goal:: a fully legal way to communalize individual burden balancing fairness and participation #### Legally Safe System - member contributions: civic responsibility over obligation - may track community member contribution of task or money for transparency and appreciation - may not schedule or obligate community member contributions. No task enforcement mechanisms. No wages. - communal service access: equal access over exchange - may provide any service the community agrees upon as long as it: - is provided equitably to all members in good standing - is not sold, traded, or offered to the general public or external market - may not regulate consumption of community services. Avoids commodification. - must not make access contingent on personal contributions or work quotas. - may use pooled funds to purchase goods/services not created by community members and make available to all members (e.g., food, equipment, house cleaning, utilities) - external goods/service provider is taxed - group service utilization is not taxed - example: The community funds 8 house cleanings a month you can openly schedule your house on the rotation - personal services: voluntary not transactional - members may request personal services (e.g. haircut, house help, food delivery) - members may fulfill these requests voluntarily without obligation or compensation - commons: coordinate stewardship - the commons (a collective or legal entity) may coordinate service logistics, record participation, and manage shared funds - may track contributions (task and money) - may track personal service requests and communal access usage - social signal: transparent public opinion about a member's contributions and consumption - may collect member feedback on another member's consumption or contribution - may inform cultural norms and deliberation - may not be used for automated or policy-based access control - helps freeloader problem - may factor into weight of your vote - group consensus: voting - may vote on acceptance and removal of membership - may deny access to specific services during probationary review - may control communal access and communal projects - may not control individual material access - weighted individual voting - may use as civic or skill recognition - may not use as compensation - probationary membership - may require for new members - may require for removed members that meet vouched threshold - may require revote at end of probationary period for membership - must not mandated labor or contribution increases - social accountability (vouching) - only members can vouch - may reward vouching members for successful integration of probationary members #### No IRS no DHS - mutual aid is protected under First Amendment (freedom of association) and not regulated by labor or tax law ##### Outside of IRS Taxation - There is no employment relationship - No one receives wages, stipends, or barterable credits - Services are shared collectively, not traded - Labor is voluntary, non-scheduled, and non-quantified in a compensatory way - As long as external vendors are taxed, and internal services are part of collective provisioning, you are not creating a taxable economy. ##### Outside of DHS Employment Mandates - There's no employer-employee relationship - No one is being “hired” or “compensated” for labor - Undocumented individuals can participate freely in voluntary civic life - Housing, food, and care are communal provisions, not tied to income - The DHS only requires employment verification when labor is compensated. - If housing and participation aren't tied to compensation, no I-9 or SSN is required. ##### Critical Safeguards You Must Maintain | Risk Area | How to Stay Safe | |-----------|------------------| | Labor looks like barter | No credit system, no value tracking per person | | Services look like jobs | No schedules, no payment, no “roles” | | Resources look like income | Make services open to all in good standing, not assigned or earned | | Housing looks like work-for-rent | Make access based on membership, not task fulfillment or rent |