The Global Village Construction Set
What is the minimum set of technologies necessary for an entire civilization to be built from scratch - from local and recycled resources found on any parcel of land - to create a modern standard of living - without depleting its resource base?
This question is important - because then we can build or rebuild civilization in a way that is regenerative.
What we do is an experiment - to find out what that infrastructure and if it can be built on any parcel of land that has a few critical resources - rocks, sunlight, plants, soil, and water. We think that this is an important question. For if we can answer it - then we will have addressed the elusive question of lasting prosperity - how do we take care of our material needs in harmony with natural life support systems - so people can then focus on what gives them meaning, fulfillment, and balance? While avoiding conflicts over resources.
Is the Global Village capable of being created - a place where poverty, violence, and general un-excellence can be minimized - and peoples' lives can be free, fulfilling, full of hope, with all material needs met readily so we can move on to higher pursuits of what it means to be a full and integrated human? What is the minimum scale today upon which a full civilization can be created? Can it be the size of a city state - 40 acres? A mile? Ten square miles? What is that scale? Is this city state thus more effective than today's nation states in addressing the needs of prosperity? And is this city state scalable - so that a world full of such city states can be the new building block of a prosperous civilization? Can this city state provide for cultural and scientific advancement?
We think so. We think this can be done on the scale of 40 acres, and we think that the improvement over the current state of the world can be significant. By what metrics? In Chapter 2, we will examine the state of the world across its myriad institutions, and propose benchmarks for the OSE village. That includes key questions: what is the OSE constitution to guarantee sound governance? What is the available infrastructure? How much is your 'tax' - if any - to provide the necessary services that are otherwise not taken care of by community members? What are individuals responsible for? Is there even a government, or does the blockchain take care of it? Do we have an army to guarantee peace? What does our money system look like so we can trade with others? Essentially, what do all the infrastructures look like, based on analysis of industry standards - and simply picking and choosing what's worked well already and either replicating that or taking it to the next level? What is the basic level of knowledge/information embodied in the population that is necessary to qualify the individual for the community? Because that knowledge is what we indend to teach in our schools.
Essentially, any individual must be a producer of some sort. They must have a decent accuracy in perceiving the world, so they do not fall prey to superstition or destructive ideas. They must recognize that resources come from nature, and that human knowledge shapes them to the lifestuff of modern civilization. One must know how to use tools, whether a hammer or computer. And to build the tools. And to create a system where maintenance of bureaucracy does not overpower fundamental productivity. We need systems that are so robust that mushrooming bureaucracy does not enter.
Our statement here is that by unleashing hands-on, interdisciplinary education - we can learn much more than we thought was previously possible. Thus our reality as generalists looks different - because we can do things very effectively.
Why is the question of creating an open source civilization starter kit important? Because we believe that the most sound economy - and therefor the most fulfilling lives - are based on communities that are in control of their own destiny. The best way to control of one's destiny is being as capable and powerful as possible across personal, economic, and social grounds. The best way to build in control of one's destiny is to allow for an existence with the least amount of destabilizing influence from external factors. Assuming that we still have access to the internet - and abundant access to solar energy - life can be prosperous. Our goal is to prove the feasibility of small city states as the route to moving the dial on civilization's progress. We may fail. But it's a reasonable guess that unleashed access to knowhow is critical to civilization moving forward - while distributing access to opportunity as far and wide as possible.
A city state - a global village to reinvent the world - a point of light - is critical if it can show an example. We are designing our affairs to be replicable - by being open source and bootstrapped.
