Basics

The main "success factor" we are offering agents in the haelp network to "look at" or "pursue" is the so-called "Social Capital".

Every agent builds their own social capital through their daily interactions on the platform.

With our definition of social capital we are experimenting with a new and alternative approach of "providing meaning" and "measuring success" through which we hope to create a "healthier", more holistic system where agents shall be incentivized to collect and accumulate only abundant and meaningful "life values" instead of assets such as "money" as we know it which in its original intention was created and designed to "measure and flow" and not to just sit on some bank accounts where it's not really useful to anyone.

What is Social Capital?

The following text is a 1:1 copy of article snippets written by Tristan Claridge from the "Institute for Social Capital"

A simple way to describe social capital is the benefits derived from being social. The core idea of social capital is that ‘relationships matter’ and that social networks are a valuable asset. That being social and working together is important and valuable.

Social capital is aspects of social context (the “social” bit) that have productive benefits (the “capital” bit). It includes the store of solidarity or goodwill between people and groups of people. You could think of it like a ‘favour bank’, although this only encapsulates part of social capital. Another simple explanation is as helpfulness behaviours resulting from feelings of gratitude, respect, and friendship.

The adage: “it’s not just what you know, but who you know” relates to the powerful effects that social capital can have and is an easy way to understand the concept in the context of how it impacts our everyday lives.

We intuitively understand that we can derive benefits from our social relationships with others, whether it be as simple as finding a reliable mechanic (which can save you money), or borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbour (which can save you time), or finding a new job or client (which can make you money). These are just a few tangible examples of the benefits of social capital, there are many more. In fact, social capital is what allows humans to collaborate, coordinate, and coexist. It is essential to the human social existence. [...]

The Yin & Yang of Currencies

The following section is taken 1:1 from Bari Tessler's article "Ying & Yang Currency"

[...] Most money that we’re familiar with is “yang currency.” According to Bernard [Lietaer], yang currency “promotes competition among the participants” and “are created through patriarchal values and society.” All of our current national monies (the American dollar, Japanese yen, etc.) are considered Yang Currencies.

Yin currency, on the other hand, is “all of our trades, barter, and time/energy exchanges.” Yin currency “promotes cooperation among participants, tend to occur in more ‘egalitarian’ gift societies, and is generated out of community needs and situations.” The “caring relationship ticket” system in Japan is an example of a yin currency.

What’s so interesting about yin and yang currencies is: they don’t fight each other, but work together! In fact, Bernard’s historical research shows example after example of cultures that had both yin and yang currency systems operating at the same time: a dual currency system.

Societies with dual money systems have tended to thrive … while societies that only have yang currency eventually crumbled into their greed and competition. - Bari Tessler

Bernard gives a great example of a dual currency system that’s alive and well today, in Bali. While the Balinese use a conventional (yang) national currency, practically all of them also use a second, yin currency, called “narayan banjar,” meaning “work for the common good of the community. This currency is created by the people themselves and its basic unit is a 3-hour chunk of time. This yin currency is used at the neighborhood and community scale. For example, if a community wants to launch a project, like putting on a festival or building a school, they always make two different budgets: one in the national currency and one in the yin currency. Bernard explains,

Here’s why it works: poor communities don’t have a lot of national currency, but they tend to have a lot of time. In rich communities, the opposite tends to be the case-people have more national currency, but less time. In either case, each banjar is capable of creating extraordinary events just by budgeting and using more of the kind of currency-national or time-in which they are rich. This balance is a key contribution to the unusually strong community spirit that prevails in Bali.