DECENTRALIZED COMMUNITY

A NEW APPROACH TO SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING

(unabridged version)
For decades, the wasteland of pain and desperation that is Vancouver’s
Downtown Eastside has borne witness to immeasurable tragedy and suffering.
A seemingly intractable conundrum, any and all attempts to “improve” or “fix” the
area have met with failure after failure; homelessness and addiction rates
“exploding” rather than abating. Frustrated by this, and inspired by several
emergent technological movements, I recently began developing a new approach
to the issue. After much research and revision, I now present to you an approach
which may just hold some promise…
The only solution to Vancouver’s homeless/addiction epidemic will lie in an
extensive understanding of the situation at hand. The only way to achieve this
will be to get involved, engaging directly with those who live on the streets and
learning from them. This is only half of the equation, however, with extensive
public education and community involvement the necessary complement. With
the aid of an innovative new web-based approach, both goals can be realized
simultaneously.
The proposed website will centre around a revised version of this letter- an article
that encourages all Vancouverites to, when approached by a homeless person or
observing a homeless person who seems approachable, offer to buy that person
a meal and ask them to share their story- to explain how they ended up on the
streets. While dining together, they would ask the homeless person questions
from a short, printable list provided on the website. Afterwards, they would enter
this information into the same site. The homeless themselves would also be
encouraged to visit this website and partake, answering the questions directly
(Programs like Homelessnation.org facilitate internet access for the homeless).
However, to have the homed and homeless interact in such an intimate setting
would be extremely beneficial in cultivating fraternity, empathy, and
understanding between those who rarely interact and in getting both sides
actively engaged in the project.
Once a suitable number of such conversations had taken place, everyone
wishing to partake (homeless or not) would help to collaboratively organize and
study this information on the website in order to determine:
• -Exactly why people end up homeless and/or addicted on the streets of
Vancouver.
• -Exactly why they remain there or escape and recover.
• -Exactly what should be done to help these people get clean and/or off the
streets permanently and prevent future occurrences.
The website will also be fully open-source, allowing the public to work together to
make refinements and upgrades, evolving and expanding the site in whatever
direction was deemed useful.
 Although the data already collected by local outreach organizations will be an
invaluable resource to build upon, direct involvement from a diverse array of
individuals (including former and current homeless) will solicit valuable new
insights and have the potential to generate many fresh and innovative
approaches to the problem.
I really do believe that a great number of Vancouverites would like to help our
homeless/addicted, but simply feel powerless and overwhelmed by the nature
and magnitude of the problem. But with effective online organization and even a
small group of dedicated, organized volunteers, we can tackle this problem. And
with a potential pool of millions to draw upon, I’m confident that a sufficient
number of people could be inspired to participate.
However, before this project can be seriously implemented, it is essential that we,
the healthy and the homed, be divested of some serious misconceptions...
We need to stop expecting the homeless to "get a job" or get back on their feet
alone; the majority suffer from debilitating mental illnesses (addiction included)
and are incapable of helping themselves. Though difficult to comprehend and
accordingly stigmatized, it must be understood that addiction is a disease. It is a
complex, chronic brain condition compelling those it afflicts to self-medicate in
attempts to evade feelings of severe distress. To vilify or punish those suffering
from addiction or any other disease is both cruel and counterproductive. (The
proposed website will also provide detailed information on all aspects of
addiction, its demystification being absolutely vital to its resolution.)
We must also stop expecting our governments to solve this problem. In the face
of any social epidemic, governments are –by design- uncreative and ineffective.
The election process compels politicians to address such issues with hollow
rhetoric and impracticable promises. Handouts and enforcement schemes
ensue, delivering short-term “results” and wasteful manoeuvring that can only
perpetuate the problems. Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a prime
example: Billions of tax dollars and countless government initiatives later, little, if
any, progress has been made.
And while their incredible efforts must be applauded, even those outreach
organizations who are directly involved have been unable to implement a feasible
long-term solution to this problem or convince our governments to apply their
recommendations on a scale necessary to have any serious impact on
homelessness or drug policy.
This dissociation inherent within our current system bears direct responsibility for
its dismal results.
As Dr. Gabor Maté, a prominent local physician with over a decade of experience
working in Vancouver’s DTES writes in his recent novel In The Realm Of Hungry
Ghosts: “It’s not the particulars of a social policy that matter most, but the
relationship between those who influence policy and those affected by it.”
Isolated, unresponsive and forceful rather than inspirational, our social policy
apparatus is fundamentally flawed, requiring a complete overhaul. In its place
must emerge a revolutionary new framework that unites and inspires; a system
that promotes understanding and compassion while delivering dynamic, effective
and lasting results.
And so, the onus is on us to create a Decentralized digital Community (based on
the model described above) that will inspire people on all sides of this problem to
come together and put their heads together in collective action for the common
good. We must empower ourselves and begin collaborating immediately to find
dynamic, innovative solutions to our problems. Those wishing to help must be
enabled to directly assist those in need. This is what the internet is really for.
The Decentralized Community concept was inspired a great deal by the book
The Wisdom Of Crowds. The following review outlines the basic premise:
"While our culture generally trusts experts and distrusts the wisdom of the
masses, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki argues that 'under
the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter
than the smartest people in them...’
If four basic conditions are met, a crowd's "collective intelligence" will produce
better outcomes than a small group of experts, Surowiecki says, even if
members of the crowd don't know all the facts or choose, individually, to act
irrationally.
"Wise Crowds" need:
(1) diversity of opinion
(2) independence of members from one another
(3) decentralization
(4) a good method for aggregating opinions.
The diversity brings in different information; independence keeps people from
being swayed by a single opinion leader; decentralization allows people to
specialize and draw on local knowledge; people's errors balance each other out;
and including all opinions guarantees that the results are "smarter" than if a
single expert had been in charge."
The proposed Decentralized Community approach will satisfy all of the above
requirements and offer several other distinct advantages as well.
Whereas our governments are continually hamstrung by political correctness and
obsessed with headlines and re-election (compelling them to implement short-
term, stopgap initiatives), a Decentralized Community's sole agenda would be to
develop practical and effective long-term solutions. They would be free to ask
controversial questions and explore unconventional approaches, including those
which are politically sensitive. And as they would comprise a very visible
component of society, Decentralized Communities would have real political clout,
and with it, the ability to actually get their ideas funded and implemented.
The DTES would be an ideal small-scale proving ground for this concept. The
homeless conundrum is highly visible and highly debated and plenty of people
are passionate about the issue and dedicated to its resolution. The DTES is a
central, relatively contained area and this will simplify data collection and the
implementation of whatever solutions the Decentralized Community may devise.
And at street level, the Decentralized Community could deliver renewed hope
and purpose to those homeless and addicts who desire to help not only
themselves, but other members of their community as well. The potential impact
that allowing these people to become involved in crafting and implementing the
policy decisions that affect them directly (rather than having them dictated by
various authorities who claim to know what’s best) should not be underestimated.
Local newspapers, television stations, photographers, filmmakers and bloggers
could also get involved: working together to profile a different homeless person’s
story every day (with a photo and their answers to some or all of the interview
questions) in order to attract more people to the project and promote awareness
and understanding within the public.
The Decentralized Community could also help to arrange for addicts and the
homeless to speak publicly, sharing their stories at local schools and other public
venues. Such an approach could prove invaluable in efforts to dispel the stigmas
and myths surrounding homelessness and addiction.
Though many logistical hurdles will need to be overcome, in the opinion of the
author, Decentralized Communities do seem the most logical approach to
homelessness and social problem solving in general.
The Decentralized Community model could even be applied on a global scale,
enabling the average Canadian to become directly involved in resolving the
situation in Afghanistan, the African AIDS epidemic or any of the other myriad
problems currently facing humanity.
The antiquated approach to global issues:
Decontextualized news reports keep us abreast of selected global tragedies,
catastrophes and hardships. Assistance options for the vast majority of us are
then limited to either donating money to a relief organization or pressing our
governments to “act”. If deemed politically advantageous, our governments may
well respond, sending over some money or some troops, but how often is real
progress ever made? Why are billions spent every year band-aiding or even
further exacerbating problems that nobody even fully understands? There is a
serious, ridiculous disconnect here and in the internet age there is a better way!
The proposed progressive approach to global (and local) issues:
We enable those on the ground who are directly affected to share their stories
and insights via the internet within an open-source framework and work with
them (both online and in person) to devise legitimate solutions. A few spare
hours a week from enough people could have an unimaginable impact. And with
a clever digital framework in place, these humanitarian efforts could be just as
engaging as traditional forms of entertainment!
Governments and traditional aid organizations cannot be relied upon to solve
these issues alone. In order to find legitimate, lasting solutions to humanity’s
problems we must become directly involved, creating a massive, coordinated
collective of Decentralized Communities that isolate the roots of our problems
and act in concert to address them. It’s time we truly become the change we
want to see in the world.
Some far-out idealism perhaps, but in the author’s eyes, nothing short of full-
scale, revolutionary tactics will ever gain us any ground in the battles against
addiction, poverty, violence and every other social ailment plaguing our societies.
The sooner we can get everyone on the planet online and enabled to participate
in a progressive and empowering global community, the sooner we can get
serious about solving these problems once and for all.
We can do this. We have the technology.
In line with these high-flown ideals, for the past four years the author has been
developing a decentralized, collaborative video project entitled “Humanity”, a film
which examines the human race from an outsider’s anthropological perspective
and proposes that: “modern human societies are backwards, cruel and ignorant...
but they don't have to be anymore because of the internet.” Accordingly, a large
portion of the film is devoted to promoting the yet-unrealized potential of
decentralized, open-source social problem solving, including the Decentralized
Community model.
Although the Decentralized Community model was conceived only recently, in
anticipation of the development of such a movement (alongside the Humanity
project), several years ago the author registered wikimanity.com (wiki +
humanity) and would gladly donate it to the cause if the right people were willing
to help launch this idea (decentralizedcommunity.com/org have been obtained as
well).
At the time of its launch, the Wikipedia seemed outlandish, even ridiculous. But
its success proves beyond a doubt that millions of people can be compelled to
volunteer together within an open-source framework in hopes of bettering the
world. The author does not see any reason why the Wikimanity/Decentralized
Community concept couldn’t also tap into this incredible wellspring of goodwill
and meet with similar success.
Anyone wishing to provide feedback, view this proposal in its entirety or help to
bring both the Decentralized Community and Humanity projects to life,
(especially web designers!) can please visit www.decentralizedcommunity.org

Yours,
Garrick Lachance
ENDNOTE:
Ultimately, it is essential to recognize that addiction is not merely a disease unto
itself, but also, a symptom indicative of a far greater malady. Acting as
barometers of societal health, addictions expose -with chilling precision and in
grisly detail- the fundamental weaknesses and flaws within our culture.
Dr. Maté writes:
“It is no coincidence that addictions arise mostly in cultures that subjugate
communal goals, time-honoured tradition and individual creativity to mass-
production and the accumulation of wealth. Addiction is one of the outcomes of
the "existential vacuum", the feeling of emptiness engendered when we place
supreme value on selfish attainments... To fill the unendurable void, we become
attached to things of the world that cannot possibly compensate us for the lack of
who we are.”
The inconvenient truth that must be acknowledged is that our very culture is a
culture of rampant addiction, breeding not only drug dependence and alcoholism
but also compulsive eating, shopping, working, gambling and sex. As such, any
proactive approach to the addiction phenomenon will require some major societal
soul searching- an acknowledgement of our shortcomings and a valiant,
concerted effort to address them.
Compassion and community, rather than consumption and selfish isolation must
become our new societal imperatives. Hopefully the Decentralized Community
model can aid in realizing these lofty ambitions.

Appendix/Clarifications:
A basic, preliminary list of questions that could be revised and expanded
upon as the website is developed (effective approach and delivery
techniques will be developed and refined on the website as well).
Although approaching a homeless person may seem intimidating at first, the
author has approached quite a few now in order to assess this proposal and so
far they’ve been extremely receptive and happy to answer the questions; just
glad to know that someone cares and wants to help... and the hot meal makes a
great icebreaker! And once the homeless themselves become involved in the
data collection, the issue begins to resolve itself. These questions could also be
easily posed by volunteers already working with the homeless and addicted at
the many outreach centres in the DTES.
How did you become homeless?
How long have you been homeless?
Would you like to get off the streets?
Why or why not?
Do you use drugs?
Are you addicted?
Why did you start using drugs?
Would you like to get clean?
Why or why not?
Would you commit yourself to a rehab center for a period of time in order
to get clean?
How else do you think you could get clean?
Were you born in Vancouver or did you move here?
Were you homeless in another city previously?
Why did you move to Vancouver?
Would you like to leave?
Would you consider leaving the DTES or are all of your friends here?
What do you think of the programs currently offered to help homeless
people and addicts in Vancouver recover and get off the streets?
Have you tried any of them?
Do you think they are effective?
Why or why not?
Are you on welfare or disability?
How much money do you receive per month?
Does that not cover rent and food?
Would you be willing to share a living space with others?
Do you have family you could stay with?
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
If you could have the job of your choice, what would it be?
If you had food and shelter covered, what would you do with your time?
If you were given a place to live, would you be willing to work to pay rent
or the mortgage?
How often are you forced to actually sleep on the streets?
What do you think is the solution to homelessness and addiction in
Vancouver?
Would you like to share some success stories of people you know who got
clean or found homes?
What do you think about the “politically incorrect” questions below?
Some “politically incorrect” questions that will likely have to be addressed
if this problem is to ever be resolved:
-Why are the vast majority of Vancouver’s homeless White or Aboriginal
and not Asian or South Asian? What can be learned from this?
-Aboriginal Canadians receive more welfare dollars and subsidized
“opportunities” than anyone in this country and still comprise a staggering
percentage of the homeless. Why is this and what can be learned from
this? (Another allied Decentralized Community should be devoted to
solving the riddle of Canada’s Aboriginal poverty issue as well).
-Since the “War On Drugs” has proven an inarguably dismal failure, is the
legalization and prescription dispensation of these drugs not a viable
alternative to the harm wrought by the drug trade (gang violence, lost tax
revenue, enforcement costs) and the harm wrought by drug addicts forced
to use expensive, tainted street drugs (AIDS, hepatitis, healthcare costs)
and support their addictions via unscrupulous means (crime, violence,
prostitution)?
- Since addiction is a disease and its effects are communicable (via other
addictions, crime, violence, massive healthcare costs, etc.), shouldn’t
those who are severely afflicted and refuse treatment be quarantined until
they are no longer a threat to themselves or others in the community?
(unless support for full-scale legalization is enacted, this approach may
unfortunately warrant consideration).
- Expecting a drug addict to get clean while living in or around the
Downtown Eastside seems a lot like expecting an alcoholic to get sober
while living in a bar… Is the DTES drug colony not a self-perpetuating
community that must be at least partially disbanded in order to recover?
The last two measures are harsh, and human rights organizations would
likely be up in arms over any such proposal, but the reality is that some
human rights “violations" are probably going to have to be risked in order
to successfully resolve this problem. If a Decentralized Community were
to publicly research and endorse such resolutions and develop a way to
have them implemented as humanely and judiciously as possible, well, I
think that’s just about the best we can do.

And finally, one possible human rights-friendly approach that could be

discussed/explored by the Decentralized Community:
Divide addicts who are committed to getting clean into support teams (if
possible, including friends and family) and move them far away from the
DTES to remote locations where they cannot obtain drugs and will remain
until they have supported each other through recovery.