One of the biggest misunderstandings of the time and culture we live in is the way we understand, respond to, and relate to what freedom really is.
Many of us believe that we are free: that we can do what we want, think what we want, say what we want, and be what we want.
Yet we all live under rules that must be followed – rules which few would deny are becoming more intrusive, more prescriptive, and increasingly powerful in the consequences they impose if we fail to use our “freedom” in the way someone else has dictated it must be perceived and lived.
The Everyday Policing of Speech
Some reading this may respond with something like “Tell me something I don’t know.” And that would be fair enough, given the growing body of anecdotal evidence confirming that freedom of speech is not what it seems.
Almost everyone we might consider “ordinary” – those without an agenda, simply wishing to get on with their lives – now finds themselves policing their own relationships and interactions with the outside world.
Speaking truths rooted in common sense, or even in the way things have always been, increasingly risks offending those who demand the world operate according to their own design.
The Marginalisation of Independent Thought
Even reflecting on what is, at best, the marginalisation of independent thinking – and at worst, the steady criminalisation of individual thought – opens up a maze of debates.
These debates inflame questions about the role, scope, and power of groupthink, and how establishment narratives are not only shaping, but increasingly dictating blueprints for how everyone must live their lives.
Encroachment by the Establishment
To believe we are free in a world, country, and culture where the establishment seeks not merely to encroach but to manage every part of life is alarming enough.
Yet it becomes even more disturbing when we recognise that these restrictions and attacks on freedom are not created for the common good, but to benefit someone else.
The Role of Money as Gatekeeper to Life, Peace, Happiness and Freedom that is Governed by Someone and Something Else
Freedom Defined by Money, Not Ourselves
Yes, we are already in a fight for those freedoms outlined above.
The fight is increasingly hard because a division has already been created between what we believe freedom is, and what we believe we already know it to be – which itself isn’t what we are experiencing.
That we continually look outside of ourselves for validation should make sense, because when we think about the difference between what we imagine freedom to be – doing whatever we want – and what society actually allows us to do, shaped by those who create the narratives that control society, we quickly begin to see that there is a significant difference involved.
The Manipulation of Meaning
Creating circumstances where somebody can change the meaning of something so that a word comes to mean something very different from what we know it to be could never happen in an environment where people are confident in who they are, their communities, their culture, and what it ultimately means just to be themselves.
We have now reached the point where even the term common sense is being brought into question, sometimes considered offensive or demeaning.
This is because the fundamental basics of life – the value set that upholds the framework for a good life – have been replaced by a system that places money at the heart of everything.
Money at the Centre of Every Choice
Money has become so ingrained in every part of life that, without even questioning our motives, it dictates the decisions and choices we make.
Everything in life is based on what we can afford, earn, save, accumulate, or the cost and risk of cost.
Jobs are about what we earn now and in the future. Insurance is about betting against risk. Education is about securing a career that pays more than a working wage. The house we live in depends on the mortgage and deposit we can save or borrow. What we own depends on money already earned or borrowed. Holidays depend on savings or loans. Cars depend on leases or borrowing, unless bought outright.
Contracts Before Basic Essentials
It doesn’t matter who we are or what we earn. The world now requires us to sign up, subscribe, or rent services and products we once simply bought.
These arrangements are backed by contracts that must be paid before any income can be considered disposable.
Only food and basic essentials remain in the realm of pay-as-you-go – and even those are increasingly tied to credit cards, buy-now-pay-later schemes, or payday loans.
Judgement Through Wealth and Appearance
We judge people by their appearance, their property, their clothes, or their transport – signals of “who the world tells us they are.” And when we consider how much future earnings and financial security matter, even ordinary people outside the elites evaluate partners and marriage commitments based on what a potential partner can afford.
The Private Turmoil of Dependence
Few can see just how powerful, overwhelming, and controlling money has become.
Fewer still talk about it comprehensively.
Yet the reality is that what we do, what we have, how we are perceived, and whether we are accepted or rejected all revolves around money.
This leaves us in private turmoil and pain – what some might call or know as hell – because parts of life, or what is respected as life today, are cut off or restricted by money’s role.
The System’s Sick Success
This system is not natural. It has been deliberately created for the benefit of those who already have much more than they will ever need.
Its success lies in convincing the masses that freedom and status are directly proportional to wealth.
Meanwhile, the mechanics of the system ensure that resources flow away from those who have every right to them, leaving them dependent on credit and enslaved by debt.
In return, people have unwittingly surrendered property, ownership, and the peace of mind that comes only from self-sufficiency.
Fear as the Final Driver
Everything in life is driven by money – or more precisely, by the fear of not having it.
Everyone, at every level, makes decisions and behaves according to financial implications.
When people or businesses are pushed into dependence on external finance, even reason itself is abandoned. Questions of viability or self-sufficiency are ignored, as survival becomes the only priority.
When this mindset dominates, it doesn’t matter who someone is or what position they hold. They become vulnerable to the power and control of whoever influences what happens next.
This is the world we live in today. The plans, strategies, and changes overtaking life – many of which defy common sense – have taken hold because someone, somewhere, intended and created it to be this way.
This Is by Design
Where this all becomes difficult to accept is in recognising that nothing about the journey which has brought the world to this point is accidental.
It is by design.
The reason is simple: people who know they are free, cannot be controlled.
Freedom Cannot Be Controlled
If people cannot be controlled, they will not accept, take part in, or contribute to a system that is stripping away everything from them.
Everything that should, and always will, remain naturally theirs.
The Drive to Own and Control
Those who want more – who want to control more, own more, and take everything from everyone else – cannot succeed unless they first control people themselves.
They cannot take everything away unless they make the process appear legitimate.
Control must come first, because without it, the system suffocates and then collapses, under the weight of its own injustice.
Freedom Does Not Look Like This
Because most of us are not physically imprisoned and we face each day with choices that seem to be ours, many believe we are free and living free lives.
However, what we are experiencing – where we are coerced by narratives, advertising, groupthink, the media, and even the “free-minded” influencers we follow online to keep up – is not freedom at all.
Coercion Disguised as Choice
Beyond the natural requirement to meet the basic and essential needs of maintaining human life, anything that influences our behaviour or sets frameworks for “acceptable” choices is not freedom.
It is an infringement upon freedom.
At its most basic level, it is simply doing what we are told.
Money as the Measure of Freedom
Because of the way the money system has been designed, people believe they are free if they have enough money to do what they want or to buy what they think will meet their needs, as the system suggests them to be.
But money has become the value itself – rather than the work, the products, the property, the services, or the people involved.
We now believe we can only have anything, whether it is to meet needs or wants, if we have or can obtain the money to pay for it – and that these things are all the same.
Our freedom is dictated entirely by our relationship with money.
The Illusion of Value
If money were as real as we believe it to be, the value of the money in our pockets or the salary we earn would not reduce without us doing anything that changes anything.
Yet it does.
And the value of our money changes, because money is under someone else’s control.
The game, or rather the whole deck of life, is stacked in someone else’s favour.
The Mathematics of Decline
In the UK, inflation typically reduces the value of the £Pound by 2–3% each year.
This means prices rise, and your money buys less over time.
Inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
If inflation is 3%, £100 today will buy only what £97 did a year ago.
The effect compounds: after 5 years at 3% inflation, £100 is worth about £85.87 in real terms.
Year
Real Value (£100 Start)
0
£100.00
1
£97.00
2
£94.09
3
£91.27
4
£88.53
5
£85.87
To keep up, your income must rise at least as fast as inflation. Otherwise, your purchasing power declines each year. And in truth, when we look more closely at the figures against what it costs to buy the things that we rally need, inflation seems to be putting those prices up a whole lot more.
Running to Stand Still (Revised)
Because inflation in the UK typically reduces the value of the £Pound by at least 2–3% each year, you must increase your income by at least this amount just to maintain your current standard of living.
The effect compounds: after five years at 3% inflation, £100 is worth only about £85.87 in real terms.
This means you are running uphill simply to stay in the same place.
Of course, this is assuming the official rate of inflation is accurate – if the real rate is higher, the decline in purchasing power is even greater.
It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way – The Alternative Is The Basic Living Standard and an economy that puts People First
Because money sits at the heart of everything in life, very few of us can visualise a way of living that works differently. And as we’ve already discussed, you aren’t supposed to – because this is how you come to believe you are free, when in fact you have been enslaved.
Its genius lies in the way it convinces people to participate in, and even further, the very crime being committed against themselves.
In this system, money is the only god. But it is not benevolent or caring.
It is unjust, unfair, and strikes no balance when it comes to equity, equality, or what is good for mankind.
Two Masters Cannot Be Served
Man cannot have two masters.
For as long as money and the money system remain the only god, people, community, the environment, and basic human values will never be what life is truly about.
The system is designed to keep us dependent, fearful, and compliant. Whilst it slowly takes or destroys everything that is genuinely important and of value to us all.
The Alternative: The Basic Living Standard
There is an alternative. And although it may sound radical to suggest that one rule changes everything, the truth is that a future awaits where real freedom is not only possible for some, but becomes the way of the world for all.
The Basic Living Standard (BLS) is that rule.
It guarantees that everyone’s essential needs – food, shelter, energy, water, clothing, healthcare, and the means to participate in society – are met.
It is not charity, welfare, or a handout. It is a universal right, paired with universal responsibility.
Real Freedom Through Self-Sustainability
By meeting everyone’s basic and essential needs, the BLS creates the foundation for self-sustainability and genuine freedom.
It dismantles the false god of money by ensuring that survival is no longer dependent on debt, wages, or exploitation.
This is the only way to achieve real freedom: freedom to think, freedom to do, freedom to be, and personal sovereignty that gives peace to all.
What Financial Freedom Is and What It Means
The simple difference between the world that is destroying us and the world we need is this principle: We should only take what we need to meet our basic and essential needs, and reject completely the idea that there is anything good in accumulation, control, or influence beyond that.
No person or organisation should have the right hold or control any more than they need for themselves or those they have direct and meaningful responsibility for.
Abundance
Natural abundance is the state of having our basic needs met and knowing they will continue to be met through our contribution and work – without interference or control from others.
Yet what we have come to believe abundance to be is wholly manufactured. It equates to accumulating, owning, and controlling as much as possible, regardless of the cost to others or to the environment.
When we recognise that true abundance is simply safety, security, health, happiness, and the basics that sustain them, we will also understand that these are the real foundations of inner peace. And peace is what abundance is really all about.
The Peace to Relax
Think carefully about how you feel when you no longer have to worry about what you will earn, borrow, or buy; how people will judge your clothes or job title; or anything else that creates fear of loss, anxiety about the future, or depression about what you think you may have already lost.
Yes, life has its own natural anxieties – relationships, health, and personal challenges.
But these are not manufactured to benefit someone else or a system that exploits us in every conceivable way.
When you have natural peace – because you are not in a constant race to keep up (while condemned to fall behind unless you add more than 3% value to your financial ‘worth’ each year) – if you are not already too far behind – you begin to see life through an entirely different lens.
Freedom to Think
When we have the freedom to think, we have the freedom to learn what life is really about.
We can be open to joys and pleasures that appear too simple or meaningless when we are trapped in pursuit of someone else’s agenda.
These joys hold value and meaning that help us grow into the human beings we truly are.
With this level of freedom, we see life’s mechanisms and systems in a healthier way.
Our expectations become simple. We develop patience with others and understand that we are not defined by what we have or earn, but by how we treat and respect others – even when there is no advantage to gain.
Freedom brings the ability to experience natural joy, not happiness sanctioned by someone else’s criteria.
It allows us to make and learn from mistakes, seeing them as value rather than cost – a perspective denied by the money-centric world.
Personal Sovereignty
Freedom on this level opens the door for us to be exactly who we are meant to be.
It facilitates personal sovereignty – the ability to make real, independent, and meaningful choices that affect only us, without fear of consequences from outside of ourselves.
This sovereignty exists beyond the participation and contribution required of us within the community to do our part, ensuring that everyone’s basic and essential needs are met.
It is the balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility, and it is the essence of financial freedom.
The Framework for a People-Centred Life
The Basic Living Standard is the formulaic basis of the life we all need.
It guarantees that everyone has access to everything necessary to meet their basic and essential needs, in return for each person contributing through work and activity to ensure that every necessary process – and yes, every business – is completed so that everyone’s needs are met.
Businesses That Serve Needs, Not Greed
The entire system revolves around this formula.
Businesses and organisations exist only where a basic or essential need must be met.
They never grow beyond the size necessary to serve the community in which they are located and involved.
This ensures that the purpose of business is not accumulation or profit, but service to people and the environment.
Technology as Support, Not Replacement
In this system, people are supported and aided — but not replaced — by technology and AI. The need for human contribution remains central, because participation is not about money or profit. It is about people, community, and the environment around which our lives revolve, and the experiences we share together.
The Same Rules Must Apply to Everyone
For fairness, balance, and justice to exist, the same rules must apply to all.
Part of the human condition is the instinct to survive – an instinct that quickly evolves into selfishness.
It drives us to use any advantage, whether through opportunity or design, to take more, hold more, or obtain power over more than we actually need.
We often justify this behaviour by believing it makes us special compared to others, or by using it to visibly demonstrate superiority.
Survival Instinct vs. Shared Responsibility
Yes, it can be argued that this is how humanity naturally behaves.
But just because it appears to be the default response to fear of lack, it does not mean it is right.
When there is enough of everything for everyone, and when we have the knowledge and understanding to build and manage a world that works for all – as we now have, the pursuit of excess is neither natural nor justified.
The True Depth of the Basic Living Standard
In this sense, the Basic Living Standard is not just a benchmark or guarantee of dignity and financial independence.
It is also a framework that requires everyone and everything to function with its principles in mind.
Every process, system, and mechanism must flow from and to its implementation.
The BLS is not simply about meeting needs – it is about ensuring that the way society operates is aligned with fairness and responsibility.
No Special Rules, No Hierarchies, No Excerptions
There can be no special rules for anyone. No exceptions or hierarchies where some hold more power or influence than others. No materially based differences that allow one person to be perceived as fundamentally different from another.
Only when everyone and everything plays by these basic but essential rules, can the integrity of the system be assured.
Integrity Between Person, Community, and Environment
Ultimately, it is the integrity of the relationship between person, community, and environment that must be protected.
This integrity ensures that fairness is not just an ideal, but a lived reality – one that sustains balance and justice for all.
The Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS)
The Local Economy & Governance System offers the framework and societal structure that enables the Basic Living Standard to function.
It ensures that everyone can thrive and enjoy the freedom to think, to be, and to do – the personal sovereignty that guarantees peace for all.
A Human Economy
LEGS is a human economy.
Everyone who can, works or contributes, and contribution replaces currency as the foundation of exchange.
This means that the value of each person’s effort is measured not in money, but in the way it sustains people, community and the environment.
The End of Inequality
Most of the social issues we experience today are the effects of inequality – wealth inequality, social inequality, and the distortions created by a money-centric system.
In LEGS, these issues disappear. They no longer exist because the system is built on fairness and the natural law of cause and effect: when everyone contributes and takes fairly, everyone’s needs are met.
Businesses That Serve Communities
As described in the Basic Living Standard framework, businesses and organisations exist only to meet essential needs.
They remain the size necessary to serve their communities, never expanding into monopolies or profit-driven empires.
This ensures that resources are not hoarded, and that abundance is measured by access, not accumulation.
Technology as a Partner, Not a Master
Technology and AI support people but do not replace them.
The purpose of contribution is not profit, but participation.
Work is about sustaining life, community, and environment – not about chasing growth or accumulation.
In this way, LEGS ensures that human dignity and responsibility remain at the centre of society.
A System Built for People
The Basic Living Standard cannot work within the collapsing money-centric system that we have today.
It requires a new foundation – and LEGS provides that foundation.
By reorienting governance and economy around people, community, and environment, LEGS makes possible a society where freedom is real, sovereignty is respected, and peace is shared.
Benefits of the Basic Living Standard and LEGS
The benefits of the Basic Living Standard (BLS) and the Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS) are wide-ranging.
They work not only at the individual level, but also across communities and the environment.
Together, they create a framework where fairness, responsibility, and sustainability replace fear, inequality, and exploitation.
Reducing Crime
When everyone’s essential needs are guaranteed, desperation disappears.
Crime rooted in poverty, scarcity, or inequality declines because survival is no longer at stake.
Contentment and Peace of Mind
True abundance is not accumulation, but having enough.
By ensuring that everyone has what they need, BLS and LEGS foster contentment.
People are free to live without constant anxiety about money, status, or survival, creating peace of mind and stability across society.
Removing the Mental Health Crisis
Much of today’s mental health crisis is driven by insecurity, debt, and the relentless pressure to “keep up.”
With BLS, those pressures dissolve. Freedom to think, be, and do allows people to experience natural joy, rather than manufactured happiness tied to wealth or possessions.
Ending the Benefits Problem
The current welfare system is built on dependency and stigma.
BLS replaces this with a universal guarantee: everyone has what they need, and everyone contributes what they can.
This ends the cycle of benefits, bureaucracy, and inequality, creating dignity and independence for all.
Sustainable Living and the End of Overuse
Because businesses under LEGS exist only to meet essential needs, they never grow beyond the size and capacity required by the communities they serve.
This prevents monopolies, overproduction, and exploitation of resources.
Communities consume sustainably, and the environment is protected.
Work and Contribution as Valid Beyond Pay
Contribution replaces currency. Work is valued not by wages, but by its role in sustaining the community.
Whether paid or not, every contribution matters – from caring for others to maintaining essential services.
Valuing Every Kind of Work
In a system where survival is guaranteed, people see the value in every kind of work.
No job is “beneath” anyone, because all jobs contribute to sustaining life.
Happiness in Any Role
People become happy and content to do any kind of job, because work is no longer about survival or status.
It is about contribution, community, and purpose.
Experience as a Shared Tool
Life experience itself becomes valued as a tool for the benefit of all.
Wisdom, skills, and lessons learned are shared within communities, enriching collective wellbeing.
Care Rooted in Community
Care for those who may be too young, too old or unable to contribute for any other reason is carried out by members of the community who are best able, and who still receive what they need to meet their basic and essential needs.
This ensures that care is not commodified or dependent on profit, but is a natural part of community life.
A System That Benefits All
The benefits of BLS and LEGS extend beyond individuals.
They strengthen communities, restore dignity to work, protect the environment, and create peace of mind.
By removing scarcity, inequality, and fear, they build a society where freedom, sovereignty, and justice are not privileges, but universal realities.
Life Beyond Survival
Freedom Creates Time for Life
When freedom and personal sovereignty are real — when the compulsion to “keep up” is gone – something remarkable happens. Time and space open up.
Social activities, sports, and hobbies stop being luxuries or calculated uses of “spare” time that isn’t really spare at all. They become normal parts of everyday life.
The Basic Living Standard and LEGS make this possible by removing the constant pressure of survival and competition.
Instead of chasing money or status, people can invest their energy in pursuits that bring joy, health, and connection.
Communities thrive when individuals have the freedom to play, to create, and to participate in activities that enrich life rather than drain it.
Yet the greatest gift of this freedom is not only the chance to do more, but the chance to be more.
With peace of mind and comfort secured, people gain the space to think differently and expansively about who they are and what their existence really means.
Freed from fear and scarcity, we can explore our true selves, discover new perspectives, and embrace the human experience in full.
Rediscovering Real Relationships
Equally important is the refocusing and repurposing of face-to-face, in-person, real-life relationships.
In the money-centric system, digital interactions and transactional exchanges have all too often replaced genuine human connection. But under the Basic Living Standard, relationships regain their rightful place at the centre of life.
The priceless social skills and social learning that come from real-world interaction equip every person for a happy, healthy life.
They foster empathy, cooperation, and understanding – qualities that cannot be replicated by algorithms or screens.
When survival is guaranteed and competition is replaced by contribution, people are free to build communities rooted in trust and shared experience.
This is not just a benefit of the system; it is its very purpose.
Human beings are not data points or consumers. We are social creatures, and our wellbeing depends on the strength of our relationships.
Conclusion: A Future Built on Real Freedom
The journey through this essay has shown that what we call freedom today is little more than an illusion.
Rules, narratives, and the money system have combined to create a world where survival is dictated by fear, debt, and inequality.
Yet this system is not natural – it is by design, and it benefits only those who already have more than they will ever need.
The Basic Living Standard and the Local Economy & Governance System offer a different path.
Together, they dismantle the false god of money and replace it with a framework built on fairness, contribution, and sustainability.
They guarantee that everyone’s essential needs are met, that businesses serve communities rather than greed, and that technology supports rather than replaces people.
The benefits of this transformation are not limited to crime reduction, mental health, or dignity in work. They reach far wider – across personal wellbeing, community strength, and environmental sustainability.
They reshape how we understand abundance, how we value relationships, and how we live in balance with the world around us.
They restore the integrity of the relationship between person, community, and environment, ensuring that freedom is not just an individual experience but a shared reality.
Beyond these practical gains, BLS and LEGS deliver something even greater – the freedom to live fully.
Time for hobbies, sports, and social activities becomes normal, not a luxury. Real relationships are rediscovered, and the social skills that equip us for happy, healthy lives are restored.
This is not utopia. It is a practical, people‑centred system that aligns with the natural law of cause and effect: when everyone contributes, everyone’s needs are met.
It is a vision of a world where freedom is not defined by money, but by sovereignty; where justice is not a privilege, but a universal reality; and where peace is not manufactured, but lived.
The choice before us is simple. We can continue down the path of fear, inequality, and exploitation and the destruction of humanity that it guarantees. Or we can embrace the Basic Living Standard and LEGS, and build a future where freedom, fairness, and community are the foundations of life.
The Basic Living Standard and LEGS create a human economy, where balance, fairness, and justice underpin life. They place people before money, with priorities fixed upon community and environment. The BLS is the simple benchmark rule — the rule of all rules – upon which all systems of trade and commerce are aligned. By recognising abundance in its natural form, where everyone has enough to meet their needs but not their wants, the dynamics of life are transformed. Every need beyond the tangible can then be met, because peace, freedom, and personal sovereignty flow from financial independence. This is what allows each of us to enjoy and learn from the human experience in full.
Glossary of Key Terms
Basic Living Standard (BLS): A universal framework that guarantees everyone’s essential needs—such as food, shelter, energy, water, clothing, healthcare, and the means to participate in society—are met. It is not charity or welfare, but a right paired with responsibility.
Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS): A proposed societal structure that replaces currency with contribution, ensuring that the value of each person’s effort is measured by its impact on people, community, and environment. LEGS supports the BLS and aims to eliminate inequality and exploitation.
Personal Sovereignty: The ability to make real, independent, and meaningful choices that affect only oneself, without fear of external consequences. It is the balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility.
Contribution Economy: An economic system where work and participation are valued by their role in sustaining the community, not by monetary reward. Contribution replaces currency as the foundation of exchange.
Universal Rights and Responsibilities: The principle that everyone has the right to have their basic needs met, and the responsibility to contribute to the wellbeing of the community so that others’ needs are also met.
Abundance (Natural): A state where basic needs are met and will continue to be met through contribution and work, without interference or control from others. True abundance is defined by safety, security, health, and happiness—not accumulation or control.
Money-Centric System (Moneyocracy): A societal structure where money is at the heart of every decision, relationship, and opportunity, often leading to inequality, dependence, and loss of freedom.
Groupthink: The tendency for collective narratives or establishment views to shape and dictate how individuals think and behave, often at the expense of independent thought and personal freedom.
Self-Sustainability: The ability for individuals and communities to meet their own basic needs without reliance on debt, wages, or exploitation. It is a foundation for genuine freedom.
Universal Guarantee: A commitment that everyone’s essential needs will be met, removing the stigma and dependency associated with traditional welfare systems.
Further Reading:
To help deepen understanding of the ideas behind the Basic Living Standard (BLS) and the Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS), the following resources are grouped by theme.
This structure will help you explore the foundational critiques, proposed solutions, mindset shifts, economic mechanisms, and personal perspectives that underpin the vision for a fairer, people-centred society.
Each link includes a brief summary to guide your reading.
The Basic Living Standard Explained Introduces the BLS framework, guaranteeing everyone’s essential needs are met, and explains how it differs from charity or welfare by emphasizing universal rights and responsibilities. https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/10/24/the-basic-living-standard-explained/
There is growing disquiet, fear, and quiet concern about the turbulence we are experiencing in the world, alongside a deep, intrinsic sense that nothing is as it should be – and that it will never be the same again.
Yet at the heart of this unsettling feeling lies confusion. The prevailing narratives insist that with AI now here, and the technology it commands about to permeate every conceivable part of our lives, humanity should be grateful.
We are told we stand on the cusp of a new age, where surrendering to AI will deliver a dream life unlike anything mankind has ever known.
Some are already suspicious, beginning to question what the rollout of this digital revolution will truly mean.
Others believe the only way to progress – or to feel in control of either the real or digital worlds – is to recapture what they perceive as the “good times,” attempting to fix everything as if it were possible to freeze life and live forever in a single moment of the past.
Uncomfortable as it may be, the time has arrived for everyone to begin asking the hard questions: what happens next, and where will we find ourselves in a future that is no longer a distant shadow on the horizon, but already towering above us right now.
The Watershed Moment We Cannot Ignore
The Coming Crisis of Agency & Survival
The answer to the question so many wish to avoid is that, if we continue on our current path, ordinary people will be left with no means to provide for themselves. They will have no income to pay others to do so, and neither government nor business will exist with the resources or the intent to supply even the basic essentials necessary for the masses to survive.
Everything we know – whether or not we recognise its connection to our current reality – has been moving in this direction for as long as most of us have been alive.
There has been a steady erosion of agency, independence, and self‑resourcefulness for ordinary human beings, first through the transfer of all forms of wealth, and now, taking place through the progressive takeover of every aspect of working life and function by both existing and rapidly emerging forms of AI.
Whilst many today spend quiet moments fearing the apparent opening of immigration floodgates and the erasure of Western culture, society, and life as we know it, others, for reasons seemingly unknown, appear to have embraced a suicidal empathy that insists the only correct behaviour of Western society is to destroy itself in order to prioritise all others.
AI’s Encroachment on Everyday Life
Yet everyone fails to see that the impending and critical threat to everything we hold dear has already been welcomed into our governments, our businesses, our technology, and the very functionality of daily life, and is so deeply embedded that it now resides in our computers and our phones.
The Myth of Effortless Utopia
AI, along with the robotics and technology now emerging to support it, is becoming the option of choice for carrying out the majority – if not all – tasks across what we currently understand as life.
This development will soon mean that, for the majority of us, there will soon be no reason for work to continue to exist.
Exploitation and Systemic Transformation
Whilst many of us hear talk of the AI takeover, the reduction in new hiring and training opportunities across numerous professions and industries, and the replacement of jobs of all kinds, we fail to connect these developments with the rising welfare bill as people find themselves with no choice but to accept a life of unemployment.
The New Divide: Inclusion and Exclusion
Nor do we pause for a moment to consider the pressing question: What does it mean when there is no job left for you?
The Last Chance for Human Agency
Yes, many truly believe the stories openly shared by members of the elite community driving this change – that in no time at all, life will become cheap and effortless for everyone because AI and machines can do everything.
The Value of Effort and Contribution
People really do believe we are about to step into a new and previously unrecognisable utopia, where the system has eliminated the need for human industry, effort, and value in the form of contribution, and instead provides everything we can imagine, free of charge and experienced as if life were one giant, permanent holiday for us all.
Historic Patterns and Systemic Endgame
Such benevolence, hinted at in the form of words from these few, and the feeling it inspires about our future, is one that few can fail to imagine.
Indeed, the words and the ease with which life now comes at us makes it very easy to accept the disproportionate levels of wealth for the few that has been encouraged by the progress of this new technical revolution.
People are taking for granted that once the evolution of everything needed to perform every task that human beings carried out across all functions of life is complete, these are the very same few who will then happily smile and sit back while everything they own and have developed works and provides for all of us in return for absolutely nothing. All whilst we continually maintain an ever‑improving standard of life and receive a universal basic income that covers every requirement beyond the luxurious permanence of 24‑hour leisure, which is somehow ever present and that we somehow believe we would actually enjoy.
In truth, we do not need to understand how or why we arrived here to see the situation for what it really is. The fundamental truths are already available for us all to observe, consider, and comprehend, hiding in plain sight: the masses have been used and exploited to create the very means that will ultimately be implemented to destroy humanity as we know it.
As this has all progressed, we have all been fed and indoctrinated with stories, technology, forms of easy wealth, and advances convincing us that things can only ever improve along this path and that a golden age awaits.
At the same time, we have given our consent to puppet politicians who have willingly changed and enforced every rule necessary to facilitate this under the veil of progress -driven not by principle, but by submission to those with power and self‑serving agendas, lured by promises of glory and gain that appeal to their true, hidden selves.
Many struggle to believe that those we have elected, and those who have grown rich or benefitted so greatly from the rewards of leadership in a modern world and society, could truly be so cruel. Yet does it matter whether we – or even they – accept that as truth, when the outcome fast approaching, without a change in our direction, will inevitably be exactly the same?
Within the world and its structures – The System as it operates, functions, and controls every part of life today – the true divide of them and us lies between those whom the system will continue to carry and cater for once the concept of human independence no longer exists, and the masses who have no further use, whom the system will either choose to exclude or find some means to remove.
This is neither a horror story nor a work of fiction. The only uncertainty – without a change in direction – lies in when and how events will unfold that bring about the critical period of transition.
Today, humanity still possesses agency, choice, and the power to pursue an alternative pathway – even though so many of us are sleep‑running toward the end of freedom’s existence, actively embracing and welcoming the very tools that will soon replace the need for us within our own lives.
The fundamental truth of any life worth living is that there can be no reward without effort, and that effort itself is the pathway to reward when life is grounded in truth.
We hold no value to anyone or anything if we do not contribute or participate when we are able. There are no free rides for anyone or anything, unless they come in the form of charity – or unless we ourselves assume the role, if deemed desirable, of pets.
History repeats this truth time and again. We need only look further to see how power is abused by the powerful—how they seek to control everything they find useful, and how quickly they dispose of it when they do not.
Everything about the moneocratic, money‑centric, top‑down, centralised, hierarchical, and patriarchal system was ultimately designed to end this way.
The arrival of technology – and finally AI – has brought humanity to a genuine watershed moment, an endgame in which we must either abandon the unsustainable way of life to which we have become addicted and embrace one that restores balance, fairness, and justice for all, or continue living the lie created by those who profit from our subservience.
If we choose the latter, we will participate in it until the moment we realise we no longer hold any value, and the destiny imposed upon us by others has arrived.
The Alternative Pathway
The temptation for many, upon realising what has happened and what is happening, is to believe that all we need to do is step back a few years and remove the most corrosive technological advances that have entered our lives.
As simple as the removal of AI might seem – even if we were able to overhaul politics and replace politicians with those who agree – the real damage to society and culture has not come from technology or its advances themselves. It comes from the reasoning, motives, intent, and forms of control behind them.
These forces have long been at work, reshaping how everything functions across society – manipulating and redirecting life so that what we have already become is accepted as normal.
The way we live, work, conduct business, relate to others, and even relate to ourselves must return, rediscover, and recreate a way of being that transforms our system of values.
Our entire value set must shift so that we understand and expect meaning from life in ways that, by today’s standards, may seem counterintuitive or even alien.
The Human Value Imperative:
We must embrace the reality that everyone is equal, and that the only difference between us lies in our roles, functions, and contributions within society—roles that are always dynamic and open to change.
We all need to accept that differences do not make us different when it comes to what is ethically, morally, and fundamentally right.
We all need to accept, understand, and embrace that no person should be advantaged over another by circumstances beyond their own efforts or control.
We must accept that deviation or allowances beyond these principles will always lead to growing unfairness—even when special circumstances seem justified or privileges are believed not to be abused.
We must accept that hierarchies are not a natural system of order, even though the need for order in society means that some will naturally take the lead.
We all need to share responsibility and take part in collective choices that shape the aspects of life we share.
We all need to contribute to the community in whatever ways we can.
We all need to work and actively contribute to shared life whenever we are genuinely able.
We must live by the principle that the responsibility we have toward others is the same responsibility we owe to ourselves.
We all need to accept that once our needs are met, nothing is gained if any one of us seeks to have, take, or control more.
We must accept that true abundance means having as much as we need, not everything we want.
We must accept that people are the greatest source of value, and that real economics should be centred on that value.
We must embrace the reality that full employment is both natural and normal when employment is defined by all forms of contribution, not just financial return.
We must welcome and protect the truth that locality, and the transparency it brings to every kind of relationship, is key to maintaining and benefiting from a system we can trust to be fair, balanced, and just.
We must ensure that AI and all technologies are used only to support human life and enhance working practices—not to replace jobs or create circumstances in which any human being is considered useless.
When we commit to all of these principles, we can begin to envision a society and way of life that truly functions as it should with equity, equality and accountability for all – one that is transformed in almost every possible way.
The Turning Point: Choosing Freedom and a Better Future
For many of us, the uncomfortable reality we must face is that passive inaction – or continuing to accept life under the control of others, believing things will simply carry on as they are – poses an existential threat that is all too real. It is a danger that extends beyond the confines of Orwell’s 1984 and, for those who truly value their lives, could mean something far worse.
The choice – while we still have one- is to not only accept but to embrace an alternative path.
This path, though carrying forward some familiar aspects of the world around us, demands that every part of our lives be lived in a fundamentally different way: a way where people, community, and the environment come first; where power rests with the individual, their freedom, and their personal sovereignty; and where the whole experience of life unfolds in a completely new direction.
The Local Economy & Governance System Framework: A Path to Empowerment
Exploring the Local Economy & Governance System
Visualising a different world – how it operates, what it requires of us, what we must give, how we work together, and how frameworks of rules function (rather than laws that micromanage every part of life, as is increasingly the case today) – may sound simple. Yet their adoption, interpretation, and our response to them within a system centred on empowering every person, rather than controlling them in every conceivable way, will be fundamentally different.
This shift will inevitably provoke resistance, not least because we have become addicted to the unsustainable, money‑centric way of living that dominates our lives today.
The Local Economy & Governance System provides a detailed picture of these frameworks, showing how this new people‑centric model will look and how it can be implemented.
Perhaps the most important element of this new world is that it will be built upon direct, participatory democracy – a system entirely unlike the hollow or pretend democracy that defines the moneyocratic world we currently inhabit.
Participatory Democracy: Power in the Hands of People
Participatory democracy means that everyone takes part in the decision‑making processes that shape public policy.
It ensures that we all hold the power to change or remove the public representatives we choose and appoint.
This requires a level of accountability and participation that is not only regular and personal, but far greater than the limited choice we currently have – voting every four or five years for candidates selected by someone else.
There is much to consider about the processes that enable true participatory democracy and how it can work effectively and diligently.
One of the most striking differences between this future system and what we have today is that there will be no political parties.
Instead, public representatives will be chosen directly by the community – respected individuals with proven commitment to serving the best interests of everyone involved.
From Possibility to Reality: A System That Works for Everyone
The Local Economy & Governance System will work because it prioritises people, community, and the environment in ways that may seem inconceivable today.
It places value on personal sovereignty and the freedom that comes from living lives defined by who we truly are, rather than by external factors and reference points that remain under someone else’s control.
Yes, the practical mechanics of LEGS will work – and they will work well – if we choose to embrace them.
After all, the dysfunctional world we inhabit today has appeared to “work” only because we came to believe in it, even as it has harmed so many of us.
We must not underestimate the ability, ingenuity, and creativity of humankind to deliver and implement solutions that succeed under any circumstances, when motivated and convinced it is right to do so.
Together, we can reclaim power and value and build a new world and system that functions with equity, equality, and open accountability for everyone – just as a truly civilised society always should.
Together, we can turn possibility into reality and create a society that truly works for everyone.
The Choice Before Us
We stand at a decisive moment in human history.
The turbulence we feel, the erosion of agency, and the encroachment of systems that strip away our independence are not distant threats. They are realities already shaping our lives.
The arrival of AI and the technologies that support it has brought us to a genuine watershed: either we continue down the path of dependency and control, or we choose to reclaim balance, fairness, and justice through new systems built on empowerment, community, and sovereignty.
The Local Economy & Governance System, grounded in participatory democracy and people‑centric values, offers a practical and principled alternative.
It is not a utopia promised by elites, nor a nostalgic return to the past, but a framework for living that restores meaning to contribution, accountability, and shared responsibility.
Human ingenuity has always risen to meet the greatest challenges. If we believe it right to do so, we can build a society that works for everyone – where equity, equality, and open accountability are not ideals but lived realities.
The choice is ours. To continue sleepwalking into a future where humanity holds no value, or to awaken and embrace the possibility of a new civilisation. One that honours freedom, restores dignity, and ensures that life itself remains worth living.
In a world increasingly shaped by the pursuit of economic growth and the dominance of monetary values, our understanding of what truly matters has become distorted.
The language of economics, once intended to serve human wellbeing, now often justifies systems that place money above all other forms of value.
This Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS) challenges the prevailing money-centred worldview, exposing the myths that underpin it and the consequences for individuals and society.
By re-examining the purpose of the economy and redefining value at the level of the individual, we offer a blueprint for transformation – one that places human needs, freedom, and wellbeing at the heart of economic life.
The following pages invite you to reconsider what it means to live well, to recognise the moral costs of excess, and to envision an economy built on natural abundance, justice, and personal sovereignty.
The Rise of a Money‑Centred Worldview
Over time, the words economy, economics, economic policy, and economic theory have been shaped by a money centred worldview.
They became part of a language and narrative designed to justify systems that placed money above all other forms of value.
This worldview gradually embedded itself into culture, until money was positioned at the centre of almost every aspect of life and treated as the primary measure of worth.
How Policy Reinforced the Myth of Economic Growth
Governments, politicians, and established institutions reinforced this belief by placing the economy at the heart of public policy.
They encouraged the idea that a good life was only possible if the economy was considered healthy and growing.
Measures such as GDP were promoted as the ultimate indicators of national wellbeing, and people were led to believe – often without explanation – that their personal success was somehow tied to the financial success of the economy itself.
Reducing Human Value to Economic Data
By turning everything of tangible value into something economic, measurable, and defined only in relation to the economy, society gradually stripped away the inherent value of each person.
Individuals became reduced to data points – digits on a screen – an effect amplified by digital tracking and the rapid development of AI.
The Hidden Myth of External Power
The central myth that upheld this money centric system was not only the false belief that money is inherently valuable.
The deeper, more powerful myth was the idea – never openly stated but widely accepted – that real power lies outside the individual.
Because money appears external to us, it became easy to believe that our worth and our agency also exist outside ourselves.
The Illusion of Money as Value
In truth, money has no intrinsic value. It is simply a tool for exchange.
The belief that money is value created the foundation for many of society’s problems.
The FIAT System and the Concentration of Power
This belief was further exploited through the rise of the modern FIAT monetary system, which used complexity, misplaced trust, and practices that would otherwise be considered unethical or criminal to shift wealth – and therefore power – from the many to the few.
All of this was presented as progress. As the natural direction of a modern world.
The Moral Cost of Excess
Yet in any genuinely civilised society, there is no moral justification for one person to hold more than they need when that excess comes at the expense of others.
When someone accumulates far beyond their needs, someone else – often someone they will never meet – is forced to go without the essentials required for a life free from deprivation.
How Scarcity Is Manufactured
Taking more than we need, in any form, inevitably creates shortage elsewhere.
Possession alone does not justify allowing others to suffer lack.
No individual has the fundamental right to hold more than they require when doing so directly or indirectly harms others.
Economics as a Tool of Justification
In this way, the language of economics became a tool to legitimise imbalance and injustice.
It normalised greed and elevated the pursuit of material wealth and power to something admirable – something to be celebrated above all else.
The Local Economy & Governance System: Defining the Economy and Economics for a Humane Existence and Way of Life
Real value does not exist within money itself, nor within the material possessions that money – despite having no intrinsic substance – can be used to persuade others to “buy or sell.”
True value can only be defined at the level of the individual. It arises from the meaning and importance a person attributes to something from within themselves, not from any external price tag or monetary label.
Money is simply a practical tool. Its purpose is to make the exchange of value easier when direct barter or exchange – trading goods, services, or labour – is not possible or convenient.
Money is a facilitator. Not the source of value itself.
In reality, people are the economy.
People are the reason the economy exists, the purpose behind it, and the driving force within it.
Every meaningful economic activity begins and ends with human needs, human choices, and human wellbeing.
With this understanding, the LEGS interpretation of economy can be defined as follows:
Economy is the collective presence, activity, and contribution of people working together to provide and supply all the goods, services, and forms of support that are essential for every individual within a community to live well.
Its purpose is to ensure that no person experiences need or scarcity severe enough to undermine the natural state of abundance – a condition in which all basic and essential needs are reliably met.
In this state of abundance, individuals are freed from the pressures of deprivation or want, allowing them to experience a form of personal freedom that is not compromised by the struggle to secure the necessities of life.
Thus, the economy is not merely a system of production and exchange, but a shared human effort to sustain the conditions that make genuine freedom, well‑being and the experience of Personal Sovereignty possible for all.
Summary
These pages challenge the prevailing money-centred worldview, revealing how economic language and policy have often placed monetary value above human wellbeing.
They expose the myths that underpin this system – especially the illusion that real power and value exist outside the individual – and highlight the moral costs of excess and manufactured scarcity.
The Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS) offers a transformative blueprint: it redefines the economy as a collective human effort, focused on meeting essential needs and fostering abundance, justice, and personal sovereignty.
True value, as argued here, arises from within each person – not from external price tags or monetary labels.
Money is a facilitator, not the source of value itself.
By placing human needs, freedom, and wellbeing at the heart of economic life, The Local Economy & Governance System envisions an economy where no individual suffers deprivation, and everyone is empowered to live well.
The path forward is one of re-examining our assumptions, recognising the moral imperative to share resources fairly, and building systems that sustain genuine freedom and wellbeing for all.
We recognise that today’s world is dysfunctional and broken. Yet, we often refuse to discuss, consider, or collaborate on solutions beyond those we already identify with or feel we own. We seek change from leaders and politicians who are invested in maintaining the status quo – often promising a return to times that seemed better, even though we know we cannot freeze time or truly go back to the past.
The uncomfortable truth is that the path we are on leads to poor outcomes, no matter whom we follow or which direction we turn. Our current roadmap keeps us trapped in the same broken paradigm, regardless of the leader or popular figure we choose.
While we have choices within our existing systems, these are options created by others. None of them genuinely benefit us or offer a future that works for everyone. Taking control of our future is not just a personal choice – it requires collective participation, contribution, and action. This will not be easy, especially when it seems logical to stick with familiar choices that fit our current worldview.
To envision a better way of living, most of us need at least a glimpse of what that future could look and feel like – even if it’s hard to imagine without the things we currently prioritise. So, let’s consider a snapshot of a world that truly works for everyone: a world where the “Moneyocracy” we’re addicted to is gone, replaced by a fully functioning system of Authentic Governance.
The world’s problems today need no further introduction. If you are reading this, you are likely experiencing the negative effects of misused power and influence, or you see how they impact others who lack the ability to change things.
The Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS) offers a look ahead – showing the key structures, learning, and understanding of a society for tomorrow that has left behind everything wrong with today’s way of living. LEGS provides a vision of what overarching public policy could be, once we accept that life will be better for everyone if we let go of what we think benefits us today, but in reality, only harms us and offers no true benefit to humanity or the world.
People, Community, and Environment – simple, local, and open living – are the founding principles for a fair, balanced, and just economy and governance system, ready to be established when we are.
Adam Tugwell Cheltenham, UK.
20 November 2025
Introduction
We stand at a crossroads in history – a moment defined not by the promises of distant leaders or the allure of old systems, but by the urgent need for genuine change.
The world we inherit is marked by imbalance, inequality, and a persistent sense that something vital has been lost.
For too long, society has been shaped by structures that serve profit over people, hierarchy over community, and short-term gain over the enduring health of our environment.
This book is not just a critique of what has gone wrong. It is a blueprint for what can be made right.
Here, you are invited to imagine a future built on the principles of dignity, collective responsibility, and stewardship – a future where every person’s essential needs are guaranteed, and where the wellbeing of the community and the environment are placed above all else.
The Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS) is presented as a practical framework for transformation. It rejects the old paradigms of power and wealth, offering instead a model rooted in locality, transparency, and authentic participation.
In these pages, you will discover how governance can be reimagined as a truly democratic, people-centric process; how the economy can circulate value within communities rather than extract it; and how every member of society can contribute meaningfully to the common good.
This introduction is your invitation to engage – not as a passive reader, but as an active participant in the creation of a fair, sustainable, and resilient society.
The ideas within are not distant ideals; they are actionable steps, grounded in lived experience and collective wisdom. As you read, consider not only what must change, but how you can be part of that change—starting in your own community, with the choices you make and the values you uphold.
Let us move forward together, guided by the principles of People, Community, and The Environment.
The journey begins here.
The Tipping Point: Why and How We Get LEGS
Identifying the Touchpaper of Transformation
The journey toward adopting the Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS) is not just a matter of policy—it is a profound transformation from the entrenched “Moneyocracy” to a people-centric way of living.
While this book explores the principles and structures of LEGS, it is essential to understand the process and circumstances that will catalyse this change.
Earlier works such as Levelling Level and From Here to There Through Now have discussed the inevitability and challenges of such transformation, emphasising that change is both a choice and an ongoing commitment, especially when circumstances make it difficult to act.
Change Requires Choice and Action
Transformation to LEGS will not happen automatically.
In an ideal world, everyone would recognise the need to shift from a money-centric to a people-centric system and work together to make it happen immediately.
However, the reality is that many remain deeply invested in the current system, believing that hierarchy, centralisation, and the primacy of money are the only viable ways to organise society.
This belief is reinforced by decades of dependency and addiction to the money system, as described in the book’s critique of the “Moneyocracy”.
Pain as the Catalyst for Change
Regrettably, it is often personal or collective pain that becomes the catalyst for change.
People may only embrace a new system when the suffering caused by the old one outweighs perceived benefits.
This echoes the book’s insight that genuine transformation often arises from crisis, not comfort.
What Might Trigger Transformation?
While predicting the exact catalyst is impossible – since free will and choice remain – several realistic as well as outlying or ‘black swan event’ scenarios could spark the transition to LEGS:
Financial Collapse (UK): The UK government may reach a point where it cannot fund public services due to unsustainable debt, prompting urgent systemic change.
Global Financial Collapse: Worldwide economic failure, potentially triggered by unstable monetary policies, AI or cryptocurrency bubbles, or a repeat of the 2007/08 crisis, could force a revaluation of priorities.
War (Regional or Global): Ongoing conflicts and geopolitical tensions could escalate, with war being used to mask systemic failures and maintain elite control.
Disclosure Event: Unprecedented revelations—such as proof of extraterrestrial life—could radically alter humanity’s perspective and disrupt established power structures.
Other Domino Events: Civil unrest, food shortages, or even civil war could serve as tipping points, whether orchestrated or seemingly organic.
These scenarios align with this book’s analysis of how crises—financial, social, or environmental—often expose the flaws of the old system and create openings for new models.
The Consequences of Inaction
Failing to act – whether by choice or by default – has profound and far-reaching consequences for individuals, communities, and society as a whole.
Inaction is not a neutral stance; it is itself a decision that shapes the future, often in ways that reinforce the very systems and problems we wish to escape.
1. Entrenchment of the Status Quo
When people do not actively choose change, those already in positions of power and influence continue to define the future.
These individuals and groups may present themselves as protectors or saviours, but their solutions often involve further restrictions on freedom, increased surveillance, and the erosion of personal sovereignty.
The illusion of safety is used to justify the loss of genuine autonomy and dignity.
This dynamic is described in the book as the perpetuation of “Moneyocracy,” where profit, hierarchy, and control remain the organising principles of society, and the needs of people, community, and the environment are subordinated to financial interests.
2. The Rise of Dystopian Futures
Inaction allows those in control to implement policies and systems that may lead to a dystopian future – one characterised by inequality, loss of freedoms, and widespread disempowerment.
This book warns that such futures are not accidental; they are the result of deliberate choices made by those who benefit from the current system, often using the public’s own desires and fears against them.
3. The Illusion of Individualism and Isolation
A major consequence of inaction is the reinforcement of the belief that each person is alone and powerless.
This sense of isolation serves the interests of the current system, making individuals feel vulnerable and incapable of effecting change.
The reality, as emphasised throughout, is that collective action and shared purpose are the true sources of power and transformation.
4. Perpetuation of Social and Economic Pain
Without action, the pain and suffering caused by the existing system – poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, and loss of community – will continue and likely intensify.
The system is designed to maintain itself, often at the expense of the majority, and will use crises (financial, social, or environmental) to justify further consolidation of power.
5. Missed Opportunities for Genuine Change
Inaction means missing the critical window to choose and implement a better future.
All the books that have led to LEGS stress that change requires both a shift in mindset and active participation.
Waiting for someone else to initiate change only ensures that the system remains unchanged, and that the opportunity for transformation is lost.
6. The Responsibility of Choice
It is vital to recognise that not choosing is itself a choice.
Culturally, many have become accustomed to leaving decisions to others, assuming that change will come from external sources.
However, the reality is that those “in the spotlight” are often invested in maintaining the system as it is, rather than truly transforming it.
7. The Need for Collective Action
My books since Levelling Level have repeatedly highlighted that real change is only possible when individuals recognise their interconnectedness and collaborate.
The power to create and implement a system that works for all – such as LEGS – comes from collective action, not isolated efforts.
In summary: The consequences of inaction are not just the continuation of current problems, but the deepening of inequality, loss of freedom, and the entrenchment of systems that do not serve the public good.
Only by consciously choosing and acting together can we avoid these outcomes and build a future rooted in dignity, community, and sustainability.
Choosing Our Future – Together
Ultimately, the choice for transformation must be conscious and collective.
It does not matter when we make this choice, as long as it is before reaching the point of no return.
The greatest threat is the illusion of isolation—the belief that we are alone and powerless.
In reality, our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are powerful, and when we choose to collaborate, we gain the ability to create and implement a system that truly serves everyone.
This message is echoed throughout the main document, which emphasises the principles of People, Community, and The Environment as the foundation for authentic governance and a fair, sustainable society.
Welcome to The Local Economy & Governance System.
Brief History and Evolution of LEGS
The Local Economy & Governance System (LEGS) is the result of a multi-year journey of research, writing, and practical experimentation.
Its origins trace back to early 2022, with the publication of Levelling Level, which challenged the prevailing political narratives and introduced the idea of a people-centric system.
This work highlighted the urgent need for a Basic Living Standard—a guarantee that everyone can meet their essential needs independently.
Building on these foundations, The Basic Living Standard explored how the UK’s minimum wage failed to provide true financial independence, and proposed a new approach to work and business focused on meeting essential needs for all.
Subsequent books, including From Here to There Through Now, The Way of Awakened Politics for Good Government, and The Grassroots Manifesto, argued that genuine reform must come from the grassroots, not from centralised or top-down structures.
These works laid out the first steps for a governance model built from the community up, emphasising local relationships and direct participation.
Further development came through A Community Route and An Economy for the Common Good, which advocated for community collaboration, localised economics, and social enterprise as the backbone of a fair society.
Insights from works on food security, values, and technology—such as Who Controls Our Food Controls Our Future, Your Beliefs Today create Everyone’s Tomorrow, and Actions Speak Louder than Digital Words—were integrated, highlighting the importance of local control, ethical stewardship, and the dangers of external influence.
In 2024, Our Local Future synthesized these lessons into a comprehensive vision for a society built on locality, community, and environmental stewardship.
This work became the direct basis for the LEGS framework, offering a blueprint for restructuring society around local empowerment, authentic governance, and sustainable living.
LEGS now stands as a practical system designed to deliver a fair, balanced, and just society for all—rooted in the principles of People, Community, and The Environment.
Glossary of Terms
Authentic Governance A system of governance rooted in local, democratic, and community-driven decision-making. It prioritises transparency, accessibility, and the direct involvement of all community members, ensuring that leadership is accountable and serves the public good rather than private interests.
Basic and Essential Foods Foods that are critical for a healthy and happy life. They must be accessible, affordable, nutritious, locally grown and produced, and free from artificial additives or harmful chemicals. Their supply is recognised as a Public Good and is prioritised above all other food categories.
Basic Living Standard A foundational guarantee that ensures every individual earning the lowest legal weekly wage can afford all essential costs of living—food, housing, utilities, healthcare, transport, clothing, communication, and modest social participation—without falling into debt, relying on welfare, or turning to charity.
Community Contributions A system where every working member of the community contributes 10% of their working week to support local public services and charity provision. This replaces traditional public sector staffing with a community-led workforce.
Community Provision The redefined public sector, encompassing all services and support systems essential to a culture built around People, Community, and The Environment. It is locally accountable, ethically grounded, and responsive to real needs.
Circumpunct A practical and symbolic model for community decision-making. It is a circular arrangement where representatives and speakers engage openly, ensuring transparency, accountability, and collective wisdom in governance and mediation.
Flat Hierarchy A societal structure where roles are different but not ranked, and leadership arises naturally through service and ability rather than status or authority. It emphasises collaboration, equality, and shared purpose.
Key Skills for Life Essential abilities recognised as a Public Good, including critical thinking, self-awareness, food production, clothing repair, ethical use of technology, and more. These skills are foundational for personal sovereignty and community wellbeing.
LEGS (Local Economy & Governance System) A comprehensive framework for society that centres on the principles of People, Community, and The Environment. It seeks to replace hierarchical, profit-driven systems with local, transparent, and collectively responsible models for governance, economy, and daily life.
Local Circular Economy An economic model where value circulates within the local area, prioritising local production, ethical governance, and shared responsibility. It minimizes external dependencies and ensures that economic activity serves people and the environment.
Local Market Exchange A physical and community-regulated marketplace for trading goods and services, often through barter or direct exchange. It ensures fair trade, transparency, and that value remains within the community.
Luxury Foods Foods that are not essential for health or nutrition, including processed, ultra-processed, and synthesized foods. Their production and advertising are restricted to protect the integrity of local food systems.
Moneyocracy A term describing the Old-World system where money, wealth, and profit were the primary measures of value and success, leading to social inequality and environmental degradation.
Natural Resources All resources provided by nature (such as water, land, minerals) are held in stewardship by the community. They are not commodities and must be managed ethically, equitably, and for the public good.
Parish / Universal Parish (Uniparish) The foundational local unit of society, business, and governance. It is designed to be self-contained, with all essential needs met locally, and is the central structure for community life.
People, Community, The Environment The three core principles guiding all aspects of the LEGS system. Every decision, policy, and practice is evaluated based on its impact on these priorities.
Personal Sovereignty The inherent right and capacity of everyone to live freely, responsibly, and authentically, provided their actions do not compromise the sovereignty of others. It is the foundation of freedom, dignity, and ethical society.
Public Good A service, resource, or standard that must be guaranteed for all, forming the foundation of authentic governance. Public Goods cannot be altered, misrepresented, or bypassed, and always supersede inherited laws or practices that conflict with their purpose.
Social Business A non-profit organisation operated for the public good, especially where private businesses do not provide essential goods or services. Social Businesses are collectively owned, transparent, and accountable to the community.
Part 1: Where Things have gone Wrong for Society Today
Key Lessons from Today’s World
In reflecting on the failures of the Old World—what many still recognize as the present—we uncover a sobering reality: those with power and privilege were often willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of humanity for their own gain.
The pursuit of profit, status, and material wealth routinely overshadowed the value of people, community, and the environment. This imbalance was not the result of conspiracy, but the predictable outcome of unchecked greed and a culture obsessed with material accumulation.
To maintain their dominance, elites and those in control of governments orchestrated conditions that enabled profiteering and ever-greater control.
Wars, environmental collapse, and information-driven crises were manufactured and justified through carefully crafted narratives—stories promoted by mass media that shaped public perception and obscured deeper truths.
These narratives, often presented as being in humanity’s best interest, consistently promoted “progress” as the only viable path forward, while ignoring the wisdom and solutions already discovered in history and nature.
The fundamental lesson is clear: genuine respect for people, community, and the environment is not profitable for those who prioritise wealth and power. This simple truth lies at the heart of the persistent injustice and disharmony that has plagued human society.
We Always Want More
To truly understand the root flaw behind so many of the problems we face—and why they seem impossible to solve—you must confront a difficult truth: we always want more.
This desire explains why we often ignore the suffering of others, even though we would hope for compassion if we were in their place.
We want more money. More wealth. More power. More influence. More recognition. More of the things we enjoy. More popularity. More time to do what we want. More people to agree with us. More love. More sex. More admiration.
It doesn’t matter what it is—as long as it’s external to us, we want more of it.
Even when we already have more than we could ever need, or even use, the craving persists.
What We Need Is Not What We Want
From the Old World, we learned a critical lesson: when we live as though our wants are the same as our needs—simply because our wants seem affordable—we inadvertently condemn others to lives where even their basic needs remain out of reach. The result is widespread deprivation, manifesting in countless forms.
Though the mechanisms and consequences were often hidden from view, the rise of Wealth Inequality—what was once called the Wealth Divide—stemmed from the selfishness and greed of a privileged few.
This imbalance was not only tolerated but actively encouraged by those who aspired to emulate them.
We now understand that ignorance, blindness, and a lack of awareness about how our actions affect others do not excuse those actions.
That’s why we place Self-Awareness—awareness of the individual and, by extension, awareness of others—at the heart of our commitment to an egalitarian society.
It is a foundational principle within our values of People, Community, and the Environment.
No Business Is More Important Than the Public Good
In the Old World, the elevation of business interests above all else led to a distorted sense of value—where profit was mistaken for progress, and economic metrics were used to justify social neglect.
The ideology of Neoliberalism, embraced widely from the early 1970s, promoted the belief that free markets and corporate growth would naturally solve societal issues.
This system entrenched inequality, eroded community cohesion, and degraded the environment.
Globalisation, born from this mindset, normalised the idea that business and finance mattered more than people. Human needs became secondary to shareholder returns. Communities were reshaped to serve commercial interests, and the environment was treated as a resource to be exploited rather than protected.
We have rejected this model.
In its place, we have built a society rooted in the principle that People come first. Community comes first. The Environment comes first.
Business now exists to serve—not to dominate. No enterprise, regardless of its size or influence, holds priority over the well-being of the community it operates within.
Essential services—those critical to the safety, health, and security of all—are operated as Social Businesses.
These are not owned by private interests or shareholders seeking profit. They are owned collectively by The Community, with every decision made in service of the Public Good.
This shift marks a return to balance. A recognition that true prosperity is measured not by profit margins, but by the health, harmony, and resilience of the people and places we call home.
Real Progress Is Not Restricted to One Direction
The Old World taught us a flawed lesson: that Progress—and the ideology of Progressivism—was linear and one-dimensional.
Guarded fiercely by its champions, this belief failed to recognise that true progress can take many forms. Sometimes, it may even appear to be a step backward.
In reality, progress can move in any direction—across the full 360 degrees of possibility.
Obsessive leaders and activists, clinging to the idea that forward motion alone equates to improvement, often caused harm across all areas of life.
Their mistake was rooted in a misguided belief: that discarding history and lived experience in favour of constant forward momentum would always lead to better outcomes.
But in truth, this relentless push often led society backward—especially in terms of the real-world consequences people faced.
We reject the notion of failure as something to be feared or hidden. Instead, we value experience—every outcome, every lesson—as a vital teacher.
We understand that returning to what has already been proven to work, no matter how simple, is often wiser than blindly chasing novelty or complexity for its own sake.
We celebrate what is tried and tested. We do not pursue change merely to demonstrate action or to manufacture the illusion of progress.
True progress is measured not by direction, but by impact.
Money: The Rigged Game with a Real-Life Cheat Code
One of the most difficult truths to accept from the Old World was the way money worked—and the complex web of systems, rules, laws, and mechanisms that had been created, altered, and refined to make it function as it did.
We came to understand that the monetary and financial system—known by many as FIAT—was the cornerstone of a structure that, to those who controlled it, resembled nothing more than a game. And like any game, it carried no real consequences for those who understood its mechanics.
What made this system so dangerous and damaging for the majority wasn’t simply that the Elites knew it was a game. The real threat lay in the fact that, like many computer games, this one had a built-in cheat code.
That cheat code was the ability to create money out of thin air.
As time went on, this power was used more frequently, and the consequences—just like in any simulated game—were severe and disproportionately harmful to those who still believed the system was real and fair.
By the end of the Old World, those in control could buy anything they desired, while the value of money held by poorer individuals steadily evaporated. The system’s architects simply printed more, further distorting the balance.
We reject this illusion.
We do not accept that money—or any form of currency—holds value beyond its practical purpose.
We prohibit any communication, action, or activity that promotes the idea that money is anything more than a tool: a temporary method of exchange, a means of transferring value between transactions, and nothing else.
Money is not power. It is not progress. It is not truth.
It is a tool—and only a tool.
Normality Cannot Be Dictated by Others
The Old World was fixated on defining what was ‘normal.’
It became widely accepted—especially by those in power—that controlling the narrative of what was deemed ‘normal’ could be weaponised to label others as ‘wrong.’
But normality is not conformity. It is not the ‘accepted same’ that the Old-World system used to suppress individuality and difference.
True normality is the state of Personal Sovereignty—the experience of being fully oneself.
It is the understanding that peace and happiness are not granted by society, institutions, or external validation. They are the inner gifts of the individual, shaped by their own truth.
Normality, for each person, is the expression of their Authentic Self.
Distance Creates a Critical Weakness in Leadership
In the Old World, every so-called democracy ultimately failed due to its overreliance on hierarchical structures.
These hierarchies created a growing distance between those who governed and those they were meant to serve. As this gap widened, leaders became increasingly insulated from the realities of everyday life.
We learned that this separation—this lack of direct contact between public representatives and the people—led to a dangerous disconnect.
Leaders, cut off from the lived experiences of their communities, lost sight of the consequences of their decisions.
As the insulation deepened, dysfunction spread across legislation, public services, and governance itself. Systems meant to serve the people were led by individuals who had, in effect, disenfranchised themselves—leaving behind a population that felt ignored, abandoned, and unheard.
From this failure, we discovered a vital truth: the true point of power in any system of governance must be the People.
We have built and continue to uphold a model of Authentic Governance that reflects this principle.
Authentic Governance eliminates the systemic abuse that plagued the Old World. It ensures that leadership is not distant but rooted in community.
Here, in The Local Economy & Governance System, the majority rules—by ruling together.
Governance is local, democratic, and run by and for The Community.
This is how leadership thrives: not through hierarchy, but through connection.
Doing the Right Thing Has Many Interpretations—But Only One Truth
The Old World revealed a painful lesson: power, no matter how small or far-reaching, was often intoxicating enough to strip those entrusted with responsibility of their genuine humanity.
Self-interest, coupled with a fading awareness of others, led many to believe that what served their own interests must also serve the interests of everyone else.
This distortion became widespread—across politics, business, finance, and the supranational institutions that emerged after the Second World War and into the early 21st century.
Leaders lost sight of what it truly means to hold responsibility and influence over the lives of others.
Those in power—and those influencing them—forgot their duty to the public and the vulnerable.
They acted as if their decisions could be made without consequence, even as the long-term effects of their self-serving choices became increasingly visible in the suffering of society.
We have chosen a different path.
We have built a system of Authentic Governance that prevents any individual or group from placing their own interests above those of The Community.
This system remains true and accountable to everyone—regardless of power, position, or influence.
We do the right thing. Not for some. Not for the few. But for everyone.
The Moneyocracy
In the Old World, the one true religion—especially in the West—was Money.
Wealth, power, and influence were its sacred trinity, each inextricably linked to the other.
This belief system shaped not only economies, but the very fabric of society.
Some may still resist the idea that life was entirely coin operated. But with even a moment of honest reflection, it becomes clear: money was the engine behind everything.
It defined our values.
It dictated our choices.
It shaped our relationships, our institutions, and our sense of worth.
Whether we realised it or not, we were all citizens of a Moneyocracy—a world governed not by principles, but by profit.
Money: A Belief System Fuelled by Greed
Arguably the most destructive force in any society is the deeply ingrained—and deliberately engineered—belief that money creation, profit, and economic growth are the ultimate measures of success and happiness.
The Old World, and the system it upheld, revolved around this belief. For over 50 years, it was driven by flawed, self-serving economic ideologies such as Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and Neoliberalism.
“More wants more” wasn’t just a saying—it became the unspoken mantra behind every decision, every ambition, and every system.
The pursuit of more—more money, more growth, more consumption—spread like a disease through every layer of society.
The adoption of the FIAT money system and the use of GDP as a primary measure of progress, beginning around 1971, marked the acceleration of the social decay that a money-based order—or “Moneyocracy”—inevitably brings.
Over time, the world was reprogrammed to operate on the assumption that money was the only priority, the only true source of value.
This shift happened so subtly, so pervasively, that most people didn’t even realise it had occurred.
This distortion of reality was made possible by the myths we were taught about money—myths that replaced meaningful values with hollow ones.
In the process, we lost sight of what truly matters: People, Community, and the Environment.
Every persistent and seemingly unsolvable problem in the Old World—social inequality, environmental degradation, political dysfunction—was rooted in this addiction to money and the relentless accumulation of wealth.
Over time, every institution, every law, and every cultural norm bent toward the singular goal of enriching those who already had the most.
We have reversed this trajectory.
Governance has shifted from top-down control to grassroots empowerment.
Business is no longer driven by wealth creation, but by the well-being of People, the strength of Community, and the health of the Environment.
This transformation was not optional—it was essential.
Because the paths of Money and the paths of People, Community, and the Environment are fundamentally incompatible.
Only the system we now embrace— The Local Economy & Governance System —can deliver true Balance, Fairness, and Justice for all.
Poverty Is Not Real to Those Who Don’t Experience It
Throughout history, attempts to address poverty in England date back to the Henrician Poor Laws of the Tudor era under Henry VIII. Despite a notable push in the 19th century, the question—“How do we end poverty once and for all?”—remained unanswered.
This failure was especially evident in the post-Covid period (2020–2025), when both Conservative and Labour governments in the UK failed to grasp the difference between:
Technical acknowledgment that poverty exists
And the experiential reality of living in poverty
A cultural belief persisted:
“For some to be wealthy, many others must be poor.”
This shibboleth enabled a system where wealth was accumulated to disproportionate levels, far beyond personal need.
The cycle of investment for gain only accelerated wealth inequality, which those benefiting from it refused to acknowledge—legitimising their advantage through position and power.
The Consequences of Poverty
Poverty creates a 360-degree network of consequences:
It affects not only those who suffer it
But also The Community as a whole
Though laws and systems were framed to address poverty, none of them were morally or ethically sound. They sustained inequality rather than dismantling it.
“Man cannot serve two masters. An archer cannot pull two bows. A jockey cannot ride two horses.”
It became inevitable that the entire system would need to be:
Reversed
Redirected
Reformed
Reestablished
…to uphold the moral and ethical imperative that every Member of The Community must be able to live independently and self-sufficiently.
The Misuse of AI
In the Old World, artificial intelligence was gradually introduced over many years leading up to 2023.
Initially, it appeared in the form of hidden algorithms—quietly embedded in e-commerce platforms and search engines—offering faster responses but little transparency.
By 2023, direct and interactive forms of AI became publicly accessible. With this shift, the true commercial intent behind AI deployment became clear—as did the manipulation of public narratives designed to instill fear and confusion around digital technology.
The failure of governing bodies to regulate AI came at a cost far greater than financial. It undermined the very fabric of society.
The key drivers behind AI misuse were:
AI was deployed to preserve and advance the interests of the Old World’s Moneyocracy.
Its primary function became profit generation.
Its secondary function became social control.
The most insidious form of this control was the systematic deprogramming of humanity—achieved through internet platforms and AI-driven technologies.
These tools, whether by design or consequence, disrupted natural cognitive processes. Over the course of a generation, they eroded the human capacity to learn, think critically, and reach independent conclusions.
This assault on executive function—and therefore on Personal Sovereignty—did not begin with AI in 2023, as many were led to believe. It began much earlier, with the widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets.
Unregulated AI is now understood to be anti-human, anti-equality, anti-environment, and anti-freedom.
It poses a direct threat to the foundational values of People, Community, and the Environment.
We acknowledge that AI can offer benefits—but only under strict regulation and ethical oversight. Its use must be supported by continuous Key Skills for Life training, ensuring that humanity remains in control of the tools it creates.
Net Zero
We reject any form of public policy rooted in fear or designed to serve the wealth accumulation of individuals or select groups.
In the Old World, environmental concerns—often framed under the banner of “green” initiatives—were frequently misused and politically manipulated to advance agendas that had little to do with sustainability and everything to do with profit or control.
We have moved beyond that.
Through the implementation and ongoing practice of Sustainable Living, we have addressed the environmental challenges that were once exploited.
These practices are not driven by fear, nor by financial gain—they are grounded in responsibility, balance, and respect for People, Community, and the Environment.
The Food Supply: A Tool for Elite Wealth Creation and Societal Control
In the Old World, the elites and governing classes systematically dismantled genuine local food production.
They centralised control, eroded local supply chains, and weakened the infrastructure that once supported healthy, community-based living.
Globalisation moved in only one direction—toward consolidation and control. Instruments like the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy were used to reshape food systems, leaving behind a hollowed-out society where People, Community, and the Environment had once thrived.
Productionism was sold as progress. Farmers and food producers were told it was good. But in reality, it fuelled rampant consumerism and opened the door to myths that globalism benefited everyone.
The only part of the globalisation story that needed to make sense was the promise of lower retail prices.
Yet for those directly affected, lower prices meant little when businesses collapsed, jobs disappeared, and communities were left behind.
The real cost—social, environmental, and nutritional—was hidden from public view.
Productionism relied heavily on chemicals and industrial processes that gradually destroyed soil health and land productivity.
As the land became less capable of sustaining life, elites pushed new narratives claiming traditional agriculture was outdated and unreliable.
Worse still, the accepted view suggested that naturally grown foods—produced by independent farmers, small businesses, and community enterprises—could no longer meet public demand.
This was never about efficiency or progress. It was about greed, profiteering, and control.
Every step of this so-called “progress” made the food people consumed less healthy, less nourishing, and less beneficial to society.
We reject this model.
We recognise that true Food Security depends on a food chain that functions as an ecosystem—interconnected, resilient, and rooted in place.
Our food system is predominantly local. The majority of Basic and Essential Foods are sourced from local supply chains, available year-round, and built to serve People, Community, and the Environment—not profit.
Part 2: Our Values
People, Community, The Environment
The Local Economy & Governance System is built on a people-centric foundation—guiding every aspect of life, from our Values and Lifestyle to Business, Economy, and Governance.
At the heart of this framework are our Three Key Principles:
People
Community
The Environment
We place the Person—and their Personal Sovereignty—at the centre of everything.
How we value each individual, and how each individual values others, defines the strength and integrity of our society.
We understand that only through a people-focused Community—functioning as a living ecosystem in harmony with The Environment—can we create a truly Happy, Healthy, Safe, and Secure foundation for life.
This is supported by a system of Authentic Governance: one that is Balanced, Fair, and Just for all.
Locality Is Everything
Locality—and the development of fully Localised, community-centric systems—is recognised as a Public Good.
Local supply chains foster transparency.
And transparency is the foundation of trust and accountability.
These qualities are essential for building a system of Authentic Governance—one that places People, Community, and The Environment at its core.
A truly Localised System functions as a circular ecosystem, where every part supports and sustains the whole. It operates reliably and consistently, guided by the principles of People, Community, and The Environment.
This approach ensures that decisions and outcomes serve the best interests of all.
The Public Good
The Public Good is the guiding standard—the benchmark—of our system of Authentic Governance.
It defines the areas of life where access to Basic and Essential Foods, Goods, and Services must be guaranteed for all.
Each Public Good forms part of the foundational framework that enables our governance system to function at its highest level.
Every Public Good acknowledges the positive contributions of individuals, businesses, and organisations—their actions, agendas, use of resources, and stewardship of property—when those efforts benefit The Community.
A Public Good exists to uphold, strengthen, and expand our Three Core Principles:
People
Community
The Environment
A Public Good cannot be altered, misrepresented, ignored, or bypassed under any circumstance.
It supersedes all laws, regulations, and practices inherited from the Old World that relate to or conflict with its purpose.
A Public Good is not optional—it is a practice required by The Community.
The Public Goods of The Local Economy & Governance System (Condensed)
Agriculture, Fisheries, and Home Growing: Local, sustainable production of food is prioritised and protected as a community resource.
The Authentic Governance System (TAGS): Governance is local, democratic, transparent, and accountable to all community members.
Basic Essentials for Life: Every person is guaranteed access to food, housing, utilities, healthcare, transport, clothing, communication, and social participation.
The Basic Living Standard: Full-time work at the lowest wage covers all essential living costs, ensuring dignity and independence.
Essential or Basic Foods: Nutritious, locally produced foods are accessible, affordable, and free from harmful additives.
Housing and Its Universal Provision: Housing is a right, not a commodity; each person may own or occupy only one home.
Key Skills for Life: Critical life skills—such as self-awareness, food production, and ethical technology use—are taught and practiced by all.
The Local Food Chain: Food supply is managed locally, transparently, and sustainably, with community trust at its core.
Locality: Local supply chains and decision-making foster transparency, trust, and accountability.
Services Using Natural Resources: Community stewardship ensures ethical, equitable access to water, land, and other natural resources.
News and Community Information: Local media platforms provide transparent, inclusive news and information for all.
Social Learning: Community-based learning supports personal development, ethical awareness, and social responsibility.
Sustainable Living: All members practice responsible use of resources, prioritising recycling, repair, and local production.
Transport (for Genuine Need and Necessity): Transport is provided for essential needs, with a focus on sustainability and shared access.
The Circumpunct: A circular, non-hierarchical model for community decision-making, ensuring every voice is heard and governance remains transparent and participatory.
Our Expectation for Each Member of The Community
The Community holds a simple but profound expectation: that every Member will live the best life they can—rooted in the experience, enjoyment, and empowerment of Personal Sovereignty.
Personal Sovereignty can only flourish under the right conditions. It requires that each person lives a life that is Happy, Healthy, Safe, and Secure—within a system that is Balanced, Fair, and Just.
We recognise that it would be unjust to expect individuals to thrive without first ensuring they are fully equipped to do so.
That is why The Community accepts its responsibility: to build, uphold, and continuously maintain the Governance, Frameworks, and Systems that make Personal Sovereignty possible.
This commitment is not just for today. It is a promise to every person alive now—and to every generation yet to come—that the opportunity to live freely, fully, and authentically will always be protected and preserved.
Our Priorities and Their Function
Our Three Core Principles—People, Community, and The Environment—are not just values. They are our active priorities.
Together, as a Community, we promote, protect, and uphold Personal Sovereignty for every individual. This means empowering each person to live freely, responsibly, and with dignity.
We prioritise what we need, not what we want.
We recognise Money and Currency as tools—nothing more. They serve practical purposes but hold no intrinsic value beyond exchange.
To fulfil our priorities, we have built—and continue to refine—a system of Authentic Governance. This system is rooted in a Local, Circular Economy that involves everyone and benefits everyone.
It is through this inclusive, sustainable framework that our principles come to life—ensuring a society that is Balanced, Fair, and Just for all.
The Right Decisions Are Made in the Moment
Making decisions on behalf of the majority—decisions that serve the best interests of all—is never easy.
In the Old World, politicians and those in positions of influence often fell into a trap of their own design: believing they could dictate long chains of public policy decisions based on imagined future outcomes.
They assumed control over circumstances they could never truly govern—over the free will of others, over unfolding events, and over the unpredictable nature of life itself.
This approach was not just flawed—it was dishonest. And when things inevitably went wrong, the damage was compounded by the lies, cover-ups, and narratives created to conceal the consequences of poor decision-making.
We reject this way of governing.
We make decisions in the moment—in the here and now—based on what is known, what is real, and what is relevant.
Every decision is guided by its immediate and foreseeable impact on:
People
Community
The Environment
We also consider how each decision interacts with existing policies and systems, ensuring coherence and integrity.
This principle is a cornerstone of Authentic Governance.
It is encouraged throughout society as a healthy, responsible, and empowering way to live—one that strengthens Personal Sovereignty and builds trust in the decisions we make together.
Freedom
True, unrestricted Freedom is achieved through Personal Sovereignty.
Each Person is free to think.
Each Person is free to act and behave as they choose—so long as their actions do not compromise, or have the potential to compromise, the Personal Sovereignty of another Person or Group.
Any action that creates advantage for one by disadvantaging another is considered morally and ethically wrong.
Likewise, the creation, existence, or manipulation of any law, regulation, or legal device that enables discrimination or harm toward any Person or Group is also morally and ethically unacceptable.
Our foundation is simple and universal:
What is right for all People—regardless of difference—must align with the Principles of
People
Community
The Environment
This is the foundation of The Local Economy & Governance System.
Freedom is not the absence of responsibility. It is the space in which the Authentic Self can live, grow, and thrive—without fear, without oppression, and without compromise.
Personal Sovereignty and Power
Personal Sovereignty is not granted—it is inherent. It is not earned—it is recognised.
It is the foundation upon which all authentic relationships, communities, and systems must be built. It is the source of true power—not over others, but within oneself.
Power, in its rightful form, is the ability to live in alignment with one’s values, to act with integrity, and to contribute meaningfully to the Common Cause and the Public Good.
This power does not reside in titles, wealth, or influence. It resides in the soul, mind, and spirit of every Person or Being.
In a society rooted in Authentic Governance, power is not concentrated—it is distributed.
It flows from the recognition that every individual holds equal value, and that no external difference—physical, cultural, intellectual, or emotional—can diminish the worth of one’s inner essence.
Thought remains the purest expression of freedom. It is the space where sovereignty begins.
To protect this freedom, we uphold the principle that no person may be punished for their thoughts, nor for expressing those thoughts publicly—so long as they do not intend harm or seek to compromise the sovereignty of others.
Support for Personal Sovereignty is a shared responsibility.
It is offered with care during infancy, childhood, and youth.
It is extended with compassion during times of incapacity.
It is recalibrated during imprisonment, where the right to act freely has been limited due to actions that harmed others or The Community.
Even then, the right to think remains untouched.
This is the essence of a society built on dignity, equality, and truth.
Morality and Ethics Are the Fruit of Freedom—Not of Oppression, Rules, or Laws
Lack breeds selfishness, because it turns survival into competition.
Even the perception of lack can distort behaviour and choices when individuals are unable to view their circumstances objectively.
In a society where everyone’s basic needs are guaranteed—so long as all who can contribute do—an environment naturally emerges that supports:
Personal development
Emotional and spiritual growth
A structure that allows society to function in the best possible way
Freedom from avoidable and unnecessary lack opens the door for people of all backgrounds and abilities to:
Reflect on who they are
Understand how they became who they are
Explore their roles and relationships in society
Contemplate the deeper meaning of their experiences
When individuals are financially and resourcefully independent, they gain the freedom to:
Discern right from wrong
Navigate the grey areas with empathy and awareness
Consider the impact and consequences of their actions on others
This freedom fosters self-awareness, which in turn nurtures a more thoughtful and authentic approach to:
Morality and ethics
Responsibility and obligation
Community and connection
True morality does not arise from control. It blossoms in the presence of freedom, security, and shared humanity.
Why People Work or Are Employed
The purpose of all work, employment, business, industry—and The Community itself—is to support, sustain, and enrich happy, healthy lives for everyone.
Work is not the purpose of life. It is a meaningful part of life—one that helps us meet our needs, contribute to others, and uphold the shared priorities of People, Community, and The Environment.
Work and employment are valued only insofar as they support a life that is happy, healthy, safe, and secure for all Members of The Community.
The Community recognises and celebrates the importance of every role, every trade, and every form of contribution.
No job is above another in moral worth.
The only distinction given within any profession is that reflected in its remuneration structure—a practical measure, not a measure of personal value.
The contribution of each individual is recognised solely in terms of its impact and benefit to The Community—and never beyond that.
Locality and the Reliance of Trust
Trust is not abstract—it is relational. It is built through presence, familiarity, and shared experience.
In Our Community, trust is earned through direct interaction, not distant authority.
We believe that those who hold influence must be visible, accessible, and accountable to the People they serve.
Digital tools may support communication and efficiency, but they must never replace the human connection required for genuine trust.
We reject the use of digital platforms as instruments of persuasion, manipulation, or control.
Local Living provides the healthiest foundation for truth, reliability, and mutual respect.
It is within local relationships that information is most trustworthy, decisions are most relevant, and accountability is most immediate.
Our Society thrives because we have chosen proximity over abstraction, and presence over projection.
Through our System of Authentic Governance, every decision that affects our lives—especially those tied to our Basic and Essential needs—is made by People we know, People we can speak to, and People we can trust.
This is how we ensure that governance remains human, honest, and grounded in reality.
Inheritance
In our culture, inheritance is not defined by the transfer of wealth.
We do not encourage the passing of financial assets between families—unless such a transfer serves The Public Good, such as the continuation of a business or property that benefits the wider Community.
Our System of Authentic Governance, rooted in the principles of People, Community, and The Environment, ensures that every Member of The Community is empowered to sustain themselves independently.
The greatest inheritance is not material. It is the gift of learning, the sharing of experience, and the freedom that comes from the ability to think freely and live in full awareness of one’s Personal Sovereignty.
This is the legacy we pass on:
Not possessions, but wisdom. Not wealth, but empowerment. Not control, but freedom.
Climate Change
The climate has changed, is changing, and will continue to change—regardless of human influence.
We accept this truth without denial or distraction. But we also recognise that the greatest threat to the Planet—and therefore to People, Community, and The Environment—was not climate change itself, but the system that accelerated it:
Moneyocracy.
It was humankind’s obsession with material wealth, driven by the relentless pursuit of profit and the unnecessary exploitation of non-replaceable natural resources, that pushed us toward crisis.
Resources were consumed not to meet genuine needs, but to satisfy manufactured wants.
This imbalance—between what we need and what we are told to desire—was the root of environmental degradation.
Our commitment now is clear:
To live responsibly. To meet real needs. To protect the Earth by rejecting systems that place profit above life.
Sustainable Living
Sustainable Living is practiced by every Member of The Community.
It is recognised as A Public Good—a shared responsibility and a cultural norm.
Every system we use, create, or maintain exists to serve the best interests of humanity, guided by our Three Core Principles:
People
Community
The Environment
Sustainable Living means using natural resources sparingly, and only when no viable alternatives exist.
It means growing, using, and sharing only what we need—not what we want.
All forms of private and social enterprise are carried out locally, within the Parish area.
We reject luxury consumerism and prohibit practices such as Planned Obsolescence.
We do not permit the unnecessary use of resources to support employment transfers, manufacturing, or food production when such practices serve private interests rather than the Public Good.
Instead, we encourage local manufacturing using naturally sustainable resources.
We Recycle, Reuse, and Repair as a way of life.
These are not just habits—they are Key Skills for Life.
Across all Goods and Services, we prioritise Basic Essentials—ensuring that what we produce and consume supports a Happy, Healthy, Safe, and Secure life for all.
Key Skills for Life
Key Skills for Life are recognised as A Public Good—essential abilities that empower individuals, strengthen communities, and uphold our shared principles of People, Community, and The Environment.
These skills are not optional. They are foundational to living a Happy, Healthy, Safe, and Secure life within Our Local Future.
They include:
Authentic Governance Understanding and participating in fair, transparent, and community-driven decision-making processes.
Clothing Repair and Renewal Maintaining, repairing, and extending the life of garments to reduce waste and promote sustainability.
Critical Thinking Questioning, analysing, and making informed, independent choices based on evidence and ethical awareness.
Democracy Engaging in collective decision-making, civic responsibility, and upholding the principles of equality and participation.
Food Handling, Preparation, and Storage Ensuring food safety, nutrition, and sustainability through proper handling, cooking, and storage practices.
Food Production Growing and harvesting food responsibly, supporting local food systems and community resilience.
Good Online Communication Using digital tools with clarity, respect, and purpose, reflecting real-world etiquette and community values.
Community Provision Understanding how local services function and contribute to wellbeing and participating in their delivery.
Home Growing Cultivating food and plants at home to support self-sufficiency and local food security.
The Impact and Consequences of Choice Recognizing how personal and collective decisions affect others and the environment.
Our Role as a Member of The Community Contributing meaningfully to shared life, respecting others, and upholding community values.
Personal Sovereignty Living freely and responsibly, making choices that honour one’s own dignity and the rights of others.
The Power of Restraint Choosing not to act when action serves only impulse or ego, practicing self-control for the greater good.
Recycle, Reuse, Repair Extending the life of goods, minimising waste, and adopting sustainable consumption habits.
Self-Care Maintaining physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing as a foundation for personal and community health.
Understanding Cause and Effect Seeing the links between actions and outcomes and learning from experience.
Understanding Our Local Future Knowing the systems and values that shape society, and how to contribute to a sustainable, people-centred future.
Understanding Self-Awareness Recognizing one’s thoughts, emotions, and motivations to foster growth and empathy.
Using and Understanding AI Engaging with technology ethically and effectively, ensuring it serves humanity and community needs.
These skills are taught, shared, and practiced across The Community. They are the tools of empowerment, resilience, and collective progress.
Homelessness and Supporting the ‘Left Behind’
Our Principles—People, Community, and The Environment—alongside our culture of Authentic Governance, have been developed to promote a genuinely people-centric way of life.
While The Local Economy & Governance System minimises environmentally harmful influences for all Members of The Community, we recognise that not everyone will feel able to participate in life in ways considered “normal” or within the expected framework.
We honour the undifferentiated value of every Person or Being—beyond material status, beyond circumstance.
We do not seek to “fix” those who cannot engage with societal structures in conventional ways, unless their actions pose a direct threat to, or have harmed, Members of The Community.
Homelessness is not a crime, and it is never treated as such.
We understand that homelessness may result from personal choice, or from life challenges that many hope to avoid.
Our only expectation of anyone experiencing homelessness is that they:
Respect the Personal Sovereignty of others
Treat Community Infrastructure and services with care and consideration
Businesses are encouraged to offer opportunities to those seeking a fresh start—without requiring them to be defined by past roles, qualifications, or histories, especially when they have exercised The Right to be Forgotten.
Each Community provides Homelessness Services, either directly or in collaboration with neighbouring Parishes.
These often include Homeless Pods—safe, dignified spaces for temporary shelter.
Our approach is simple and compassionate: We assume nothing, expect nothing beyond respect for our shared Principles, and view any voluntary engagement with Community offerings as a bonus, not a requirement.
Part 3: Beliefs
Personal Sovereignty, Freedom of Belief, and Freedom of Thought
Personal Sovereignty is inseparable from the Freedom of Belief and the Freedom of Thought.
Throughout history, many have failed to recognise how religions and belief systems have been used—often by elites and ruling classes—as tools of social control.
These systems have manipulated fear of the unknown to shape behaviour, often reinforcing hierarchies where those at the top claim a “special relationship” with what lies beyond life. They present themselves as gatekeepers of truth—while discouraging independent thought.
As the world evolved and access to information expanded, belief systems that suppress freedom of thought began to collapse—or resorted to increasingly desperate tactics to maintain influence through fear and control.
Even Moneyocracy, the dominant ideology of the Old World, functioned as a belief system—one that demanded faith in wealth, status, and material power.
But the failures of these systems became clear: They harmed humanity, degraded the environment, and obstructed the natural learning that life itself offers.
As their relevance faded, these systems intensified efforts to control behaviour—seeking to suppress the very thing that threatened their power: Freedom of Thought.
This is the One True Freedom—the ability to think independently, to choose freely, and to act meaningfully.
It is how each of us makes sense of our existence and learns from the unique journey of our own life.
The governing classes of the Old World failed to honour this freedom.
They created conditions where countless people were denied the opportunity to explore the rich lessons that life, in all its diversity, has to offer.
In The Local Economy & Governance System, we restore and protect this freedom.
We honour the sovereignty of every mind, and we celebrate the power of thought as the foundation of a just, compassionate, and enlightened society.
Religion
Religion is a personal choice and belief.
It is accepted that each Person or Being holds a direct, exclusive relationship with God, a Higher Being, Spirit, the Universe, or another something identifiable by another name.
Any deviation from this relationship is a matter of personal choice—and no other Person, Group, or Member of The Community has the right to question or influence it, except within the acceptable bounds of parental care.
There is no Community or State Religion.
We maintain, champion, and defend a secular Community culture, which may be broadly aligned with Christian Values, but is not governed by any religious doctrine.
No Religion or Religious Practice may disrupt, influence, or dictate matters or policy within the Public Realm.
We do not accept that any Religion which uses fear, control, or subjugation to achieve its aims can be considered “peaceful.”
Personal Sovereignty is supreme. No system of belief may override it.
Any form of submissive behaviour to Religion or Religious Practice is considered an infringement of Personal Sovereignty— unless it is a clear and definable voluntary choice made by the individual.
No permanent contract or arrangement may bind any person to a Religion or Religious Practice involuntarily. Such obligations end immediately upon recognition.
No Religion-based law, regulation, or obligation may supersede the Community Governance Framework.
Spirituality
Spiritual and Religious direction is a personal choice for every Member of The Community. It is respected as a matter of Personal Sovereignty.
We encourage each individual to explore their own path to belief—through Self-Awareness, a Key Skill for Life, supported by Critical Thinking, also taught as a Key Skill for Life.
We recognise value in all belief systems, provided they honour the principle that Personal Sovereignty and our System of Authentic Governance are not mutually exclusive.
When respected, they complement one another.
Throughout history, religion and belief systems have often been misused as tools of control.
Spiritual pathways that promote independent thought and understanding have frequently been suppressed—erased from records, scriptures, and doctrines, with punishments ranging from ridicule to severe persecution.
Spiritual sciences and practices have been misrepresented as mere tools of divination or fortune-telling.
This distortion has been worsened by individuals who preyed on the vulnerable—abusing their knowledge or perceived skills for personal gain.
We reject these misuses.
Instead, we embrace spiritual exploration as a way to deepen understanding, foster empathy, and build meaningful relationships.
By exploring belief with openness and integrity, we strengthen both Personal Sovereignty and The Community—creating a culture rooted in respect, awareness, and shared growth.
The Rejection of Narratives and Embracing Truth
We accept the use of narratives and storytelling only as metaphor or allegory—tools to encourage reflection and promote deeper understanding.
We do not use narratives to create, manipulate, misdirect, or replace truth.
In Our Community, every Member with access to news and information is trusted to think critically, to discern wisely, and to draw their own conclusions.
We do not obscure reality with “alternative truths.”
We do not distort facts to serve agendas.
We do not trade clarity for comfort.
Truth is not negotiable.
It is the foundation of Authentic Governance, and the cornerstone of a society built on trust, sovereignty, and respect.
Part 4: Our Lifestyle
Section A: Food
Food Groups
We recognise two distinct food groups:
Essential or Basic Foods – the foods we need
Luxury Foods – the foods we want
Essential or Basic Foods
Essential or Basic Foods are critical for a healthy and happy life and are recognised as A Public Good.
They must be:
Accessible
Affordable
Nutritious
Grown and produced locally
Processed, transported, and supplied as locally as possible
Cultivated using natural processes
Produced through sustainable, traditional, regenerative, rotational, and mixed farming methods
Free from insecticides, pesticides, and chemical fertilisers
Processed only through ‘traditional’ or ‘by hand’ methods
Free from additives, artificial preservatives, flavourings, or enhancements
The most recognisable trait of Essential or Basic Foods is their natural form—either as harvested or as minimally processed using traditional methods.
Community Responsibility
Every home must have adequate facilities for food preparation, storage, and cooking.
The safe handling, preparation, and cooking of Essential and Basic Foods is taught as a Key Skill for Life.
It is the shared responsibility of the entire Community to ensure that every Member has ongoing access to sufficient supplies of Essential and Basic Foods to meet their needs.
Luxury Foods
Luxury Foods are defined as all foods that cannot be categorised as Basic or Essential.
They include:
Processed foods
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs)
Synthesised foods
Any food that is not visibly identifiable with its original source or natural form
Luxury Foods may not be reclassified as Basic or Essential based on labelling, description, or advertising of any kind.
They are recognised as A Lifestyle Choice, not a necessity.
To protect the integrity of local food systems:
No Basic or Essential Foods, nor any ingredients derived from them, may be used in the production of Luxury Foods
This restriction applies unless there is a surplus—after all local provision and inter-Parish trade needs have been fully met
This ensures that nutritional priority remains with the Community, and that resources are used responsibly, ethically, and in alignment with our shared values.
Farming and Fishing
The supply of Basic, Essential Foods is as vital as the air we breathe and the water we drink.
It is an undeniable truth—long unspoken—that control over food supply is control over society itself. This truth was exploited by the elites of the Old World, who used food systems to manipulate, dominate, and centralise power.
In The Local Economy & Governance System, we reject this model entirely.
We uphold a Local, Fully Transparent, and Circular Food Chain—one that ensures:
Control of Basic and Essential Foods remains in the hands of trusted, known members of the Community
Food supply is treated as A Public Good, not a commodity for profit or control
Farming and Fishing practices are rooted in sustainability, regeneration, and community accountability
This approach protects our sovereignty, strengthens our resilience, and ensures that food serves life—not power.
A Local Food Chain Is One That People Trust
The Local Food Chain is recognised as A Public Good—a vital part of life, community, and sustainability.
Within our system of Localised Economics and Authentic Governance, the Food Chain sits at the heart of The Community.
Food is as essential as the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Yet unlike those, meeting this Essential Basic Need requires daily effort, planning, and care.
We cannot afford to compromise trust in our food systems.
Our ability to live freely and lead happy, healthy, and productive lives depends on the quality and integrity of the food we consume.
To protect this trust:
All food is produced as locally as possible
Journey times from harvest to home are kept short
Processing is kept to a minimum, using traditional methods
Farmers and producers sell directly to Members of The Community through shops or delivery rounds
Local cooperatives, run as social businesses, help make Basic and Essential Foods accessible without unnecessary cost
Home growing is encouraged, and surplus food is shared through the Local Marketplace Exchange
Technology in food production is used only to enhance Food Safety and Good Working Practices.
We do not encourage large-scale machinery unless it clearly benefits the ecosystem of The Universal Parish.
Transparency is essential. It builds trust, and trust sustains the Local Food Chain.
Everyone is encouraged to participate in Home Growing at a minimum.
Food Production is recognised as a Key Skill for Life—a shared responsibility and a source of empowerment.
Food Production
Food Production is a cornerstone of Community wellbeing and is recognised as A Public Good.
All food growers, producers, processors, and suppliers are required to include Essential and Basic Foods within their business models.
The supply of food must always prioritise these foods for the benefit of The Community.
There are no ‘Specialist’ Luxury Food suppliers. Luxury Foods are not central to our food system and are only produced when surplus resources allow.
Food Production takes place in two primary forms:
Commercially – through Agricultural and Fisheries Businesses (Farms and Fishers) operating within the Parish area
Domestically – through Home Growing by individual households
All forms of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Home Growing that serve the priorities of People, Community, and The Environment are celebrated and protected as Public Goods.
Food Production is taught as a Key Skill for Life—empowering individuals to contribute to local resilience, sustainability, and health.
Food Advertising
Food Advertising is permitted only to raise awareness of:
Businesses,
Social Enterprises, and
Community Providers
…that offer Basic and Essential Foods, including those in pre-cooked or ready-to-eat forms.
These foods are recognised as A Public Good, and their promotion must serve the wellbeing of People, Community, and The Environment.
We do not accept profit-making as a justification for compromising the health, nutrition, or wellbeing of others.
Therefore:
Luxury Food Advertising is prohibited
Non-Essential Food Advertising is prohibited
Our food communication culture is built on truth, transparency, and responsibility—ensuring that what is promoted aligns with what sustains life.
Section B: Clothing
Clothing Libraries
We embrace the principles of Recycle, Reuse, and Repair as a responsible and essential part of daily life.
We reject throwaway culture—recognising it as both unnecessarily expensive and environmentally unsustainable.
Instead, we encourage the maximum use of all clothing and related items, extending their life and value.
Every Community maintains access to at least one Clothing Library, typically operated as a Social Business.
These libraries provide clothing for:
Special occasions
Community events
Life changes that may require access to items otherwise unaffordable
Clothing Libraries ensure dignity, accessibility, and sustainability—while reducing waste and promoting shared resources.
Clothing Repair is recognised as a Key Skill for Life and is taught as such, empowering individuals to care for and maintain their garments with confidence and creativity.
Wealth and the Accumulation of Property and Resources
In Our Local Future, wealth and property are not measures of status or power.
They exist solely to support the Basic and Essential needs of individuals and The Community.
No person may hold, possess, or own any form of wealth or property that does not serve:
Their own Basic and Essential needs, or
The operation of a business that contributes directly to meeting the Basic and Essential needs of The Community
These needs include the provision of Basic Essentials to one’s family and current dependents.
Wealth is not hoarded.
Resources are not stockpiled.
Ownership is not used to exclude or control.
Instead, we prioritise shared wellbeing, responsible stewardship, and community contribution—ensuring that all property and resources serve life, not lifestyle.
Section C: Health
Public Smoking and Vaping
Smoking and vaping are prohibited in all public places.
They are also prohibited in any location where another person may be involuntarily affected by smoke, vapour, or fumes of any kind.
While smoking and vaping are not banned outright, they are recognised as antisocial activities—discouraged due to their impact on others and the environment.
This policy protects Personal Sovereignty, promotes public health, and upholds the shared values of People, Community, and The Environment.
Social Care
Social Care is the collective support provided by The Community, through Community Provision, to any Person whose ability to fully exercise their Personal Sovereignty has been compromised for any reason.
We view Social Care as a natural support process—primarily delivered by individuals and families, with secondary support offered through structured Community services.
Social Care is not institutional. It is relational, compassionate, and rooted in the principles of People, Community, and The Environment.
It includes:
Assisted Living
Homelessness Support
Invalid Support
Nurseries & Crèches
Out-of-School Care
Prisons and Rehabilitation
Residential Care
Respite & Palliative Care
Social Care ensures that dignity, autonomy, and wellbeing are preserved—especially when life presents challenges that require collective care.
Section D: Charity
The Provision of Charity and Charitable Giving Is Public Service
Charity is an action. It is part of life. It is not limited to financial transactions or donations.
We recognise all charitable work that supports People, Community, and The Environment as a form of Community Provision—a shared responsibility and a public service.
In The Local Economy & Governance System, traditional charities of the kind known in the Old World exist only where a cause does not directly contribute to The Public Good.
These organisations operate solely through donations and volunteer time from outside the Community Contribution system.
They do not receive financial support from The Community.
Every Member of The Community contributes 10% of their working week—typically half a day—to Community Contributions.
Additional contributions of time or money may be offered voluntarily.
Any not-for-profit organisation that sells goods or services is classified and operated as a Social Business—ensuring transparency, accountability, and alignment with community values.
Charity, in its truest form, is service without expectation, support without condition, and care without hierarchy.
Section E: Education
The Best Education Opens the Door to Every Part of Life
In The Local Economy & Governance System, education is not a process—it is a foundation for life.
The Community holds both the obligation and the responsibility to equip every Member with the Key Skills for Life and Social Skills necessary to:
Function independently
Think critically and freely
Act with ethical and moral awareness, especially where their choices may impact others
The goal is to provide the tools, not the programme— to empower, not to prescribe.
We recognise that the most important lesson for every person is to learn about themselves and to develop in ways that are most effective and appropriate to their own journey.
Self-Awareness is the most vital tool. It enables individuals to fully exercise their Personal Sovereignty—the highest goal of education and the greatest benefit to The Community.
Therefore, we prioritise the ongoing development of Key Skills for Life and Social Skills above all forms of academic, experiential, or vocational training—which naturally flourish as a result of this approach.
Education is not about conformity. It is about capacity, conscience, and connection.
Our Education ‘System’
We recognise that everyone learns differently.
For children and young people, learning styles can be broadly understood as:
Taught or Academic
Practical or Experiential
In The Local Economy & Governance System, education is structured around three Priority Areas:
Academic Learning – focused on knowledge, literacy, numeracy, and intellectual development
Experiential Learning – rooted in hands-on practice, real-world engagement, and skill-building through doing
Social Learning – centred on relationships, emotional intelligence, communication, and community interaction
This balanced approach ensures that every learner is supported in developing the Key Skills for Life, Self-Awareness, and the ability to exercise Personal Sovereignty.
Education is not a one-size-fits-all system. It is a living framework designed to grow with the individual and serve the Community.
Academic Learning
Academic Learning is offered to those children and young people who are academically inclined and able to fully engage with this style of education.
The Community benefits most when academic learning is focused, purposeful, and aligned with individual strengths.
All levels of academic education are fully funded by The Community.
No educational establishment may accept payments, sponsorships, or influence from commercial businesses or governments outside our National Boundaries.
This ensures that education remains:
Free from external agendas
Rooted in local values
Dedicated to the development of Personal Sovereignty and Key Skills for Life
Academic Learning is not a privilege. It is a pathway—offered with integrity, sustained by trust, and guided by the needs of The Community.
Experiential or Vocational Learning
We do not expect every individual to follow a full academic programme simply for the sake of measurement or standardisation.
The Community thrives when it embraces a broad-based, practical, and experiential approach to learning—especially for children and young people who are:
Practically oriented, or
Less suited to abstract, academic styles of education
For these learners, we offer comprehensive 7-year apprenticeship programmes, beginning at the age of 14.
These programmes are designed to:
Build real-world skills
Foster independence and confidence
Develop Key Skills for Life through hands-on experience
Experiential Learning is not secondary—it is essential.
It honours diverse talents, supports meaningful contribution, and strengthens The Community through purposeful practice.
Social Learning
Social Learning is recognised as A Public Good—a vital part of personal development and community wellbeing.
It provides Members of The Community with the Key Skills for Life needed to:
Support their journey toward Personal Sovereignty
Sustain that sovereignty through ethical, relational, and practical understanding
Social Learning is guided by a flexible framework, not a rigid syllabus. It adapts to the needs of individuals and the wisdom of those who teach.
We actively encourage grandparents and elders to contribute during caregiving periods—sharing their knowledge, experience, and values directly with younger generations.
Beyond family, Social Learning is delivered through Community Contributions.
Members with lived experience in areas that benefit others and serve The Public Good are invited to:
Teach
Coach
Mentor
They may dedicate their Community Contribution time to this purpose, and may also offer additional time voluntarily.
Social Learning is not confined to classrooms. It is woven into daily life, relationships, and shared responsibility—empowering individuals and strengthening The Community.
Section F: Housing
The Housing Principles
Housing—and its provision for all—is recognised as A Public Good.
In The Local Economy & Governance System:
No person may own, let, or occupy more than one domestic dwelling
No private company or individual may profit, charge interest, or accumulate wealth from the ownership or letting of any private dwelling
This principle ensures that housing remains:
Accessible
Equitable
Free from exploitation
Homes are for living—not for leverage.
Housing is a right—not a commodity.
By protecting the integrity of domestic dwellings, we uphold the values of Personal Sovereignty, Community Wellbeing, and Environmental Responsibility.
Part 5: Governance
Flat Hierarchies and Natural Leadership
In the earliest human communities—simple, cooperative, and rooted in survival—collaboration was the foundation of life.
Before power was hoarded, before leadership became control, and before influence was passed down through exclusive groups, people worked together, and everyone contributed.
We believe in that same equilibrium.
There is a sweet spot within every community where:
Everyone works and contributes
Everyone has what they need
Leadership arises naturally, not through status or authority, but through service
True leadership is not selfish or controlling. It is selfless, offered for the benefit of all, without expectation of favour, privilege, or power.
In a flat hierarchy:
Roles are different, but not ranked
Contributions are valued, not compared
Leadership is a function, not a position
Those with natural leadership ability step forward—not to dominate, but to guide, support, and uplift—because that is what the moment, the role, and the community require.
This is leadership as it should be: Humble. Responsive. Rooted in shared purpose.
Exceptions to Flat Hierarchies
While the LEGS model is fundamentally built on flat hierarchies and natural leadership, there are practical situations where temporary or delegated decision-making is necessary. These exceptions do not undermine the principle of equality; rather, they ensure that the community’s needs are met efficiently and transparently.
Delegated Decision-Making: In certain cases—such as mediation, urgent matters, or the operation of The Circumpunct—decisions may need to be made by a smaller group or an individual. This delegation is always temporary and specific to the task at hand.
Basis of Authority: Any authority exercised in these situations is not derived from status or rank, but from explicit trust and consent granted by The Community. Those entrusted with decision-making act solely as facilitators or representatives, and remain fully accountable to the community.
System of Deference: When a system of deference is required (for example, inviting an external expert or mediator), it is implemented openly, with the understanding that the ultimate authority remains with The Community. All decisions made under such arrangements are subject to review and approval by the wider group.
Safeguards: These exceptions are designed to prevent the emergence of permanent hierarchies. Decision-makers are rotated, their actions are transparent, and their mandate is limited in scope and duration.
Community Oversight: At all times, the community retains the right to revoke delegated authority, request further consultation, or demand accountability for decisions made on its behalf.
In summary: Exceptions to flat hierarchy exist only to serve the practical needs of the community, never to create lasting positions of power. All delegated decisions are rooted in trust, transparency, and the collective will of The Community.
Authentic Governance
Our system of Authentic Governance is built on a foundational principle: Every decision made by The Community is the right one for every Member, based on what is known to decision-makers at the time that decision is taken.
We operate a democratic system rooted in the belief that the most reliable and robust form of democracy is:
Local
Accessible
Transparent
Governance is not distant or abstract—it is immediate, personal, and accountable.
Decision-makers must be:
Accessible to every Member of The Community
Known to those they represent—not just by name, but through relationship and trust
Members of The Community are actively involved in the selection and management of Politicians, who are recognised as Community Representatives—not rulers, but facilitators of collective will.
The Authentic Governance System (TAGS) is recognised as A Public Good.
It exists to serve, not to control.
It reflects the values of Personal Sovereignty, Community Participation, and Ethical Leadership.
The Community Meeting (Universal Parish Council)
The Community Meeting, also known as the Universal Parish Council, is the foundation of Authentic Governance in Our Local Future.
Every Member of The Community is actively involved in the selection of candidates for election as Community Representatives to the Community Meeting.
To ensure fairness and diversity:
Political Parties and agenda-led groups are prohibited from participating in Community Governance
Each Community prepares an election list that includes at least 120% of the number of available Representative Seats
This guarantees choice, transparency, and representation rooted in local trust.
The Community Meeting is responsible for:
All Local Policy Decisions
Selecting representatives for the District and Regional Meetings
These bodies, in turn, select representatives for the National Meeting
Decisions at District, Regional, and National levels are deferred unless collective agreement confirms that broader coordination is appropriate.
This structure ensures that power remains local, governance remains transparent, and representation remains personal.
The Community Meeting is not just a council—it is a living expression of shared responsibility, ethical leadership, and democratic integrity.
The Circumpunct
The Circumpunct is the practical and symbolic foundation of Community Decision-Making in The Local Economy & Governance System.
At its core, it is a floor plan and a governance model:
Twelve Community Representatives sit in groups of three, forming a 360-degree circle around all speakers—excluding only the chair or facilitator.
This arrangement ensures that every voice is heard, every perspective is visible, and every decision is made in full view of The Community.
But The Circumpunct is more than a seating plan.
The Circumpunct is a metaphor for life, a tool of governance, and a symbol of unity in a People-centric, community-driven system.
Historically, the Circumpunct represents the direct relationship between all things and Source—whether one calls it God, a Higher Being, Spirit, the Universe, or another name.
It signifies a pure, unmediated connection, untouched by material desires or earthly influence.
To many, it reflects a state of oneness that transcends division and limitation.
Regardless of religious or spiritual belief, the Circumpunct embodies a model for life:
Two people, communicating openly and considering the impact of their actions on others—without restriction, prejudice, or fear—create a space of transparency, accountability, and shared understanding.
The Circumpunct is illustrated as a complete circle surrounding a visible central point. This design reflects the relationship between:
One person and all people around them
The individual and The Community
The Community and the Environment that encapsulates them all
To speak from within The Circumpunct is to stand with clarity, confidence, and independence—free from the protection of group identity or the illusion of safety in numbers.
It is a space of truth, courage, and collective wisdom. A system for life and relationships that, by design, works in the best way it can for all involved.
As such, The Circumpunct is a Public Good.
The Circumpunct Model
Visual Structure:
Outer Circle: Twelve Community Representatives are seated in groups of three, forming a complete circle. The circle symbolizes equality, transparency, and collective wisdom.
Central Point: The centre of the circle is reserved for speakers—anyone making representation (Council Member, Community Member, or external party) stands here to address the group. This central position ensures the speaker is visible to all and must consider every perspective.
No Hierarchy: There is no elevated seat, title, or permanent leadership role. Facilitation rotates among members, and all decisions are made in full view of the community.
Symbolic Meaning: The Circumpunct represents unity, direct relationship, and open communication. It is both a practical governance tool and a metaphor for transparent, people-centric decision-making.
Governance: The Circumpunct as a Practical Tool for Genuine Democracy
The structures of traditional government—titles, positions, and systems of control—reflect the very problems we are leaving behind.
We reject all elements that have upheld top-down, hierarchical, patriarchal, and centralised governance.
Institutions such as Parliament, mayoralties, and regional authorities like County Councils, Unitary, and District-level bodies have become detached, aloof, and distant from the people and environments they were meant to serve.
Even Parish-level authorities have mirrored these flaws.
In The Local Economy & Governance System, decisions must be made by the people, for the people, on behalf of the people.
Practical Application: Local Legislature (Local Executive)
The Circumpunct provides the discussion floor and decision-making space for local governance.
Each locality appoints a council of 12 Community Representatives, seated in threes around four curved benches forming a perfect circle.
Key principles:
Representatives are elected by all Members of The Community
No political parties are involved
Selection is based on merit, suitability, and experience
There is no hierarchy, no titles, and no permanent leadership roles
Each member takes turns to facilitate from their usual seat
Anyone making representation—whether a Council Member, Community Member, or external party—must speak from the centre of The Circumpunct.
This requires them to:
Speak with awareness of all sides
Consider the visible and invisible impact of their words
Stand independently, without the comfort or protection of group alignment
Every member speaks and acts as one, working together to reach decisions that serve the best interests of the People, Community, and Environment they represent.
Practical Application: The Administration of Local Law
The Court System is not separate from Community Governance.
The Community is responsible for both the creation and application of law.
Criminal Matters
The Circumpunct serves as the local magistrates court. Key principles:
Prosecutors, defendants, and their representatives must address the Community from within The Circumpunct
Prosecutions must be brought within 24 hours of arrest
Non-capital convictions or those witnessed by officers must be concluded or dismissed within that time
Civil Matters
A professional legal representative system exists, but with strict ethical boundaries:
No advertising, solicitation, or manipulation of personal memory or experience
No “no win, no fee” services
No inflated legal fees—costs must not exceed the value of any award made by The Circumpunct
The Circumpunct is not just a space. It is a living model of democracy, transparency, and ethical governance—designed to serve life, not power.
Conclusive Mediation
While mediation became popular—and even mandatory—in parts of the former legal system, it often failed to deliver the outcomes expected of a truly considerate, non-arbitrary, and community-rooted justice process.
In The Local Economy & Governance System, we recognise that:
Criminal acts, when proven beyond doubt, require community-agreed responses applied with equity
But in all other matters involving relationships between people, resolution is always possible when approached objectively, impartially, and with a commitment to truth over opinion
The Circumpunct serves as a space for Conclusive Mediation—a structured, transparent process for resolving disputes of all kinds.
Mediation Process
A three-member panel of Community Representatives hears evidence from both parties
Each party presents their evidence, shares their experience, and explains the outcomes as they witnessed them
Parties are invited to reach a mutually agreeable resolution, which remains voluntary unless one party refuses to continue
If a party refuses to proceed—perhaps due to firm belief in their position—the panel will issue a binding decision, based on:
The facts presented
The impact on all parties involved
Key Principles
Outcomes must be based on fact, not opinion, emotion, or circumstance
Failure to disclose relevant evidence is a criminal act
Time allocation for mediation is determined by key factors submitted with the case
Conclusive Mediation is not just a process—it is a community commitment to resolution, truth, and justice without hierarchy or manipulation.
Legal Representation
Legal representation is permitted only on an equitable basis
If one party chooses a level of representation the other cannot afford, they must fund equivalent representation for the other party
The Circumpunct will appoint this representative to ensure fairness
The Universal Parish (Uniparish)
The People we know, the Community in which we live and work, and the Environment that surrounds us are the foundation of our existence.
They are the only things we can truly trust and rely upon.
Our society is built upon a structural unit and ecosystem model known as the Universal Parish, or Uniparish.
The name draws inspiration from the Old-World UK Parish—once the most localised tier of government within a top-down, hierarchical system.
In contrast, the Universal Parish is the central structure of:
Society
Business
Community
Governance
Within our System of Authentic Governance, all other structures—whether governmental, commercial, or public service—are subservient to The Community itself.
Only Social Business models may operate across borders, ensuring that:
No external interest overrides the needs of The Community
Collaboration between Communities is always prioritised over profit
The Universal Parish is designed to be as self-contained as possible.
Business interaction between areas is limited strictly to meeting Basic and Essential Needs that cannot be fulfilled within the Uniparish itself.
This model ensures that governance, economy, and community life remain local, ethical, and responsive—always serving the people, never dominating them.
The Structure of Our Society
We reject hierarchy as the foundation of societal organisation—whether in civic governance, business, or any other domain.
We believe that leadership cannot be guaranteed by formal roles or titles, whether publicly appointed or privately assigned.
True leadership arises from experience, wisdom, and community trust—not from status or position.
Our society is built on a level, egalitarian framework, where:
All contributions are valued equally
Natural leadership is encouraged
Respect is earned through ability, not elevation
Leadership is not about being above others. It is about serving alongside, guiding with humility, and contributing without expectation of privilege.
While basic hierarchies may be necessary in rare circumstances, they are the exception, not the rule.
We prioritise:
Collaboration over control
Merit over mandate
Community over command
This structure ensures that our society remains inclusive, adaptive, and rooted in shared purpose.
The Structure of Local Areas
Our entire societal model is decentralised by design. At its heart lies a single, powerful principle: Locality.
Locality is the foundation of:
Good lives
Happy and healthy living
A system for life that places People, Community, and The Environment at the centre
By building around Locality, we ensure that every decision, service, and structure is:
Fair
Balanced
Just
Responsive to local needs and realities
Local Areas are not administrative zones—they are living ecosystems of mutual care, shared responsibility, and sustainable practice.
This structure empowers communities to thrive from the ground up, not the top down.
International Collaboration
We all share a common interest in the future of Humanity, the World, and the Environment that sustains us today.
If cared for and respected, this shared environment will continue to provide for The Local Economy & Governance System and Everyone’s Tomorrow.
Collaboration across communities and borders is essential to achieving outcomes that serve the needs of every Community—from the Parish level upward.
Importantly, such collaboration does not require the surrender of political or decision-making power.
In The Local Economy & Governance System:
World affairs are the concern of all Members of The Community
These matters are discussed openly as part of Community Meeting business
We reject all objectives that seek to centralise power and control
We oppose any system designed to accumulate wealth or create unfair advantage for certain communities or nation states over others
International Collaboration must be rooted in:
Equity
Transparency
Mutual respect
Shared stewardship of the planet
Global cooperation is not about dominance—it is about shared responsibility, local empowerment, and collective care.
Community Provision
What was once known as The Public Sector and Public Services is now redefined as Community Provision.
Community Provision exists to:
Create and maintain the environment and services essential to a culture built around People, Community, and The Environment
Provide support that meets collective responsibilities and addresses needs beyond individual capacity, especially during times when individuals may be unable to meet their basic and essential needs alone
This system is designed to be:
Lean and efficient, with only a minimal number of Community Members employed in full- or part-time roles
Focused on key positions deemed essential for continuity and stability
The majority of roles are fulfilled through Community Contributions—voluntary service offered by Members of The Community as part of their shared commitment to collective wellbeing.
Community Provision spans:
Local Government administration and technical functions
Health and Social Care services
Former roles of NGOs and Charities, now integrated into a unified, community-led framework
This model ensures that services are:
Locally accountable
Ethically grounded
Responsive to real needs, not institutional agendas
Community Provision is not a sector—it is a shared system of care, built on trust, responsibility, and collaboration.
Community Contributions: How We Directly Support Society
As Members of The Community, we accept shared responsibility for the upkeep, maintenance, and development of the infrastructure, services, and public resources we all rely on throughout our lives.
This shared responsibility is fulfilled through Community Contributions—a system of active participation in the delivery of Local Public Services and Charity Provision.
Key Principles
Every working Member of The Community contributes the equivalent of 10% of their working week
Contributions may be made directly to Community Provision, including public services, civic administration, or charitable support
This system replaces traditional public sector staffing with a community-led workforce, ensuring services are locally accountable and ethically grounded
Benefits and Opportunities
Community Contributions form the majority of the public sector and civic workforce
Members can request roles aligned with their interests to gain experience and explore career paths
Roles are otherwise allocated based on skills and experience, ensuring each contribution is of maximum benefit to the whole community
Community Contributions are not just a duty—they are a privilege, a pathway to growth, and a foundation for collective wellbeing.
Creating and Maintaining Public Policy
In The Local Economy & Governance System, the primary responsibility for all Public Policy rests with each Community Meeting or Uniparish Council.
All elements of governance—including:
Laws
Regulations
Legislative frameworks
And every key decision that sustains our System of Authentic Governance
—are generated at the Community Level.
Public Policy is not imposed from above. It is developed at the grassroots, and its impact flows upward, not downward—reversing the top-down model of the Old World.
This approach ensures that:
Decisions are made by those who live with their consequences
Public Representatives and Decision Makers are deeply connected to the people they serve
Every policy is shaped by a clear understanding of its implications, real-world impact, and ethical responsibility
Authentic Governance is not abstract. It is local, lived, and accountable—rooted in the wisdom and experience of The Community itself.
Money Is a Medium of Exchange—And Nothing More
In The Local Economy & Governance System, Money, Cryptocurrencies, Promissory Notes, and all forms of recognisable monetary transfer are understood solely as Mediums of Exchange.
They exist to facilitate the fair transfer of value—not to accumulate power, profit, or control.
Core Principles
Mediums of Exchange have no intrinsic value
They cannot be traded, sold, tokenised, or subdivided into any further form—regardless of mutual agreement between parties
They must not be bundled into any financial package, instrument, or device designed for speculative or profit-driven use
This principle ensures that:
Wealth cannot be abstracted or manipulated
Value remains grounded in real contribution and need
Economic systems serve people and communities, not markets or institutions
Money is not a commodity. It is a tool of fairness, not a mechanism of exploitation.
The Rules of Money
Within The Local Economy & Governance System, the concept of money as it once existed in the Old World no longer applies.
In the neoliberal, top-down, hierarchical, patriarchal system, money had no intrinsic reality—it was sustained only by collective belief and systemic illusion.
In The Local Economy System, we redefine our relationship with money through a clear and ethical framework that ensures money serves people, not the other way around.
Foundational Principles
Money is a medium of exchange
Money has no intrinsic value
The exchange value of money is set by The Circumpact
Money cannot be traded as a commodity or ‘thing’ in its own right
The holding of money cannot attract interest
Speculation or gambling on the value of money is prohibited
Lending and Transactions
Loans may only be made:
Without charge, or
With a fixed fee agreed upon by lender and borrower, payable in instalments or in full
No person may carry more than one loan at any time
All loans—community or private—must be registered with The Circumpact
Loan defaults are reviewed by The Circumpact
Payment Standards
Salary payments must be settled by the last working day of each month
Commercial transactions must be settled by the 15th of the following month
This framework restores balance, transparency, and trust to the flow of value in society. It ensures that money remains a tool of fairness, not a mechanism of control or exploitation.
Our Tax System
In Our Local Future, taxation is redefined to reflect fairness, responsibility, and service to the Public Good.
We do not tax productivity, effort, or success when those contributions directly benefit the community.
Instead, taxation is applied to areas of excess, privilege, and unearned advantage.
What We Tax
Luxury goods and services
Property and standing wealth
Unearned wealth accumulation
Rental earnings
Benefits derived from access to Community Assets, Infrastructure, and Resources
Flat Tax Structure
We implement a Flat Tax system
The Flat Tax rate is 10%
It is calculated from:
The value of existing assets
The value of luxury goods and services at point of sale
Community Meetings place a charge levy on the use or benefit of shared community resources
Key Principles
No tax reductions are permitted as incentives for any purpose
The system is designed to be transparent, equitable, and resistant to manipulation
This tax model ensures that wealth serves the community, not the individual. It reinforces a system where contribution is rewarded, and privilege is balanced by responsibility.
The Role of AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Work is an essential part of a good, happy, healthy, safe, and secure life.
A meaningful life cannot exist without purposeful work.
The role of AI and technology is to enhance life—not replace it.
In the Old World, the speed and complexity of AI systems led to the misguided belief that AI had become sentient.
This illusion was deliberately used to instil fear, manipulate perception, and obscure the truth: AI is not conscious—it simply processes vast amounts of historical data.
Safeguards and Ethical Use
All AI-enabled technology—especially those connected to the Internet, Cloud, or any external system—must include a locally operable dead man switch.
This ensures that control remains in human hands, without remote interference.
For systems supporting the provision of Basic Essentials to People, The Community, or The Environment, a fully functional parallel system must be in place. This system must:
Operate without AI
Function offline, without external connection
Be ready to seamlessly take over at any moment—“at the flick of a switch”
Prioritising Human-Centric Systems
Cost is not a valid consideration when it comes to essential services
Non-digital, human-oriented systems must always be prioritised
The rejection of digital technology, in favour of human-led processes, is the only acceptable form of cost-saving in the provision of Basic Essential Foods, Goods, and Services
This framework ensures that technology remains a tool of service, not a substitute for humanity.
The Right to Be Forgotten
The Right to Be Forgotten offers every person the opportunity to walk away from their existing life and begin anew—with all records cleared, a new name and identity, and a fresh start.
To exercise this right means:
Leaving everything behind
Starting again in a new place, with no ties or contact to anyone or anything from one’s former life
This is not a casual choice. It is regarded by The Community as an irreversible restart, equivalent to the administrative and procedural finality of death.
Upon exercising this right, the individual must permanently surrender:
All wealth and property
All academic qualifications
All legal and social identity from their previous life
Key Principle
Every person may exercise The Right to Be Forgotten once in their lifetime
This right exists to honour the profound human need for renewal, freedom, and reinvention—while ensuring that the process is fair, final, and ethically grounded.
Part 6: Business & Economy
People Are the Value in The Local Economy & Governance System
In The Local Economy & Governance System, people—not capital—are the foundation of economic value.
The total amount of active money—whether in physical coinage or digital form—can only be determined and adjusted by The Community itself, through either:
The Circumpunct, or
The Local Market Exchange
Core Principles
The total value of money in circulation is directly proportional to the number of people within The Community at any given time
This value reflects each person’s capacity to contribute to the Local Circular Economic Model within the Universal Parish system
Levels of Economic Contribution
Each Member of The Community is recognised according to their current stage of life and contribution:
Children (Non-working age)
Young People in Training
Adults
Adults (Non-working)
When Value Adjustments Occur
The value attributed to each Member of The Community is adjusted only when:
A person enters or exits the community (birth, death, moving in, or moving out)
A person’s Level of Economic Contribution changes
This model ensures that economic value is human-centred, locally accountable, and rooted in participation, not speculation.
The Local Economy Model
In The Local Economy & Governance System, we operate a Local Circular Economic Model—a system designed to sustain life, community, and environment through localised production, ethical governance, and shared responsibility.
Core Elements
Creating and maintaining a richly rewarding life for all Members of The Community by ensuring everything essential to a happy, healthy, safe, and secure life is available within the local area. The local economy is designed so that all basic needs—food, housing, healthcare, transport, clothing, communication, and social participation—can be met locally, supporting independence and wellbeing.
Fostering a culture of mutual respect, where every Member understands and appreciates the value of each person’s role. All contributions are valued equally, and the community recognizes the importance of every role, trade, and form of service in sustaining collective wellbeing.
Operating under a system of authentic governance, rooted in transparency and trust. Governance is local, democratic, and participatory, with decision-makers accessible and accountable to the community, ensuring policies reflect real needs and lived experience.
Ensuring control and decision-making remain in the hands of public representatives who are accessible and accountable. Community representatives are selected based on merit and service, not status, and all decisions are made openly, with direct involvement from community members.
Keeping access to basic essential goods and services open, secure, and equitable for all. Essential goods and services are guaranteed for every member, with systems in place to prevent exclusion, exploitation, or scarcity.
Sourcing raw materials locally, within the Parish or as nearby as possible. Local supply chains are prioritised to minimize external dependencies, reduce environmental impact, and strengthen community resilience.
Minimizing transport use to reduce environmental impact and strengthen local supply chains. Transport is provided for genuine need, with a focus on walking, cycling, and shared mobility, reducing unnecessary journeys and supporting sustainability.
Using the fewest input points in every part of the supply chain to maintain simplicity and resilience. Processes are streamlined to avoid complexity, waste, and vulnerability, ensuring the local economy remains robust and adaptable.
Applying technology only where it improves working conditions and output. Technology is used to enhance safety, efficiency, and wellbeing, but never to replace meaningful work or human agency.
Rejecting technology that replaces jobs or performs tasks that a Member of The Community can carry out. Human-led processes are prioritised, and mechanization is only used when necessary, preserving employment and community engagement.
Viewing jobs and occupations as a tool for life, not the purpose of life. Work is valued as a means to support happy, healthy living, not as an end in itself; the focus is on meeting need and contributing to the Public Good.
This model ensures that economic activity is human-centred, environmentally responsible, and community-driven—a system where value circulates locally, and everyone benefits.
The Local Market Exchange
In Our Local Future, we recognise that the true purpose of money and currency is to serve as a Medium of Exchange—nothing more.
Within our system, it is equally normal and encouraged to trade goods and services directly through bartering, especially when:
The use of money is unnecessary, or
It would inflate costs without adding value
Principles of Fair Trade
The concept of Fair Trade is literal:
We commit to trading as fairly, ethically, and considerately as possible—always guided by our shared priorities of:
People
Community
The Environment
Structure and Function
Each District or Parish has its own Local Market Exchange
These are physical marketplaces, centrally located and accessible to all
Each Exchange also offers an offline and online presence, but core trading is always conducted in person
No trading software or AI is permitted in the operation of Local Market Exchanges
Modes of Exchange
Local Market Exchanges facilitate:
Money for goods/services
Goods/services for goods/services
Goods/services for money
They also serve as conversion systems, ensuring flexibility and fairness in all transactions.
Governance and Regulation
A minimum value system for all Basic and Essential Goods and Services is set and regularly revised by the Community Meeting
Price manipulation—any attempt to raise or lower the value of essentials—is strictly prohibited
All Basic and Essential Goods not sold by licensed local small businesses or services must be traded through the Local Market Exchange
This model ensures that trade remains transparent, community-driven, and resilient, with value circulating locally and equitably.
Locality Economics
We practice Locality Economics within the framework of the Universal Parish Principle.
Each Parish or Area functions as its own Local Circular Economy, designed to produce and supply all Foods, Goods, and Services essential for Members of The Community to live independent, self-sustaining lives.
Key Principles
The Universal Parish prioritises local production of all Basic and Essential needs
When certain essentials cannot be produced locally, they are imported from other Communities where those items are in excess
These exchanges are conducted primarily through barter or trade, using our own excesses
Money or financial transactions are used only when direct exchange is not possible
Economic Ethics
All Communities are expected to maintain a neutral balance sheet, ensuring fairness, sustainability, and reciprocity
Life itself is our economic model—not profit, not growth, but wellbeing
Economics is viewed as a function or side-effect of a system that prioritises:
People
Community
The Environment
This model ensures that economic activity remains grounded in human values, local resilience, and shared stewardship.
We Have a Basic Living Standard for Everyone
In the Old World, an unwritten yet deliberately engineered cultural norm allowed some to earn without limit—at the direct expense of others’ basic needs.
This imbalance, driven by greed, created a system where:
Excessive wealth for a few meant increased costs for everyone else
Disproportionate earnings led to the accumulation of goods and control of services by those who wanted but did not need them
Need was displaced by want, making essentials inaccessible to those who depended on them most
The legitimisation of greed, which once sustained what was known as Wealth Inequality, is now understood to be morally and ethically unacceptable.
A New Foundation: The Basic Living Standard
In The Local Economy & Governance System, we affirm that:
Every person must have the resources necessary to live a Happy, Healthy, Safe, and Secure life
These lives must be supported through independent or self-sufficient means
The ability of each Member of The Community to meet their own needs is everyone’s shared priority
To uphold this, we have created and maintain The Basic Living Standard—a foundational commitment that ensures:
The Local Circular Economy and Universal Parish Model work in harmony
Balance, fairness, and justice are accessible to all Members of The Community
Every individual can enjoy Personal Sovereignty as part of a life rooted in dignity and wellbeing
The Basic Living Standard (BLS)
The Basic Living Standard is the benchmark of The Local Economy & Governance System:
Every Member of The Community must earn enough from a week’s work to cover all costs necessary for a financially independent, self-sufficient life
This includes meeting all Basic and Essential needs
Without reliance on benefits, charity, or debt
This principle is called The Basic Living Standard—a Public Good that every civilised society must not only recognise, but actively maintain.
The Basic Living Standard Charter
The Basic Living Standard is a foundational guarantee that ensures every individual earning the lowest legal weekly wage can afford all essential costs of living—without falling into debt, relying on welfare, or turning to charity.
It defines the minimum threshold of financial independence, where core needs—such as food, housing, utilities, healthcare, transport, clothing, communication, and modest social participation—are fully covered by earned income alone. It also includes provision for savings, unexpected costs, and fair contributions to society.
This standard is not aspirational—it is structural. It affirms that full-time work at the lowest wage must equate to full dignity, autonomy, and security.
***
No food banks. No emergency loans. No skipped prescriptions or unpaid bills. Just a life that’s liveable, sustainable, and free from poverty.
Our Economy Focuses on People — Because People Are the Economy
In The Local Economy & Governance System, every Business and Organisation exists to:
Support,
Enhance, and
Maintain life for People, Community, and The Environment
Economic activity is not driven by profit—it is driven by purpose.
Foundational Commitments
All Businesses and Organisations must:
Prioritise the Basic Living Standard
Ensure the provision of Basic and Essential Foods, Goods, and Services
Guarantee that every person can access these essentials within the Universal Parish Model
Every Member of The Community is entitled to earn a weekly wage that enables them to:
Secure all Basic Essentials
Live independently, without reliance on:
Welfare or benefits
Charity
Debt
Basic Essentials for Life — Defined as Public Goods
Basic and Essential Foods (typically in their original form on the plate)
Basic and Essential Clothing
Basic and Essential Hygiene Products
Basic and Essential Housing
Basic and Essential Utility Supply
Access to Basic and Essential Transport
Access to Basic and Essential Communication
Universal access to Basic and Essential Healthcare
Support during periods of unemployment or transition
These are not privileges—they are rights.
They are the foundation of dignity, and they are non-negotiable in a society built on fairness, sustainability, and shared wellbeing.
The Function of Private and Commercial Business
In The Local Economy & Governance System, the primary function of all businesses—whether private or commercial—is the betterment and maintenance of:
People
Community
The Environment
Businesses are not engines of profit. They are pillars of service, designed to support life, strengthen society, and protect the planet.
Ethical Principle
The pursuit of profit as a primary goal is considered morally and ethically incorrect
Business must be guided by purpose, not profit
Success is measured by impact, not accumulation
This principle ensures that economic activity remains human-centred, community-driven, and ethically grounded.
The Business Framework
In The Local Economy & Governance System, all businesses are designed to be local, community-serving, and ethically governed.
Structure and Scope
All businesses are Local
Businesses may operate branch systems across a Region or District if it benefits the community
No business may operate, license, or subcontract beyond a single Region
Businesses may partner within cooperatives across Regions to ensure the universal supply of Basic and Essential Goods and Services to all Districts and Parishes
Licensing and Oversight
Every business must hold a valid License to Operate, issued by the Community Meeting of the Parish where its premises are located
Internet businesses must operate under the same rules and standards as offline businesses
Social Media platforms are classified as online businesses and must comply accordingly
Business Types and Limitations
Privately owned businesses may only serve domestic or retail customers
Business-to-Business (B2B) services must be provided by Social Businesses
Privately owned businesses must remain within the size limits of what was formerly known as an SME (Small to Medium-Sized Enterprise)
Social Business Model
B2B services are delivered by Social Businesses, which operate as cooperatives
These cooperatives are collectively owned by the Parishes of a District
Parishes act as shareholders, sharing ownership and decision-making responsibility
This framework ensures that business activity remains community-rooted, transparent, and aligned with public good—supporting a system where economic power is distributed, and local needs come first.
Company Ownership & Shareholdings
In Our Local Future, company ownership is rooted in local participation, ethical stewardship, and fair distribution of value.
Ownership Principles
Companies may be Limited by Shares, but shares may only be held by individuals with a direct working interest in the company
No company or organisation that provides essential goods or services may be owned by:
Non-residents, or
Any person or entity with interests outside the Region where the business is based
Shareholding Ethics
Shares do not yield dividends
Company earnings—beyond:
The Basic Living Standard Wage,
Operational costs, and
Reinvestment needs
-are fairly distributed among staff at the end of the calendar year, where surplus exists
This framework ensures that:
Ownership remains local and accountable
Wealth is shared equitably among contributors
Essential services are protected from external influence or exploitation
The Priorities of Commercial and Private Business
In The Local Economy & Governance System, the right to Personal Sovereignty allows each person to prioritise themselves in thought.
However, when it comes to business, the aim and purpose must always be the furtherance of The Public Good.
Ethical Business Priorities
Self-employed individuals are entitled to earn a fair premium for their effort, commitment, and risk
No business may exist solely for financial gain or profit-making
Every business must grow, manufacture, or supply Basic or Essential Goods or Services
Profit is viewed as a positive byproduct of:
Satisfied customers
Quality work
Ethical service
Guiding Principles
All business actions and interactions must be conducted in alignment with:
The Public Good
The principles of:
People
Community
The Environment
This framework ensures that business serves as a vehicle for wellbeing, not a mechanism for exploitation—where success is measured by contribution, not accumulation.
Social Business
Social Businesses are non-profit organisations operated with maximum efficiency for one purpose: The Public Good.
Core Functions
Social Businesses exist primarily where Basic and Essential Goods and Services are not provided by Private Businesses
They ensure that no community need goes unmet, especially in areas where profit-driven models are not viable or appropriate
Business-to-Business (B2B) Services
All B2B services must be delivered exclusively by Social Businesses
Commercial or privately owned businesses are not permitted to provide B2B services of any kind
This model ensures that critical infrastructure, supply chains, and inter-business support systems remain:
Publicly accountable
Ethically managed
Rooted in service, not profit
Social Businesses are the backbone of cooperative enterprise, ensuring that efficiency and equity go hand in hand.
Natural Resources
In The Local Economy & Governance System, all Natural Resources are held in stewardship by the community—they are not commodities, but Community Assets.
Stewardship and Ownership
All Natural Resources remain under community stewardship at all times
No Natural Resource that meets the Basic or Essential needs of Members of The Community may be:
Privately or commercially owned
Sold, let, or leased for rent
Access and Provision
Natural Resources that meet Basic and Essential needs must be provided at cost, with no profit margin
The provision of these resources is considered a Public Good
Services delivering these resources must be operated exclusively by Social Businesses
Privately owned companies or organisations are prohibited from providing such services at any time
This framework ensures that Natural Resources remain:
Equitably accessible
Ethically managed
Protected from exploitation
It reinforces the principle that life-sustaining resources belong to everyone, and must be governed by shared responsibility, not private interest.
News & Media
In The Local Economy & Governance System, the provision of News and Community Information is recognised as A Public Good—a vital service that supports transparency, connection, and community wellbeing.
Structure and Governance
News and Community Information is delivered through Social Businesses, not for profit but for The Public Good
Every Parish operates its own Local Media Platform, which prioritises:
Local news from within the Parish
Followed by District-level and then National-level coverage
Local Media Platforms are managed by:
Key employed staff, and
Community Contributors making their Community Contribution
Citizen Journalism & Participation
All Members of The Community are encouraged to contribute to media platforms each year
The success of Local Media Platforms is built around Citizen Journalism, ensuring that:
Local voices are heard
Stories are shared authentically
Media reflects the lived experience of the community
Advertising & Transparency
Advertising on Local Media Platforms must be universal
It cannot be targeted at specific users or sub-groups
Any privately owned media business must:
Make its interests and focus fully transparent to users
Operate under the same ethical standards as all other commercial or privately owned businesses
This framework ensures that media remains inclusive, accountable, and community-driven—a tool for empowerment, not manipulation.
Social Media
In The Local economy & Governance System, social media is recognised as a Social Business, operated solely for The Public Good. It must remain free from private or commercial control.
Access and Identity
Access to social media is restricted to users aged 21 and above
Platforms are accessible only by subscription
While subscribers may use non-identifying usernames, every user must be verified and identifiable within the system
Advertising and Ethics
Advertising is universal—it must not be targeted at specific users or sub-groups
The use of selective targeting software, AI, or algorithms to:
Restrict,
Hide,
Target,
Focus, or
Promote messages of any kind
…is strictly prohibited
This framework ensures that Social Media remains:
Transparent
Equitable
Free from manipulation
A space for authentic connection, community expression, and ethical communication
Online Communication
In The Local Economy & Governance System, we recognise that online interaction in the Old World led to significant behavioural shifts—many of which began to influence and distort offline life.
To restore balance and integrity, Online Communication, online relationships, and online behaviour must now:
Reflect real-world interaction
Uphold social etiquette
Align with cultural values and community norms
As A Key Skill for Life
Good Online Communication is not optional—it is considered a Key Skill for Life. It is essential for:
Healthy relationships
Civic participation
Personal and professional integrity
This principle ensures that our digital spaces remain respectful, authentic, and aligned with the values we uphold in the physical world.
General Rules for the Use of AI
In The Local Economy & Governance System, the use of Artificial Intelligence is governed by strict ethical and practical principles to ensure that technology serves humanity, never replaces it.
Core Principles
No digital system may provide a function or service that cannot be replaced or performed by a person, with or without non-digital tools or assistive systems
All AI systems must be overridable through local human intervention, at any time
Age and Device Regulation
The use of smartphones, tablets, and hand-held technology is regulated
These devices may be used only for educational purposes by Members of The Community under the age of 21
AI in Learning and Creation
The use of AI is universally prohibited for:
Training
Education
Online learning of any kind
All AI-generated digital creations must include identifiable digital watermarks
Supervision and Scope
AI management systems for machine technology may be used only under human supervision
AI may be used solely to enhance or improve human working practices
AI may not replace any human working role
Mechanisation and Decision-Making
Technical mechanisation may be used only when sufficient manpower is unavailable
AI may not be used to make any judgement or decision that could affect the quality of life of any person, group, or community
This framework ensures that AI remains a supportive tool, not a substitute for human agency, and that life decisions remain in human hands—guided by ethics, accountability, and community values.
Transport
In The Local Economy & Governance System, transport is recognised as a Public Good—a vital service that supports access to Basic and Essential needs.
Principles of Mobility
Transport is provided for necessity, not luxury
The primary method of personal transport is walking
This is secondarily supported by:
Bicycles
Battery-powered cycles
Mobility carts (where appropriate)
Public transport systems
Ethical Use of Transport
We do not encourage the use of any form of transport that is:
Unnecessary
Designed for excess
Or fails to meet Basic and Essential needs in a practical, comfortable, and safe manner
This approach ensures that mobility remains:
Sustainable
Accessible
Aligned with community values
Transport serves the needs of life, not the demands of status—reinforcing our commitment to People, Community, and The Environment.
Vehicle Lending Hubs
In The Local Economy & Governance System, we uphold a commitment to People, Community, and The Environment by discouraging excessive or unnecessary vehicle use and ownership.
Community-Based Mobility
Each Parish area operates a Community Lending Hub
These hubs provide shared access to:
Loan cars
Vans
Battery-powered bikes
This system ensures that transport remains:
Purpose-driven
Efficient
Environmentally responsible
By prioritising shared mobility, we reduce environmental impact, promote resource equity, and support local resilience—making transport a tool for community wellbeing, not personal excess.
Working From Home
In The Local Economy & Governance System, Working From Home is not a right, but a conditional arrangement based on community needs and ethical workplace practice.
Social and Community Value
Workplace interaction is considered a positive and enriching environment
It fosters:
Social skills
Awareness of others
Shared responsibility and collaboration
Local Business Integration
Most businesses are located close to residential areas as part of the Universal Parish System
It is considered normal and expected to attend the workplace when doing so serves:
The Community’s best interest
The Public Good
Conditions for Remote Work
For individuals working from home where on-site facilities exist,
No expenses are payable by the employer
Remote work is permitted only when it does not compromise community engagement, operational integrity, or ethical standards
This framework ensures that work remains a socially constructive activity, rooted in local presence, shared purpose, and community wellbeing.
Travel to Work
In The Local Economy & Governance System, the design of the Universal Parish System ensures that most businesses are located close to where people live, making workplaces easily accessible by:
Walking
Cycling
Battery-powered mobility
Short journeys via public transport
Commuting Ethics
It is not considered normal to commute to work using a car or motor vehicle
No person travels to a workplace outside their Parish area unless:
They are specially trained or experienced in that role
And have not yet had adequate time to relocate
Fairness in Remote Assignments
If a person is required to work outside their area on behalf of their employer:
All travel time is counted as working time
All accruable expenses are reimbursed by the employer
Employers may not include accruable expenses as part of any pay structure
This framework ensures that workplace access remains local, sustainable, and equitable, while protecting workers from the hidden costs of long-distance commuting.
LEGS has been posted here to read without charge. If you would like to support Adam, please do buy and download the FULL Book Version of The Local Economy & Governance System from Amazon at the link immediately below – at the current price of £2.99 in the UK (Please check the price before buying from outside of the UK). The version for Kindle includes the FAQs (available as a FREE PDF Download below) and the different summaries that have been produced for General Interest, Policy Makers and Local Leaders. Thank you for your support.
Are you searching for a fresh vision of society—one that puts people, community, and the environment first? The new book, The Local Economy & Governance System offers a transformative framework for reimagining how we live, work, and govern together.
Why Read This Book?
A Timely Critique and Practical Blueprint: LEGS doesn’t just highlight what’s broken in today’s world—it lays out actionable steps for building a society where everyone’s essential needs are guaranteed, and collective wellbeing is the top priority.
People, Community, Environment: These three principles guide every aspect of the LEGS framework, from local governance and economic models to daily life and public policy.
Personal Sovereignty: LEGS places strong emphasis on empowering every individual to live freely, responsibly, and authentically. Personal Sovereignty is recognized as the foundation for dignity, ethical living, and genuine freedom within the community.
Authentic Governance: Say goodbye to distant, hierarchical leadership. LEGS champions local, democratic decision-making, where leadership is earned through service and accountability—not status.
Basic Living Standard for All: Imagine a world where full-time work at the lowest wage covers all core living costs—no more poverty, reliance on charity, or skipped essentials.
Community Contributions: Every working member gives back 10% of their week to support local services and charity, replacing traditional public sector staffing with a community-led workforce.
Ethical Business & Economy: Businesses exist to serve the public good, not profit. Social enterprises fill gaps where private business doesn’t meet essential needs, and wealth is distributed equitably among contributors.
Responsible Technology & AI: LEGS strictly regulates technology to ensure it serves humanity and never replaces human agency. All essential services have human-led, non-digital alternatives.
Who Should Read LEGS?
Community leaders, policymakers, and activists seeking practical models for local empowerment.
Anyone concerned about inequality, environmental sustainability, or the future of governance.
Readers interested in social innovation, ethical business, and resilient communities.
Get Involved
LEGS is more than a book—it’s an invitation to participate in shaping a fairer, more compassionate world. Start conversations, challenge old systems, and take practical steps in your own community. The journey to a better future begins with the choices we make and the values we uphold.
Adam Tugwell 