Society of Renewal — Detailed FAQ

The Society of Renewal is a global, opt-in civic society—a borderless form of government built around three pillars:

• Material stability (the Freedom Floor: UBI for basic needs as capacity grows),
• Education over punishment (prevention and repair instead of reflexive coercion), and
• Verifiable self-governance (private ballots, auditable results, public budgets).

We operate via a public civic ledger and a living Charter of Renewal that members can amend as evidence improves.

It’s a post-national civic society—political in purpose, but not tied to any party or state. It can work alongside NGOs and governments, but it is not a charity or a traditional advocacy group. Think of it as a new layer of governance you can opt into, regardless of where you live now.

No. Membership is additive. You keep your citizenships, jobs, communities, and obligations. You do not have to move. The Society is portable, borderless, and voluntary.

• A self-sovereign civic identity you control (your key to vote, learn, and access benefits).
• A vote and a voice in decisions, with private ballots and verifiable outcomes.
• Universal Prevention Education: free, practical learning that reduces everyday harm.
• A Community Safety Network that prioritizes de-escalation and repair.
• Access to the Freedom Floor (UBI) as rollouts expand by region and capacity.

The Freedom Floor is a baseline income for essentials. It launches in waves and scales by region as capacity grows.

Inside the Society there are two monetary instruments:

• Essent (ℰ): the Society’s global currency—a transferable unit used for pricing, payments, savings, payroll, and settlement across borders.
• Essential Units (𝒰): a basic-needs instrument used to deliver UBI. 𝒰 is non-transferable and expiring, calibrated to baskets of essential goods/services (food, shelter, energy, connectivity). Vendors redeem 𝒰 for ℰ at a published, auditable clearing rate.

Vendor clarification: “Vendors” are merchants and service providers in the essentials network—grocers, pharmacies, landlords/housing providers, utilities (power, water, internet), clinics/telehealth, transit/fuel, childcare/eldercare co-ops, community kitchens/food co-ops, and approved mutual-aid nodes. Vendors can accept 𝒰 for essentials and/or price directly in ℰ for general goods/services.

As pilots expand, members activated for UBI in that wave receive 𝒰 each period to reliably cover essentials. Anyone can earn ℰ by contributing verifiable public good—teaching, care work, local infrastructure, open-source, research, translation, mediation, and more.

No new taxes. The Society runs on Essentia, our public civic ledger and monetary system.

• Essent (ℰ) is money. ℰ issuance is rules-based: new currency is minted when verified public-good work is delivered (and through narrowly scoped monetary operations approved in public). Think of it as issuing money against audited impact, not unchecked debt.
• Essential Units (𝒰) fund the Freedom Floor. 𝒰 is created per policy to meet basic-needs targets and is redeemable by vendors for ℰ at indexed rates. Because 𝒰 expires and is limited to essentials, it stabilizes baseline access without fueling broad speculation.

All issuance rules, budgets, and flows are public and auditable. Capacity grows as vendors onboard and as impact-minted ℰ strengthens the real economy that accepts it.

When more people want benefits than the current pilot can serve, we scale fairly using two on-ramps:

• Need Path: Prioritizes urgent cases (documented hardship, crisis, disability support, etc.).
• Lottery Path: Uses provably random selection so access isn’t about status, politics, or connections.

Membership itself is open; the lottery only determines activation order for benefits during limited-capacity phases.

We use an open-source draw process: seeds and randomness beacons are published; anyone can verify that the resulting selection matches the published rules. Results and appeals are transparent.

Identity is self-sovereign but verifiable. We combine:

• Device-bound keys (e.g., passkeys/WebAuthn),
• Selective disclosure credentials (share only what’s needed),
• Human checks (community attestations, reputation, and challenge processes), and
• Privacy-preserving audits to detect anomalies without exposing personal data.

No system is perfect; ours includes appeals, review panels, and corrective updates.

We use a modern public ledger, but the aim is civic, not casino.

• Essent (ℰ) is money—a global, programmable currency with transparent, rules-based issuance tied to verifiable public good. It is transferable and used for everyday payments and savings.
• Essential Units (𝒰) power UBI and are non-transferable; they’re for essentials only and expire.
• No proof-of-work mining; energy use is low. Protocols, monetary rules, and audits are public.

Exchanges may list ℰ over time; that doesn’t change our design goal: money that serves people and the real economy first.

We separate universal access from general-purpose money, and we make both policies explicit and auditable.

• 𝒰 (UBI instrument): Indexed to baskets of essentials and expires, preventing hoarding and dampening price spirals in basic goods. Vendors redeem 𝒰 for ℰ at a published clearing rate tied to those baskets.
• ℰ (global currency): Issued for verified public-good output and via limited, publicly approved operations. Sinks (fees, staking, and optional burns) offset issuance. Policy targets are published, and parameters (issuance caps per epoch, redemption bands, reserves) are adjusted by public vote with sunset reviews.
• Market discipline: Open vendor reimbursement data and on-chain audits deter abuse; deviations in basket costs trigger automatic policy reviews.

This is not a promise of zero volatility; it’s a transparent monetary constitution designed to keep essentials stable and the broader currency disciplined.

We operate within existing law and avoid instructing anyone to break local rules. In areas with restrictions, we adapt (education, identity, participation) while we pursue lawful partnerships. If you have obligations (taxes, permits), you still have them.

Most harm is prevented by stability + education. When an incident occurs:

• De-escalate; ensure immediate safety.
• Protective separation if necessary—time-limited with review.
• Repair: make the harmed whole (as possible) and help the person who caused harm learn and return.
• Minimum force, maximum dignity; use state emergency services when required by law or risk.

We publish protocols, training, and data (with privacy).

We’re governed by the Charter of Renewal and public processes—not by personality. Early organizers bootstrap logistics, but their powers are time-limited and auditable. The Charter is living: members can propose, debate, and amend.

• Private ballots; verifiable totals (you can check your vote was counted without revealing it).
• Ranked-choice as default; delegation allowed but revocable at any time.
• Quorum and safeguards scale with impact (higher bar for high-stakes changes).
• Sunset clauses by default; policies get reviewed on a schedule.

• Follow the dignity rule (no dehumanization; no coercion).
• Participate honestly (one person, one identity; no brigading).
• Help us learn (file issues, send feedback, propose improvements).
• Optional: contribute work you enjoy; earn ℰ for verifiable public good.

• Accept 𝒰 for essentials; get reimbursed per published rules.
• Offer impact work members can do to earn ℰ.
• Co-run pilots (food security, housing, energy, connectivity) with open metrics.
• Publish impact data; get reputational credit for verified outcomes.

• Minimal collection; selective disclosure (share only what’s necessary for a given service).
• Zero-knowledge and blinded audits where possible.
• You own your keys; social recovery options exist.
• Data retention is limited and policy-bound; changes require public votes.

• Wave 0: Identity, voting, and education commons live; small UBI pilots in a few regions.
• Wave 1: Vendor network for essentials; UBI expansion via Need + Lottery Paths.
• Wave 2: Cross-region scale; more languages; more mediation & training nodes.
• Wave 3: Global mesh of local chapters; employer/NGO integrations; research compacts.

Timelines depend on partner readiness and audit milestones (published on the site).

• Join the waitlist (email) and create your civic identity.
• Read and accept the dignity rule and participation standards.
• Optional: tell us skills, languages, and availability to contribute or pilot.
• When UBI capacity exists in your area, you’ll be activated via Need or Lottery Path.

You’ll have full voting and learning access either way.

• Teach or translate a prevention module.
• Help a local node (food, housing support, connectivity).
• Build software, write docs, or run audits (open repo; issues welcome).
• Recruit vendors willing to accept 𝒰 for essentials.

• Capacity risk: demand may outpace vendor onboarding.
• Policy drift: we guard against mission creep with sunsets and reviews.
• Adversarial behavior: we invest in audits, identity integrity, and appeal systems.
• Public misunderstanding: we publish clear rules, data, and proofs.

We will make mistakes. We commit to document, repair, and improve in public.

No. There is no doctrine to worship and no loyalty oath. Membership is voluntary, exit is free, leaders are term-limited, budgets are public, and the Charter is amendable by members.

It shouldn’t. The Society is pluralistic. We coordinate on dignity, evidence, and material stability; we do not police private beliefs.

We don’t give tax advice. If your jurisdiction treats benefits as taxable, you are responsible for compliance. We publish receipts and documentation to make compliance easier.

Yes. Essent is money. Inside the Society it is legal tender; outside, it functions as a contractual medium of exchange wherever accepted. It serves as unit of account, medium of exchange, and store of value for Society activity.

Why it’s credible: issuance is tied to audited public-good output and governed by public, amendable rules; budgets and reserves are visible; and redemption flows from 𝒰 → ℰ create baseline demand from essentials.

ℰ coexists with national currencies. We provide on/off-ramps through compliant partners; local taxes and reporting still apply. Pricing can be in ℰ, local currency, or both. Nothing forces you to abandon your existing financial life.

Yes. Vendors can accept 𝒰 for essential baskets (redeemed for ℰ) and/or price directly in ℰ for general goods/services. Tooling includes invoicing, POS integrations, and reporting to simplify compliance.

Essent is backed by the productive capacity and verified public-good output of the Society, plus transparent reserves and policy. It isn’t pegged to a single asset; it is governed by a published monetary rule-set with audits, caps, and automatic reviews.

A vendor is any merchant or service provider in the essentials network—grocers, pharmacies, landlords/housing providers, utilities (power, water, internet), clinics/telehealth, transit/fuel, childcare/eldercare co-ops, community kitchens/food co-ops, and approved mutual-aid nodes. Vendors may accept 𝒰 for essentials (redeemed for ℰ) and/or price directly in ℰ.

Short answer: all money is created. The questions are who creates it, how, and with what guardrails.

Isn’t money supposed to be “backed” by something? Modern national currencies (dollars, euros, etc.) are fiat money—their value comes from law, trust, and the issuing government’s monetary framework, not from gold. Central banks manage the monetary base, and most of the spendable money people use is created by commercial banks when they make loans (loans create deposits).

Wait—banks create most of the money? Yes. When a bank approves a loan, it credits your account with a new deposit, expanding broad money. This isn’t “multiplying reserves” in the old textbook sense; the modern view is “loans create deposits,” constrained by capital, profitability, regulation, and central-bank policy.

What about the central bank “printing money”? Central banks can add money to the system—for example, by buying assets. When the Fed buys a bond from a non-bank, new bank deposits are created for the seller; that’s one channel for money creation.

Fiat vs. Cryptocurrency (quick compare)

• Fiat currency: Issued within a political/legal system; supply is influenced by central-bank policy and banking activity. Accountability comes from laws, audits, and democratic oversight (ideally).
• Cryptocurrency: Issued by protocol rules on a public ledger (blockchain). For example, Bitcoin’s supply schedule is coded (rewards halve roughly every four years until ~21M BTC). Verification comes from open networks and cryptography.

TL;DR: Fiat = policy-managed money in a nation. Crypto = rule-managed money in software.

How cryptocurrencies work (30-second sketch)

• A blockchain is a shared ledger; nodes agree on the same history of transactions using cryptography and consensus.
• Bitcoin adds new blocks via proof-of-work; its code defines issuance and halving.
• Platforms like Ethereum let developers build apps and organizations on-chain (beyond payments).

Want approachable, reputable guides?

• How banks create money (modern view) — Bank of England explainer.
• What happens when the Fed buys assets — short Fed Note on deposits and QE mechanics.
• Bitcoin: beginner videos — Khan Academy’s clear series (what it is, supply, blockchain).
• Bitcoin: how it works — succinct overview.
• Ethereum learning hub — non-technical and technical guides.
• Cryptocurrency primer (World Economic Forum) — clear, non-technical overview of cryptocurrencies as currency, widely cited.

Where the Society fits

We’re not hand-waving money into existence. We’re designing transparent rails: a contribution-earned token (Essent ℰ) and a needs-indexed instrument (Essential Unit 𝒰) with public proofs, plus governance that any citizen can audit. (Think: protocol-visible creation with human-visible accountability.)

If someone asks “who’s creating it and how do we know it’s fair?”—the answer is: the rules, the math, and the public record.