For a long time, I kept this away from STEEM and from the general public. I thought I need to crystallize the concept and make into a piece of software before I let the public know.
Now I figured two things:
- I must be a real asshole to keep something away from society that might help it.
- I will never crystallize it on my own.
What an F am I talking about?
Governance.
Since the birth of human society, people have struggled with it. The question is, how do we agree on something?
I want to do 1 thing, you want to do another. My standards are different than yours. Opinions aswell.
Feelings, thoughts and opinions (FTOs) change over time and if we focus on them, we will never agree.
Science stays the same.
The whole universe has had the same laws 10 years ago, 20 years ago and even before we discovered them. It was the same before humans came to exist. Whatever we build on those laws is going to work, and it's going to work a thousand years later.
If we let people decide based on their FTOs, they might agree, but they're doomed to separate in a while.
How do we make people switch from deciding based on what they think or feel is to what is?
That's a question I haven't answered yet. Eco+ will never come to be unless we manage to form a community that values logic over anything else. That is, atleast in it's full potential. Until then, we will disagree. Until then, proof-of-consent won't ever exist.
Proof-of-consent
It's not like proof-of-work or proof-of-stake, it's purpose is not to secure a blockchain. So what is it then?
To create a system of distribution of wealth for which everyone agrees.
The base of STEEM's distribution policy is on the monetary stake of it's users. To prove that something is ecological or ethical, that's not enough. Everyone in the system must agree it is, no matter their stake. That's why the base of eco+ distribution system is the content itself. In practice, that would look like this:
- You make a post.
- Your post receives votes neccessary to get a coin.
- You can now give a certain number of votes to new posts.
- (repeat, replace "you" with someone else)
If we want to make sure everyone agrees, how do we stop monetization of something not everyone agrees on?
If we let the users turn the scarce votes into even more scarce downvotes, they will use them in a careful manner. That means the downvote can have 100% power, meaning 1 downvote prevents monetization. That's true sociocracy.
You disagree with something? Okay, that's not going to be a reality. To prevent spam of downvotes, you must spend your votes on that, your influence. In an indirect fashion, you spend your work.
So... Another 100% premined coin?
That's a good question. We don't want that. Decentralization of power in this system is of most importance. The problem is, we need to generate the first votes and distribute them to someone. If that's a random airdrop, it's a random game from the beggining, and not in any way a proof of ecology. My idea was that we airdrop it to the people that contribute here on the STEEM interface. That might have some legal difficulties, and is still a pre-mine (sort-of).
No more self-votes???
In this system, self-votes would be detrimental to the decentralization of the system. That's why we need to find a way to go around that if that is in any way possible. That means people will need to identify themselves to create an account... Double accounts would defeat the purpose of all anti self-vote mechanisms.
The part I need your help with...
1. How do we encourage people to act based on logic and facts, not FTOs?
2. How do we distribute coins to ecologists and ethical vegans without premine?
3. How would you game this system?
I am very grateful for answers (or even more questions) from different perspectives. Keep in mind this will evolve over a long-term period, and is open for changes. The purpose stays the same - to create a system that proves that everyone can live with everything in the system.
Also, if you haven't seen earlier posts,
Why the STEEM blockchain is a permacultural thing and how I became interested in building upon it
eco+, an ecological guarantee based on the wisdom of the crowd
Introducing eco+, the basics, the STEEM interface, the logo and the typefaces
Be sure you have followed the official blog, 
If you're writing about permaculture or veganism and want me to include your post, leave a comment.