Global Resource Management and Stages of Production

No matter what, any product worth buying requires two things to manufacture: Mass and Energy. Every sustainable economy needs to account for both.

We've already discussed how goods and raw resources would be priced, but we haven't said how communities would be compensated for extraction of natural resources or how we would keep track of them. There's no reason to wait for the future when we can easily do this today. Companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon already use smart management systems to help keep track of their inventory, all we have to do is scale this system up so we can keep track of Earth's resources.

Right away, we will establish a connected system that keeps track of how many resources are stockpiled and available for use. We'll know how many liters of fresh water are in each reservoir, how many kilograms of gold and copper are in storage and how much plastic is available for molding. For every possible item or good, we also will know exactly how much of each natural resource goes into making it: A mattress requires x yards of cotton, y pounds of foam rubber and so on.

We will monitor resource inflows and outflows: Inflows could come from products being broken down for recycling or new resources being mined, outflows may be those same resources going into new products or landfills if they cannot be reused.

Once we know the supply and demand, (which is instantly calculated whenever someone places an order using the Collaborative Design System), we can determine the price per kilo of that material and update it, sending signals to producers to reduce their use of that material or find alternatives. Remember, people are paid based on how often their product is used or bought by others. If people don't think their product is worth it then they will not buy it and the producer/inventor earns nothing. This encourages people to be efficient when designing products.

While The Global Assembly operates the Collaborative Design System, acts as a global steward of earth's resources and manages the means of production; the true power lies in the hands of the consumer. Through their everyday choices, consumers decide what gets produced, not a centralized and inefficient bureaucracy. Sociocapitalism isn't centrally planned and it isn't communism- in many ways it's much more of a free market than capitalism is because it satisfies true demand. It allows people to profit while ensuring equal access to the means of production so that all innovations are on a level playing field.

A resource-based economy operates on a philosophy of lean manufacturing and just-in-time distribution that will minimize waste and wait times. Products are made-to-order whenever a consumer orders online through the CDS and "pulled", not "pushed" through the production line. If someone needs something right away, they will be able to buy it but just like with express delivery it will be more expensive. Costs for express delivery are not returned when the product is.

Stages of Production and Distribution:

Let's go through the stages of production for someone ordering a new lawnmower. The first thing that would happen is that they would go online and choose the make and model they want. While shopping, the estimated delivery times of each would be visible, or the person could opt to purchase a ready-made express-delivery lawnmower at a higher cost.

After the decision is made to buy a lawnmower, a signal travels to the automated factories to make one extra lawnmower. The Collaborative Design System sources the raw materials needed to produce an item and automatically looks for the "lowest cost" suppliers. In a resource-based economy, lowest cost usually means the suppliers that are nearest to the final customer because they will require the least amount of energy to transport. "Suppliers" in this system are not entirely independent entities: They are other, specialized automated factories also managed by the Global Assembly. They do have some ability to set their product prices, but their level of efficiency, energy use and distance from the end user mostly does it for them. (More about the daily operation of factories is explained below) The necessary materials are transported to one of two factories for final assembly:

High Volume: If a product is in high demand it will be mass-produced in a large factory and sent to distribution centers (a lot like today's retail stores.)

Low-Volume Production: For custom products. Since our customer wants a custom product, it will go to the low-volume plant and be directly delivered to the client's home or personal delivery locker.


At the end of it's lifetime or when they don't need it anymore, our customer sends their lawnmower back to the distribution center, where it is sent to a recycling plant. The customer is then given a full refund of the initial purchase price minus profits and taxes. This is how items are given away for "free" while preventing overconsumption, and the real secret to the system.

Distribution centers are two way streets: Not only do they distribute items from factories to consumers, unlike today's stores they send items from consumers back to factories as well.

The actual day-to-day operation of the factories is managed locally in a production district. Consider production districts "zones" not unlike congressional or school districts. Everyone who lives in a production district owns a share in all factories and distribution centers located there. These shares cannot be traded or sold: they're yours as long as you live there. An equal amount of transferable shares are placed for sale on the global stock market and can be bought by anyone with the same coupons they use to buy shares in tribes. 

All shareholders together elect a board of directors who then choose a district manager. This district manager appoints individual managers for certain factories and distribution centres. 

The shareholders in a production district together decide how much they want to charge for the goods and services they produce. Everything made in an automated factory has a "base price" determined by the energy and raw materials that went into producing it, but the production district can still charge more if it wants to earn a profit and give dividends to shareholders. The amount the district can charge is limited due to competition from other nearby production districts. In order to prevent monopolies, the maximum size of a production district will need to be fixed by law. We suggest a preliminary limit of 1,000,000 members and that no district be larger than 10,000 sq km. Any limits can be altered as needed by The Assembly. 

Since profits are distributed to shareholders, they are not returned when the product is. A person only gets the base price returned to them when they give back a used item. 

For repairs and tech support, production districts usually contract help from the global assembly's technically experienced staff.

It's important to note that while production districts are locally operated and have a high degree of independence in setting prices, ultimately the factories are "owned" by the entire world through The Global Assembly. If a local production districts's management of a factory begins inhibiting the operation of others or disrupts the flow of trade it can be repossessed. A single factory may ship goods all around the world, so even allowing one to be vandalized or misused cannot be tolerated. 

Compensating Communities for Extracted Resources

Traditionally, communities would derive revenue from extraction of natural resources by taxing the process or requiring permits to do so. This won't work anymore since resources are no longer privately owned but considered as common property. We know value is created whenever previously inaccessible resources are taken out of the ground, but the distribution of this value is always contentious. One things' for sure though: we don't want that wealth privately concentrated in the hands of huge multinational corporations. There are really three ways of doing this:

> All revenue from the use of natural resources could go to the Global Assembly (unfair, too many opportunities for corruption and control)

> Revenue could be equally split between every person on Earth (not fair to the local communities closest to the resources)

> Revenue could only go to the community that sits nearest to the natural resources (could lead to an undesirable "gold rush" situation where communities scramble to relocate where natural resources are plentiful. Alaska has a similar program, where every verified resident gets hundreds of dollars yearly as a share of the state's oil reserves.

Of all the options, a mixture of 2 and 3 seems to be the best choice. Everyone should get a piece of the pie when natural resources are extracted, but the communities closest to the bonanza should earn the most, with the amount received rapidly dropping off the further away you get. This makes sense because communities closest to mines have to deal with most of the ill effects, whether it's pollution, environmental degradation or noise.

Every mine will act as a "point source" of social capital for the purposes of our formula. The amount of value that a mine generates in a year is cataloged, saved and distributed in one lump sum to everyone yearly.

The distance from a mine to a city is measured center to center, not edge to edge. Only settlements with over 10,000 people will count. The distribution of natural resource income doesn't depend on where you are at the moment, it depends on where you are registered as a resident. If you have multiple residencies then the program will assume that you are resident of the city closest to the mine.

Here's how we will determine how much each person should earn from extraction of natural resources:

First, we take the total value of all resources that mine has produced in a year. This is determined by the price natural resources extracted by the mine sold for at the time they were mined.

Next, we determine the closest city of 10,000 to the mine or oilfield or whatever. We set this equal to zero.

Third, we determine the farthest city of 10,000 from the mine. This is the far point and is probably halfway around the world.

Fourth, we calculate the distances in kilometers of every other city to the mine.

Finally, Subtract the distance of the closest city from the farthest city, and repeat for all other settlements. Add together the total distances of all cities. Take the percentage of this total, and that's the percentage of money each cities' residents will receive.

The money is not given to the government of a city, it's given directly to the people as a yearly check for social capital.

For simplicity, we will use an example mine that has generated $50000 in income this year, and three cities: One that's 100 miles away from the mine, another that's 10 miles away, a third that's 40 miles away and a fourth that's 60 miles away.

Step 1: Determine the closest city. City 2 is only 10 miles away.
Step 2: Determine the farthest city- City 1 is 100 miles away.
Step 3: Determine the distances of every city in between- City 3 is 40 miles away and City 4 is 60 miles away.

Step 4: Subtract the distances of all cities from the farthest city:

City One: (100 - 100 = 0) City one will not receive any money from this mine as it is the farthest away.

City Two: (100 - 10 = 90) City two has a score of 90, which is the highest. It's residents will receive the most money of all cities because they are closest to the mine.

City Three: (100 - 40 = 60) City three earns a score of 60

City Four: (100 - 60 = 40) City four has the lowest score, but will still earn a small amount of money.

Step 5: Add together scores and calculate percentages. 

Adding the scores of cities 1-4, we get 190. (0 + 90 + 60 + 10)

Ignoring City One, which has 0%,

By percentages, City 2 has 90/190, or  ~47% of the total. 0.47 x 50,000 is $23,684. That money is equally divided and distributed among the residents of city two.

City 3 has 60/190, 3l.5% or $15,789

City 4 has 40/190, 21% or $10,526 .

There's obviously more than one mine in the world, and way more than just four cities. It's clear that the math will become very complicated, very fast. It's a good thing humans won't have to crunch these numbers! Powerful supercomputers that can perform billions of computations a second will do the job instead, and automatically distribute the necessary payments.


If the Global Assembly wants to open a new resource extraction facility or distribution center then it will seek the input of the community the proposed mine is closest to. The community will need to balance the potential windfall with whatever environmental consequences the mine could generate and make a decision on it's own by taking a vote. Whatever choice they make, the Global Assembly is required by law to follow and respect it. They do not have the power to just slap down mines and factories wherever they please without carefully considering the interests of the place affected by it. This is only required if a factory or mine is within 100km of a settlement with over 10,000 people. If not then they can build it and are only required to host a public comment session.

Creating a Tribe

    Anyone can create a tribe. You don't need to ask for permission or apply for any prior approval. All you have to do is create a proposal and charter explaining what your tribe is for, it's name, theme, culture and how it will operate. You then need to submit it to the global assembly's main website. Creating a tribe is a lot like creating a group or community on a social network. You have wide privileges and can run your community any way you want, but you still have to follow the general guidelines of the website or your club can be shut down. In the same way, all tribes must follow the Digital Bill of Rights listed here that guarantee their members certain freedoms. Tribal charters should be very thorough, since they define everything the tribe is allowed to (and supposed to) do. 

Once you upload this charter it's time to collect digital signatures. You have to find 10,000 people willing to join your new tribe for it to become "active". This is a tall order, and it takes time. Requiring a certain number of members screens out some of the less diligent or poorly-planned ideas, leaving only the best. At the same time, 10,000 is a low enough number that smaller communities still have a chance to get through the net. If your tribe ever falls below 10,000 members once it becomes active it will automatically be dissolved and all assets returned to their original owners. 

Tribes function as their members' portal to the economic world, and hold a large amount of power over their finances. Nobody would be able to buy anything without being a member of some tribe because their paybands wouldn't work. They act as a centralized record of access and ownership, which is very important since they also provide dispute resolution for their members. With all of this power comes great responsibility, and if a citizen believes that their charter has been breached they could take the tribe to court. 

Starting a tribe is a serious commitment with plenty of risks and even more rewards. It will take a lot of time to get off the ground, but once it's growing there is the potential to make millions, or even billions. Tribes led by popular figures usually grow even faster due to network effects. 

Target Area and Input Radius

  If anything could best describe tribes, it would be "virtual countries". Each tribe has it's own created history and culture, and is expected to provide a sense of kinship and belonging to it's members. Even though they are mostly virtual, tribes still need to have a presence on the ground so members can get together and have meetups. Otherwise, citizens would be spread too far apart to feel a connection. This is why when you create a tribe you have to select a "base" (really, a point on a map), and an input radius, which is a distance from this point. Everyone who initially signs up for your tribe has to live within this circle. The circle can be any size, but people who want to sign up may frown on small tribes with large circles of influence. Your base does not have to be your headquarters (you really don't need one), and has no bearing on what your tribe can and cannot do. Tribes are only answerable directly to the global assembly, not the cities their members are based in.  

When you set your radius, you will be able to see the competition: Other tribes who have set up shop in the area. Their mission statements, constitutions and charters will all be visible so you can refine your concept and make sure it's not being duplicated. Those who are looking for a new tribe can signal this on their profile, and you will know exactly how may people are "searching" in this area. Even if you are already a member of a tribe, you can leave and create a new one at any time. This is a fundamental right. 

Internal Organization: The two types of tribes

  There are two types of tribes: closely-held and public. Closely-held tribes are defined as any with less than 100,000 members (but more than 10,000). They can be organized and run any way the creator wishes, which means they could be monarchies, democracies, dictatorships etc. The common factor is that the tribe's original charter reigns supreme, unless they choose to issue stock.

Things change once a tribe gains more than 100,000 members. Past that point, it must go public and issue stock to any and all buyers. The process of issuing stock is taken care of automatically by the global assembly, and cannot be stopped by the creator unless they decide to stop accepting new members. A tribe starts off with 100,000 shares, and gains one for every new member that joins. The tribe can later decide to split the shares if the need arises. The cash from the sale of this stock goes directly to the creator of the tribe. 

Going public requires internal restructuring. Public tribes must put the interests of their shareholders first, which means that a simple majority of them has the ability to change the direction of the company, edit the charter or choose a new board of directors. All public tribes must be set up with a ceo and elected board of directors. Until an election is held, the temporary CEO will be the original creator, or someone they choose. The creator of the tribe always maintains a permanent seat on the board of directors and voice in the company, but their vote is worth the same as any other. 

Immigration 

Tribes can choose whether they want to be open or closed no matter if they are publicly or privately held. Open tribes allow anyone to sign up and join, usually without a review period. Closed tribes require a review or may even be invite-only. All of this must be specified in the charter.