Plan C for Advancing the Commons Transition in Greece

Context

Plan A is the name for the capitulation towards the demands of the creditors, now the most realistic possibility; plan B is the Grexit which offers Greece an independent path within the same economic logic, but with basic sovereign powers to protect and advance their own interests; plan C stands for a Commons Transition, which can take place either under conditions laid out by Plan A or Plan B, but which could become the main strategy under conditions of a revival of popular power and democracy.

* For general background on the concept of Commons Transition, see,

1. The Commons Transition Plan, crafted for the FLOK Society project in Ecuador, with a better designed eBook version at http://commonstransition.org
2. A very short summary of that transition logic is here and here
3. An evaluation of the limitations of the FLOK project, which did not include a mandate for physical commons infrastructures

* Plan C references for Greece:

1. Time for renewed popular resistance

By Theodoros Karyotis On July 13, 2015 :

"Now is the moment for a broad alliance of social forces to bring forward a ‘Plan C’, based on social collaboration, decentralized self-government and the stewardship of common goods. Without overlooking its significance, national electoral politics is not the privileged field of action when it comes to social transformation. The withering away of democracy in Europe should be complemented and challenged by the fortification of self-organized communities at a local level and the forging of strong bonds between them, along with a turn to a solidarity- and needs-based economy, and the collective management and defense of common goods."

Status

A very very preliminary first draft at this stage, but this document will improve every day.

Proposals

Building up alternative democratic power and self-organization

• create Commons Transition Circles for every town and region to be the advocates and agents of commons creation ; create a Coalition of Commons Transition Circles to share and coordinate activities; members of these circles support the creation of the initiatives listed below.

• create Assemblies of the Commons for every town and region, and per social domain of activity to unite the citizens with commons concerns ; create a Coalition of the Assemblies of the Commons to share and coordinate activities

• create Chambers of the Commons, bound by social charters, for every town and region and for economic domains of activity; members are all entrepreneurial and producitive entities responsible for the livelihood of the commoners ; create a Coalition of the Chambers of the Commons to share and coordinate activities

• create Mutual Aid Networks in every town and region to assist citizens in their access to basic resources

• create a Association for the Advancement of the Commons Transition to coordinate policy proposals to be carried out by civic or public service entities in support of the transition

• create a 'facilitation skills' and 'self-management learning center' to support even non-commons organizations of all sorts to move to self-management inspired by the experiences described for example in the book, Reinventing Organizations

Monetary Reform

• create a independent national currency, citizen-based if need be

• create a national B2B currency (Swiss bank) for use as B2B reserve currency

• create a network of local and regional currencies

• create a national public bank, citizen-based if needed

• create a solidarity economy bank

• create a 'self-management learning center' to support even non-commons organizations of all sorts moving towards self-management structures and processes, inspired by the spirit of Reinventing Organizations

Background Documents

• the very realistic proposals of Ellen Brown: Grexit or Jubilee? How Greek Debt Can Be Annulled

Knowledge Infrastructures

Background Documents

• Commons Approach to EU knowledge policy, http://commonsnetwork.eu/a-commons-approach-to-european-knowledge-policy/
• A short essay by Michel Bauwens & Vasilis Kostakis on a new reconfiguration among the state, civil society and the market.

Productive Reform

• generalize a framework for independent renewable energy production

• generalize a framework for direct food production and consumption

• democratize access to affordable housing by systemizing the creation of Community Land Trusts and similar solutions

• create local/regional incubators for the solidarity economy

• create a network of productive workshops for every locality/region and for every domain of economic activity

• create a network of solidarity economy incubators in every town and region

• create a network of support for the SME economy

• create a network of provisioning councils at local, regional and national levels to insure a flow of basic resources to all citizens

• create and support the creation of knowledge commons for every area of human activity

• link thematic incubators for the solidarity and SME economy to each of these shared knowledge commons