations continue to be the worldwide norm. We are interested in eliminating these compromises by creating communities that can provide all their own needs resiliently, based primarily on local resources – without external interference.

The above experiment cannot work in isolation. It can succeed only if a global network of similar autonomous communities is created. This explains our open source approach with the stated goal of replicability.

Contracts

Part of the rigor of FeF is codified in the participation contract – where participants propose an offer of work to be performed and accomplishments to be made. Along the same lines, FeF commits to providing an agreed-upon infrastructure and working environment for the participant. The goal of these legally-binding contracts are to provide clarity to all involved.

Social Contract

The foundation of the FeF social contract is effective production. We believe that effective, open source production is the foundation for any community interested in creating the reality of post-scarcity.

Another word for post-scarcity is abundance. Abundance is typically associated with idealistic notions of human relations, where human enlightenment is the focus and mechanisms of effective production are neglected. Worldwide evidence does not support this position - as warfare, physical or economic, continues to dominate resource acquisition strategies at the highest levels.

Our notion of abundance has nothing to do with idealism. Instead, by abundance – we mean the rigorous condition of effective production that allows people to transform common natural resources into the substance of prosperity in an advanced civilization. We are focusing on proven techniques, and our problem statement is primarily the effective integration of tools and techniques towards resilient livelihoods via open source economic production. This applies to the scale from one person up to the globally-networked community, which enjoys the benefits of trade.

Duration of Stays at FeF

We encourage that only dedicated, resilient people consider applying for DPVs. We have begun the DPV program only recently (July, 2009), and initial results are positive. However, our general retention rate is low because of the demands of our program and the lack of resources. Therefore, DPV applicants should not assume while applying that they will be staying for more than their 1 month contract duration, and this contract will be evaluated on a monthly basis.

DPV candidates agree to a well-defined package of minimum requirements. Meeting these requirements is the main criterion for being reinvited to apply. A DPV Review Team, consisting of 4 off-site advisors, is in place and will be consulted for assistance in review. The research director will follow the advice of the review team, and will make the final decision.

If a candidate is reinvited to apply, s/he will have up to a 4 day period to write another proposal. The research director will provide feedback, and will take no longer than the 4th day to determine whether the proposal is acceptable. Proposals are deemed acceptable when they provide sufficient evidence that a certain project will be carried out successfully. The main goal of the research director’s feedback is to identify areas of uncertainty or risk in the proposal, and to suggest ways to minimize that risk.

The applicant will continue in the DPV, one-month proposal/evaluation cycles as long as is deemed necessary by the research director. If there is poor performance, friction or other issues that prevent smooth operation of FeF, as determined by the Review Team and the research director, the participant will not be invited to reapply.

At the end of the month cycle, evaluation will also indicate whether the candidate is demonstrating qualities required for a long-term stay. Upon such consideration, the candidate will be invited to make a 3-month proposal (or longer if deemed desirable by the research director). This proposal will be codified in a contract signed by both parties. Similar evaluation procedures will be used.

If the candidate has succeeded in a total of 6 months at FeF, s/he will be considered for permanent stay. Permanent stay means a one year contract. Details of this contract are to be worked out mutually, and permanent stays are reevaluated on a yearly basis based on similar criteria as above.

In order to be considered for long-term tenure, candidates should have:

• Ability to carry one’s own weight financially without depleting the resources of the community. This means developing one’s production ability of economically significant products and services.
• Ability to hold one’s own weight intellectually, in terms of ability to focus and to perform independent research. This includes defining problems and pursuing solutions, with minimal guidance and maximal ability to tap external resources. This level of ability is comparable to the level found at the post-graduate level in academia.
• Ability to hold one’s own morale, by demonstrating ability to thrive under pressure. This also means freedom from various psychological ills.
• Ability to adapt and to learn new skills or concepts quickly. This includes a mindset of lifelong learning, openness to new ideas and approaches, willingness to improve personal effectiveness, communication, and spiritual skills.
• Good health and being fully able-bodied, since many tasks at FeF involve physical work.
• Ability to work as a team towards the common goal of the FeF experiment.
• Honesty with oneself, integrity and respect for others, high ethical standards, striving for a healthy lifestyle, and ability to communicate their needs effectively. The social goal within the community is to live and let live – to respect one’s needs, such as privacy, space for growth, family-friendly environment, and freedom from distractions or idle chatter.
• Understanding the relevance of open source culture and the importance of documentation. FeF works openly, and documents its experience and work. The goal of documentation is replicability and ability to build upon our work. Documentation includes written communication and video. Our motto on open source documentation is: A word is worth a thousand silences. A picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth a thousand pictures. A reality is worth a thousand videos.

In summary, it should be clear from the start that FeF adheres to a strict gatekeeping procedure, as dictated by the demands of its program. While this may be time-consuming, we believe that this is worth it in the long run. Because FeF is a serious attempt at reengineering civilization, only those who can rise to this challenge are invited to participate.