"Contributism" is just a fancy way of describing what happens when a community intentionally gets together and pools resources to accomplish common goals. Today, we each give a certain amount of money. With Ubuntu, we each give a certain amount of time- and reap immense benefits for it.
Why should you care? Because no man is an island. We can’t create the future we want on our own. What if your body worked the way most communities did? Your feet won’t move, because they’re on strike and want better working conditions. Your brain demands higher pay because it believes it’s the most important body part. Your legs fly off and walk away in search of a better school district. Before the day is up, you’ll be waking up dead as every cell strikes out on it’s own. The funny thing is, no cell can survive by itself. They thought they would get rich quick, but instead they’ll just die.
Do you ever ask why things are the way they are? Why we always compete for crumbs instead of cooperating to bake bigger pies? It wasn’t always like this.
Ubuntu is an ancient African philosophy that could roughly be translated as “human kindness”. In African villages, although there was inter-village competition for resources, within the village everyone was taken care of as long as they helped contribute to the tribe’s wellbeing. Resources were shared and nobody went hungry, because the tribal leaders understood that when some people are unhappy, everyone suffers.
Contributism is Ubuntu updated for the modern age. It’s fitting that an old African way of thinking could be key to creating racial justice for today’s black communities. It’s clear that we need more cooperation if we want to alleviate our most pressing concerns like poverty and crime. Contributism allows low-income communities to leverage the things they already have- vacant land, jobless people and skills- and turn them into productive assets which generate prosperity. Even better, we can do it all without spending a dime.
“Take care of your community, and your community will take care of you.”.
A mature Ubuntu community is so abundant that with everyone pitching in 10 hours per week, all members’ basic needs of food, housing and electricity can be met. Now, if you want fancy clothes, a new Ferrari or 52’’ LED TV, you’ll still need to work for it- but nobody who contributes will be allowed to go hungry or homeless.
How does it work? The idea is beautiful in its simplicity. Spend one hour helping your community, and you’ll get an hour of help in return- For example, if you help build houses for an hour, you can give a credit to Mark so he can help clean up for an hour. Mark can then pass the credit on to someone else, and the cycle continues. Specific community projects are accredited by an elected council of elders consisting of respected church leaders, organizational officials and other respected citizens. The most important thing is that everyone’s time is valued equally- because everyone has a limited amount of it.
The Global Assembly works with organizations to help spread the concept of Ubuntu within their congregations and communities. One way we assist is by helping organizations “monetize” services they already provide- in other words, charging a small fee (maybe 15-30 minutes) in community time credits. A good example is homeless dinners or church/school room rentals. By providing incentives to work for credits, more and more people are motivated to get involved. The small amount of time asked for is a good way to let people “get their feet wet”, as most of the other projects require more than an hour of work.
Another is partnering with local service-oriented businesses to accept time credits (anything that can be measured in time, like haircuts, beauty parlors or movie theaters). We personally ask members where they’d like to spend their time credits, then approach the business with our value proposition. It’s not a one-way deal: In exchange for accepting time credits, businesses themselves become places where people can earn them through volunteering. The cost savings allow them to lower their prices, and eventually attract more traffic.
Goals
Our short-term goal is to bring together local churches to establish a transitional council of elders and a few test projects in Gary, Indiana. These initial projects would mostly focus around community agriculture, housing and local services. Long term (2-5 years), we aim to use contributism as the foundation of a complete plan to revitalize the city and make it self-sufficient in food, energy and housing. You can find that plan and suggested community projects here if you’d like to learn more.
Would you like your organization to have a seat on the council of elders? Contact David Jackson on Facebook if you’re interested.
“Take care of your community, and your community will take care of you.”.
A mature Ubuntu community is so abundant that with everyone pitching in 10 hours per week, all members’ basic needs of food, housing and electricity can be met. Now, if you want fancy clothes, a new Ferrari or 52’’ LED TV, you’ll still need to work for it- but nobody who contributes will be allowed to go hungry or homeless.
How does it work? The idea is beautiful in its simplicity. Spend one hour helping your community, and you’ll get an hour of help in return- For example, if you help build houses for an hour, you can give a credit to Mark so he can help clean up for an hour. Mark can then pass the credit on to someone else, and the cycle continues. Specific community projects are accredited by an elected council of elders consisting of respected church leaders, organizational officials and other respected citizens. The most important thing is that everyone’s time is valued equally- because everyone has a limited amount of it.
The Global Assembly works with organizations to help spread the concept of Ubuntu within their congregations and communities. One way we assist is by helping organizations “monetize” services they already provide- in other words, charging a small fee (maybe 15-30 minutes) in community time credits. A good example is homeless dinners or church/school room rentals. By providing incentives to work for credits, more and more people are motivated to get involved. The small amount of time asked for is a good way to let people “get their feet wet”, as most of the other projects require more than an hour of work.
Another is partnering with local service-oriented businesses to accept time credits (anything that can be measured in time, like haircuts, beauty parlors or movie theaters). We personally ask members where they’d like to spend their time credits, then approach the business with our value proposition. It’s not a one-way deal: In exchange for accepting time credits, businesses themselves become places where people can earn them through volunteering. The cost savings allow them to lower their prices, and eventually attract more traffic.
Goals
Our short-term goal is to bring together local churches to establish a transitional council of elders and a few test projects in Gary, Indiana. These initial projects would mostly focus around community agriculture, housing and local services. Long term (2-5 years), we aim to use contributism as the foundation of a complete plan to revitalize the city and make it self-sufficient in food, energy and housing. You can find that plan and suggested community projects here if you’d like to learn more.
Would you like your organization to have a seat on the council of elders? Contact David Jackson on Facebook if you’re interested.
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