Don't you Get-It!?

How One App could Turn Neighbors into a Thriving Community

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, suburban neighborhoods often feel more like collections of isolated homes than close-knit communities. Families go about their daily routines, barely interacting beyond a wave or a nod. But in one such neighborhood, everything changed when a wealthy resident named Mr. Rose introduced an app called "Get It."

What’s the Big Deal with Get It?

Think of "Get It" as the modern-day village square where neighbors can get what they need by offering that they have. It’s inspired by ancient ancestral resource coordination practices and similar to Coca-Cola’s internal bookkeeping system, where they don’t use national currency for moving products between factories. Instead, they use an accounting system. "Get It" brings this concept to your doorstep, enabling neighbors to support each other directly. Think of it like a public library, where you can check out any book as long as you bring it back and or add your own to the library - but instead of a library imagine a digital pool of assets and instead of books you have vouchers which are offers or commitments like gift cards for local goods and services. For a primer read Intro to Commitment Pools.

The Financial Blueprint

1. Seeding the Pool

   1. Budget: $100,000

   2. Details: Mr. Rose started by creating and seeding a commitment pool on Get It with a whopping $100,000. His goal was simple yet ambitious: reduce the neighborhood's reliance on national currency by 50% in just one year while supporting community solidarity. And so, the adventure began!

2. Setting up an initial Stewardship Council

   • Details: Mr. Rose formed a council to oversee the commitment pool. Initially, this council was composed of community members and experts. Over time, it transitioned to a democratically elected stewardship council, ensuring fair and transparent management. Each council member created their own vouchers for their own stewardship services. By putting $10,000 worth of these vouchers into the pool they could pull out $10,000. (this is called a drawing right and was set by Mr. Rose).

   • Each council member placed their commitment to stewardship services into the pool and removed a total of $10,000 USD (as prepayment) ($90,000 USD and $10,000 USD worth of vouchers remain in the pool).

3. Community Engagement and Education

   • Budget: $10,000

   • Details: To get everyone on board, Mr. Rose exchanged another $10,000 USD into the pool to remove the council members’ vouchers. Using these vouchers Mr. Rose pays the council to organize workshops and training sessions. These events explained the benefits and mechanics of the vouchers and commitment pool, building trust and excitement.

     • At these events the stewardship council worked with each business and family in the neighborhood to express common visions, their needs and develop their own offers. Each family listed the goods or services they could offer as vouchers, such as Mrs. Johnson's baked goods and Mr. Lee's handyman services.

     • Each voucher could be exchanged or sold directly and were also given a drawing right of $500 USD. (again they could exchange their unique vouchers for $500 USD out of the pool. These rights were awarded by the council.)

4. Buying Vouchers

   • Budget: $60,000

   • Details:

     • Exchanging vouchers in the pool for cash is like getting prepaid for your services. You get money while other people can now exchange their assets for your voucher in the pool and return it to you to get your services later.

     • After community members start using their drawing rights and exchanging their vouchers for USD in the pool there is now no more USD in the pool and it is full of $100,000 USD worth of vouchers.

     • Once these vouchers are in the pool Mr. Rose slowly exchanged more USD into the pool to pull out the vouchers he needed and spent them on services like home repair and groceries. Anyone holding the vouchers could exchange these again in the pool for USD or for other vouchers.

     • These initial exchanges helped kickstart the neighborhood's internal economy.

5. Reserve Fund for Voucher Exchange

   • Budget: $30,000

   • Details: A reserve fund ensured that vouchers could be redeemed for national currency if needed the voucher issuers could not accept them, adding a layer of security and confidence. Note that small exchange fees on the pool help to keep this fund available and support the stewardship council.

The Magic of Managing Commitment Pools on Get It

1. User Experience: When someone using Get-It finds something they need on the App, it automatically tells them if they have any credit they can use right then. The system automatically looks up if the user has any exchangeable vouchers or assets that can go into the pool to pull out the vouchers needed for payment.

2. Expiration System: To keep things moving, "Get It" implemented a expiration system where unused vouchers lost 2% of their value each month, encouraging active participation by effectively taxing hoarding.

3. Pricing: The stewardship council could vote to adjusted voucher pricing based on local conditions. If daycare services were in high demand, their pool exchange price could decrease, balancing the system and in some cases decoupling from USD market rates completely (let’s say if the national currency were to crash).

4. Governance and Oversight: The neighborhood council managed the system and resolved disputes. Over time, a democratically elected stewardship council took over, ensuring diverse and fair decision-making. Payment for these services came through exchange fees on the community pool.

5. Connecting to a network of pools: A nearby community creates their own pool on Get-It and because there are vouchers in common between he two pools - the two neighborhoods can also exchange with each other.

Building Trust

At first, neighbors were skeptical. But soon, they realized the power of "Get It." When Mrs. Rose needed her lawn mowed, she paid the Parker kids with vouchers. Mr. Lee traded his handyman services for Mrs. Johnson's cookies. This interdependence wove a web of mutual trust and cooperation - similar to how our ancestors managed their resources.

The Results Are In!

Six months in, it was time for a progress check. The results were impressive:

1. Voucher Circulation: $60,000 worth of vouchers had been exchanged, indicating high engagement.

2. National Currency Savings: Families saved an average of 30% on monthly expenses by using voucher to voucher exchanges.

3. Community Projects: Several projects were funded with pooled vouchers:

   • A community garden: $5,000 in vouchers

   • A new playground: $10,000 in vouchers

   • A neighborhood watch program: $3,000 in vouchers

Expanding the Horizons

With success under their belts, the community aimed to expand:

1. Increasing Offer and Wants Diversity: They introduced more services and goods into the system, including medical services and local business discounts.

2. Cross-Neighborhood Collaboration: They partnered with nearby neighborhoods, creating a larger network of pooled vouchers.

3. Ongoing Education: Continuous workshops ensured long-term participation and trust.

Still Don’t Get-It?!

What started as a simple idea transformed the neighborhood into a thriving, cooperative community. "Get It" didn’t just facilitate transactions; it revived ancient practices of mutual support and resource pooling.

By the end of the year, the neighborhood achieved a 45% reduction in the need for national currency, proving the power of community-driven economic systems.

While Mr. Rose’s generous endowment seeded the system, many of us could start similar systems in our own neighborhoods (self-seeding). The success of "Get It" underscores the importance of dedicated individuals or groups to kickstart these initiatives, paving the way for more resilient and interconnected communities.

So, what are you waiting for?

Go Get-It!

Oh wait - this app doesn’t exist yet 😕. I wish it did and was built on secure decentralized ledgers like Celo. Until then - here is Kenya we use simple feature phones with SMS and a basic website called Sarafu.Network - It’s not a fancy or pretty App (yet) - but people are getting it.

Get-It comes from a workshop to create a dream App - that was held in Mississippi in 2023 and hosted by Cooperation Jackson with participation from One Project, Grassroots Economics and the Foundation for Law and Governance from Kenya.

Before you reply with: “Have you seen XYZ or ABC app!?” Take a minute to read this intro and start to understand the Commitment Pooling Protocol to create a federated network of value exchange.