* Beyond Redistribution lies CommitmentPoolinghttps://willruddick.substack.com/p/beyond-redistribution… “We are entering a time when it is more and more clear that our recently inherited models of governance no longer serve the scale or intimacy of the challenges we face. *Rather than replicate old patterns of control and resentment … there is another much much older path: Commitment pooling. It begins with a shift in how we see leadership. Those with influence aren’t the problem … they can become stewards. But stewardship only becomes real when it is shared. No one leads alone. No one leads unseen. Imagine a community project where decisions aren’t made by the loudest voice or the biggest stake – but by visible, collective commitments. Many governance models speak to this but lack the integration by protocol and a transparent and trust worthy mechanism to keep **commitments accountable.”
These systems aren’t being invented. They’re being revealed. CommitmentPooling protocols don’t create the metabolism, they make it visible. Trust, reciprocity, commitment cycles, these have been flowing in every community since before language.
3\ more from will’s substack (linked to michel’s tweet above):
There are many offering answers for how to come into agreement .. visionary approaches: the Three Horizons, Holacracy, Sociocracy, Communism, Democracy… and so on. So many frameworks. All of them holding some truth – yet like blind folks all trying to describe an elephant …. they grasp at coherent integration of the commons. Not metaphorical commons. Living, breathing, grassroots economics.
It’s like a gaping hole in our map. No matter how you transfer ordivide up governance – without a working mechanism for the commons … you end up back in a power-over structure… instead of a power-with one.
This is why I believe in the work of Elinor Ostrom … and weaving the deeper patterns of commons stewardship into protocol. Not as abstraction, but as function.
2\ if we create a way to facil the seeming chaos of 8b legit free people
Here’s the shift: you, as a person .. or together as a group .. begin by curating and tracking clear commitments. We value those commitments. We set limits—on how much any of us can pull from the pool. And we create transparent pathways for exchange.
i see commitment ness as a cancerous distraction.. even to self.. ie: the it is me ness et al.. if we want to be legit free.. we need more freedom/flow et al..
The pattern is simple enough to fit in any worldview and simple enough to implement.
the ‘pattern’ is even simpler than anything w commitment ness.. anything with any form of m\a\p
This process – has many names across all cultures and in general is called commitment pooling …. it mirrors how living systems cooperate. It’s how we enter symbiosis.
to me .. this is whalespeak.. not how we would/could dance if we were legit free
We are entering a time when it is more and more clear that our recently inherited models of governance no longer serve the scale or intimacy of the challenges we face.
did it ever? to me.. been in sea world since forever..
*Rather than replicate old patterns of control and resentment … there is another much much older path: **Commitment pooling.
again.. still *this.. if **this..
*Imagine a community project where decisions aren’t made by the loudest voice or the biggest stake – but by visible, collective commitments. Many governance models speak to this but lack the integration by protocol and a transparent and trust worthy mechanism to **keep commitments accountable.
A commitment might be denominated in USD. Or in chairs. Hours of childcare. Kilowatt-hours of community energy.
One group brings infrastructure.
Another offers time.
A third pledges local adoption.
A fourth contributes money.
Each stake is different – but each is essential.
whether those pieces are essential or not (i think we have no idea what is essential for legit free people.. only what we assume is essential for whales in sea world.. aka: black science of people/whales law).. committing/accounting/recioprocating/whatevering them.. is a cancerous distraction
Influence flows not from dominance – but from what you’re willing to show up for.
A practice of aligning contributions with care … where power emerges from pooled trust, not delegated authority. It invites those with more to lead … by risking more. And invites those without monetary capital to lead … by offering what matters: time, skill, insight, roots.
If you’ve ever used airtime or a Visa card, you already understand it. Now imagine it gives you access to meals, childcare, carpentry, seeds… from your neighbors.
“As Juan Fernando Lucio teaches me about the grounding in Minga and Franciscan Economics in Colombia, it becomes clear that these traditions offer more than practical solutions – they carry the moral and spiritual depth needed to build lasting peace. The Minga teaches us to show up for one another without demand. Franciscan thought reminds us to do so with humility, love, and care for all creation. And Commitment Pooling gives us the tools to sustain this ethic – by *turning shared promises into coordinated action, and **transforming trust into a living system of peace, dignity, and mutual support.”
Meeting Franciscan Economics – From Mweria in Kenya to Minga in Colombia
The Minga in Colombia, like the Mweria in Kenya, are ancient, living examples of economies based not on money, but on *mutual aid, relational trust, and shared responsibility. In both systems, people come together (without coercion or wage) to build homes, harvest fields, dig canals, or care for the vulnerable. **What governs them is not currency or contracts, but memory, reciprocity, and collective belonging.
*mutual/recip/responsibility/relational-trust..though they sound nice.. all cancerous distractions
relational trust: Relational trust is a type of trust built through positive, respectful, and reliable interactions between individuals within a group or community. ..Having confidence in others’ abilities and their capacity to fulfill their responsibilities effectively.
yeah.. building trust.. reliable ness.. responsibility ness et all.. all cancerous distractions
What once appeared merely “natural” or customary is now illuminated as morally exemplary, a holy economy in action.
This moral anchor provides a powerful foundation—and with the right tools, it can be scaled and sustained even in today’s fragmented world. That’s where the language and functional mechanisms of commons in Commitment Pooling Protocol come in. Commitment Pooling translates the nature of the Minga into trackable, shareable, and adaptable commitments. It gives communities tools – (formalized commitments, ledgers, steward roles) to account for, coordinate, and expand their shared work without turning it into an extractive market.
the dance is about itch-in-the-soul as rhythm.. not any set/trackable commitment/accounts
Cosmic-level reorientation of what we think economics is. Every culture has it. Kenya: Mweria Brazil: Mutirão Colombia: Minga … Older than money. Older than writing. Not barter. Not trade. It’s commitment pooling: the root economic system. We evolved to promise, show up, and care. 1/5
*Humanity’s Original Operating System From the Andes’ Ayni to the Philippines’ Bayanihan to European barn-raisings … Humans everywhere practiced **reciprocal labor and shared care. No bosses. No coins. Just rotating commitments, remembered in community. Global. Ancient. Genius. 2/5
*Credit Cards Run on Ancestral Logic Modern finance didn’t invent this. It abstracted it. Credit unions. Visa & Mastercard All rely on pooled trust, credit limits, and redemptions ..same as Minga or Mweria. 3/5
*oi
Ancestral Tech, Rebooted These systems are alive — and still evolving. This isn’t Community Currency, Mutual Credit or another “blockchain money.” It’s regeneration through commitment. 4/5
yeah.. that’s the key.. that’s the label.. and to me.. that’s the thing we can’t be doing if we want to be legit free.. and so it just perpetuates same song.. need to try something we’ve not yet tried: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
The Future Is Rooted We’re not going back. We’re remembering forward. And rebuilding economies with: Care. Reciprocity. Regeneration. The protocol is ancient. The network is alive. The future is cooperative. (pdf and audio book: https://willruddick.substack.com/p/grassroots-economics-the-book-is ) 5/5
Cosmo-Local Credit, From the Ground Up – Neighbors pooling value; networks routing support. What if everyday care—child-minding, repairs, food, *tutoring—could be recorded as promises that unlock fair, interest-free credit? That’s the idea behind commitment pooling: groups create simple vouchers for what they can offer, seed a shared pool, and swap to access what they need. Debt = your own vouchers held by the pool; redemption = delivering your promise. No interest, transparent limits, shared accountability. Why this matters now: conventional aid and finance often reward visible vulnerability and overlook mutual aid. Commitment pools flip that script—cooperation becomes eligibility, not disqualification. And when many local pools connect, we get cosmo-local credit: locally governed circles, globally linked for routing support (a framing popularized by @mbauwens / P2P Foundation). What changes on the ground? – **Wider access to essentials without interest – Real collateral from real contributions (vouchers) – Guarantors backing those with the least capacity – Clear, restorative pathways when obligations slip. If you care about financial inclusion, Islamic-finance-aligned lending (no riba), and scaling mutual aid without centralization, this is for you. Read the full piece: https://grassecon.substack.com/p/cosmo-local-credit-from-the-ground #CosmoLocal#MutualAid#CommunityFinance#FinancialInclusion#IslamicFinance#CooperativeEconomics#RegenerativeEconomy#TrustAsCurrency
be you. 