Uber, Seamless, InstaCart, Airbnb. They’re all about maximization. We can call some of these class of businesses “the sharing economy,” but they have more to do with filling gaps than they do sharing.

“Filling the gaps” is an essential method of Life. At the microscopic level, living organisms are teeming across nearly everything. And life brings more life.

This isn’t merely a program for survival. It’s a program for abundance.

The New Economy, whether it’s sharing, or gap-filling, or “anti-rivalrous,” is a step toward abundance economics.

These thoughts come on the heels of an exchange with Jason Mauck. I thought of Jason as I was  writing my previous post. I was pretty well singing his song. I think he was pleased to read it.

‘Nature abhors a vacuum,’ it is said. Yet contemporary agriculture methods put a lot of effort into killing things.

That force of nature opposing the vacuum is life. We should embrace the abundance economy of nature, and fill the gaps (like Jason is doing, shown above).

Every lifeform is designed to be opportunistic…not just survive or die

— Jason Mauck (@jasonmauck1) February 23, 2020

The average price of an idea is zero.

Ideas are too abundant, and their applications are either often specialized beyond the idea originator’s power, or so ubiquitously useful that charging for them is irrelevant.

In either case, the average idea originator stands to gain much more from the fruition of his freely given idea than one could ever expect to charge for a mere idea, or bit of knowledge.

This is the case with regenerative agriculture and “open sourcing ideas.” I stand to gain quite a lot from a world full of people who are better nourished and closer to the land. Much more than any fortune I could expect from raising high-margin lamb for the rest of my life.

Humanity working together, in free trade, is a lever.

I submit that we need more than regenerative agriculture, however. We need sound money–regenerative economics broadly–as a platform. We need regenerative, integrative education to grow the minds who will inherit this earth.

“Open source” is a program for abundance because of its magnetism.

I’m not trying to bring about some unpaid open-source dogma here. I’m just trying to say that breaking down the walls between idea hives has more benefits than silo-ing and continuing to play the scarcity-survival game.

When Jason Mauck began tweeting his wild ideas, others on Twitter started shedding their protective layers (yes, there’s plenty of flack too). People started dreaming out digitally. More importantly, an idea was unleashed: Just maximize the space and resources you have, in every way, all the time! 

There’s a finer subtext to many of the thoughts Jason shares: Pay more attention. Nature is ready to work with you. She’s ready to fill gaps. Work with that.

As these things go, ideas trickle back to Jason, which means they trickle back to the rest of us.

Someone said to me recently, “Electricity is always there. You just can’t see it until it moves.”  So, our energy does need to move–between ourselves–or dissipate. By opening up, to possibility and with positivity, we can build regenerative communication and community.

That’s weird enough for this Sunday night.

Kind regards,

Cary Yates