Imagine:
- An Internet platform like a Facebook that would incorporate the Crowdfunding capabilities of a Kickstarter, thus allowing general discussion to crystallize into specific action.
- A platform that could efficiently organize large numbers of participants into small focus groups, and that real-time discussions could then take place amongst thousands, or even millions, without any individual ever having to deal with more than 7 others at any one time.
- The activities of this entity would be energized principally by the goals commonly held by many – not by just a single individual or company.
- Millions of people could easily access this platform, find the Causes of their interest (or suggest new Causes), and then confidently focus their immense power to reach agreements in the form of detailed Plans and Programs to then fund and realize those Causes.
I call the Platform Interactive Database for Cooperative Social Action (IDCSA). It is the base for CauseFunding.
My fundamental system is a Bottom-Up structure created by individuals with common goals. It requires an Internet-based platform. It will assure maximum inclusivity – anyone interested just has to log on and join the ongoing discussion. Deliberation will be fluid, robust, and rapid. Everyone’s voice will be heard because no one will ever have to debate with more than 7 others at any one time.
IDCSA will have all the capabilities of a social network like Facebook, plus all the capabilities of a not-for-profit or a for-profit Crowdfunding site. In fact, until there is a proprietary platform for IDCSA, it could initially be cobbled together in a mashup of existing platforms: Facebook, Facebook Rooms, and Google Communities and Google Hangouts could handle most of the requirements.
So, if these functionalities already exist – why create another: IDCSA?
Because #1, IDCSA solves an endemic problem with Chatrooms.
And #2, it broadens the scope of Crowdfunding.
Regarding Chatrooms, it seems that once an open discussion starts to degrade into name-calling on any thread, it’s pretty obvious that folks have settled in to their positions, and further chatting beyond that point is counter-productive. And please note, at no time have Chatrooms ever gone beyond the most basic statements of common opinions or beliefs. There may be on-going series of comments on various aspects of the subject at hand – threads – but no real discussion or deliberation leading to a general agreement. But even as useless as they are for focused Popular Activism – from time to time they have been shut down by nervous governments around the world. Imagine if there were a platform with a built-in mechanism for orderly debate, leading to broad agreement on specific detailed programs—those pointless threads would get woven into the tough fabric of group intention. Now that would be a real threat to suppressive governments.
On the IDCSA platform, at the point that discussion devolves into non-productive name-calling (or at any point that the folks in a Chatroom wish), they can agree on a questionnaire which will help them to define themselves relative to the important aspects of the subject at hand. They are already all aligned on the same basic goal, they are just in disagreement on how to get there. The IDCSA system seeks to constantly increase agreement. The results of the questionnaire will allow the participants to assign themselves to small groups of 8 according to their agreements – not their disagreements. The purpose here is to break the large, more heterogeneous group, into small harmonious groups of 8. These groups of 8 are then coordinated into a geometric progression which can accommodate thousands – if not millions – in associating, deliberating, and reaching accords about how to handle their Common Causes.
At this point, the functionalities of the platforms of Social Networking and Crowdfunding overlap. With IDCSA, discussion doesn’t dry up in name-calling, but it continues with the purpose of creating and funding a Business Plan to actually do something about it.
And there is a huge distinction between Crowdfunding and CauseFunding. In Crowdfunding there is usually just one person getting the money – nobody else has much idea of how the money will be spent; in CauseFunding there is a unified group, with each member having an intimate knowledge of every aspect of the project. This group can hit the ground running. They themselves can fill many positions of the administrational structures needed to realize their plan, and they will know who to hire to fill in the blanks.
The system will continually invite participants to rearrange themselves according to their shared agreements – thus always increasing harmony among them. Once enough agreement is reached to do something about their cause, they specify their accord in the form of a Business Plan, and then self-assess to fund the project. In essence, no money need be collected until a specific Business Plan has been agreed to. Thus there is no idle money sitting around for criminals to steal. Once the money is collected through self-assessment, then they act!
What is CauseFunding?
It’s a new business model allowing you to join with others to bring your dreams into reality. It’s an Internet platform with the features of both a Facebook and a Kickstarter. It will allow people to rally around common causes, discuss problems as with any social network, and then go beyond just talk to reach and fund workable solutions through Causefunding – all on the same platform.
With CauseFunding there need be no leaders as such. It is the common cause which leads the way. Working in groups of only 8 – called 8-PAC’s (People in Active Communication) – everybody has his or her say. Discussion continues until an agreed upon solution is reached. And there is no money collected or spent until a specific Business Plan has been laid out and agreed to. Only then do folks self-assess their share, and then get the job done.
