There is a global crisis in affordable and functional housing, as well as a cultural and community breakdown happening in most of the world. People are sucked into a lifetime of overwhelming debt so that they can own a home and try to find security. The problem is that when you can't repay the loan, you have lost your security and just about everything you had. The knock on effects of having to live and work just to pay the bills stretches far into our culture and the zeitgeist. The stress and competitiveness of our current free markets have stretched the elastic band to breaking point, and people desperately need a way out. With the demise of the family unit, people are more vulnerable than ever as they get older.
All it takes is ONE thing to go wrong, and a cascade of consequences can leave you homeless and penniless or worse. There is very little provision made for vulnerable people and an ageing population, or indeed for anyone who gets ill or loses their job etc. Today being poor has been effectively criminalised, where people are forced to break the law due to their circumstances, or end up so downtrodden that they become mentally ill or resort to criminal activities just to survive.
We have to turn this tide and start finding ways to provide real security and a sense of community and support for each other. I have been promoting and eco-building for 15 years, and I meet people almost daily who deeply desire to get off-grid and be self sufficient. The story is ALWAYS the same with everyone I meet, and i can totally understand why almost none of them will likely go on to self build. Having built an Earthship or two myself, and having gone through the process of self building it is very clear that most people are not going to be able, or even want, to self build. Building your own home is a grueling process that basically takes everything you have to manifest, and even more so if you are doing it alone. It became apparent to me very quickly that the only way to be able to spread sustainable building and living to more people would be to do it in large groups and supportive communities. The bottom line is that someone needs to be able to offer these people the option to simply 'buy in' and be a part of the process, but not to lead it.
The second main hurdle for most people is of course money. It costs a lot of money to build in most parts of the world, and it is a minefield if you don't have experience or connections. What you normally find is that the kind of people who want to get out of the system don't have much money. They probably rent rather than own, and if they do own property they probably have a huge mortgage on it. In order for an off-grid community to work, it needs to be very cheap to 'buy in'. There can be no loan or debt associated with the 'buy in'.
It may come as no surprise to you that the (Steemit) blockchain has the potential to solve not only these problems.. but a few others too! I came up with the idea of using the principals of the Steem Blockchain to create worldwide co-owned communities last month and have been giving it a lot of thought. I have come up with a system that I believe could work, and potentially could work very well indeed! I would like to highlight some of the features of this system, and why I think it could provide permanent life-long security and also a permanent income for ecoVillage members.
PRICE STABILITY
All funds from the purchase of a property are 'powered up' and held by the ecoVillage trust as ecoVillage Coins. The ecoVillage trust owns and controls these funds and can release them according to the needs and desires of the ecoVillage. ecoVillage coins would be used to fund further builds and offer a limited number of free housing to the poor and vulnerable. Funds can also be used to pay for ecoVillage developments, community projects, social services etc.
As the property assets accumulate in value over time, they hold and even drive the price of the currency up. As the value of the ecoVillage assets increase, so does the value of the ecoVillage coin. You could say that this coin is backed by physical assets that are very good at holding value, i.e property! This, combined with the inability for people to sell of the bulk of the coins, means that the price should be quite stable. I would expect the majority of purchases to be from new community members, but it is possible that this coin could receive additional support from investors and philanthropic sources.
PRE-MINING
There would be a certain amount of pre-mining that happens to fund the initial build, and the first buyers of the ecoHomes may pay a deposit and would most likely be the main buyers of the ecoVillage coin in the beginning. I hope to be the first buyer! These building projects would run at very low cost compared to a traditional build, and would utilize volunteers and skilled workers. I am confident I could build at extremely low cost as I have 15 years experience and a great network of connections with ecoBuilders.
EXIT OPTIONS
In the event of an ecoVillage member wishing to leave or sell their home, the Trust would manage this process. A large percentage of profits from the sale value would be paid to the ecoVillage Trust and would be used or held as desired. The balance of profit would be given to the departing member.
ECOVILLAGE DOLLARS PROVIDE
INCOME FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS
New ecoVillage dollars (like SBD) would be generated by delegated proof of stake, at a rate to be determined. Community members are able to earn money from this reward pool through services and exchanges. There is a built in social services system whereby those who are vulnerable or too old to work will receive ecoVillage Dollars.
COLLECTIVE OWNERSHIP
The ownership of land and property of the ecoVillage will be held by the ecoVillage Trust. This prevents abuse of the system by ecoVillage members. ecoVillage members would have a lifetime lease with their next of kin automatically eligible for the same or smaller home in the event of death.
REWARDS FOR BUILDERS / SKILLED LABOUR
Those skilled people who volunteer their time to help build will be rewarded with ecoVillage coins. They will also have priority in owning one of the homes when built.
CASHLESS COMMUNITY TRADING
Trade within the community will be done using the ecoVillage Dollar. That way people can trade and hold the coin with a chance of increasing their value and the ability to sell for other currencies or FIAT on the open market.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES CAN BE CREATED
This entire process can replicate itself in new and diverse locations around the world. Once the first ecoVillage is established and proven to work, the same can be done elsewhere, which will further increase the value of the coin due to purchasing of new ecoHomes.
AN OPTION TO LIVE INTERNATIONALLY
People will have the option to change ecoVillage if they desire. Once there are villages around the world, people can house swap permanently or even have free holiday.
REWARDS FOR FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS
A certain percentage of the ecoDollar (SBD) and/or ecoVillage coin rewards will be given to those people who add value to the community. The voting system for allocating / curating these rewards would work as it does now on Steemit, perhaps with a few tweaks and some more community features. People can post and blog what they are doing, for example they may be making a new Biodynamic food production area, or a child play area, and so they can receive community support for their projects very organically. This system is one that would reduce the number of meetings that would be needed to form a consensus, and allow for a lot of development to happen quickly and in a very transparent way. This system will empower the community to be proactive and try to do great things, just like on Steemit. This voting power also encourages people to power up since they can have more influence in the ecoVillage. There will be a maximum power allowed by one person!
HOME UPGRADES / GROWING FAMILIES
ecoVillage members can also move into larger homes as their families expand. EcoVillage members will not need FIAT to upgrade their home but can use their ecoDollar (SBD) savings or their ecoVillage coin rewards. To upgrade, a home a member would increase their vested power (if they haven't done so already) to cover the amount required. The old home would also be sold to a new home owner by the Trust. This will therefore increase the support and stability of the ecoVillage coin as this grows.
As you can see, the idea is Quite interesting! Since i do not have much knowledge about the deep math of the Steemit blockchain, and the ways in which we can tweak and play with this system, it is hard for me to really know if this is theoretically viable. It's also hard for me to decide the best way to structure this to provide stably and long term success. Following are some of the questions I have, so please do comment if you have any answers!
QUESTIONS!
- Should this system run as an SMT on the Steemit Blockchain OR should it have its own coin with a clone of the Steemit Blockchain? If it ran on the Steemit blockchain then what would happen about airdrops. It doesn't feel right Steemians should have much influence over the community or indeed take rewards etc. Therefore are airdrops mandatory or relevant?
- Is it feasible to use 'pre-mining' funds for the initial build? That way it would be possible to start building EVEN with deposits in place to fund the start of this process. I can't think of a better reason to pre-mine! Once built we would have plenty of buyers for the mined ecoVillage tokens!
- Should people who buy in get to keep and hold their investment long term for use within the community, or should the ecoVillage Trust hold it all and distribute it in a more controlled manner? I LOVE the idea of people who buy in being able to hold on to their investment, and it can give everyone a base amount of SP to play with.
- What kind of inflation rate would be appropriate and should it go up or down over time (as the community grows)?
- What percentage splits would be appropriate for the reward pool (community) and how much should be held by the trust?
- Should each community have its OWN SMT or should it all feed into one coin?
If this happens and it works, it could be one of the greatest gifts to the people of the world!!! Real long term security, no bills, no mortgage, and real freedom from the shackles of the Beast! I have all the experience and connections to take care of the hard part, THE ACTUAL BUILD OF THE COMMUNITY, and would be ready for action and fully motivated if i had the financial backing to do so. I have successfully built what I can only describe as an ecoPalace on the side of a mountain in India in very difficult circumstances. I had almost no power, mostly volunteers and unskilled labour, and very limited materials. I have learned what I need to know to build a great and functional ecoVilllage (I think in Europe), and at a very low cost. I know so many amazing people who would JUMP at the chance to help create this and be a part of it.
I am looking for people who would like to help me manifest this idea, and start the ball rolling. If you have any input at all please do share it below in the comments!
Please note: i have not discussed issues relating to power structure, decision making and community related questions. These are things that can be dealt with when the time comes. Right now I am focused on seeing if the concept itself is viable!
Budget Funds
At this early stage I do not even know how much it will cost me to get a viable concept together. Therefore, any funds received from this @budget request would be used to get the help I need to get a theoretical proof of concept established. I would most likely need to pay someone to help me develop this idea. Any surplus would be kept and held for further developments. If the project doesn't happen or is not viable I would return any unused funds.
I am a web developer and run my own servers etc. I can therefore provide great value by creating our online presence and hosting etc at no cost. Money is only needed at this stage for technical assistance relating to the development of the SMT / ICO and codebase.
It would be a great blessing to receive a budget for this, because if i had the money right now then this is what I would spend it on! I can think of nothing better I can do for the world!
Here are some pictures of me with Earthship Karuna
These are some pictures from my last workshop in 2014. I led the build of an Earthship Yoga Ashram in North India were we made the impossible ... possible!
LET'S DO THIS!
This post links to a Scientific American article that describes asset-backed cryptocurrencies in non-technical detail. There's a group at MIT working on them. You might be able to interest someone there in your project. Who knows?
https://steemit.com/blockchain/@plotbot2015/sciam-on-blockchains-and-what-comes-after
thank you VERY much for this.. TEAMPLAYER! ;-)
im checking this link out now..
You are most welcome. Where the building codes allow, you might be able to interest Habitat for Humanity in these designs. Our chapter has a straw-bale expert who got frustrated at the lack of progress locally and started her own design firm.
I really like the concept. I feel there would have to be a lot of work done to prevent market manipulation and to make sure of true decentralisation but the backing of property would help to stabilise the price. We are looking to do a long term self build here in Asturias , Spain. Buying a property to start with and building on the land. We are interested in the POWER token that has come out recently that is being used to set up global decentralised green power networks. This could work well alongside that sort of concept.
Alex I love the ideas in here and the discussion about working together to build more sustainable housing as you enjoy living in yourself and as I want to live in as well!
Budget proposals most specifically build the Steem block chain and we do not have SmartMedia tokens right now. I would like to see this done directly with Steem power perhaps with a block chain app or community that could be funded with delegated Steem power to start. I think it would work well if there was a central funding pool to generate enough to build houses and provide a return to investors similar to how the budgets project work.
Thank you for making a huge step forward on the discussion of this and I’m interested to see where the next step leads!
thanks Jerry. i understand..
Interesting what you say! so u are suggesting to develop this totally outside of the Steemit ecosystem, (which was my original idea) and use steemit funding via delegation to get it going? The central funding pool was going to be derived from Delegated Proof Of Stake, perhaps on a totally new coin using a modified Steemit codebase.. do u think that approach is viable?
This is a provocative idea and very intriguing, but a few aspects give me pause. Using the blockchain to manage property is a great idea but I would be concerned about collective ownership in a centralized trust - seems to negate the purpose of the decentralized nature of the blockchain, itself. I wonder, though, if public choice theory might be helpful in a project like this?
thanks Geke.. Yes ownership is something that needs to be figured out in detail. The way i have it now is that really there is no ownership.. so maybe i shouldn't call it collective ownership! The Trust would own it all, which is important for many reasons.. then a committee would decide on how any profits were allocated.. that committee could be everyone or certain people.. those are thought for the future! ;-)
also, just to be sure its clear, blockchain is used in this concept to fund the building of properties as well as managing them.. That is a big part of the golden nugget ;-)
<3
Hi Alex, great idea. I've got similar plans, but in education, not housing. I can see you have asked yourself some questions that I've previously asked myself. I'll follow and hopefully will be able to give you some useful feedback.
On a side note, I have some experience building in earth (built a home with mudbricks (adobe moulds onsite) and worked in a plant that made hydraulic ram pressed bricks too), and am very familiar with the Earth Ship design. I have been scribbling earth ship designs on scraps of paper for more than 20 years :)
nice to meet you Carolyn! which country do u live in? Im British living in India .. look forward to any feedback! ;-)
An amazing idea. I love it and would love to be involved. I want to build and live in a Earthship. I kind of understand the concept although prefer a visual example (just the way I take things in).
This is pioneering and could change the world. I have not capital to put in but a labour and skills. Great @eco-alex 💯🐒
thanks for sharing your enthusiasm! One day, fingers crossed, we can do this and you wont need money! ;-)
Sounds perfect! I have plan to set up a smallholding myself so right up my street. Without money sounds like a great solution, as its the cause of much of the worlds problems. Your a genius 💯🐒
WOW great post @eco-alex when you said it was similar in concept to mine you weren’t exaggeratin mate!! It’s a great idea and hopefully someone will come along and help get it going soon. I think this and other projects like it can benefit the world, everyone and everything.
Once again, thanks for upvoting and commenting on my post I very much appreciate it. If you want to chat about ideas or ever want to meet up for coffee it it would be great. Fingers crossed we see more people thinking like this in the very near future too 🍃🌱🌏💚
Hope to speak soôn and once again thanks for sharing this with me Mate.
thank you my juicy vegan friend! perhaps a virtual coffee would be nice, CHeers! (im in a pretty remote part of India right now!)
thanks for your support!
a lot of people who are miserable because of pursuing luxury with debt and unable to pay it, I think simple life is better than in the pursuit of debt of a lifetime, anyone will never be happy when the life of the debt, thank you
ABSOLUTELY! 100% yes
wow!great work and wonderful photography. i really like this post. thank you
Great work from you
amazing post and a lot of information
thanks for sharing
@upvoted
Such a good one :):):)
@upvoted
Great work Bro,keep the flag flying.....
You can pls upvote my latest post
https://steemit.com/funny/@arodavoo/ekaitte-and-the-parrot
You have a good heart of helping people,good work.
good writing. love it... thanks for sharing
Today being poor is effectively criminal, where people are forced to break the law because of their circumstances. They are so inferior that they have become mentally ill or organized criminal activities to survive. But this is not the right way. He is also guilty of being involved in crime and is suffering from his family and suffering. Their burden should be painful. If you wait, all sorrow will stop God. Thanks for your post.
Follow me @polashsen
I think simple life is more better than pusuite of debt lifetime..
I run as much as I can in my home off the grid now. I get to much shade to run 24/7 with how I am living now to do much more. Are life goal is to sell this place and buy a place we can live with out building codes. Thanks for the post
very nice photography....
Great post.
If you tag a post ecotrain, please use it as your first tag, in order to improve visibility and exposure of the ecotrain, as adviced by Alex some time ago on slack.
The Conductor 😎
lol.. not for this one mr Conductor.. good catch though.. !!
Really like your thoughts. I agree that most people today would rather choose a community that offers the possibility not to build their own house. And to scale up eco-friendly housing you have to get a lot of people wanting to board the train.
Your house is beautiful!
This is a provocative idea and very intriguing, but a few aspects give me pause. Using the blockchain to manage property is a great idea but I would be concerned about collective ownership in a centralized trust - seems to negate the purpose of the decentralized nature of the blockchain, itself. I wonder, though, if public choice theory might be helpful in a project like this?
love the house you made!!! incredible beautiful!
have you met @steemama, my good friend? she is also a eco-builder! :) i really enjoyed the photos. was staring at the one with the group to see if i recognize anybody from there, we all look hippies look similar :)
i haven't understand much of the coin thing, as it is different language for me. but i give it a resteem, maybe some of my friends will :)
cheers!
That's a lot to chew on. I will save this post and read it again. So refreshing to have these kind of ideas put forward, and with cooperation, interest, and active participation. I totally agree 100% with your commends of how our society must change, and get off of this $ hamster wheel. It's gotten barbaric, especially the growing homeless, and the way they are treated.
Thank you eco-alex for making a transfer to me for an upvote of 10.99% on this post!
Half of your bid goes to @budgets which funds growth projects for Steem like our top 25 posts on Steem!
The other half helps holders of Steem power earn about 60% APR on a delegation to me!
For help, will you please visit https://jerrybanfield.com/contact/ because I check my discord server daily?
To learn more about Steem, will you please use http://steem.guide/ because this URL forwards to my most recently updated complete Steem tutorial?
It's great to see these concepts written down. Like many other steemit members, I'm really excited about the potential for this blockchain to be a great abundance generator in the world and this is an example of one way that could manifest for those that this idea appeals to. I'm sure that many would like the flexibility and support that this offers.
I look forward to seeing how this develops and hope it's viable to move forwards.
@eco-alex we love this post, and we are building a coin for the ecovillage movement. www.numundo.org is our platform - feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] , we'd love to talk!