The biggest problem, by far, when talking about how exactly to progress towards the goal of a resource-based economy with any reasonable speed, is how to come up with the necessary funds. Obviously, there are many different aspects of a project like this that would need to be funded. There will be expenses for the procurement of housing, food, clothing, furniture, office space, electricity, water, land, agriculture and farming equipment, if there is a cooperative then there will be corporation start-up costs, and also expenses for raw and semi-finished materials for the production of goods, shipping, distribution costs, and more.
It’s possible that donations could cover a significant aspect of a project like this, as projects like The New Earth Project are currently demonstrating. However, many of the residences of communities like The New Earth Project and One Community still must be purchased by individuals, and opportunities for individuals to come on board in a work-for-residency situation will initially be limited.
We aim to partner with organizations like this, and supplement their plans by giving individuals a means to work and many money if they choose to do so, whether it be to meet financial obligations, or simply from a desire to still make money and take part in regular society to a degree.
Most likely the business structure will be a corporate cooperative. Initially, we aim to produce a business plan and implement a web-based cooperative that sells sustainable products and services, with the profits being directed in whole or in portion to a trust fund to start a transitional community, the details of which will be decided by consensus by all who are involved. The cooperative will eventually form a physical location that will be both a community for it’s members and simultaneously provide those who wish to work and makey money, an opportunity to do so by contributing to the development, manufacturing, and sale of sustainable, open-source products.
Currently we are in the initial stages of writing the bylaws and articles of incorporation that are needed in order to form the cooperative. Once this is complete we will focus our efforts on producing a viable business plan, complete with market research, expenses, projections, etc, and subsequently focus our efforts on either starting the web-based cooperative, or seciring some sort of an investment, if necessary.
If you would like to contribute to this process and be a part of the initial cooperative corporation, please visit the Wiki at:
Resource Based Cooperative Wiki
