PYRAMID → NETWORK
Organisation
From hierarchy to a network of communities working together. Coordination takes the place of command; social roles take the place of hierarchical rank.
Learn more →Let's rethink
how we organise our world
Let's stop trying to fix the old world.
Let's build a new one alongside it.
We don't want to fight the existing system.
We want to create a better alternative.
One built on cooperation, autonomy, real value
and social responsibility.
DEPENDENCE → AUTONOMY
Resilience
From dependence on the system to the ability to act for ourselves. Self-sufficiency brings freedom and resilience in a crisis. The less we depend on a single system, the more freedom we have.
Learn more →
MONEY → REAL VALUE
How We Measure Value
From price as the main measure of success to an assessment based on usefulness, wellbeing, durability and the effects on people and communities.
Learn more →
COMPETITION → COOPERATION
Relationships
Cooperation in place of rivalry. Together, we create more, do better and learn from one another, guided by shared values.
Learn more →
THE BOOK · POLISH EDITION
Życie w akwarium
How Money Reprogrammed Humanity
An eye-opening book about the paradoxes of our system. How did money, for all its usefulness, become a tool of control and a source of so many problems? This book invites you to judge for yourself whether money brings society more benefits than harm. Currently available in Polish only.
Explore the Book⌁
We don't want to reshape
the existing world.
We propose building communities alongside it
that could become
the new normal.
♡
Be part of the change.Start with yourself.
A SOCIAL INITIATIVE
Gest Dobra
Accept it. Pass it on if you wish.
Small acts of kindness can bring about great change. Gest Dobra — Polish for “a gesture of kindness” — is a network of kindness, mutual support and gratitude.
Learn More
NatureOpen knowledge
WikipediaScienceCooperation
The psychology of moneyPNASEthics
and inequalityNobel PrizeElinor Ostrom
The commonsOECDBeyond GDP
WellbeingDOEMicrogrids
ResiliencePubMedMental health
InequalitySpringerMaterialism
and wellbeingAPAThe psychology
of motivationSWPSMoney
and ethicsJSTOROpen source
Cooperationand many other research sources
WikipediaScienceCooperation
The psychology of moneyPNASEthics
and inequalityNobel PrizeElinor Ostrom
The commonsOECDBeyond GDP
WellbeingDOEMicrogrids
ResiliencePubMedMental health
InequalitySpringerMaterialism
and wellbeingAPAThe psychology
of motivationSWPSMoney
and ethicsJSTOROpen source
Cooperationand many other research sources
ABOUT THE NEW WORLD
We don't plan to change the existing world. We're organising life anew alongside it.
Technology and knowledge have moved forward, yet the way we organise society still relies heavily on tools developed centuries ago. Hierarchy, centralisation, money and competition answered the problems of earlier times. Today, we can design things differently — so that something we created, such as money, does not become more important than its creators: human beings.
Towards a New World is not a plan to overthrow the system. It is an idea for building a parallel world — voluntarily, from the ground up and one step at a time. If an alternative proves better, people will begin to choose it of their own free will.
The most lasting change comes not from defeating the old system, but from creating an alternative so good that people choose it for themselves.
Pyramid → Network
Hierarchy was a response to a world in which knowledge, education and the power to make decisions belonged to the few. Today, billions of people have access to information, communicate instantly and can solve problems independently. Yet we still often organise society according to rules made for a reality that has long since disappeared.
Perhaps the greatest challenge of the 21st century is not to build a better pyramid, but to learn to organise the world as a network of people, communities and organisations capable of both independent action and cooperation.
Dependence → Autonomy
Most of the things our everyday lives depend on now come from places hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. Energy, food, fuel, medicines and everyday goods reach us through extensive global systems. As long as everything works, these dependencies remain invisible. We notice them only when a crisis, war, disaster or breakdown strikes.
A modern society should not have to choose between self-sufficiency and interdependence. It should combine the local capacity to survive with the global capacity to cooperate.
Money → Real Value
Prices respond to conflict, fear, speculation and information. A war thousands of kilometres away can raise the cost of living for someone who has nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, things of immense importance — relationships, health, care and trust — often have no market price that reflects their value.
Money can tell us how much someone is willing to pay for something. It cannot tell us how much that thing is worth to people and society.
Competition → Cooperation
Competition can be useful, but it need not underpin every relationship. Cooperation, sharing knowledge and managing resources together can increase the capabilities of the entire network.
Humanity's greatest achievement is not our ability to defeat another person, but our ability to create something together that neither of us could create alone.
RESEARCH & SOURCES
We test the idea against knowledge, research and examples that already work.
Elinor OstromPolycentric governance, the commons and community self-organisationNobel Prize ↗
Energy MicrogridsLocal resilience, islanded operation and energy securityU.S. Department of Energy ↗
Microgrids and Distributed ResourcesIntegrating solar energy, distributed resources and microgridsU.S. Department of Energy ↗
Beyond GDPWellbeing, quality of life and social progress beyond GDP aloneOECD ↗
Geopolitics and PricesHow conflict, tensions and commodity markets affect the cost of livingWorld Bank ↗
Self-Determination TheoryAutonomy, relatedness, competence and intrinsic human motivationSDT ↗
Money Importance and Well-BeingThe importance attached to money and psychological wellbeingPMC / NIH ↗
The Psychological Consequences of MoneyMoney, self-sufficiency, social distance and a reduced willingness to helpScience ↗
The Psychological Significance of MoneyMoney as a powerful psychological cue affecting empathy and self-focusForsal / Obserwator Finansowy ↗
Higher Social Class and Unethical BehaviorResources, greed and a greater tendency towards unethical behaviourPNAS ↗
Money and EthicsExposure to money, a market-oriented mindset and adherence to moral standardsSWPS University ↗
Money Giveth, Money Taketh AwayWealth and the ability to savour everyday experiencesSAGE Journals ↗
Materialism and WellbeingThe relationship between materialism, life satisfaction and psychological wellbeingAPA PsycNet ↗
Materialism and Well-BeingA meta-analysis of the relationship between materialism and quality of lifeSpringer ↗
Inequality and DepressionIncome inequality and mental health across societiesPubMed ↗
Human Trafficking and ProfitExploiting people for economic gainUNODC ↗
Wikipedia and BritannicaA study of the quality of knowledge produced through open collaborationNature ↗
Open-Source CommunitiesMotivation, self-organisation and shared responsibility in open projectsJSTOR ↗
Five Rules for the Evolution of CooperationHow cooperation emerges and persists in biological and social systemsScience ↗
The Commons and ResilienceTrust, relationships, self-organisation and communities' ability to cope with crisesInternational Journal of the Commons ↗
Competition and CooperationThe tension between rivalry and creating value togetherJSTOR ↗
CONTACT
kieruneknowyswiat@gmail.com