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tags: neighbourhoods
---

# A Human-centric Economy
*Or: Economics as if People Mattered*

Typically, we have leveraged material based economies to architect our societies, and organise ourselves. Agent-centric technologies are throwing up new possibilities, where we can define economics on the basis of Human Potential.

With traditional tech, people and their related communities have had to split their interactions across technological platforms and apps, being forced to adapt their requirements into the offerings made available to them.

'Neighbourhoods' flips this dynamic on its head. Agent-centric technologies allow communities to validate actions at peoples' end. This means validation rules and cultural landscapes can be designed specifically for a community, with a spectrum of generic technological tools built-in.

### In other words:
### Apps provide 'Specific tech and Generic Culture';
### Neighbourhoods provide 'Specific Culture + Generic tech'

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*(Side note: Apps are being thought of as manifestations of 'Businesses' in the tech realm)*

Apps exist to maximise efficiency (or monetary capital), and in doing so they enforce a generic culture upon it's users, or very little freedom to define their own culture and validation rules. (a)

On the contrary, each Neighbourhood only exists because a specific culture is being amplified, while monetary capital and goods may be generated/exchanged as a function of this culture.

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# Philosophical Underpinnings for 'Neighbourhoods'

[Rajni Bakshi](https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/mahatma-gandhi-150th-birth-anniversary-india-freedom-bapu-5383479/?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=WhatsappShare), a noted Gandhian author, highlights in her book 'Bazaars, Conversation and Freedom' the importance of commerce in society over the years. In it, she talks about the origins of 'Bazaars', or decentralised markets over a couple thousand years.

Paraphrasing on her behalf: "Economic Transactions were always part of society, but were cradled within social fabric (we negotiated aggressively with each other but were still bound to look after the same people in our communities). However, the rise of global trade has led to markets that are removed from society, leading to a homogenous force that is dominant above all else."

The challenge according to her lies in reintegrating society with markets (in other words, bringing back the 'Bazaar').

'Neighbourhoods' is this attempt. Reintegrating the movement of capital, goods and content within contextual guardrails. It is a marquee shift away from the open-bordered, hyper-global narrative of neoliberalism. However, it is not a move towards tribalism. In fact, we believe building contextual flows is exactly what prevents us from devolving into 'building walls'.

We achieve this by utilising a [Formal Economic Language for Reputation](https://sacred-capital.gitbook.io/sacred-capital/). Think of this as the 'Yin' that balances the 'Yang' i.e. capitalist systems, that have benefited from a formal economic language for monetary capital over the last 100 years.

# Building on Holochain

### DNAs for Apps


The typical implementation of a hApp involves using a specific DNA that validates transactions within an application. A community may engage with an application to fulfill some of it's needs. For eg: Economikit using HackMd for collaborative discussions, Reddit for sharing content, Co-makery for Governance (?) etc.

### DNAs for Neighbourhoods


However, in the case of Neighbourhoods, each community designs it's own validation logic, implemented through a DNA. Generic tools (tech + monetary + Reputational) called through micro-services hosted in distinct DNAs. The Reputation Vault defines an agents interactions within the DNA (more discussed later)

For eg, Economikit defines it's own validation logic for entry to the community, governance etc. The Reputation Vault allows members to import reputation into the community (based on this validation logic) in order to interact with others and access generic tools.

### A few examples of Neighbourhood implementations.


### Example of communities using the traditional App-based structure.


# The Reputation Vault


Agent-centric technologies allow individuals to port contexts from other communities into new ones. This process is enabled through [Sacred Capital's Reputation Staking protocol](https://sacred-capital.gitbook.io/sacred-capital/documentation/technical/reputation-interchange), where new communities design their culture by allowing indviduals to place 'reputation from other communities at stake'. The agent's consent/decline defines how they interact with others within this community.

We believe this staking mechanism can trigger 'contextual network effects' for reputation, which is critical in building economies based on human potential.

The Reputation Vault holds a record of consents given, guiding individual interactions within a community. It maintains co-ordinates for an individual on a social graph.

In other words, you could say the vault holds a record of wealth in the new economy, since it dictates the flow of capital, content and goods towards and away from you. What you have access to, is a function of your potential.

To read about early technological implementations of the Reputation Vault, click here: *[Discovery and Validation using Reputational Infrastructure.](https://hackmd.io/xQF9Lp9zRjaFExBH6QZGVQ?view)*

### To leave a comment, or follow the discussion, [go here](https://www.loomio.org/d/TxyPji3Q/vision-for-neighbourhoods-)

Credit to @pospi and [Economikit](https://economikit-alliance.github.io/) for helping shape the vision so far.