The Articles of Interpretation

Prologue:

The purpose of this dialogue and formulating these Articles at this time is to provide a common ground of agreement among potential members of the Renaissance Humanist Community. It is not necessary that we resolve every item of operation prior to forming the Community, nor should we. Much needs to be decided amongst the real membership and tested in living situations. These Articles are available on the Discussion Board of this website in Acrobat PDF format and we welcome comments and discussion entries under the topic "Community Organization".

Article 1.

Legal Structure

The community recognizes that it exists within the laws of the United States that place certain financial, economic, and social limits on our organization. It is our intent to locate a structure within which we can operate with minimal restrictions on our philosophical and moral principles.

1. Non Profit Corporation
   The community can take the form of a non-profit corporation and own property and have a membership which defines its purpose and operating procedures. Articles of Incorporation will be drafted to meet the minimum legal requirements and to fit within the appropriate tax code.
   
   
2. Tax Code 501(d).
   The IRS has a tax structure which was developed to cover religious organizations which produced products and services consumed by the membership and who are engaged in activity to promote it’s religious ideology however defined by the organization. This has been used by Twin Oaks Community over the past 30 years. Basically, total profits above the expenses of maintaining the membership’s needs, is divided by the total membership. This generally provides an advantageous tax structure since it reduces the per member income tax to a minimum. The community then assumes responsibility to pay any income tax that is due from each member. The Community does not pay taxes on any income that member’s might have from holdings that are defined as outside-accounts, not the property of the Community.

Article 2.

Financial Structure The Community recognizes that its membership has various and unequal assets and obligations prior to joining. It is the intent of the Community to formulate a member-community financial policy that effectively draws a line of distinction between Community financial policy and external financial relations. This will promote a policy that maximizes Liberty, Equality, & Fraternity within the Community with minimal demands regarding each member’s prior assets. Members with few prior assets and those who have more should function as equals within Community policy. Those with greater prior-assets should not have to feel they are “risking it all” in order to join. Outside of an initial new-membership-fee, which may be established from time to time depending on the financial needs of the Community and the burden of additional members, there is no obligation for a member to donate or loan any assets to the Community. Such assets retained by the member must be self funding, require minimum attention of the member to maintain, and in no way be used by the member except as allowed in these articles, such as while on vacation off the premises. Simply put, you can keep your yacht, your sports car, your second home, your mutual funds, your life insurance policy, etc. but just don’t use them in the Community unless you donate them under one of the provisions provided. Quite frankly, we feel the Community can stand on its own feet and most members will grow to want to increase their support and involvement as time passes.

1. Community Accounts.
   Four major accounts are set up to provide for Community operation.
   
   
   • Refundable Member Assets
     Also referred to as the “Benefactors Account”, this is so members wishing to assist the development of the Community with minimum risk can contribute money. This is primarily for major infrastructure projects, but the Community is not restricted in its use.
     
     (a) Upon leaving the Community, the member is repaid the total amount in increments of 10% per year. The member receives no interest or equity for this account. It is a method to help establish the Community without having to gift the money.
     
     (b) If the Community were to financially dissolve, then Members would be repaid up to their total amount as is possible after other Community debts are settled and before any other distribution of assets to the general membership or to a successor organization.
     
     (c) It may be decided that we set a future date, such as 10 years, for refunding part or all of the amount to the benefactor members without them having to leave the Community. If so, then it would go to their outside-accounts. Members could of course decline and leave the funds in the account for ongoing projects and expansion.
     
     
   • Donations
     Money donated from members’ outside accounts and from supporting contributors. These funds are gifted without interest, equity, or repayment. These may qualify as tax-exempt donations by the IRS. These donations may be for “Earmarked Projects”, such as the building of a concert hall or the experimental hydroponics garden. Donators can expect thanks and appreciation, but don’t expect to get your name on the building.
     
     
   • Loans & Investments
     These funds are loans covered by loan agreements with specifics for repayment and interest rate of return. If the Community needs funds for major expansion, industry development, revolving line of operating funds or whatever other reason it might wish to borrow money, then this can provide a means for investment by members outside-accounts and other supporting collaborators. The Community benefits because the rates are lower than borrowing from a bank and the investor benefits because the return would generally be better or equal to savings, money-market, or mutual fund investments. Plus the investment is going for a cause that the investor believes in.
     
     
   • General Fund
     This is the general fund for the operating budget and major projects. Money moves into this account by coming from the other accounts above, from membership-fees, and from Community industry income.
     
     
2. Member Financial Policy.
   The following sums up the major points by which we promote financial equality within the Community while co-existing with the issues of diverse pre-member assets, obligations, and other entanglements. This is a depressingly legalistic description due to the fact that it involves the point of interface between the Community and a harsh world of private property and litigation.
   
   
   • Assets & Income not contributed are not used in Community.
     If you have pre-existing assets and income from assets that you do not wish to place in one of the Community accounts as outlined in Article 1, Section 2, then these are considered as “outside accounts” and are not available for use in the community and the labor to maintain these assets should be kept to a minimum or handled when off premises on vacation. e.g. Someone has rental property that generates an income and has expenses and requires maintenance and attention. The best solution is to divest, the second best is to have an agency handle it for you. The income from it can pay the expenses and any profit stays in your outside-accounts. We realize this is not equality and we realize that this saps away one’s involvement in the success of the Community. None-the-less this is a tolerated compromise that also means that the Community does not have to deal with a large number of pre-existing financial entanglements such as alimony payments, expectations of relatives regarding wills and life insurance, etc. and it gives potential members an opportunity to adjust to Community life without having to make total-commitment type decisions.
     
     
   • Interference by Outside Accounts can call for revision of policy.
     If it is determined by the Community that outside accounts are causing major interference with the intent of Equality within the Community, then this will be reason to review and revise the policy.
     
     
   • Community makes no Claim on Outside Accounts.
     The Community makes no claim on a member’s specified pre-existing outside accounts or income from these accounts or from member’s wills or trusts.
     
     
   • Members make no Claim on Community Accounts.
     Except as specifically documented in relation to contributions to Community accounts as in Article 2, Section 1, members and member’s heirs make no claim to any property, physical, financial, intellectual, or artistic developing from member’s labor or activity while a member of the Community.
     
     
   • Specifics documented in Individual Membership Agreement.
     Each member individually signs a Membership Agreement that documents contributions to Community accounts as well as any special financial or property issues related to outside accounts. Married members each sign individual agreements. Any contribution or loan to a Community account by a couple is handled as two separate individual agreements and if either spouse were to leave the Community without the other, then only that person’s agreement would be effected.
     
     
   • Personal Property in the Community.
     A common sense approach to equality is used in regards to individual personal items owned prior to joining. Small items like books, computers, stereos, clothing, etc are treated as your personal use items. Larger items such as machine tools, cars, boats, trailers, etc should either be left off premises and only accessed when away on vacation or donated for Community use as per an agreement with the Community as to maintenance and return upon leaving. Do not expect any special privileges for use of these types of items.

Article 3.

Governance – Policy & Planning
Ninety percent of the “democratic” governmental structures developed by the founders of our republic serve to protect the population from the extremes of inequity of power. This inequity of power was not only the British oligarchy, but was actually built into and preserved within the capitalist form of private property rights and in the inequities of the overlaid financial monetarist system. We are defining a new governance structure by starting simply from the standpoint of a more complete sense of social and economic equality of all citizens. There will be lots of individual preferences and opinions, but by and large there will be no way to force or influence one’s will except through argument, discussion, analysis and, if need be, voting. Governance finally comes down to deciding what we want to get done and a method for implementing it, evaluating the results, and modifying our actions accordingly. A managerial system of operation is proposed with a planning committee as general coordinators. Some simple rules that follow from our egalitarian Constitution are as follows:

1. Planner – Manager System
   Governance is guided by the Constitution, specified by these Articles and implemented through a Planner-Manager system with input and veto power by the membership.
   
   
2. Board of Planners
   
   
   • Duties
     Develop, monitor, and revise the general production plan. Responsible for overall policy decisions. Appoint and replace Sector Managers. Coordinate Sector integration.
     
     
   • Board Membership
     Minimum of 3 members for 2 year term. Planners recommend successor members, who can be re-appointed. 30% of Membership can recall a Planner. Any Member can apply. Receive 1 /hr for planning and meeting activity up to maximum of ½ labor quota. Public meetings are held once monthly. Any member can meet with the Planners at any time and 20% of the members can force a public meeting to be held on a specific topic. Of course anyone can call a meeting anytime to discuss anything with anyone who will show up, but if requested by 20% of the membership, then the Planners and relevant Managers must participate.
     
     
3. Sector Managers
   
   
   • Duties
     Develop, monitor, revise the plan for the Sector that they manage. Sectors are all of the different areas of Community labor and activity such as food, buildings, health, education, culture, recreation, utilities, grounds, transportation, clothing, and the various industries. Managers train and organize workers that sign up for tasks. Managers are expected to become broadly educated in relevant issues, in contact with others in the field, and promote discussion as to ways to improve the General Welfare of not only the members working in the sector, but all members and in collaboration with other sector managers.
     
     
   • Managership
     Anyone can apply. Managers volunteer for the job and submit a public plan for their sector. Planners recommend a candidate and at the next public session discussion is heard. The Planners appoint a manager for a 1 year term. Managers can be re-appointed. 30% of Membership can reject or recall a Manager at any time. Managers receive 1 /hr for managerial activity up to a maximum of ¼ labor quota. Each Manager must work ¼ labor quota in their sector to ensure ongoing first hand involvement and experience with the issues involved. Each Manager must work ¼ labor quota outside their sector to ensure a continued broad exposure to other areas. Managers of all areas are frequently involved in cross-sector discussions for the general improvement of the General Welfare as a whole.
     
     
4. Comments
   
   
   • Regarding Participation.
     We realize that many people who come from grass-roots organizing backgrounds or various democratic movements will at first glance take this as insufficiently participatory. Unlike societies composed of competing constituency groups where each has to constantly battle for their piece of the pie as disenfranchised citizens, we are generally free to get on with government being about coming up with solutions to providing for an ever increasing level of life benefiting the General Welfare of the population. We are interested in getting things done without a lot of overburdened governance in the usual political sense of the term. If you are looking for safeguards, then we provide a society of full public disclosure and lots of creative discourse on solutions and an emphasis on how success is monitored and provide a low percentage point whereby members can reject decisions that they really don’t like.
     
     
   • Regarding Voting.
     In societies which have gross economic and social inequality, the act of voting is often held in high respect as proof of “democracy”. Once we strip away the inequalities of power, then voting actually represents the final expedient for making a decision when discussion and thought find no common ground among the population. If scientists voted on the validity of theories and doctors voted on what they wanted the diagnosis to be, no one would be exactly thrilled with the approach. In regards to when voting does occur, it is interesting that all of the problems of voter fraud and the much discussed issues of electronic ballots and paper trails actually disappear if you remove the need for the secret ballot. After all, shouldn’t an individual who expects her opinion to be counted toward determining someone else’s life be at least willing to take responsibility for that opinion? This would be obvious if it weren’t for the protection from inequity of power that the secret ballot was implemented to provide. Voting is done by all members and the tally with the name of the voter is public record. Similar to the voting record of any member of the US Senate, just think of our members as all being Senators, each responsible to the other members for the implications of their vote.

Article 4.

Membership

1. Becoming a Member
   Each potential member visits the Community and applies for trial membership which lasts a reasonable adjustment period currently set at 2 months. A Membership Committee approves, rejects, or perhaps recommends a longer trial, all with input from concerned members and the applicant. The idea is to ensure that the new member knows what e is getting into and the membership has input regarding situations of gross incompatibility. The Membership Committee also bears the burden of ensuring that member prejudice does not guide our admissions policy and a reasonably large percentage of popular dissent should be required to reject membership to someone who otherwise is in agreement with our policies and philosophy in action and deeds. The Community is not an exclusive “country club”. Each applicant signs a Membership Agreement that indicates both knowledge of and agreement to the Constitution and the Articles of Interpretation. The Agreement also includes any additional agreements with the Community regarding financial arrangements, outside accounts, and large property items. Married couples sign individual agreements with the Community.
   
   
2. Leaving
   
   
   • Sabbaticals
     There should be a provision for sabbaticals, such that a member can leave the Community in good standing for a stated period of time with plans to return as a full member. This can be arranged by request and Planner approval and lack of 30% Membership rejection of the plan.
     
     
   • Resigning Membership Voluntarily
     The member gives notice to the Membership Committee and a time period is set for leaving. Arrangements are made regarding any Refundable Member Assets payments and scheduling. The member gives up any voting rights during the period of preparing to leave.
     
     
   • Community Terminates Membership
     The Community can terminate a membership due to violation of policies, attempts to harm the Community, violence to other members, and by a 60% membership vote to terminate the membership due to behavior. Membership can also be terminated due to external actions arising which prohibit the member from active participation such as being convicted of a crime. These acts, in and of themselves, do not require the Community to terminate a membership. The Community takes termination of membership very seriously and resorts to it only after an extensive process of addressing the relevant issues with the member has failed.
     
     
   • Visitors
     The Community provides a policy for having Visitors which allows people to come for short or extended periods to participate in the Community as a working, non-voting, participant. We intend to provide Visitor lodging facilities for this. The Membership Committee will propose specific policies and provide the liaison for Visitors.
     
     
   • Guests of Members
     Visiting family or friends can be accommodated for short term periods without having a labor quota obligation. Visitor facilities are also available for these guests if desired.

Article 5.

Equality of Labor

The Community takes seriously the issue of equality of labor, both in terms of quantity, quality, and openness to any member to participate in any job desired. We will maximize the availability of all jobs to all members based on member request, flexible job assignment, and access to training. We also take seriously the plan to reduce undesirable labor tasks to a minimum and provide for the 4-Hour Day or 20 hour work week as a desirable goal in our production planning.

A Labor Credit system is used to distribute tasks such that undesirable jobs have a higher per-hour value for meeting quota and desirable jobs have a lower value. The process is as follows.

1. Based on the current economic plan, the Labor Committee coordinates with the Sector Managers to draw up a monthly job list and members then sign up for any combination of tasks they desire to meet their equal share of the labor quota.
   
   
2. Each new task on the system is assigned a Labor Credit (symbol ) value starting at 1 per hour. Those tasks which find no volunteers and are deemed less desirable are increased in value by 10% and placed on the signup again. Through this process, those members willing to do the less desirable jobs have less overall hours to fill their quota. The value of a job has no bearing on distribution of goods and services. The is not money, but rather a method of equalizing jobs which vary in desirability such that if you do the unpleasant jobs then you work less hours. If you do an easy or fun job, then you do more of it to meet quota.
   
   
3. The Labor Committee and Sector Managers will always be alert to jobs whose value is over 1.5 and these jobs will be evaluated as to how to eliminate or modify them since we believe that if a task is so disagreeable to everyone, then society should reassess its value or provide creative solutions to change its nature.
   
   
4. Members wishing to sign up for a task for which they are unskilled will be able to sign up at a training value. We want to encourage broad knowledge, skill, and familiarity among the entire membership with every aspect of Community production and service. Not only does this generate a greater degree of knowledge and understanding of what the implications are of certain policies, but it also means that the Community benefits from the broader source of potential creative problem solvers.
   
   
5. References to “Labor” or “Production” should also be understood to include all of the activities and services that the Community provides for its members or undertakes as Community projects. This includes education, the arts, and our proselytizing activities. This means that Labor Credits would be available for teaching, performing, research on Global Solution projects, seminars, and any activities that the Community wishes to ensure are undertaken outside of whatever is done simply as hobbies and personal pleasures.

Article 6.

Equality of Distribution

With an economy that does not depend on ever increasing consumer purchasing to avoid collapse, the Community will focus on providing for the welfare and pleasure of its membership while at the same time reducing the labor requirements to do so. The Community plans to produce within the 4-hour day (20-hour week), the necessary production, services, and funds to provide all of its members with the following basic benefits:

1. All Community infrastructure, utilities, and maintenance to support water, power, sewage, communications, internet, and lots of beautiful grounds, parks, and woods.
   
   
2. Housing for couples and singles in an integrated style within the overall Community plan. Units to include kitchenette facilities, bedroom, bathroom, and sitting room. Each member to have a room either part of residence or elsewhere for studio/office/study or other personal use.
   
   
3. Health coverage, including dental, vision, and medicine.
   
   
4. Food and preparation available in Community restaurants as well as items which members might wish to prepare in their residences.
   
   
5. Clothing, maintenance, and laundering.
   
   
6. Household utilities, maintenance, appliances.
   
   
7. Use of automotive fleet for vacation and off Community travel.
   
   
8. Items and supplies to support creation of art, music, sculpture, carpentry and other artistic and craft pursuits including access to instruments and tools.
   
   
9. Common buildings and facilities for meetings, performances, study, education, theater.

Personal Allowance:

While the Community intends to constantly be increasing and improving on the availability of items and services for the Membership as a whole, we realize that there are many smaller items of personal use and preference that are more conveniently left up to individual purchase. For these items, the Community will allocate an equal allowance given to each Member for this purpose. The allowance can also be used to spend when taking vacations off the Community property as well. The personal allowance is not meant to create a sub-economy of trade within the Community. Currently the amount proposed per Member is $200/month.

 

- END -