Study/Prerequisite

Session note — 5 November 2026

Neighbors and protocols

Simple summary. Credit Commons Protocol federates independent mutual-credit groups. Deep Adaptation supplies a collapse-aware frame for what to keep and restore. Neither replaces the order. Floor stays senior. Named credit is not cash.

Design research. Not an offer. Not advice.

Credit Commons Protocol

A protocol for recursive mutual credit so independent groups (time banks, LETS, business barter, local deed circles) can trade across ledgers without national money or a central issuer. Term coined by Thomas Greco; formalized in the 2016 white paper by Matthew Slater and Tim Jenkin.

Each group keeps its own ledger, unit, credit limits, and rules. Groups nest into a fractal tree via agreed conversion rates and limits. Sovereignty stays local. The Protocol is the shared rules for proposing, validating, and completing a transaction so balances stay consistent (hashchain of hops). Implementation is local culture and software on top. Pure accounting: credits and debts sum to zero; nothing external enters. Named credit does not clear at par as cash.

Aligns with IdidIt-style recording of shown deeds and the closed-circuit nature already noted for barter and time banks. It supplies the federation layer so a local Hederica-style group can exchange with others without a quiet print or a new coin.

Links: creditcommons.net · Credit Commons Society · Documentation

Deep Adaptation

Framework from Jem Bendell’s 2018 paper Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy. Treats near-term societal disruption or collapse (uneven ending of current sustenance, shelter, security, identity) as likely or underway. Mainstream adaptation assumes continuity; deep adaptation does not.

Four R’s for inquiry:

Resilience — what we most value that we want to keep.
Relinquishment — what we need to let go so as not to make matters worse.
Restoration — what we could bring back.
Reconciliation — with what and whom we make peace.

Inner (psychological/spiritual) and outer (practical community) paths, with compassion, curiosity, respect, and non-violence. Useful as context for why recording uncounted care work and maintaining local mutual-credit circuits matter when larger rails strain. Floor (paid first from named surplus) and the public tape of deeds stay senior to any response.

Links: deepadaptation.info · The Four R’s · What is Deep Adaptation?

A neighbor is not this order. Same rules bind state, firm, and person. If it cannot be shown, it is not policy.