Our purpose is our reason for existing:
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Giving people an equal voice
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What does "Giving people an equal voice" facilitate?
When you have an equal voice, you can make your voice be heard and participate to the fullest of their abilities and ambitions. It was a very conscious choice to become a business to realize this and for us this start with connecting people.
<aside> 💡 We are in business to connect people
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Our organizational priorities help us take the right steps in the right order.
The entire organization maintains and develops our purpose. "Does this bring us closer to realizing our purpose?" is the question that helps. Our purpose is one of the main drivers for our ⠀ Vision, mission, values and priorities,es and 🎢 Strategy.
Roles that are also involved in this are The Utopian, who is there to create a clear and communicated vision. The Impact Strategist is accountable for translating the vision into an impact strategy. You can find more on the workplace of the 🧨Impact Strategist.
As an organization, we have beliefs about what the world could be like. These are phased as "what would it look like if we were done.”
Organizational beliefs
We believe we are done when... working as equals is the standard for organizing in companies and society
Obstacles
**We have been raised in the current economic system and managerial philosophies that come with it. We have few examples that showcase alternatives and alternative models are still maturing. Our current economy measures one thing: shareholder value.
**Overcome
We see society shifting towards measuring system value. That means people will start searching for alternative ways to operate. There are also technical developments like the DAO in web3 that can cause a paradigm shift.
We can contribute by sharing our journey of working together as equals and the learnings of said journey; "Be the living experiment". With these paradigms shifting, working together as equals simply is the only way to exist as a business in the future.
Product beliefs
We believe we are done when... people can connect with each other without boundaries on a level playing field.
Obstacles Communication has moved to close silos in closed apps using closed protocols (WhatsApp, Slack, Signal, Discord). Why was telephony such a success? Because everybody with a phone could use it. Why is the web a success? Because all bits are equal. Open protocols and open standards have brought us where we are today. The app economy and centralization is moving us away from this. Open and decentralized protocols and products where the user is in control should and will be our future. Overcome
We overcome these obstacles by creating and supporting open communication protocols & open software for audio, chat and video communication. We think we can also be the (primary or example) app that runs on these protocols. Wechat but open. Discord but without the container. It should become the open and secure standard for both web2 and web3. Our business model should focus on usage by organizations so consumers can use it for free. The organization and tech stack should be open and (partially) governed & owned by the community of which we ourselves are a part. The product should focus on bringing people together (right context, right time, right medium).
Facilitating beliefs
48percent.org we believe we are done when... when internet is a public infrastructure.
Obstacles
Internet is expensive. The role out of internet backhaul in remote areas is expensive and combined with low expectations about revenue, internet operators lack the financial stimulus to invest. Where internet connectivity exists, usage is expensive. Especially in the global south, but not limited to those areas.
At the same time, society has been and is becoming digital at a high pace. The pandemic has only increased the speed of this development. Internet access and usage have become the defining factor in whether you are seen and heard.
Digital literacy determines whether you are able to use the internet safely. The internet can potentially have an equalizing effect, but right now it's increasing the divides. The only way we can tap into this equalizing potential of the internet is by making it a public infrastructure in the sense that it's available everywhere and usable by everybody. This will also facilitate everybody to contribute to the societal issues we are facing.
Overcome
We can overcome these obstacles by firstly supporting localized solutions that realize internet access and digital literacy. We can use our own funds to do this, we can grow and increase our own funds and we can find more companies and organizations that share our mission. Secondly, we can overcome this obstacle by advocating the importance of internet as a public infrastructure. By emphasizing the responsibility of both businesses and the government. By finding brothers and sisters in arms and joining forces to make our voices heard.
Internet as a public infrastructure will facilitate people to connect without boundaries on a level playing field, which will help working together as equals.
When talking about impact, it’s important to make a clear distinction between the end goal and the means. What is it that you aim to achieve and what are the means you are using to achieve that goal? In our case, self-organization is the means; it is not the end goal.
<aside> ⛳ Our end goal is to pave the way for a more equal society in which people have an equal voice. Only then can everybody make their voice be heard and participate to the fullest of their abilities and ambitions. That is our reason for existing.
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Being responsible means that you are inclusive and you do the right things. By existing we have a negative effect on our environment. We try to minimize the bad while maximizing the good. This means amongst other things we: