Introducing the "Society Stack" Meme

To build the Golden Age, we need a simple word that helps us identify and upgrade the many "layers" that make up our cities and nations today—education, public safety, money, telecomms, and more.

I've been thinking a lot about what I am calling the "society stack," and I believe it's crucial to coin new terms like this as building blocks for creating the atomic and digital infrastructure of the future.

I call the coining of new, useful terms “concept masonry.”

Words are how we coordinate, and without useful words to talk about the reality we want to build (and how our current reality is insufficient), we won't be able to construct that better future as quickly as we need to.

What is the “Society Stack”?

Society doesn't have to be an abstract, hard-to-understand concept.

Society is composed of different layers (like a software stack) that interrelate and reliably produce certain human and ecological outcomes.

Hence, “society stack.”

Unfortunately, our current society stacks (that power most “developed” cities and countries) reliably lead to ecological degradation and human languishing.

Yes, the stacks we have today support billions of people and got us where we are today. But we can do way better with the technology and talent at our collective disposal.

Just as software engineers make intentional design choices about the modules that compose their software, we can make deliberate decisions about the layers of our societal infrastructure. These layers include, but are not limited to:

• Waste management

• Roads and transportation systems

• Energy systems

• Food production and distribution

• Education and human development—for people of all ages

• Civic and communal systems for shared purpose and mutual aid

• Health and well-being systems

• Legal and governance systems

• Spiritual systems for finding meaning together

• Telecommunication systems for easy information exchange

• Monetary systems for value exchange

• Identity and reputation systems for trust beyond Dunbar's number

• Systems for public safety and defense

• Arts and culture

The Importance of New Villages as Testing Grounds for Society Stacks

I'm bullish on certain innovation-focused popup and permanent villages—which I call society incubators—because they provide the best testing ground for every layer of the society stack. Innovators working on different aspects of the stack, from public safety to education to agriculture, would benefit from partnering with these future villages.

It's too risky for cities running on brittle, centuries-old society “stacks” to change many “layers” simultaneously or to any major degree.

To see which technologies can truly leap us forward in human and ecological flourishing, we need to build future villages.

The Future Looks Like Millions of “Stacks” Being Tested In Parallel

Having the language of the society stack helps us have better conversations about the future of civilization. It won't be monolithic; different villages with different stacks will work for different people, just as various apps cater to different users and purposes.

By thinking about the society stack, we can envision a more pluralistic future where millions of 100-1,000 person villages exist by 2040, each with its own optimized stack that works well for the needs and desires of the village people.

This Is An Invitation to Collaborate on the “Society Stack” Meme

This post is an open invitation to help shape the society stack concept and meme. I believe it could be a significant tool for coordinating and mobilizing people to build the future we need.

Questions I’m pondering related to the “Society Stack” meme I’d love your input on:

• What are the most important layers of the stack? What did I forget to mention in this post?

• Would you suggest a different meme for pointing to the different components that make up a village/city/nation? (For context on an alternative I previously explored, I used “civilizational stack” in conversations for a few months, but realized “civilizational” is literally 6 syllables 😆)

• Who has been playing with similar memes? Can you connect me or at least point me to their writing?

Reply to this post if you have ideas of how to refine this meme so it can be as useful for all of us in creating a better world.

That’s all.

Thanks for your support of my writing over this past year and a half. It’s been healing and motivating to see that the big ideas that I spend time thinking about are appreciated by you.