You've already read about why the rich and powerful won't stand in the way, but what about governments? Won't they be unwilling to let go of their power? It's possible, but unlikely. Call me naive, but I believe that government, like any other human institution is made up of normal people who can be reasoned with. Once it's made clear how much better this would make life not just for us, but for them, they would likely back away. They are only doing what they feel needs to be done and despite the rumors, a lot of them actually do it because they believe they are serving the people.
We don't need government to actively support this, or any other project. All we need is for them to let events take their course. We need them to be Gorbachev instead of Stalin.
But speaking of governments, how exactly would the ones in Sociocapitalism function, especially without a steady source of tax revenue?
There will be a lot less to govern, for one. Some people think that the idea of government melting away is nonsense, and they're right. Decisions will always need to be made, and people will always be needed to make those decisions. But when you step back, it's true that there really won't be much need for large governments anymore. Think about it. When everyone's basic needs are met, most crime goes away. Somewhere around 90% of crime is drug or money-related, right? And most people turn to drugs as an escape because of a lack of economic opportunity, correct? When most of the stresses from life are removed, it's very easy to see the crime rate drop at least 95%.
Will there still be murders? Sure. There will always be a few scattered "crimes of passion" here and there, but they will be so rare they would almost be considered freak accidents. With a powerful mental health apparatus and law enforcement that focuses not just on punishment, but rewarding good behavior, it's likely that these too will drop. Robot companions will also take the edge off of loneliness.
It isn't just personal crime that will go down: On a larger level, the great crime of war will end too. When all the people in a country are well-cared for, there isn't a reason to go to war to steal others' resources. The global assembly also ensures that cities get along by providing alternate ways of conflict resolution, and as a last resort talking decisive military action against any city that dares invade another. Because of this, the need for large, centralized nation-states will go away and power will return to the city-state.
It's not utopia. It will never be utopia, because there will always be more work to do. There will always be ways to make society even better. But it's still 99% cooler than what we have now, and it's a future we should fight for.
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Government will look a lot different in a resource-based economy. It's participatory, meaning that everyone has the chance to take part in helping their city function. It's direct, meaning that you can vote directly on things that matter to you, while delegating less important votes to others. Most importantly, it's transparent- you will always know what's going on and where the money's gone.
The greatest lie that we've been told is that the general population is too stupid to think for themselves. "The best argument against democracy.. is a conversation with your average voter", Said Winston Churchill. Do you ever stop to think why that is? Why they would purposely keep us dumbed-down, watching reality T.V? What people seem to forget is that in a resource-based economy, people would have far more time to educate themselves on the issues that matter to them. Without a job to weigh them down, citizens would take a lot more pride in their government and actually care about what it does. Many would volunteer to help out, seeing it as a great honor. There really isn't any need for taxes because nobody needs to get paid. The police do it because they want to keep their community safe, and so do the firemen. The only time taxes would be needed is if the city wants to complete a large project, and even then most funds are provided by the Global Assembly or a Confederation of Convenience.
The small amount of revenue that cities need will be provided by tribes and service/property/transaction fees. Every tribe has to give 25% of whatever revenue it earns from it's members with the cities they live in. This compares favorably with current corporate tax rates around the world, and is fair considering that cities can't charge income taxes. This tax is calculated on a per-capita basis and causes tribes to form symbiotic relationships with cities even though they are nominally separate. In return for this, cities agree to enforce tribal contracts (such as arresting and imprisoning those who break tribal law)
Service fees are charges for things such as physical stores, permits, electricity, water and sewage/garbage. These are mostly "dirty jobs" that humans will still need to do for a while, so they must be paid for. Transaction fees are assessed whenever members of two different tribes exchange money. For those that still choose to own property in an RBE, they will be taxed as usual. Home ownership won't be necessary or practical when housing is free, but the freedom to exclusively own a space will always be offered. Altogether, these represent a sizable chunk of revenue to do projects with.
All newly-built RBE cities will run on delegative democracy, a system that allows you to delegate your vote to a representative of your choice. Key word, delegate. Unlike representative democracy, you are allowed to take your vote back at any time and give it to someone else. The voting power of any one individual is based on how many other people have delegated their vote to them. This gives elected officials a powerful incentive to act in the best interests of the people at all times, or else the only vote they will have is their own. Someone who's been delegated votes can then delegate those votes to someone else, and so on. They can even split them into smaller groups and give them to different people. All of this means that democracy is far more liquid and responsive to the needs of the people. Instead of being locked in with a bad candidate for four years, you would just pick someone else. No mess, no fuss.
Because democracy is built-in, you don't just have the right to vote directly on issues at the local level. With the tools of referendum and initiative, the people always have the last word on any law created at any level of government. Gather enough signatures, and the proposed law must automatically go to referendum (or the passed law must be halted and sent back to the citizens for approval.) This is akin to Switzerland's referendum system, which has received high marks. Not only does it increase citizen engagement, it acts as yet another leash on government overreach. Previously-existing cities can keep their current system if they wish.
Sociocapitalism draws a lot from parpolity's nested council structure, which is one of the best ways to organize society in order to transmit the will of the people higher up through the levels of government while preventing tyranny. Nested councils are exactly what you'd think they are: Delegated stacks of nested councils, with each council sending a member to a higher one. What makes parpolity special is that no higher council can override the laws made by a lower one, as long as those laws only effect that particular council. In cases where proposed laws effect more than one council, the next-higher one has the authority to make decisions. When jurisdiction isn't clear, a citizen's court will be used to decide.
Because higher-level councils can't override lower ones, local sovereignty and subsidiarity is protected. Compare this to today's large, centralized nations where "one-size-fits-all" solutions are often shoved down local governments' throats. Most times, father doesn't know best. Each city and town is unique: It doesn't make sense to outsource decision-making to a group of people who
a) most likely have never visited and b) are hundreds or thousands of miles away. Democratic choices should be made at the level closest to the people, and when it comes to daily governance that level is the city. You always want to see countries breaking apart- separatist movements. Catalonia, Scotland, Flanders. It's a sign that one-size-fits all planning simply doesn't work. We already know centrally- planned economies fail, so it should be no surprise that centrally-planned governments fail too.
To defend against the tyranny of the majority, a law can be challenged in the courts to determine it's constitutionality. Each city, assembly and town has it's own constitution specifying how this would be done, and how many appeals a person may have. A few very specific types of cases can be tried in the Global Assembly's courts if one's fundamental rights have been violated.
How Nested Councils Nest
The goal of nested councils is to create small, personal lawmaking chambers where debates can be held and everyone knows' everyone else's name. For this reason the number of representatives in any single chamber is always less than the Dunbar Limit- the maximum amount of people you can form close, personal relationships with. Beyond around 150 people, it's impossible to truly "care" or see others as human beings. This article explains a lot.
Starting at the local level, every city or group of cities with at least 10,000 people will choose four delegates: two male, and two female. Tribes will do the same. Cities and Tribes are both given free reign when it comes to deciding how to pick these delegates and organize politically. Some cities may hold elections, others may appoint, and still others might hold a lottery. It's up to them.
Each male and female pairing goes to a different assembly: One goes to the "lower house", where the amount of votes each city has is based off of its' population and the other goes to the "upper house" where each city has two votes, no matter the size. Any proposal must pass both assemblies to become law.
A grand total of 100 representatives from 50 different cities will form the first level of nested councils.
From here, the council selects another boy/girl pairing to go to the next-higher council. They do not have to both be from the same city or tribe. These delegations are retractable at any time, but the delegates aren't bound to vote as their sending council might wish. Otherwise there wouldn't be a point to the system in the first place, and everyone may as well just vote on everything. All delegates are required to regularly keep in contact with their sending councils and update them on current events.
This process repeats itself until it gets to the highest-level council, the Global Assembly. Things are a little different at this level. For one, the tribe's and the city's nested-council structures both merge into one, symbolizing the unity and bond both share. At lower levels, they are separate entities. Because the Global Assembly makes choices that effect the entire world, both tribes and cities must work together in order to implement them and ensure they are the right ones.
Make no mistake: The Global Assembly is NOT a world government. It does not tell cities or tribes what to do. We're trying to get away from "one size fits all" policy, remember? It's functions are very limited, mostly acting as a watchdog and steward of global resources. They are the ones who maintain the automated systems that underpin society, and ensure that everyone has equal access to them. The Global Assembly is legally barred from discrimination, meaning anyone and everyone must have access to it's services at no cost. They are less interested in what cities teach in schools, and more interested in making sure everyone has food to eat and a roof over their head. After all, no matter what you believe in you still need basic necessities to survive. There are only a few crimes that the Global Assembly will drop the hammer on a city for, and one of them is denying citizens access to their basic resources. For the most part, citizens won't need to think about the GA that much. They don't intervene in local politics. It'll just be there, quietly making sure everything is operational and running smoothly. The Global Assembly also has a few other important roles which are described later in this section.
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Thanks to the magic of exponents, you only need four levels of nested councils to represent the entire world!
Assuming that each pair of representatives represents 10,000 people and there are 7 billion people in the world (in reality it will be much larger because most cities will contain far more than 10,000 people..)
Assume all councils except the highest have 100 members. As there are two councils at each level, the total number of councils is twice what the raw population data would suggest.
The first, local level of councils will each represent 500,000 people. There will be (140,000 x 2) = 280,000.
The next level of councils will each represent 2.5 million people. There will only be (2800 x 2) = 5600.
The third level's councils each represent 125 million people. There will only be (56 x 2) = 128! of them.
The fourth level is the global assembly, representing all 7 billion of us. There is only one, but both assemblies have a larger number of members + a randomly selected contingent to ensure everyone has a fair chance of entering. The tribe/city selected gets to automatically send a delegate directly to the global assembly for a period of two years.
Structure of the Tribal Assembles
The tribe's nested councils are organized in almost exactly the same way, melding with cities' at the top. Because people are members of both a city and a tribe, individuals are represented "twice".
Cities and tribes each represent separate and distinct interests: Cities are physical and political while tribes are ethereal, economic entities. Consider tribes the successor to today's multinational corporations: Again, just like stock one can invest in multiple tribes, trade their votes or even sell them. Within tribes, decision-making relies on liquid democracy, with each shareholder receiving an amount of votes equal to all the wealth they've contributed to the transition.
The factors that determine votes in tribal nested councils are different too: In the "lower house", the amount of voting power a tribe has is determined by the total number of people who are a part of it. In the "upper house", total voting power is determined by the combined wealth of all citizens.
Other than this, the councils nest in exactly the same way. You can find out more about tribes here.
Function of the Global Assembly
Think of the Global Assembly as a giant referee. Their main purpose is to protect and defend local sovereignty, peacefully resolve disputes between tribes and cities, enforce fundamental rights and freedoms, and, most importantly build, own and operate the automated systems and infrastructure that will form the backbone of society.
The global assembly creates a blank slate that allows cities and people to freely experiment, innovate and find the place that's right for them. They don't do much "governing". Of course, only the global assembly has the right to declare war, admit new countries or cities, and sanction tribes and cities.
Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
The global assembly exists to defend these rights which belong to all human beings at birth. The global assembly has the right to use military force if necessary in order to protect them. You will not find many western values here, because this is a global assembly which intends to unite the entire world. In order to do this, we must recognize that different cultures have different concepts of "rights" that might not always mesh well with western ones. Some ideas, such as democracy will not work everywhere. Because of this, local governments, under the principle of "Local Sovereignty" have the right and privilege to determine which type of government and how many rights they will provide. Instead of attempting to force existing cities to adopt our values, all future cities that the global assembly builds will guarantee the rights we know and love in a special charter.
Right to leave: This is the most important right of all. At any time and for any reason, a person has the inalienable right to leave a community. No community may require residents to ask for permission before exiting. Forcibly restraining someone who wants to leave is against international law. This even extends to those convicted of a crime or undergoing criminal trial, with one caveat: They have to find one city willing to accept them, and show proof that they've been accepted. If no other town will accept them, then the individual will have to submit to whatever punishment the community chooses, or be banished to the wilds*. In general, the worst punishment a community will be able to offer is banishment. If someone returns to a community they have been banished from, they consent to being executed or at the very least waive the rest of their fundamental rights. The right to leave does not imply that you can take anything with you; you may be reasonably required to turn in all physical possessions that you do not own.
*"The wilds" is a fenced-off natural area without any modern amenities. In the wilds, the lawless state of nature reigns supreme and there is no way to call for help. It functions as an open-air international prison for the worst offenders. Keep in mind that banishment to the wilds will only be for the most grievous offenses. It's highly unlikely no town will be willing to accept you if you just skipped paying a parking ticket.
The time you will be allowed to search for an asylum community may be legally limited to no less than 2 weeks.
Right to Resources: Besides acting as an intermediary between tribes and cities, one of the Global Assembly's most important duties is making sure that everyone has the basic resources they need to survive. As you read earlier, the Global Assembly manages the means of production to ensure all people have access to it and that no one country abuses it to it's advantage. In practice, this means that they use technology to grow crops, provide healthcare, build housing, infrastructure and schools (even entire cities), all using little to no human labor. It also provides a basic income to every man, woman, and child each month deposited directly into their accounts. All of this is freely provided to everyone in the world. One of the biggest no-nos for any city is to deny citizens access to their basic resources without cause. The Global Assembly will not tolerate it under any circumstances, and any regime that does so will be labeled an enemy of the people and swiftly removed.
Right to enter and travel: Free movement of people is a fundamental requirement for any new global civilization. Everyone has the right to move anywhere else and live, as long as they have not been convicted of a crime, or anything else that is illegal in that jurisdiction. (In those cases it's up to the receiving city whether or not to accept them.) No passports or travel documents will be required: All necessary information will be found on your wrist, as part of your payband. You will also have a "digital passport" on your smartphone that lists all the places you've been. At the station, all you will need to do is wave your wrist to pass. The right to travel and stay doesn't mean you'll be granted residency rights at your destination: That's the responsibility of local authorities.
Residency means that you will pay less for city services and gain the right to vote in that cities' elections. Whether or not you will be allowed to hold multiple citizenships is up to the city.
Currently, the main motivation for movement restrictions is economic: People are afraid that immigrants will rush in and steal all the jobs! In a resource-based economy where work is optional and everyone is well-provided for, this is a moot point and there's no reason to limit freedom of movement.
Right to be informed: Because every city is an independent entity, there will undoubtedly be a wide variety of unique laws and cultures. It is the responsibility of the city to compile a list of "things you should know" before you come to immigrate or visit, and make this information publicly available.
Miscellaneous other duties of the Global Assembly
Tribetaker- Tribes are entities that run off of the Global Assembly's platform. Because tribes are digital, it's a good idea to think of them as smaller communities that are part of a larger whole. If a tribe has been ruled against in court and ordered to pay fines, only the Global Assembly can enforce the verdict. It rarely has to do so because most tribes voluntarily cooperate.
Fiduciary Intermediary- The 25% income tax on Tribes is first paid to the Global Assembly, then distributed to cities monthly as a lump sum. This is more convenient for cities because they usually contain citizens who are members of many tribes. It would be too time-consuming to negotiate payment schedules individually with each of them. The Global Assembly does not keep any part of this tax.
Generousity- Recognizing that when people are happy, the world is a better and safer place, The G.A. operates a "positive policing" force that rewards people for doing good deeds. These rewards may take the form of increased income, random gifts or vacations. Generousity in particular (the intelligence agency that handles this type of thing), is always watching and rewarding those who help their community.
As part of the state security and mental health apparatus, Generousity takes care of the "social" side of society. After all, even if all of someone's material needs are met, if their social and emotional needs are ignored they may still turn to violence. The greatest threat to a new, peaceful and stable world order isn't terrorism, it's mental health. Generousity will use international intelligence to predict and remediate threats before they have a chance to become hazardous. People are encouraged to report suspicious behavior to them in exchange for a reward, and they operate an anonymous chat/mail exchange for people who want to get things off of their chest. Generousity's mission is a world where everyone feels loved and cared for. Although it sounds altruistic, it has everything to do with security and preventing, as much as possible, "random" acts of violence.
Global Defense Force and International Rescue Service- Each ensure the security of cities and people, respectively. The GDF acts as the military wing (all-volunteer, by the way), and the IRS rescues people who are in dangerous situations.
Court of Last Resort- The Global Assembly operates a network of courts for parties who have not found suitable settlements elsewhere. These are the courts someone would go to sue a tribe for breaching their contract.
Structure of the Global Assembly
The centerpiece is a bicameral parliament that's fittingly enough, called the "Global Assembly". Consisting of two houses, it's main purpose is to function as a nominating body to select administrators and managers for local production units. Legislating is a secondary function of the body. It can pass a resolution on anything, but in order to be binding it has to be an issue that a) effects the entire world and b) was already tried at lower levels of government but found to be lacking or c) is explicitly defined in it's (very narrow) constitutional limits.
The upper house, the House of Regent, doubles as the highest assembly for tribes. Votes in it are distributed based on wealth.
The lower house, the House of Representatives, doubles as the highest assembly for cities. Votes there are distributed based on population.
Any measure or proposed candidate nomination should pass both houses with a simple majority in order to become law. If either house vetoes a bill the other house has already passed, that veto can be overridden with a 2/3 majority. The size of each of these houses is fixed by law, but as a rule the upper house must be smaller and all of the lower councils must be guaranteed seats. An equal amount of extra seats must be provided for randomly-selected cities and tribes to join.
Any single delegated member to the assembly has a maximum term length of 5 years before needing to be replaced or rotated.
How does my vote count?
While you don't get to directly elect the representatives, you still have an incredible amount of control over the political process via initiative, referendum and recall.
Via initiative, citizens can directly propose new laws at any level of government once they gather enough signatures. If the legislature does not act on the proposal within the timeframe specified in the referendum or votes it down, it automatically goes to the citizens for approval. Even constitutional amendments may be suggested via initiative, although they require twice the number of signatures.*
With referendum, citizens have the authority to challenge any law passed as long as it effects them and they gather enough signatures from other people effected by the law. Referendum doesn't just extend to laws, it also applies to any act of government, including judicial rulings.*
With recall, you can remove any public official from office by forcing a special election once you get enough people to sign a petition. This does not apply to the first level of nested councils.*
The number of signatures required for these tools are all the same at each level.
Level 1: Local Councils representing 500K or more: (does not apply)
Level 2: Regional Councils representing 2.5M or more: 250,000 signatures
Level 3: "National" Councils representing 125M or more: 500,000 signatures
Level 4: Global Assembly representing 7 billion or more: 2.5 million signatures
*All of these tools only apply to cities' nested councils, and none of them apply to the first level of nested councils. Tribal councils are exempt from this, except for the House of Regent.
How is the Global Assembly Funded?
The global assembly does not directly tax anyone, but does have the ability to tax tribes. Instead, they withhold from the basic income that they distribute. Each time a basic income is given, the global assembly credits itself with an equal amount of basic income to use for projects around the world. They can change the amount that they credit themselves with, thus changing the amount of basic income.
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