Commons Engine

We already live in a world where multiple currencies interact and give rise to mass speculation in a global, capitalist economy. However, we believe that democratically managed currencies, tethered to universal basic needs and operating in strategic zones, will be a crucial element of post-capitalist strategies for mitigating gross inequality and redistributing wealth. The Commons Engine is a service organization dedicated to the design and implementation of currencies (or current-sees; denoting the flow that one wishes to make visible) built using the post-blockchain Distributed Ledger Technology, Holochain. Holochain is a scalable, agent-centric framework for writing distributed applications. Like many decentralized technologies, its sociocultural origins stem from deep disdain for the corporate, monopolistic direction which popular web access has taken, and the inequities of capitalism driving innovation-limiting technological competition. With Holochain development underway, the Commons Engine was formed in order to foster mission-driven uses of the framework. Namely, this is to use Holochain to enable commons-governed currencies that help globally-connected, local communities meet their basic needs through ‘true sharing economy’ means. The Commons Engine exists in large part because crowdfunding the development of Holochain taught us that the social labor required for cohering value-creating ecosystems cannot be underestimated. The organization educates, and in some cases, supplies the network forming around Holochain technology with the social, emotional, educational, and advocacy tools required for bootstrapping currencies.