3DN Human Support Organizations
Examples of Human Support Structures
- Family:
- The family provides support services for children until emancipation. These include basic necessities, guidance, educational assistance, emotional support and introductions into social groupings. The family can provide additional seafing after emancipation in the way of financial support, introduction to opportunities etc. The family may acquire assets for the use of family members such as a vacation cabin.
- Family Business:
- The support of a family may be extended through a family business, extending job opportunities to family members in addition to the above services.
- Religious Organization:
- Some religious organizations foster cooperation among members to partronize each others businesses, invest in new ventures by members, employ each other etc. This is an aspect of community that could be expanded among the poor if there were a way to make them feel a part of such a community. Each member must be willing to give with no guarantee of return. Each member receiving must feel an obligation to the community and contribute back to the best of their ability.
- Fraternal Organization:
- Organizations can be formed around any commonality. Fraternal orders were first organized as burial societies. Members contributed based on a promise from the group to see that each deceased member would receive a proper burial. Regular meetings result in patronage of businesses, investments in ventures, employment opportunities, etc.
- Self-help Organizations:
- Any organization is maintained as a function of the balance between cost of participation and expectation of benefits. Why could we not form an organization designed to support all of our needs? There is a description of how such a Self-help organization might work for those of limited resources at SHC short form outline See Also Economics of Integrated Production
- Terry Daniels, a member of this network is running such a self help organization in Long Island, NY. A short explanation can be found in the Targeted currencies discussions here and there. Hopefully we can get Terry to contribute more at "Long Island Home Enterprise"
- Jonathan Edmonds has drafted a Qonstitution designed to assist flow of information among all people participating.
- Chris Cook is working on an Open Corporate model of business organization.
- Marc Baber sent me a link to an article on barter networks that grew up out of necessity during the Great Depression. See Self-help Cooperatives.
- Limited Purpose Organizations:
- People can organize for a limited purpose, say to help each other develop their business plans. See on this network the discussion group Lost in the Food Chain
