In the unfolding drama of human history, two starkly contrasting value systems are locked in a struggle for dominance. One is rooted in fear, illusion, and hierarchy—fuelled by scarcity and enforced through money. The other grows from love, nature, and self-organisation—nurturing autonomy and interdependence. At the heart of this contest is not merely how we exchange value, but how we understand ourselves, relate to others, and organise society.
System One: The Illusion of Scarcity and Control
The prevailing system, which has shaped modern political economies for centuries, is built on dependence, exploitation, and fear. Here, value is mediated through money, a proxy for human need and capacity. This proxy system inevitably generates hierarchy: those who control money control access to life’s essentials.
This structure breeds a host of societal ills:
- Illusion replaces reality, distorting perceptions of what is truly valuable.
- Demand is manufactured, often disconnected from actual need.
- Supply and production become mechanisms of domination rather than mutual support.
- Exploitation becomes systemic—of labour, land, and life itself.
- Division and abuse thrive, fed by desperation and enforced compliance.
- Fear ensures obedience; violence, though often veiled, is ever-present—whether through warfare, debt, exclusion, or the deprivation of rights and dignity.
The result is a sclerotic, destructive, and unsustainable system that reduces human life to a series of competitive transactions. It is a single point of failure—centralised, brittle, and coercive. And yet, we continue to serve it as though it were a law of nature.
System Two: Self-Organising Value Rooted in Reality
An emerging alternative is already taking shape—one not of utopian design, but of ancient and intuitive logic. Rooted in reality, nature, and nurture, this second system honours the direct expression of human need and capacity. It is inclusive, sustainable, and based on distributed rather than centralised power.
Here, value is not abstracted into currency, but expressed directly through:
- Self-organisation, where individuals and groups coordinate based on shared goals, not imposed structures.
- Mutual support, where value flows naturally from the interplay of self and others.
- Autonomy, not as isolation, but as empowered participation in a cooperative web of life.
- Love, not as sentiment, but as a generative force that binds and sustains.
- Co-dependence, not in the pathological sense, but in the recognition of our inextricable interrelations.
This system sees capacity not as a commodity to be bought and sold, but as a shared resource to be cultivated and stewarded.
The Role of DACSO
The DACSO framework—Distributed, Autonomous, Cooperative, Self-Organising—offers both language and logic for the transition. It provides the structural underpinnings of the second value system, informed by the successes of open-source software, decentralised networks, and community-led solutions.
Unlike hierarchical systems, DACSO distributes decision-making and control. It invites participation and dissolves the false dichotomy between individual and collective interest. It is neither ideological nor doctrinaire—it is adaptive, iterative, and grounded in what works for real people in real contexts.
From Proxy to Direct Value
One of the most profound shifts required is moving from proxy-based value systems—in which money stands in for need and contribution—to direct value systems, where exchanges reflect the intrinsic worth of human action and relationship. This does not mean eliminating exchange or denying complexity. It means rethinking the architecture through which we mediate value.
Platforms like YouTube or Substack demonstrate embryonic versions of this: people contribute content freely, without specific transactional agreements, and receive proportional recognition or support. However, under the current money paradigm, the lion’s share of real value accrues to the platforms—controlled by those at the top of the monetary hierarchy. DACSO offers the potential to build new structures where value is retained and circulated among those who co-create it.
Conclusion: Choosing Our Value System
The map is clear. We can continue to uphold a violent system of scarcity, dependency, and control. Or we can move toward one of love, autonomy, and self-organisation. This is not a call to utopia, but to coherence with how we already function at the most human level—in families, friendships, and communities where value is not measured in money, but in meaning.
The choice is not merely economic or political. It is existential.

I asked ChatGPT to write this article from this mind map:
Firstly, please explore this content (particularly the video conversation with Clive Menzies and the link to DACSO) https://www.outersite.org/a-conversation-with-clive-menzies/and this:
Next…. money as a source of violence and a single point of failure:
The violence of money lies in its power to centralize control and enforce dependence, often reducing human relationships and survival to transactions dictated by scarcity and authority. When monetary systems are controlled by a single entity—be it a state, a central bank, or a corporation—they become a single point of failure for entire populations. This concentration of financial power enables systemic inequality, exclusion, and coercion, where access to resources, rights, and dignity can be denied with the flip of a switch. In such systems, individuals are not just subject to market forces but to the whims of those who control the infrastructure of money itself, turning currency into a tool not of liberation, but of quiet domination.
Now write an article base on this mind map: A tale of two value systems
I know I couldn’t have made a better job of it. AI is a powerful tool which can help us communicate more clearly and optimise outcomes.