will on another way
via will ruddick tweet [https://x.com/wor/status/1909426203720929785]:
We’re living in a traffic jam.
Not on the roads—but in our economies. Communities are full of people with skills, goods, time, and energy. But they sit idle, not for lack of productivity, but because they’re waiting… for money.
That wait becomes a kind of poverty. A poverty of our ability to share.
Even when philanthropy arrives—flooding in like rain—it often creates more dependency, not flow. We trade our goods for donor cash, hit our exchange limits, and then… wait again. Gridlock, round two.
There is another way.
still not getting to the root of problem.. so still perpetuating on hold ness
legit freedom will only happen if it’s all of us.. and in order to be all of us.. has to be sans any form of measuring, accounting, people telling other people what to do
how we gather in a space is huge.. need to try spaces of permission where people have nothing to prove to facil curiosity over decision making.. because the finite set of choices of decision making is unmooring us.. keeping us from us..
ie: imagine if we listened to the itch-in-8b-souls 1st thing everyday & used that data to connect us (tech as it could be.. ai as augmenting interconnectedness)
the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
[‘in an undisturbed ecosystem ..the individual left to its own devices.. serves the whole’ –dana meadows]
there’s a legit use of tech (nonjudgmental exponential labeling) to facil the seeming chaos of a global detox leap/dance.. the unconditional part of left-to-own-devices ness.. for (blank)’s sake.. and we’re missing it
ie: whatever for a year.. a legit sabbatical ish transition
In ecosystems, excess becomes compost. In communities, commitments can do the same. In places like coastal Kenya, rotating labor associations like Mweria let people trade services, labor, and trust—without money. The magic calabash stays alive because it’s fed with oaths, not dollars.
not yet deep enough.. needs to be sans any form of m\a\p for the dance to dance.. for us to get out of the waiting room.. aka: sea world.. hari rat park law et al
marsh exchange law.. graeber exchange law
When cash does come in, it should feed the roots—not drown them. I recommend keeping external cash below half the value of internal commitments. Let the community’s own economy breathe.
but in reality it can only drown/rot/distract.. ie: 10-day-care-center\ness.. getting us right back to on hold ness
So to donors and do-gooders: ask yourself, are you composting or clogging?
Let’s design for flow, not dependency.
perhaps let’s try/code money (any form of measuring/accounting/people telling other people what to do) as the planned obsolescence.. where legit needs are met w/o money.. till people forget about measuring..ie: sabbatical ish transition
Let’s unlock the gridlock from the inside out.
again.. ie: imagine if we listen to the itch-in-8b-souls 1st thing everyday & use that data to connect us (tech as it could be.. ai as augmenting interconnectedness)
a nother way
will’s reply to his tweet [https://x.com/wor/status/1909426935836676192]:
here is a write up and short video with further thoughts on solving gridlock conditions: https://willruddick.substack.com/p/unlocking-economic-gridlock
notes/quotes from his substack link:
The Philanthropic Paradox: When Help Hurts
Now here’s the irony: even well-meaning attempts to break the gridlock can backfire.
help\ing ness et al.. any form of people telling other people what to do
Take philanthropy. A donor shows up and floods a community cash. It seems generous, but it often reinforces the same dependency. People rush in to swap their own goods and services for the new cash. Suddenly, the limits of everyone are maxed out and they have no more room to exchange. No more internal movement is seen as possible. Everyone’s now waiting again—for more outside money to arrive.
Gridlock, round two. Now reinforced with a dependency on the donor cycle.
Composting Cash: Toward a Living Pool
There is another way.
Instead of seeing money as the end goal or ultimate resource, what if we saw it as compost? Something to enrich the soil, not dominate the system?
rather.. what if we made it irrelevant from the get go.. ie: a sabbatical ish transition
if leave even a little is toxic enough – so then 10-day-care-center\ness – same song
In healthy ecosystems, excess is returned. Fallen leaves decompose, feeding the roots. No organism hoards everything. Even predators are part of the loop.
graeber stop at enough law.. garden-enough ness..
the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness.. which is what we need .. in order to see the dance dance..
‘in undisturbed ecosystem ..the avg individual.. left to its own devices.. behaves in ways that serve/stabilize the whole’ –dana meadows
we keep disturbing the ecosystem because we can’t seem to let go enough to see/try the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
Likewise, in commitment pooling systems—like the Mweria of the Mijikenda in Kenya or other forms of rotating labor associations—a community doesn’t wait for outside currency. They seed the pool with what they can promise: labor, goods, skills. They trade based on trust and future delivery. Value flows, even in the absence of money. People help each other build houses, tend crops, educate children. The magic calabash stays alive, because it’s fed by oaths, not dollars.
again.. not yet deep enough.. needs to be sans any form of m\a\p for the dance to dance.. for us to get out of the waiting room.. aka: sea world.. hari rat park law et al
marsh exchange law.. graeber exchange law
When money does come into a pooling system, it must be digestible—like compost. I recommend that external currency introduced into a pool remain less than half the total value of internal commitments in that community resource pool. That way, there’s still plenty of space to trade and circulate, without choking the system.
with link to 9 min video: Village Market Simulation v1.8 – Pool Gridlocks [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fpDDK7VwB0]
notes/quotes from video:
how to not become dependent on pool – initial pool setup
6 min – this is not an exchange.. you can swap or deposit.. this isn’t going to destroy the ability for them to exchange.. so could still swapping..
so haven’t put too much money in system.. allowed enough space that they could still exchange.. that’s kind of the moral of the story.. in a very egalitarian situation.. no one voucher, commitment, asset, has dominance over ..t
any is too much.. swapping still tit for tat ness.. still exchange.. in a legit free situation.. any vouchers/commitments/assets are cancerous distractions
the thing we’ve not yet tried: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
ie: a sabbatical ish transition
8 min – we’re in this dependency loop.. need money.. but not able to exchange w each other very much.. various forms of solving that problem are similar to a road.. increase thru put.. ie: people in faster cars, or increase space so more lanes.. both dangerous.. ultimate solution is neither.. it’s actually local systems that don’t need that freeway *so much.. so people can interact.. get where need to go.. w/o getting on that freeway
need *not at all.. aka: sans any form of m\a\p
again..
legit freedom will only happen if it’s all of us.. and in order to be all of us.. has to be sans any form of measuring, accounting, people telling other people what to do
the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
[‘in an undisturbed ecosystem ..the individual left to its own devices.. serves the whole’ –dana meadows]
there’s a legit use of tech (nonjudgmental exponential labeling) to facil the seeming chaos of a global detox leap/dance.. the unconditional part of left-to-own-devices ness.. for (blank)’s sake.. and we’re missing it
ie: whatever for a year.. a legit sabbatical ish transition
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be you. 