Karmic Debt for OSE Villages
The Charge
Each OSE Village, once established is charged with helping to start a minimum of three other OSE villages by building GVCS tools or contributing in kind labor or money.
See Wikipedia on Karma. [1]
Details
Creating an OSE village (see Resilient Community Economic Analysis and 30 Person Village Startup with GVCS) is a major undertaking that will require (at least):
- Forming a village team
- Planning the village
- Building initial GVCS tools
- Acquisition of land
- Jump starting the village economy
Any such village established by the OSE community owes a debt to those who participated in its development and launch. Since OSE has as one of it's major goals to foster the creation of local economies based on abundance, it is proposed that this debt be re-payed not to OSE International, but paid in-kind to the creation of at least three more such villages. This is a form of the wikipedia: Threefold Law: as I have done for you, do so onto three others. This is very much in keeping with the potlatch culture associated with open source projects. Not altruism, but an expectation that others will benefit from the aid you have been given.
Re-paying the karmic debt might consist of:
- Manufacture and donation of GVCS fabrication tools
- Manufacture and donation of basic GVCS life support tools (CEB Press, Tractor, Solar Concentrator, etc.)
- On-site training and apprenticeships in GVCS technology and related skills
- On-site start-up labor to build houses, clear land, establish fields, etc.
- Financial support, as available
It is recognized that re-payment of the karmic debt may take a few or many years since it will take a new village many years to become self-sufficient and develop a yield that can be shared with others. How long it takes doesn't matter. What matters is having a mindset to help others along as you were once helped.
Benefits
Property executed, the 3x re-payment of debt could result in an exponential growth of OSE villages. In practice, some villages will fail, others will struggle with subsistence, and societal influence will result in some ignoring their karmic debt. The three times repayment is selected to off-set these factors. Attaining anything more than 1x will result in exponential growth. How much more determines the rate of expansion.
Beyond the positive material gains that could be realized, this approach acknowledges that a debt exists and provides a means for closure that leverages and fosters a post-money economy. While re-payment in monetary terms is possible, it is more likely that in-kind contributions and donations will be within the scope of newly established OSE villages.
