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| '''* Book: Creating Sustainable Societies. The Rebirth of Democracy and Local Economies. John Boik. CreateSpace, 2012.'''
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|
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| URL = http://www.CreatingSustainableSocieties.com
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|
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|
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| =Description=
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|
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| "the Principled Societies concept outlined in the book offers a new "operating system" for society. It is a blueprint for sustainable financial, economic, and governance systems, intended for local implementation. Among the many characteristics, it offers a new funding approach to raise donations for nonprofits, schools, and even local governments. And it offers a funding system to raise capital for a new generation of socially responsible corporations."
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|
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|
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| Wolfgang HoescheleL
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|
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| "If we are to attain social and environmental sustainability, and an economy
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| that fosters trust and cooperation, we need new approaches. This book
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| provides reasoned proposals that synthesize aspects of social
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| entrepreneurship, peer-to-peer practices, participatory governance, and
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| solidarity economics. Its models for building new institutions for
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| sustainability deserve to be read and widely discussed."
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|
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|
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| =Excerpts=
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|
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| Foreword by Bernard Lietaer:
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|
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| "In a now-famous letter to James Madison in 1787, Thomas
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| Jefferson mused on various types of societies and concluded that
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| a government “wherein the will of everyone has a just influence”
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| provides the greatest liberty and happiness.1 But, he warned,
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| like societies with no governance and those under tyrants, “It has
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| its evils, too: the principal of which is the turbulence to which it
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| is subject.”
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|
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| Jefferson was alluding to a rebellion in Massachusetts in support
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| of RevolutionaryWar veterans who had not yet received military
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| pay but were being sent to debtors’ prisons for unpaid taxes.
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| Such rebellions, he claimed, were the price of freedom. “Even
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| this evil is productive of good. It prevents the degeneracy of
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| government, and nourishes a general attention to the public
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| affairs. I hold that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing
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| and as necessary to the political world as storms in the physical,”
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| he wrote. “It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of
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| government.”
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|
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| Creating Sustainable Societies proposes a blueprint, not for rebellion,
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| but for revolution—a revolution of ideas that could result
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| in sound governance and financial and ecological sustainability.
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| The book describes a systemic “medicine” and offers a plan for
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| organizing and coordinating action to bring about improvement
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| in our communities. This is compassion in action, not violence,
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| and the entire legal framework for undertaking this “revolution”
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| already exists. It does not rely on or even call for the passage of
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| new laws.
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|
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| I have spent the past 30 years studying monetary systems, both
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| conventional and innovative. During this time, I have written
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| more than a dozen books, have spoken to thousands of audiences
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| around the world, and have taught in half a dozen universities in
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| the United States and Europe. Everywhere, I find dissatisfaction
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| and hunger for a breakthrough to another way of working, of
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| cooperating, of contributing. People are eager for change and
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| are awake to the need for change, even if most public officials,
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| constrained by politics or timidity, appear incapable of rising to
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| the challenges of our time.
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|
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| In distilling the results of my investigations, I arrived at the sad
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| conclusion that the missing piece in all our monetary arrangements
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| is appropriate governance. This is true for both the official
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| money system (the Federal Reserve and all other central banks
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| in the world) and innovative systems of complementary currencies.
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| This missing piece is what John Boik brings to the table.
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| At first glance, his proposal might appear to center on a complementary
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| currency system, but more accurately it centers on
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| appropriate governance. On the one hand, it proposes a means
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| for collaborative direct democracy as applied to finance, corporate
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| behavior, and social organization: the “Principled Society.”
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| On the other, the very mechanics of the proposed monetary and
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| corporate model, including its transparency, are a manifestation
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| of democratic ideals.
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|
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| Money is what most economists call a common good, i.e., a good
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| that people cannot be excluded from using. It falls into the same
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| category as clean air and fresh water. The modern world hasn’t
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| been very good at dealing with common goods. They have
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| tended either to be privatized or left to take care of themselves.
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|
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|
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| Both approaches leave common goods vulnerable to exploitation.
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| In the case of money, how the dollar is managed, whether well
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| or poorly, affects all Americans. And because the dollar is used
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| as a global currency reserve, its management affects nearly all
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| the world.
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|
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| Boik’s proposal for applying democratic decision making to a
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| well-designed complementary currency system and innovative
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| corporate model is therefore an important and useful contribution.
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| His proposal distributes decision-making power, as well
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| as responsibility, to all individuals who participate. It strives
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| to demonstrate a financial system that is not only transparent
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| and well managed, but managed in such a way as to consciously
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| celebrate money as the “common good” that it is.
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|
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| One beauty of this proposal is that the complementary currency
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| system could strengthen the larger U.S. dollar economy on which
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| we all depend. As just one example, it provides an investment
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| system that rewards businesses for respecting basic human, ecological,
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| and community values. Although such respect is necessary
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| for social and financial stability, our current investment
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| system all too often rewards the opposite.
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|
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| The token currency Boik proposes would be an excellent fit
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| for the kind of “monetary ecology” I describe in Money and
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| Sustainability: The Missing Link.2 A monetary ecology can help
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| us meet the challenges converging upon us in this first half of
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| the 21st century. Just as a natural forest contains a diversity of
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| fauna and flora adapted to specific niches and scales, a monetary
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| ecology contains currencies adapted to different needs, locations,
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| and scales.
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|
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| Diversity within an ecosystem makes it more robust, more resilient
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| to shocks and changes in environmental conditions. Diversity
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| within monetary systems could do the same. In fact, in
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| any complex flow network, a minimum of diversity is needed to
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| make it sustainable over time. The theories and facts of our recurrent
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| monetary and financial crises compel us to leave behind the
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| paradigm of an artificially enforced national currency monopoly
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| and promote instead a diverse monetary ecology. This is not a
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| threat to national currencies; it is their savior.
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|
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| I dare to compare parts of this book with Plato’s Republic, updated
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| for the age of the Internet. It inspires us to use modern
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| technology as a tool for examining the meaning and value of
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| justice, as we engage in decision-making tasks and bring a more
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| sustainable world to life. Its significant achievement already is
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| the portrayal of a plausible positive breakthrough from the crisis
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| of hope in which we are now immersed. I am wishing the book
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| great success, if only for the better world that implementation of
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| its solutions would create.
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|
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| I am convinced that the ideas in this book are implementable.
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| But whether or not these proposals will actually be developed
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| further and made manifest is an open question. If you, the reader,
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| get involved, offer support, provide skills, and spread the word,
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| implementation is all the more likely. It is my belief that once this
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| project gains traction, it could unleash unprecedented creativity
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| in multiple communities and domains."
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|
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|
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| ==Creating a locally-driven Principled Society==
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|
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| John Boik:
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|
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| "The central strategy examined in this book is to implement new
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| financial, economic, and governance systems at the local level,
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| managed through an online software application. The application
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| would facilitate, for example, business and financial transactions,
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| and rule-making and other aspects of self-governance.
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|
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| It would be the world’s first comprehensive Internet project
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| aimed at a fundamental transformation of society. Think of it
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| as components of Facebook, Kiva, Quicken, RocketHub, Kick-
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| Starter, LendingClub, MindTools, Groupon, LinkedIn, and more,
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| all integrated into a single application developed and managed
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| by users. Its purpose is to stimulate local economies, demonstrate
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| direct democracy, and maximize the common good. In
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| short, it is the maturing of social media into a powerful, usercreated,
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| agent of change.
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|
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| The code for this application would be developed by the opensource
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| community, and as such would be a publicly shared
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| resource. Programmers, writers, graphic designers, and other
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| volunteers nationwide and beyond would be invited to partici-
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| pate in its development. Although the development project itself
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| would occur nationally, the actual implementations would occur
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| at the local level. Once the code is available and thoroughly
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| tested, perhaps via large game simulations, people in each metro
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| region would be encouraged to form a Principled Society—a special
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| type of corporation that would demonstrate the new systems
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| and manage the local software application.
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|
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| As envisioned, a Principled Society is a membership organization.
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| Other well-known membership organizations include
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| AARP, the National Organization for Women, and your local
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| Chamber of Commerce. Unlike these, however, a Principled Society
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| is not a nonprofit. Nor is it a profit-maximizing corporation.
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| It is a socially responsible corporation that is a blend of both.
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| Like a nonprofit, it seeks to maximize the public good. Like
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| a for-profit, it does not rely on charity for funding its ongoing
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| operations and expansion. A Principled Society is managed by
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| its members through collaborative direct democracy. As such, a
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| Principled Society is its members. It is an association of people
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| who choose to cooperate.
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|
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| Quite likely, only a small percentage of the population in a given
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| metro area will decide to become members of a Society, but that
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| is not a problem. In fact, it is an advantage. Demonstrating new
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| financial, economic, and governance systems would be easier
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| in a small subset of the population. The target is to achieve
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| a participation rate of 10 percent. This would be enough to
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| produce substantial economic impacts and provide a solid test
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| of the new systems.
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|
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| While successful demonstration of new systems in a small subset
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| is not by itself sufficient to transform society as a whole, it is
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| a crucial and dramatic first step. Thus, this book is concerned
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| with Phase I—getting Principled Societies up and running. If all
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| goes well, over time Phase I will naturally turn into Phase II—
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| wider implementation of the new systems and a more complete
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| transformation."
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|
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|
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| ==Framework of a Principled Society==
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|
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| "A Principled Society is envisioned as a local entity, but its core
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| elements would be designed to overcome several major weaknesses
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| seen at the national level. In this way, Principled Societies
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| would be extensible to wider implementation in the future. The
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| proposed framework consists of three core elements:
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|
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| 1. A new type of local currency system, called a Token
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| Exchange System. Tokens are an electronic form of currency
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| that circulates within a Society, in conjunction with
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| the dollar. They are used by businesses and individuals
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| to purchase goods and services, as well as fund local
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| development and community services.
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|
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| 2. A new type of socially responsible corporation, called
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| a Principled Business. A Principled Business is a cross
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| between a nonprofit and a for-profit corporation. Like a
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| nonprofit, it fulfills a social mission. Like a for-profit, it
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| is self-sustaining and does not rely on donations. Principled
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| Businesses compete with one another for interestfree
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| loans offered by a Society. They coexist alongside
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| standard businesses.
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|
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| 3. A new type of governance system based on collaborative
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| direct democracy, called a Collaborative Governance
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| System. Members collaborate in the creative
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| problem-solving process of developing new rules. In
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| a Principled Society, members are the legislature. For
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| efficiency, councils would execute day-to-day operations
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| and make minor decisions. Major issues would be decided
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| by the entire membership in a user-friendly, efficient,
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| online process.
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|
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| The Internet application that would act as the infrastructure for
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| a Principled Society is both practical and technologically achievable.
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| It could be developed as a no-frills initial version perhaps
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| with three to ten years of effort, given adequate funding and
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| community interest. Each year thereafter, further enhancements
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| could follow. From the beginning, the effort will be organic, and
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| hopefully involve many thousands as momentum grows. Each
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| interested person can contribute in small or large ways to move
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| the project forward.
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|
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| Although this book proposes a blueprint for new financial, economic,
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| and governance systems, that blueprint is only a rough
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| draft. Many questions are left unanswered. It is intended as a
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| basis for further discussion and refinement. The bulk of development
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| will fall to the wider community. Especially it will fall to
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| potential users, including interested lay persons, programmers,
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| and business and community leaders. Academic experts from
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| fields as diverse as computer science, political science, statistics,
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| sociology, law, ecology, business, psychology, and linguistics
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| will be encouraged to play a central role. As the software is
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| tested and Principled Societies are developed, academics will be
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| encouraged to play a continuing role."
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|
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|
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|
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| ==Principles==
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|
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| John Boik, in: [[Creating Sustainable Societies]]:
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|
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| Principle 1: A Principled Society seeks to increase the shared
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| wealth of its members, as well as the shared wealth of the greater community.
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|
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| Principle 2: A Principled Society’s financial and governance
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| systems are radically transparent.
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|
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| Principle 3: A Principled Society effectively distributes political
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| power among all its members.
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|
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| Principle 4: A Principled Society does not create its
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| complementary currency through bank debt.
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|
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| Principle 5: In a Principled Society, interest is not charged on
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| complementary currency loans, and investment occurs in a profit-neutral fashion.
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|
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| Principle 6: A Principled Society manages its complementary
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| currency system so as to attain a democratically determined
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| wealth distribution target.
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|
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|
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| ==The Token Exchange System==
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|
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| John Boik:
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|
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| "the Token Exchange System, the first core
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| element of the Principled Societies framework. This finance system
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| has its own currency, called tokens, which circulate within a
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| metro region. Tokens are used as a complement to the dollar, not
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| as an alternative. The token system provides a structured means
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| to stimulate local business investment, fund social services, and
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| give a community more control over its destiny. The new currency
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| is, in a real sense, a manifestation of a community’s faith
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| in itself and its desires for a better world.
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|
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| ...
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|
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| The Token Exchange System is different from other existing
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| or historical complementary currency systems. It is electronic
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| (unlike BerkShares or Ithaca HOURS); it is centrally managed
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| (unlike bitcoin); it employs demurrage (unlike all of the above);
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| and it is not based on labor hours (like Time Bank). And unlike
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| all others, it is fully integrated into the economic and governance
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| systems of a Society. For example, distribution of wealth,
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| funding of community nonprofits, promotion of business investment,
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| and democratic decision making are all integrated into
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| the currency system itself. As well, it employs a wide spectrum
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| of motivational factors to achieve cooperation and other types
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| of pro-social behavior among users. Lastly, it is designed for
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| scalability; there is no limit to the size of community that a token
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| system could serve."
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|
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|
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| ==The Principled Business Model==
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|
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| John Boik:
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|
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| "The second core element in the Principled Societies framework is
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| the Principled Businesses model. A Principled Business is a type
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| of socially responsible entity that members of a Principled Society
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| create and fund. Not every business that a Society creates or
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| funds will be a Principled Business; many will be standard corporations,
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| partnerships, and sole proprietorships. The Principled
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| Business model is designed to appeal to those entrepreneurs and
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| groups who might otherwise desire to start a nonprofit, but who
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| also want to own their business and compete in the marketplace
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| for self-sustaining revenues. The Principled Business model is a
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| cross between, and offers the best of, the nonprofit and for-profit
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| models.
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|
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| A true partnership exists between members of a Society, who
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| benefit from the activity of Principled Businesses, and the businesses
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| themselves, which rely on member support and loyalty.
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|
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| It is an ongoing interaction that requires communication and
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| goodwill. The task is to design the model so that expectations
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| are clear, activities can be verified, goals are shared, penalties are
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| understood, and healthy relationships are fostered."
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|
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| ...
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|
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|
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| As with the term “Principled Society”, the term
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| “Principled Business” is not intended to imply that other forms
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| of organization are unprincipled. Rather, it refers to a specific
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| type of business that meets the following criteria:
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|
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|
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| 1. The actions of a Principled Business are consistent with
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| its social mission.
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|
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| 2. A Principled Business is designed to attain financial and economic sustainability.
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|
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| 3. Investors do not profit from a Principled Business.
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|
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| 4. Revenues are used in accordance with the submitted business plan.
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|
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| 5. The firm adheres to basic environmental stewardship
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| practices, as demonstrated through certification with an
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| approved third party.
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|
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| 6. The firm operates in a transparent fashion. Financial
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| data that 501(c)3 nonprofits and publicly traded corporations
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| must disclose are made public. In addition,
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| funding sources and statistics on the distribution of compensation
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| are revealed. Measurements of externalized
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| costs and social and environmental impact are disclosed,
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| where these can be practically and economically obtained.
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|
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| 7. The firm adheres to a conflict-of-interest policy. Board
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| members having financial or familial conflicts of interest
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| must recuse themselves from decisions where such a conflict exists.
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|
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| 8. Upon dissolution and after payment of creditors, the
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| firm must transfer any remaining assets to nonprofit
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| charities or to Principled Businesses in which no board
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| member has a conflict of interest. Determinations made
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| by a bankruptcy court take precedence. Further, Principled
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| Businesses cannot be sold or given to an entity that
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| is not a Principled Business.
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|
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| 9. The firm cannot fund other businesses that are not Principled
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| Businesses. It can wholly purchase other business,
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| as long as the combined entity continues to act as a Principled
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| Business."
| |
|
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|
| |
| ==The Collaborative Governance System==
| |
|
| |
| John Boik:
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|
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| "The third and last core element in the Principled Societies framework
| |
| is the Collaborative Governance System. Its purpose is
| |
| to foster a form of democratic self-governance that involves
| |
| all members of a Society in the creative, collaborative problemsolving
| |
| process. The proposal is bold. It is among the first to
| |
| incorporate online mass collaboration into a self-governance
| |
| process.
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|
| |
| There are two primary reasons why a Principled Society would
| |
| want to engage its full membership in decision making. First, the
| |
| strength and vitality of a Society derives from its cohesiveness—
| |
| the degree to which members want to be members. A Society
| |
| is a corporation that sells a product. That product is a better
| |
| community, greater economic security, heightened political empowerment,
| |
| and other aspects of increased shared wealth. If
| |
| it delivers these, it will achieve a loyal and spirited following.
| |
| But it can’t do this if it limits decision-making power to a small
| |
| minority.
| |
|
| |
| The second reason to engage the full membership is that every
| |
| individual can be a source of creativity and wisdom. A Society
| |
| can tap the experience, skills, and ideas of all its members when it
| |
| tries to solve a problem. The modern term for this is crowdsolving.
| |
| Netflix famously used crowdsolving in 2009 to improve the
| |
| algorithm by which it predicts the movies a particular customer
| |
| might enjoy. Rather than hire engineers and statisticians, the
| |
| company set up a website, posted a huge data set of movie and
| |
| subscriber information, and offered $1 million to anyone who
| |
| could improve its algorithm by 10 percent. Groups from
| |
| around the world entered. For Netflix, the price of the prize was
| |
| small compared to the value of the product it received.
| |
|
| |
| Of course, a group of people can also act as a destructive, shortsighted,
| |
| and even irrational mob. But that alone is not a valid
| |
| reason to limit direct democracy. Political representatives too can
| |
| act in these ways. And so can business leaders. Our world would
| |
| be a different place if this were not true. The task of a Principled
| |
| Society is to create transparent, intelligent, sustainable, stable,
| |
| and fair systems for self-governance and economic and financial
| |
| activity, and to combine these with healthy cultural norms, an
| |
| embrace of science, and an educated membership. Under these
| |
| conditions, we can expect humans to be at their best."
| |
|
| |
| =More Information=
| |
|
| |
| * [[Wealthiness]]
| |
| * [[Local Currencies]]
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|
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|
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| [[Category:Books]]
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|
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| [[Category:Collaborative Economy]]
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|
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| [[Category:Money]]
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|
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| [[Category:Economics]]
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|
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| [[Category:P2P Infrastructure]]
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|
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| [[Category:Open Company Formats]]
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