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RBE10K Project Rationale

Notions that support and justify the project's strategy, to better understand its form, function, and goal.

Opting out

Opting out is presented in this project as the most effective form of achieving social and environmental sustainability. Opting out is decidedly non-confrontational, non-violent, and voluntary. Opting out can be either the result of personal choice (conscious living), a social stance (activism), or both. In the case of a community implementing the RBE10K design and strategy, which of the motivations is not imposed, and therefore the rationale for opting out is personal and may arise from a variety of factors, and pursue a variety of purposes.

Opting out is a form of abstinence from that which one personally regards as negative despite its commonality in a given culture or paradigm. It can be evidenced in other lifestyles and beliefs, such as vegetarianism and veganism, celibacy, abstinence from alcohol and psychoactive drugs, Amish Anabaptism, ascetism, etc. The concept of opting out can be considered different from that of choice (i.e. preferring one thing over another), such as migration from urban to rural setting or adoption of a different culture or beliefs, and can also be considered different than refusing to participate in what is not mainstream, such as refusing to consume human flesh or that of animals culturally associated as human companions, practicing sexual acts with people under certain age, or abstain from assisting with a suicide.

The RBE10K Project is based not only on opting out from the monetary market system, but also abstain from many cultural traits, beliefs, and traditions. Adoption of a RBE10K-based lifestyle requires voluntary and conscientious opting-out of any of the following:

• Rights, especially the following:
  • Right to ownership or property (including what is commonly referred to intellectual property, and anything other than our own bodies or personal effects)
  • Right to seek or take personal advantage (including being deceitful or manipulative)
  • Right to claim superiority to other lifeforms (including people)
  • Right to make demands from others (including compensation for damages, whereas physical or emotional)
  • Right to privileges based on greater personal effort or work (privileges can be granted, not as rights, but for practicality in the fulfilment of a responsibility such as guardianship)
• Disruption or destruction of ecosystems for comfort or convenience, especially when there are non-disruptive alternatives
• Imposing personal points of view (usually perceived as the truth) on others (including children under care, regardless of being the parent)
• Giving orders, or choosing or deciding for others (except when such privilege had been voluntarily granted, or socially accepted, such as caring for toddlers)

Opting out from the monetary system doesn't mean severing relations with the outside world, but rather willingly abstaining (as much as practicable) from engaging in specific practices that are commonplace, such as labour and commerce. It does not exclude travelling outside the community, maintaining communication, or accessing goods and services provided free of charge. RBE10K communities would actively participate alongside with the monetary market world in several areas, such as academia, producing and sharing art, research and development in sciences and technology, and use and production of goods and services provided free of charge.

RBEM

The project is intended, specifically, to test and implement the Resource-Based Economic Model (RBEM) socioeconomic system. Unlike most everything else in the project, implementing RBEM is a premise, and not a function of any other more basic purpose. The project's objectives are aligned with those generally shared by most RBEM supporters, namely, transcends the problems of politics, poverty, and war<ref>Taken from Jacque Fresco's book on RBE's title The Best That Money Can't Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty, & War</ref>. As a result of its quality of being a premise of the project, the choice doesn't require a reason, rationale, or justification, nor it is up for debate or modification. However, it is important noting two considerations:

• The RBEM socioeconomic system is not clearly defined, so the RBE10K is required to create a definition of its own, which might be dissimilar to interpretations or definitions made by other RBEM supporting or implementation projects
• The project does not intend on implementing a perfect or ideal RBEM socioeconomic system, but a reasonable implementation of it, as close as practicable to the project's own definition

In the short life of the project so far there has been a number of concerns about the project's choice of implementing an RBEM socioeconomic system, some of which are the following:

• An RBEM system lacks a degree of spirituality and connection with Nature needed to function (often by those with an inclination on permaculture-based society)
• An RBEM system is unnecessarily large, complex, and difficult to implement (often by those inclined on implementing an eco-village)
• Change can only be the result of political action and mobilisation, relying on current institutions (often by those with experience in political activism)
• RBEM is communism and it has been tried and tested and it is well known it failed (often by anticommunists)
• RBEM is a utopia, nobody would work or do anything and would be doom to failure (often by people who identify themselves as "sceptics")
• RBEM is either a scam to seal people's money, or a cult that brainwashes people (often by conspiracy theorists)
• People are selfish and violent, and society requires law to bring order, and a State to enforce it (a very common concern)
• People have a right to property, trade, develop wealth, and carry weapons to defend it (often by republicans, neoliberals, and right-wing libertarians)

In terms of the specific RBEM implementation strategy by the project, many have expressed objection or concerns, some of which have been the following:

• An RBEM system is not a true RBEM system unless is global, and wouldn't work otherwise (often by supporters of The Venus Project or The Zeitgeist Movement)
• An RBEM must not be implemented using of money, but with resources only (a common concern by residents of nations other than wealthy European ones)
• An RBEM system requires at least matching our current level of lifestyle and comfort, requiring hi-tech (a very concern by residents of wealthy nations)

Equality

It has been shown in many studies<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>that inequality leads to many kinds of social and individual problems, and that more equal societies display greater individual and social health. It can be said that the core concern of RBE in RBE10K is Health: environmental, social, interpersonal, emotional, psychological, and physical. Health, meant as in homeostasis, enables for maximum efficiency of a system, and the capacity to endure, therefore it is the premise of sustainability. Equality is a general agreed principle of most understandings about RBEM, and a key principle in RBE10K. Equality serves as the rationale for many other principles within this project, and it is often considered in this context simply as an axiom.

Equality does not mean similarity, which is perhaps a key concern and has shown to show emotional rejection to the notion due to the confusion. Equality does not dictate how people must be, i.e. it does not define or expect people being conforming or normal, for example following fashion, doing and behaving similarly to what others do and behave, be traditional and moral. Equality refers to the value or quality of a person, and stating that no single person has greater quality or value than anyone else. Whilst a person might display above average characteristics such as greater knowledge in a given subject, greater skill at a given art, greater physical prowess, equality states that those above average characteristics do not make a person more valuable, important, or privileged (in a general sense). Equality even states that the opposite is true: a person with difficulties in basic functioning areas such as locomotion, general physical, emotional or psychological health, communication, etc, requires greater privileges in an effort to provide for equal access. In RBEM, specifically, equality also means equal access to available resources. The notions of resource and equal access can be confusing, and are dependent upon the notion of abundance. RBE10K specifically refers to the meaning of these terms in the section Abundance.

Equality, specifically, is confined to people, plural of person, also referred to as individual. In RBE10K, the definition of a Person is that of a biological entity (such as an animal of the Homo Sapiens Sapiens species) who has the ability to communicate, convincingly, and through language, an awareness of their own subjectivity. A person is deemed a person until there is good reason to assume that their ability to communicate self-awareness is lost and unrecoverable, such as in brain death. Equality requires freedom and self-determination, with some special constraints on people who have not yet developed, or have lost, a capacity for independence.

An acceptance of the premise of Equality is paramount for participation in a RBE10K community, and perhaps the most challenging of all for those not accustomed to it. Accepting the premise of equality means agreeing not to consider oneself or anyone else of greater value or importance than any other person, including characteristics such as preferences, values, objectives, standards, skills, or knowledge. Equality, in this sense, refers exclusively to value and importance, and as such it does not apply to priority, access to a person's time or attention, belonging into a group, or access to resources, locations or activities with access requirements; some examples for this would be access to dangerous chemicals, gendered locations such as showers, a seminar or meeting that requires a given minimum skill or understanding, or participation in an activity without following a required behaviour or etiquette. Equality, also, does not imply any kind of rights or obligations.

Abundance

Residents of a community implementing the RBE10K system share equally all available resources. Free and unrestricted access to resources is dependent upon degree of availability. (unfinished)

Simple living

10,000 people per community

$100 million US dollars

Not an eco-village

Lo-tech

References

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