Royalty por Uso de Activos Comunes (RUAC)/en

De Demarquía Planetaria

The Common Asset Use Royalty (CAUR) is one of the three pillars that nourish the Common Fund and make the Planetary Dividend possible . If the 50% Universal Partnership (50UP) captures value from private productive activity, the CAUR captures value from the final private use of resources that belong collectively to all of humanity .

Introduction

The Common Asset Use Royalty (CAUR) is one of the three pillars that nourish the Common Fund and make the Planetary Dividend possible . If the 50% Universal Partnership ( UP50) captures value from private productive activity, the CAUR captures value from the final private use of resources that belong collectively to all humanity

Fundamental Principle:

The Earth and its resources were not created by any human. Therefore, no one can claim absolute ownership over them. All private use must compensate the collective

The RUAC is not a "tax" in the traditional sense. It is a lease payment made by those who consume or use common resources privately, to the true owner: all of humanity.

For complete regulatory details, see the Draft Law on Royalty for Use of Common Assets (RUAC) and Return of Social Benefit (RABS) 4.0 (Version 4.0).

Revolutionary Ideas for an Economic Model That Pays You to Care for the Planet

Have you ever wondered why an organic apple is more expensive than a factory-grown one full of pesticides, or why the economy seems to reward those who extract resources at a breakneck pace instead of those who conserve them? These contradictions of the current system lead us to a dead end where doing what's right for the planet often hurts our wallets. But what if there were an economic model designed to solve exactly that? This is where a radical and counterintuitive idea comes into play: the RUAC (Royalty for the Use of Common Assets) . It's a system that seeks to overturn traditional economic logic to align personal incentives with collective and ecological well-being. It's not a new tax or a green subsidy, but a rewriting of the fundamental economic operating system.

This article explores the 5 most surprising and transformative ideas of this model, presented in a simple way to understand how it could change everything.

1. It's not a tax, it's a "rent" for using what belongs to everyone.

The fundamental philosophy behind RUAC is a shift in perspective: you stop thinking in terms of "taxes" and start thinking in terms of "rent." The idea is simple: the planet's fundamental resources—land, water, minerals, clean air—are a common heritage. Therefore, if someone uses them exclusively for their own benefit, they must pay fair compensation to the rest of humanity for that privilege

This central idea is perfectly summarized in its foundation:

"No one created the Earth, water, minerals, or air. They came before all of us. If someone uses them exclusively (for their house, their car, their personal consumption), they must compensate the rest of humanity who cannot use them at the same time."

This refocusing of "tax" to compensatory levy is semantically powerful because it changes the individual's relationship with the state and resources. It is not a new idea, but rather the modern implementation of a centuries-old quest for economic justice, rooted in the principles of the Roman Ager Publicus and articulated by foundational liberal thinkers such as John Stuart Mill and Henry George. Paying the RUAC is not a punishment, but the just act of compensating the other co-owners of the planet for the use of a shared resource.

2. Companies don't pay it (and that prevents prices from skyrocketing)

One of the biggest innovations of the RUAC is the Final Consumption Principle . Unlike traditional taxes that are applied at each stage of production, the RUAC is not levied on companies during intermediate processes. Companies simply record the Potential RUAC —the latent cost of resources—but this does not become the Actual RUAC —an effective cost—until the product reaches its final destination: the consumer.

Let's look at a simplified example with a bottle of water purchased by a consumer named Juan:

  1. Extraction, refining and manufacturing: At each stage, the RUAC Potential is recorded for the oil, energy and water used.
  2. Final purchase: When Juan buys the bottle to drink it, he is the final consumer. At that moment, all the accumulated RUAC potential is activated.

On the purchase interface, Juan would see a transparent breakdown:

  • Market price: 1.00 UVU (Universal Value Unit)
  • RUAC accumulated: 0.08 UVU
    • Breakdown:
      • Oil extracted: 0.05 UVU
      • Refining energy: 0.01 UVU
      • Bottle manufacturing: 0.01 UVU
      • Bottled water: 0.02 UVU
  • Total: The price Juan pays at the store is 1.00 UVU . The RUAC of 0.08 UVU is not paid out of his pocket at that moment, but is deducted from his Planetary Dividend .

This method avoids the "inflationary snowball" effect of conventional taxes. A comparative analysis of the same product under both systems reveals a dramatic difference:

  • Traditional tax system: Each stage of production adds its tax to the cost, which is then taxed at the next stage. The final price to the consumer could be €88 .
  • RUAC System: Production costs do not accumulate charges. The base price is 40 UVU and the final RUAC is 8 UVU. The total cost to the consumer is 48 UVU .

3. You can earn money by consuming consciously.

This is where the model becomes truly revolutionary: all the money raised by the RUAC goes into a Common Fund , which finances the Planetary Dividend and other public goods . The dividend is redistributed equally to every person on the planet. This mechanism creates what is called an Osmotic Equilibrium , where money naturally flows from those who consume the most common resources to those who do so more moderately

Let's compare two consumption profiles to understand it better:

  • Maria (moderate consumption):
    • Receives her Planetary Dividend: +1,000 UVU/month
    • Pay in RUAC for your consumption (local food, public transport, energy): -200 UVU/month
    • Monthly net balance: +800 UVU ✅
  • Carlos (high consumption):
    • Receives her Planetary Dividend: +1,000 UVU/month
    • Pay in RUAC for your consumption (powerful car, large house, frequent trips): -1,500 UVU/month
    • Monthly net balance: -500 UVU

Although Carlos has a negative net balance, he still receives the 1,000 UVU dividend. Simply put, his lifestyle means he contributes more to the common fund than he receives. And a key point is that most people are in Maria's situation.

The civilizational implications of this mechanism are profound. For the first time, rational self-interest (maximizing your profit) is perfectly aligned with ecological sustainability. Looking after your finances inevitably leads you to looking after the planet. It's not a sacrifice, but the smartest financial strategy.

4. Finally, eco-friendly products are becoming cheaper than polluting ones.

The RUAC makes hidden environmental costs (what economists call "externalities") visible and included in the final price. A product that requires a lot of water, emits CO₂, or uses scarce minerals will have a much higher RUAC. This completely alters the rules of the market, rewarding sustainability and penalizing degradation

The case of agriculture illustrates this perfectly. Let's compare an industrial farm with a regenerative one:

Product Market Price RUAC Credits Total Cost to the Consumer
1 kg Industrial Meat 8 UVU +4 UVU 0 UVU 12 UVU
1 kg Regenerative Meat 10 UVU +0.5 UVU -1 UVU 9.5 UVU

Although regenerative meat has a higher production cost (10 UVU), its positive environmental impact grants it carbon capture credits that exceed its already minimal RUAC. As a result, the final price for the consumer is significantly lower

The impact of this mechanism is massive. The market, guided by the RUAC price signal, naturally begins to reward efficiency and regeneration. The ecological transition ceases to depend on complex regulations and becomes driven by the most powerful economic incentive there is: offering a better and cheaper product.

5. Reward generosity instead of punishing it

The RUAC system focuses not only on natural resources but also on knowledge and innovation. To this end, it introduces RUAC Credits for Altruistic Contributions to the Public Domain . This mechanism, one of the model's most recent developments (introduced in version 3.0), expands the concept of common heritage beyond natural resources to include our intellectual and creative assets.

In version 4.0 of the RUAC Regulation project, this has been replaced by the Social Benefit Return (RABS) to give it greater substance and weight.

Conclusion: Aligning selfishness with ecology

The RUAC is much more than a simple environmental levy. It is a fundamental redesign of the rules of the economic game. Through radical transparency in the value chain, the universal redistribution of common wealth, and the application of costs only at the final consumption level, it achieves something that until now seemed impossible: it makes rational self-interest—the natural desire to maximize our own benefit—perfectly aligned with ecological sustainability.

It leaves us with a provocative question worth exploring: What if, instead of fighting against our nature, we designed economic systems where the simple act of looking after our own pockets inevitably led us to take care of the planet?

The Royalty for Use of Common Assets (RUAC): Philosophical Foundations and Mechanisms of a Planetary Co-ownership Model

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the Common Asset Use Royalty (CAUR), a resource governance model that represents a paradigm shift in property theory. The central argument is that the CAUR is not a traditional tax, but rather a lease payment that corrects a historical philosophical error: the private appropriation of goods not created by humans. It explores how, by applying a royalty exclusively to private final consumption , the system internalizes ecological and social externalities without generating the inflationary distortions inherent in cumulative tax systems. The analysis demonstrates that the CAUR mechanism generates an "osmotic equilibrium , " an automatic redistribution cycle where the funds raised feed a Planetary Dividend, fairly compensating the community for the monopolistic use of finite resources Finally, the polytechnic governance model of the system is examined , designed as the necessary institutional safeguard to ensure that the royalty calculation is objective, transparent and democratic, systematically aligning individual economic incentives with ecological sustainability and distributive justice.

1. Introduction

In the context of a growing ecological crisis, structural inequality, and a global debate on the management of finite resources, proposals are emerging that seek to redefine the foundations of our economic architecture. One of the most comprehensive is the Common Asset Use Royalty (CAUR), a system that addresses these issues not as isolated problems, but as symptoms of a fundamental philosophical contradiction in the conception of ownership

Unlike conventional taxes, which tax production, labor, or exchange, the RUAC is presented as the practical implementation of a principle of natural law: the universal co-ownership of all goods not created by humankind . It is not a tax burden, but rather a lease payment made to humanity—the rightful owner—for the exclusive use of common assets such as land, minerals, water, or the electromagnetic spectrum.

This paper analyzes the philosophical foundations, economic architecture, and governance system of the RUAC, demonstrating that it constitutes a coherent framework for internalizing externalities, promoting distributive justice, and fostering a circular economy in a systemic manner. To this end, the philosophical basis that addresses the problem of original ownership will first be examined. Next, the economic mechanism that prevents inflation and ensures transparency will be detailed. Subsequently, the concept of "osmotic equilibrium" as the main distributive outcome will be analyzed. Finally, its innovative governance model, designed to be agile, democratic, and resistant to political capture, will be described.

2. Philosophical Foundations: From Original Ownership to Universal Co-ownership

Before a just economic system can be built, it is imperative to resolve the fundamental logical contradiction underlying private ownership of uncreated resources: How can an individual or entity absolutely own something they never created? The RUAC is based on resolving this question, shifting the paradigm from absolute ownership to that of compensated usufruct, thus constituting a paradigm shift that realigns law with physical and moral reality

The Fiction of the First Occupant

Traditional legal systems have legitimized land and resource ownership through morally weak justifications. These foundational fictions can be summarized in three categories:

  • Military conquest: Appropriation by force. This argument confuses power with moral right, lacking any philosophical legitimacy.
  • First occupant: The "I arrived first" principle. It is a justification based on temporal arbitrariness, which does not explain why the first to arrive has a superior right to those born later.
  • Inheritance: The perpetuation of original appropriations, whether legitimate or not. This mechanism simply transfers over time an ownership whose initial legitimacy is questionable.

These arguments lack a solid moral basis, as they fail to justify why one generation or individual can exclude the rest of humanity from the common heritage.

Intellectual Precursors

Criticism of this original appropriation is not new. John Stuart Mill , a pillar of liberal thought, asserted that land is "the original patrimony of the whole species." For Mill, private appropriation was only permissible on the condition that the value extracted from it reverted to the community, especially to those deprived of access to it.

Later, in 1879, economist Henry George proposed a "land value tax." His rationale was to tax not human-made improvements (buildings, crops), but the intrinsic value of the land, thereby penalizing speculation and unproductive monopoly. However, his proposal had a key limitation: it focused exclusively on land, omitting the vast array of other common resources.

The RUAC represents the synthesis and logical culmination of these ideas. It extends Mill's vision and completes George's mechanism, applying it to the entirety of the planet's heritage.

The Demarchic Principle: Universal Co-ownership

The RUAC model establishes the principle of Universal Co-ownership over all resources not generated by human activity. This collective patrimony includes a much broader spectrum than traditionally considered:

  • Land and natural resources: Soil, subsoil, minerals, fossil fuels and water.
  • Atmosphere and ecosystems: The capacity of the atmosphere to absorb emissions and biodiversity.
  • Electromagnetic spectrum and orbits: Communication frequencies and orbital space for satellites.
  • Knowledge and culture: Ancestral knowledge, mathematics, physics, and works in the public domain.
  • Common digital resources: Anonymous aggregated data generated collectively by society.

Under this principle, a fundamental distinction is established between Real Property and the Private Use of Common Resources (Usufruct) . An individual may have absolute ownership of a building they have constructed ( real property ), but not the land on which it stands, as this is a common good. For the exclusive use of that land, they must pay a compensatory fee to the community: the RUAC (Real Estate Use Fee). This payment is not confiscatory, but rather the "fair price" for temporarily monopolizing an asset that would otherwise be available to everyone.

This philosophical basis, which distinguishes ownership from the creation of usufruct of common assets, demands a mechanism that can quantify and compensate for such usufruct without falling into the inflationary and opaque traps of traditional taxation. The design of the RUAC, focused on final consumption, is the answer to this challenge.

3. The RUAC Operating Mechanism: A Fee on Final Consumption

The economic design of the RUAC is geared towards one main objective: to compensate the community for the use of common resources without generating the distortions, opacity, and cascading inflation that characterize traditional tax systems. Its architecture is based on a simple but revolutionary guiding principle

The Guiding Principle: "Only Private Final Consumption"

The cornerstone of the system is the distinction between using resources to produce value for others and consuming them for personal gain. The RUAC applies exclusively in the latter case.

Concept Definition Application of the RUAC
Productive Use Use of common resources as inputs for transformation, manufacturing, or provision of services to third parties. The resource remains within the economic chain. No RUAC Fee
Private Final Consumption Use or consumption of a resource that definitively removes it from the production chain for personal, family, or private corporate benefit, without generating new value for third parties Pay RUAC

This distinction is strategically crucial to avoid cumulative inflation. In a traditional tax system, taxes are levied at every stage of the value chain, exponentially increasing the product's cost. RUAC, on the other hand, is recorded but not collected during production and is settled only once at the end

Comparison of Tax Burden Systems

  • Traditional System (Cumulative Taxes):
    • Extractor: 10 UVU + 5 UVU tax = 15 UVU
    • Refiner: 15 UVU (cost) + 10 UVU (process) + 8 UVU (tax) = 33 UVU
    • Manufacturing: 33 UVU (cost) + 20 UVU (process) + 15 UVU (tax) = 68 UVU
    • Final consumer: 68 UVU (cost) + 20 UVU (VAT) = 88 UVU
  • Demarchic System (non-Cumulative RUAC):
    • Extractor: 10 UVU (without RUAC)
    • Refiner: 10 + 10 (process) = 20 UVU (without RUAC)
    • Manufacturer: 20 + 20 (process) = 40 UVU (without RUAC)
    • Final consumer: 40 UVU (price) + 8 UVU (RUAC) = 48 UVU

The result is a significantly lower final price, reflecting the actual production costs and the cost of using the commons separately and transparently.

Technical Implementation: The Non-Accumulation Registry

This principle is implemented using a "Product Token" technology . Each good or service is a digital representation containing its complete history, including a field for the "Potential RUAC" (Unique Registry of Assets) .

Let's consider the detailed example of a plastic bottle:

  1. Stage 1: Oil Extraction: A company extracts a barrel of crude oil. It does not pay RUAC, but the crude oil token records a potential RUAC of 40 UVU, which would be activated if consumed directly.
  2. Stage 2: Refining: The crude oil is transformed into petrochemicals. The potential RUAC of 40 UVU is inherited, and 5 UVU are added for the energy used in the process. The total potential RUAC of the petrochemical is now 45 UVU.
  3. Stage 3: Bottle Manufacturing: The petrochemicals are converted into bottles. The potential RUAC is transferred proportionally. A bottle inherits 0.05 UVU and adds 0.01 UVU for the energy and water used in the process, reaching a potential RUAC of 0.06 UVU.
  4. Step 4: Water Bottling: The bottle is filled with water. The potential RUAC of the extracted water (0.02 UVU) is added to that of the container, resulting in a total potential RUAC of 0.08 UVU for the final product.
  5. Stage 5: Final Sale: A consumer buys the bottle to drink. At this point, the product token changes its status to "consumed". The potential RUAC of 0.08 UVU becomes actual RUAC and is transferred to the Common Fund.

This mechanism ensures that the cost of common resources is accurately accounted for throughout the entire chain, but is only settled when the resource definitively leaves the productive economy, directly linking the collection with its distributive purpose.

4. Osmotic Equilibrium: Distributive Justice and Systemic Sustainability

The most significant social and ecological outcome of the RUAC system is the creation of an "Osmotic Equilibrium ." This term describes the automatic flow of economic resources from high-impact consumers of common resources to low-impact consumers, generating a system of distributive justice and a powerful incentive for sustainability

The mechanism is simple: all revenue generated by the RUAC is deposited into a Common Fund . This fund, in turn, finances a Planetary Dividend (PD) distributed unconditionally to all human beings. A crucial detail of the system is that the RUAC paid by the consumer is not an additional expense at the point of sale; it is automatically deducted from the Planetary Dividend. This transforms the perception of the cost: it is not a tax paid, but a reduction of a universal income received.

The following numerical example, assuming a Planetary Dividend of 1,000 UVU/month, illustrates this effect:

Actor Lifestyle RUAC Paid/Month DP Received/Month Net Balance
Citizen A Minimalist: consumes little, recycles, uses public transport 100 UVU 1,000 UVU +900 UVU
Citizen B Average: moderate consumption 300 UVU 1,000 UVU +700 UVU
Citizen C High consumption: own car, frequent trips 800 UVU 1,000 UVU +200 UVU
Citizen D Very high consumption: yacht, private jet, mansions 5,000 UVU 1,000 UVU -4,000 UVU

Analysis of the table reveals the inherently progressive nature of the system. Citizens A, B, and C obtain a net benefit, while citizen D, despite continuing to receive the dividend, becomes a net contributor to the system. The moral justification is clear: the private and intensive use of finite resources must compensate those who, as a result of such use, are deprived of access to them. This is not a punishment, but rather fair compensation for monopolizing a common resource.

Aligning Individual Interest with Sustainability

Osmotic Equilibrium aligns "rational selfishness" with ecological sustainability. By internalizing the true costs of resources, the most economically intelligent decisions also become the most sustainable

  • Case 2: Regenerative vs. Industrial Farm: An industrial farm with high water consumption, methane emissions, and soil degradation will have a final product with a high RUAC (Regenerative Carbon Use) value. In contrast, a regenerative farm that captures carbon can receive RUAC credits, making its product, although more expensive to produce, cheaper for the end consumer.
  • Case 3: Circular Economy: A product made with virgin plastic pays the RUAC (Regional Use Tax) corresponding to oil extraction. An identical product made from recycled plastic does not pay that component of the RUAC, automatically making it more competitive in the market.
  • Case 4: Fossil vs. Renewable Energy: Electricity generated with coal carries a high carbon footprint due to extraction and emissions. Solar energy, by using an unlimited resource and generating no emissions, has a zero carbon footprint. Without the need for subsidies, renewable energies become economically superior.

The effectiveness of Osmotic Equilibrium in aligning individual interests with the common good depends entirely on the legitimacy and objectivity of the canon. If the RUAC's calculation were arbitrary, the system would collapse into a technocratic tyranny. Therefore, its polytechnic governance architecture is not an appendage, but the cornerstone that guarantees its fairness and stability.

5. Polytechnic Governance and RUAC Calculation

One potential objection to the RUAC model is that it could become an instrument of arbitrary power. To prevent this risk, the system is based on a polytechnical and distributed governance model , designed to ensure objectivity, agility, and democratic control, and to avoid the capture of the commons that has plagued its historical predecessors. Its operation can be understood through the analogy of a modern car's control unit:

The structure is composed of four interdependent layers:

  1. Scientific Layer (the engineers): Panels of independent experts establish the benchmarks. Their job is to determine, based on scientific evidence, the impact, scarcity, and renewability rate of each common resource.
  2. Execution Layer (the car's control unit): A public administration artificial intelligence (AI-AdC) dynamically adjusts the RUAC coefficients in real time, based on scientific benchmarks and big data. It operates within pre-authorized ranges.
  3. Democratic Layer (the driver): An assembly of randomly selected citizens (AsC) defines the general principles and operating ranges of the IA-AdC. Its function is to oversee the system and act as a democratic check on the technical component.
  4. Audit Layer (the mechanics): The AI-AdC source code and all calculation formulas are open source. Any citizen can audit them, question a calculation, and propose improvements.

Objective Principles of Calculus

The calculation of the RUAC is not discretionary, but is based on clear and auditable principles:

  • Principle 1: Scarcity and Renewability: Non-renewable resources (oil) have a higher RUAC than renewable resources (sustainable wood), while unlimited resources (sunlight) have a zero RUAC.
  • Principle 2: Environmental Externalities: The calculation includes the cost of mitigating environmental damage (e.g., the cost of capturing emitted CO₂). Activities that regenerate ecosystems may receive RUAC credits.
  • Principle 3: Location and Context: The RUAC is adjusted to the local context. Extracting water in a region with abundant water has a low cost, while the same extraction in a drought-stricken area has a much higher RUAC.
  • Principle 4: Best Alternative Use: For spatial resources such as land, the RUAC is calculated based on the most efficient use that could be given to it, discouraging speculation.

The V3.0 system introduces two additional mechanisms to protect and enrich the common heritage. The first is a RUAC on Public Domain Resources when they constitute the core value of a commercial product (e.g., the sale of direct copies of Don Quixote ). The second is RUAC Credits for Altruistic Contributions to the Public Domain , which reward innovators who, like Nikola Tesla, release their patents for the benefit of humanity.

This robust governance and calculation framework is what gives the RUAC system the necessary legitimacy to operate on a planetary scale, leading us to the final reflections.

6. Conclusion

The Royalty for the Use of Common Assets (RUAC) offers an integrated framework that resolves fundamental tensions between private ownership, the management of common goods, and ecological sustainability. Far from being a mere tax, it stands as the embodiment of a philosophical principle: the correction of the illegitimate original appropriation of resources that belong to all humanity. By establishing a fee for private use, rather than for production, the system manages to internalize environmental and social costs without generating the cascading inflation that burdens traditional economies.

The main advantages of the model are systemic. First, it establishes a fair and legitimate property base. Second, its economic design prevents the accumulation of tax burdens, maintaining productive efficiency. Third, it generates an osmotic equilibrium that functions as an automatic and progressive distributive justice mechanism. Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, it aligns individual economic incentives with collective sustainability, making the most environmentally friendly option also the most profitable.

In the history of political economy, the RUAC can be seen as the logical evolution of precedents such as the ager publicus of ancient Rome, whose capture by elites contributed to the fall of the Republic, or the response to the injustice of the Enclosure Laws in England, which privatized the commons without compensation. It draws inspiration from functional models like the Alaska Permanent Fund, but surpasses them by proposing a planetary-scale implementation, comprehensive in its scope of resources and automated through polytechnic and transparent governance. Ultimately, it represents a coherent proposal for an economy that recognizes its ecological foundations and its moral obligation to present and future generations.

Part I: Philosophical Foundations

The Problem of Original Ownership

Private ownership of land and natural resources rests on a fundamental logical contradiction:

How can someone "own" something they never created?

The Fiction of the First Occupant

In traditional systems, land was "appropriated" through:

  • Military conquest : "It's mine because I took it by force"
  • First occupant : "It's mine because I got here first."
  • Inheritance : "It's mine because my ancestor took it."

None of these grounds are morally legitimate:

  • Might does not create moral rights
  • Arriving first is pure arbitrariness (why does the one who arrived first have more rights than the one who was born later?)
  • Inheritance perpetuates illegitimate appropriations

The Argument of John Stuart Mill

The liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill (not a communist, but a defender of capitalism) wrote:

"No man made the earth. It is the original heritage of the entire species. Its appropriation is fundamentally unjust, but admissible under one condition: that the value of what has been appropriated reverts to those who have no land."

The Henry George Principle (1879)

The economist Henry George proposed the one-time Land Value Tax :

  • Tax the value of the land, not the improvements made to it.
  • Thus, whoever monopolizes land without using it pays for depriving others of access to it.
  • Anyone who builds on it is not penalized (improvements are not taxed)

Limitation : George only considered land, not other common resources (water, air, spectrum, knowledge).

The Demarchic Principle: Universal Co-ownership

Demarchy extends this logic to all common resources :

  • Earth : Soil, subsoil, geography
  • Natural resources : Water, minerals, fossil fuels
  • Atmosphere : CO₂ absorption capacity
  • Electromagnetic spectrum : Radio frequencies, telephony, wifi
  • Earth orbit : Space for satellites
  • Ancestral knowledge : Basic mathematics, physics, and chemistry
  • Human genome : Common genetic information
  • Biodiversity : Species and ecosystems
  • Digital resources : Anonymous aggregated data (e.g., collective consumption patterns, social trends) generated by society

None of these resources were created by any individual or corporation. Therefore, they belong to everyone equally. (See details on digital resources for more information.)

Ownership vs. Usufruct

Demarchy makes a radical distinction between:

  • Real property : What you created (a building, a machine, a work of art)
  • Private use of common resources : Something you're using temporarily but that belongs to everyone.

Example :

  • You can absolutely own a building you built
  • You cannot absolutely own the ground on which you built it (that ground existed before you and will exist after you).
  • Therefore, you pay a fee (RUAC) for the private use of that land

This fee is not confiscatory. It is simply the fair price for monopolizing a resource that would otherwise be available to everyone.

Part II: Who Pays the RUAC and When?

The Fundamental Principle: Only Private Final Consumption

The RUAC is only paid when a common resource is consumed or used privately in a final way.

Productive use (to create other goods or services) does NOT pay RUAC.

This distinction is crucial to avoid the cascading accumulation that destroys prices in traditional systems. (See Guiding Principles for more details.)

Key Definitions

Productive Use (Does NOT pay RUAC):

  • Transforming resources into other goods or services
  • Using resources as inputs in a production chain
  • Economic activity that generates value for others

Private Final Consumption (YES, RUAC is paid):

  • To use/consume a resource for personal benefit without transforming it
  • To monopolize a resource with no productive use
  • End point of the chain where the resource "leaves" the productive economy

Why This Distinction Is Crucial

In traditional systems, each tax/charge is applied at every stage of production, accumulating in the final price. This creates an inflationary snowball effect .

In the demarchic system:

  • Productive use is free of RUAC → Production prices remain low
  • Only final consumption pays RUAC → The consumer sees the real cost and can compare
  • There is no accumulation → The RUAC is not multiplied by the number of production stages

Detailed Examples by Resource Type

For brevity, we have condensed similar examples into a single section. See detailed categories for more information.

Generic Chain of Non-Renewable Resources (e.g., Oil, Minerals)

1. Extraction/Refining/Manufacturing : NO RUAC payment (productive use). Potential RUAC is recorded in token.

2. Final Consumption : YES, RUAC is paid (e.g., burning gasoline in a private car).

3. Recycling : NO additional RUAC fee (encourages circularity).

Land and Space

  • Productive Use : Does NOT pay RUAC (e.g., farm, factory).
  • Private Use : YES, RUAC is paid (e.g., personal housing, vacant land), calculated by best alternative use.

Water and Atmospheric Emissions

  • Productive Use : Does NOT pay RUAC (e.g., agricultural irrigation).
  • Private Consumption : YES, it pays RUAC (e.g., personal pool), with a tiered rate and dynamic adjustments for scarcity.

Digital Resources (New)

  • Commercial Use of Aggregated Data : YES, RUAC pays (e.g., app that uses collective traffic patterns to predict routes, based on revenue generated).
  • Open Source Release : Exempt from RUAC, encouraging common knowledge.

Knowledge and Patents

  • Exclusive Use : YES, pay RUAC (monopoly surcharge).
  • Public Release : Exempt and compensated from the Common Fund.

Public Domain Resources

  • Includes : Intellectual works or public goods (e.g., classical literature, historical monuments) in the public domain.
  • Application Timing : Only when they constitute the core value of the product sold (e.g., selling complete copies of Don Quixote without additions). Low rate (5-10%) to maintain accessibility and not discourage cultural dissemination.
  • Not Applicable : Uses with added value (e.g., modern adaptations) or non-commercial uses.
  • Example : Publisher sells digital Don Quixote for 5 UVU. RUAC: 0.50 UVU (10%). Final price: 5.50 UVU – compensates the common heritage without significantly increasing costs.

Overall Result : The RUAC is paid ONLY ONCE, at the end of the chain, by the actual consumer of the resource. It incentivizes sustainability and circularity.

Part III: How Does the RUAC Work in Practice?

The Non-Accumulating Register

The demarchic system implements a revolutionary mechanism:

The RUAC is registered at each stage of the production chain, but payment is not made until final consumption.

Technology: Tokens with "RUAC Potential"

Each product, at each stage of production, is a token in the Common Vault that contains:

  • Current market value : What it costs to buy/sell that asset
  • Potential accumulated RUAC : The RUAC that will be paid IF that good is consumed privately
  • Transformation history : What common resources were used in its production
  • State : Productive use vs. final consumption

Step-by-Step Example: A Plastic Bottle

Stage 1: Oil Extraction

  • Actor : PetroExtract Corp
  • Activity : Extract 1 barrel of crude oil
  • Token created :
    • ID: CRUDO-2025-001
    • Market Value: 80 UVU/barrel
    • Potential RUAC: 40 UVU (if ultimately consumed)
    • Status: Productive Use
  • Does it pay RUAC now? NO
  • Sale : PetroExtract sells the crude to a refinery for 80 UVU (without RUAC)

Stage 2: Refining

  • Actor : RefineMax Inc
  • Activity : Refines crude oil in petrochemicals
  • Token transformed :
    • ID: PETROCHEMICAL-2025-001 (derived from CRUDE-2025-001)
    • Market value: 120 UVU (added refining value)
    • RUAC potential inherited: 40 UVU (from the original crude)
    • Additional RUAC per process: 5 UVU (energy used in refining)
    • Total potential RUAC: 45 UVU
    • Status: Productive Use
  • Does it pay RUAC now? NO
  • Sale : RefineMax sells petrochemicals to plastics factory for 120 UVU

Stage 3: Bottle Manufacturing

  • Actor : PlastiBottle SA
  • Activity : Make plastic bottles
  • Token transformed :
    • ID: BOTTLE-2025-001 (comes from PETROCHEMICAL-2025-001)
    • Market value: 0.50 UVU/bottle
    • RUAC potential inherited: 0.05 UVU (proportional to the petrochemical used)
    • Additional RUAC for manufacturing: 0.01 UVU (energy, water)
    • RUAC total potential: 0.06 UVU
    • Status: Productive Use
  • Does it pay RUAC now? NO
  • Sale : PlastiBottle sells bottles to bottling companies for 0.50 UVU

Stage 4: Water Bottling

  • Actor : AquaPura Corp
  • Activity : Fill bottles with water and sell them
  • Token transformed :
    • ID: BOTTLED-WATER-2025-001 (comes from BOTTLE-2025-001)
    • Market value: 1.00 UVU
    • Inherited potential RUAC: 0.06 UVU (from the bottle)
    • Additional RUAC: 0.02 UVU (water extracted for bottling)
    • RUAC total potential: 0.08 UVU
    • Status: Productive Use
  • Does it pay RUAC now? NO
  • Sale : AquaPura sells to retailers for 1.00 UVU

Stage 5: Sale to the Final Consumer

  • Actor : Consumer Juan
  • Activity : Buy a bottle of drinking water
  • What Juan sees on his interface :
Concept Value
Market Price 1.00 UVU
Accumulated RUAC 0.08 UVU
RUAC Breakdown :
- Oil extracted 0.05 UVU
- Refining energy 0.01 UVU
- Bottle manufacturing 0.01 UVU
- Bottled Water 0.01 UVU
  • What does Juan pay?
    • Retail price: 1.00 UVU
    • RUAC to the Common Fund: 0.08 UVU
    • Total deducted from your account: 1.08 UVU
  • Where does the RUAC that Juan pays come from?
    • He already received it as part of his Planetary Dividend
    • The DP comes from the Common Fund
    • The Common Fund is funded by RUAC, AU50, Oxidation
  • Final token :
    • State: Consumed (leaves the productive economy)
    • The potential RUAC (0.08 UVU) becomes the actual RUAC → transferred to the Common Fund

What can Juan do with this information?

Compare Products

Juan sees another bottle of water from a different brand:

Concept Brand A Brand B
Market Price 1.00 UVU 0.90 UVU
Accumulated RUAC 0.08 UVU 0.12 UVU
Total 1.08 UVU 1.02 UVU

Analysis :

  • Brand B is cheaper (0.90 vs 1.00)
  • But it has a higher RUAC (0.12 vs 0.08) → It uses more common resources
  • Juan can decide according to his values:
    • Would you prefer to pay less now? → Mark B
    • Do you prefer less environmental impact? → Mark A
    • Want to optimize total cost? → Brand B is still cheaper overall (1.02 vs 1.08)

View Impact Breakdown

Juan can expand the RUAC breakdown for each product:

Brand A :

  • Oil: 0.05 UVU (standard bottle)
  • Water: 0.01 UVU (local extraction)
  • Transportation: 0.01 UVU (regional distribution)
  • Energy: 0.01 UVU (efficient bottling)

Brand B :

  • Oil: 0.08 UVU (thicker bottle, more plastic)
  • Water: 0.02 UVU (extraction in an area with water stress)
  • Transportation: 0.01 UVU (similar distribution)
  • Energy: 0.01 UVU (similar bottling)

Conclusion : Brand B uses more plastic and draws water from a less sustainable area. Juan can choose Brand A for sustainability.

Encourage Innovation

If a Brand C innovates:

  • Bottles made from recycled material (RUAC petroleum: 0 because it was already paid for in the previous cycle)
  • Rainwater harvesting (RUAC water: 0 because it does not extract from aquifers)
  • Local production (RUAC of transport: 0.002 UVU)

Brand C :

  • Market price: 1.10 UVU (more expensive due to innovative process)
  • Total RUAC: 0.002 UVU (practically zero)
  • Total: 1,102 UVU

Now Juan compares:

Brand A Brand B Brand C
Price 1.00 0.90 1.10
RUAC 0.08 0.12 0.002
Total 1.08 1.02 1.102
Environmental Impact Medium High Minimum

Brand C is competitive in overall price AND has minimal environmental impact. Juan can choose it knowing that almost all of his payment goes to the innovative company, not to RUAC

Incentive created : Companies compete to reduce the RUAC of their products because:

  • Consumers can compare transparently
  • Lower RUAC = lower total cost = more competitive
  • Lower RUAC = better environmental impact = better reputation

Advantages of This System

1. There is no inflation due to accumulation

Traditional system :

  • Extractor: €10 + €5 tax = €15
  • Refiner: €15 + €10 process + €8 tax = €33
  • Manufacturer: €33 + €20 processing + €15 tax = €68
  • Final consumer: €68 + €20 VAT = €88

Demarchical system :

  • Extractor: 10 UVU (without RUAC)
  • Refiner: 10 + 10 process = 20 UVU (without RUAC)
  • Manufacturer: 20 + 20 process = 40 UVU (without RUAC)
  • Final consumer: 40 UVU price + 8 UVU RUAC = 48 UVU

Difference : Almost half the price for the same product.

2. Total Transparency and Comparability

  • Each consumer sees exactly which common resources were used
  • You can objectively compare equivalent products
  • Companies cannot hide their environmental impact
  • Competition is based on real efficiency, not on deceptive marketing.

3. Automatic Incentive for Sustainability

  • Companies that use fewer common resources have products with lower RUAC
  • Lower RUAC = more competitive in total price
  • You don't need complex regulations; the market naturally rewards efficiency.
  • Circular economy (recycling) has a massive advantage: it does not pay RUAC for extraction

4. Automatic Distributive Justice

  • All RUAC funds go to the Common Fund
  • It is redistributed via the Planetary Dividend
  • Those who consume more common resources pay more RUAC
  • Those who consume less receive more (their DP exceeds their paid RUAC)
  • Osmotic Equilibrium : Money flows from intensive consumers to moderate consumers

5. Ease of Implementation

  • It does not require massive bureaucracy
  • The IA-AdC automatically calculates
  • Each token carries its potential RUAC built in.
  • At the time of final consumption, the system automatically settles the account.
  • Zero evasion possible (everything is tokenized and traceable)

Part IV: Calculation of the RUAC

How is the RUAC of each resource determined?

The RUAC is not arbitrary. It is calculated according to objective principles, with limits to avoid volatility (e.g., monthly variations ≤10%, as in the draft ).

Principle 1: Scarcity and Renewability

Non-renewable resources (oil, minerals, gas):

  • High RUAC (30-60% of market value)
  • Reason: Once extracted, they do not return. Compensation for depleting common resources.

Renewable resources (water, certified wood, solar energy):

  • RUAC low (5-15% of the value)
  • Reason: They regenerate naturally if used sustainably

Abundant resources without limit (sunlight, wind, liberated knowledge):

  • Zero RUAC
  • Reason: Its use does not deprive anyone else

Principle 2: Environmental Externalities

Resources that cause degradation :

  • RUAC includes restoration/mitigation costs
  • Example: CO₂ emitted → RUAC = equivalent capture cost

Resources that improve ecosystems :

  • Negative RUAC (you receive compensation from the Common Fund)
  • Example: Reforestation, regenerative agriculture

Principle 3: Location and Context

The RUAC is not globally uniform. It is adjusted according to context:

Water in a region with abundance :

  • RUAC low (0.01 UVU/m³)

Water in a region with severe water stress :

  • High RUAC (0.50 UVU/m³)

Water during exceptional drought :

  • RUAC very high (2.00 UVU/m³)

Reason : Relative scarcity determines conservation value.

Principle 4: Best Alternative Use (for land/space)

Land in Manhattan with a 2-story building :

  • Better alternative use: Skyscrapers generating $10M/year
  • Calculated annual RUAC: Proportional to those $10M
  • Outcome: Either the owner develops efficiently or sells to someone who will.

Rural agricultural land :

  • Best alternative use: Agriculture/livestock
  • Annual RUAC: Low (proportional to typical agricultural productivity)

RUAC Credits for Contributions to the Public Domain

  • Principle : To reward altruistic innovators (like Nikola Tesla, who released patents to benefit everyone), those who donate works to the public domain receive RUAC credits. This "looks after their well-being" collectively, as many prioritize impact over personal gain.
  • How it Works : IA-AdC calculates impact-based credits (e.g., adoption of the work). Low rate (10-20%) to maintain simplicity. Applicable against future RUAC or convertible into UVU.
  • Example : An inventor releases a patent for an efficient battery. AI estimates impact: 1 million UVU in global savings. Credit: 100-200 UVU.
  • Benefit : Encourages generosity – more free knowledge for all, without the creator dying in poverty.

RUAC Governance: Distributed Layers

The RUAC operates through four complementary layers (detailed in Article 16.5 ) to avoid arbitrariness and ensure agility:

A) Scientific Layer (Independent Experts) :

  • They establish benchmarks (e.g., emissions impact).
  • No conflicts of interest, public methodology.

B) Execution Layer ( IA-AdC ) :

  • Dynamically adjusts coefficients based on real-time data (e.g., water scarcity).
  • It operates within authorized ranges; it includes "fallback mode" (reverts to previous values ​​if it detects algorithmic anomalies and alerts AsC).
  • Transparency: Every adjustment on the blockchain, with explanations in plain language.

C) Democratic Layer ( AsC ) :

  • Define operating ranges and general principles (e.g., "Protect basic consumption").
  • Monitors and reverses abuses.

D) Audit Layer (Citizenship) :

  • Anyone can audit open source code, question calculations, and propose improvements (rewarded if adopted).

Analogy : Like a car's control unit – experts design parameters, AI adjusts in real time, AsC monitors, and citizens audit. This ensures that base rates are democratic and adjustments are reasonable and gradual.

Transparency and Auditing

  • All RUAC formulas are public and auditable
  • All AI-AdC adjustments are recorded on the blockchain with justification.
  • Citizens may question: "Why did X's RUAC increase?"
  • IA-AdC explains: "Data shows critical shortages (see graphs). Formula approved by AsC requires adjustment."
  • If many citizens question it, AsC can review the formula.

The RUAC Must Be Reasonable: We Are All Consumers

The RUAC, like all costs, should be as low and reasonable as possible.

Because one way or another, the one who pays is the end consumer: all of us.

Why the RUAC Cannot Be Arbitrarily High

Although the RUAC is redistributed via the Planetary Dividend, an excessive RUAC has negative effects:

1. Reduces net purchasing power

  • If the average RUAC is very high, a large part of the DP is spent on paying RUAC
  • Less is left for additional consumption
  • Relative impoverishment

2. It can slow economic activity

  • If the RUAC makes basic goods expensive, less is consumed
  • Lower consumption → lower production → lower employment
  • Deflationary spiral

3. Perverse incentive to "live off investments"

  • If you receive a lot of DP but consumption is very expensive due to high RUAC
  • He encourages extreme minimalism not out of conviction but out of necessity
  • It can stifle innovation and prosperity

The Optimal Balance

The RUAC must be:

  • High enough to:
    • Discourage the waste of common resources
    • Generate significant income for the Common Fund
    • Reflect real environmental externalities
  • Low enough for:
    • Do not stifle basic consumption
    • Enable vibrant economic activity
    • Don't turn everything into "austere survival"

The AI-AdC continuously optimizes this balance by simulating scenarios:

  • What happens if the RUAC of oil rises from 40% to 60%?
    • Simulation: Consumption decreases 15%, DP increases 8%, net welfare decreases 2%
    • Conclusion: It's not worth it
  • What happens if the RUAC of water in region X drops from 0.50 to 0.30?
    • Simulation: Consumption rises 25%, water stress worsens, risk of aquifer collapse
    • Conclusion: Maintain or even increase

Citizen Pressure Towards Efficiency

Since we are all end consumers, we all have an interest in:

  • The RUAC should be fair but not excessive.
  • That companies minimize the RUAC of their products (using fewer resources)
  • Encourage recycling and a circular economy (avoid extraction-based RUACs)

This collective interest creates natural pressure towards:

  • Innovation in efficiency
  • Waste reduction
  • Optimization of production chains

You don't need to mandate "green production" by law. The RUAC creates a direct economic incentive.

Part V: Osmotic Equilibrium

The Mechanics: Pay to Consume, Receive to Preserve

The RUAC creates an Osmotic Equilibrium where resources (via money) automatically flow from those who consume the most to those who consume the least:

If your consumption of shared resources is higher than average :

  • You pay more RUAC on your purchases
  • You receive the same Planetary Dividend as everyone else
  • Net result: You contribute to the system

If your consumption of shared resources is below average :

  • You pay less RUAC on your purchases
  • You receive the same Planetary Dividend as everyone else
  • Net result: The system subsidizes you

Credits for altruism (such as releasing into the public domain) flow value to contributors like Tesla, further balancing the system.

Detailed Numerical Example

Assumptions :

  • Monthly Planetary Dividend: 1,000 UVU for all
  • Average consumption generates: 300 UVU of RUAC/month
Actor Lifestyle RUAC Paid/Month DP Received/Month Net Balance
Citizen A Minimalist: Consume little, recycle, public transport, plant-based diet 100 UVU 1,000 UVU +900 UVU
Citizen B Average: Moderate Consumption 300 UVU 1,000 UVU +700 UVU
Citizen C High consumption: Own car, frequent trips, intensive consumption 800 UVU 1,000 UVU +200 UVU
Citizen D Very high consumption: Yacht, private jet, mansions 5,000 UVU 1,000 UVU -4,000 UVU

Interpretation :

  • Citizens A, B, and C come out ahead in the system (their DP exceeds their RUAC)
  • Citizen D contributes net (pays more RUAC than he receives in DP)
  • But note: Citizen D still has +1,000 DP UVUs that he didn't have before.
  • Only its excessive consumption (5,000) makes it a net contributor

Why This Is Fair

The moral argument is simple:

  • Common resources are finite
  • If you use more, others can use less.
  • Therefore, you must compensate those who are deprived by your intensive use.

It's not "punishment for being rich." It's compensation for monopolizing resources that belong to everyone .

The Automatic Ecological Incentive

Osmotic Equilibrium creates a direct financial incentive for:

  • Living sustainably : The less you consume, the more you earn
  • Innovating in efficiency : Companies that reduce their footprint have more competitive products
  • Circular economy : Recycling and reusing avoids paying RUAC extraction fees

Civilizational implication : For the first time, rational selfishness (maximizing your profit) is perfectly aligned with ecological sustainability.

Part VI: Detailed Use Cases

Case 1: Real Estate Speculator

Situation : Speculator Inc. buys 100 lots in a growing city, leaves them vacant waiting for the price to rise

Under the traditional system :

  • Pay a fixed low property tax
  • It can keep empty lots indefinitely
  • When prices rise, he sells them for a massive profit.
  • Speculation makes housing more expensive for everyone

Under a demarccal system with RUAC :

1. RUAC is calculated by "best alternative use" : Each plot pays as if it had housing generating value. 2. Significant monthly cost if the plots are empty. 3. Options : 

  * Build homes to sell/rent → Homes generate value, land is used productively, RUAC is only paid when someone buys to live in (private final consumption)
  * Sell to those who will build
  * Continue paying RUAC until bankruptcy

Result :

  • Unproductive speculation becomes economically unviable
  • The land is used or released for whoever uses it.
  • Lower housing prices (more available supply)
  • Denser, more efficient cities, less sprawl

Case 2: Regenerative Farm vs. Industrial Farm

Actor A: AgroIndustrial Corp (intensive monoculture)

Products sold :

  • 1 kg of feedlot meat:
    • Market price: 8 UVU
    • Visible accumulated RUAC: 4 UVU (water, methane, degradation)
    • Total to the consumer: 12 UVU

Actor B: RegenerativeFarm (agroecology)

Products sold :

  • 1 kg of regenerative pasture-raised meat:
    • Market price: 10 UVU (more expensive due to more careful process)
    • Visible accumulated RUAC: 0.5 UVU (minimum footprint)
    • Negative RUAC (carbon capture credits): -1 UVU
    • Total to the consumer: 9.5 UVU

Consumer comparison :

Industrial Meat Regenerative Meat
Base Price 8 UVU 10 UVU
RUAC +4 UVU -0.5 UVU
Total 12 UVU 9.5 UVU
Environmental Impact High Negative Positive (regenerates ecosystems)

Result :

  • Regenerative meat is cheaper overall and environmentally superior
  • Massive economic incentive for agroecological transition
  • You don't need to ban pesticides; the RUAC simply makes them uncompetitive.

Case 3: Innovation in Circular Economy

Company A: PlasticNew (traditional plastic production)

Final products for the consumer :

  • Virgin plastic toy:
    • Price: 5 UVU
    • RUAC (extracted oil): 2 UVU
    • Total: 7 UVU

Company B: PlasticCircle (circular economy)

Final products for the consumer :

  • Recycled plastic toy:
    • Price: 5.5 UVU (recycling process has a cost)
    • RUAC (reprocessing energy only): 0.3 UVU
    • Total: 5.8 UVU

Comparison :

Virgin Plastic Recycled Plastic
Price 5 UVU 5.5 UVU
RUAC 2 UVU 0.3 UVU
Total 7 UVU 5.8 UVU

Result :

  • Recycled products are cheaper overall even though their production is more expensive
  • Circular economy companies are automatically more competitive
  • You don't need green subsidies or complex regulations
  • The RUAC creates a natural economic incentive towards recycling

Case 4: Fossil vs. Renewable Energy

Power Plant A: Coal

Electricity sold to the consumer :

  • 1 kWh of electricity:
    • Generation cost: 0.08 UVU
    • RUAC accumulated:
      • Carbon extracted: 0.03 UVU
      • CO₂ emitted: 0.05 UVU
      • Total RUAC: 0.08 UVU
    • Total cost to the consumer: 0.16 UVU/kWh

Power Plant B: Solar

Electricity sold to the consumer :

  • 1 kWh of electricity:
    • Generation cost: 0.06 UVU (solar is getting cheaper)
    • RUAC accumulated: 0 UVU (zero emissions, unlimited resource)
    • Total cost to the consumer: 0.06 UVU/kWh

Comparison :

Coal Solar
Generation price 0.08 UVU 0.06 UVU
RUAC 0.08 UVU 0 UVU
Total 0.16 UVU/kWh 0.06 UVU/kWh

Result :

  • Solar energy is less than half as expensive as coal
  • Energy transition occurs automatically through the market
  • You don't need to ban coal; it simply can't compete economically.

Part VII: Technical Implementation

The Monitoring Infrastructure

For RUAC to work, you need to know what resources are used, how much, where, and by whom .

Layer 1: Planetary IoT Sensors

  • Smart meters at every point of water and energy consumption
  • Connected to the Digital Nervous System in real time
  • Data encrypted for privacy, aggregated for analysis

Example :

  • Your house has a smart water meter
  • It records consumption hour by hour
  • Encrypted data, only you and the IA-AdC (with your authorization) can see it
  • Anonymous aggregated data is used for basin management

Layer 2: Satellite Monitoring

  • Earth observation satellites monitor:
    • Deforestation
    • Mining
    • Industrial emissions (detection of CO₂, methane)
    • Use of the electromagnetic spectrum
  • IA-AdC automatically analyzes satellite images
  • Detects undeclared activities (illegal mining, hidden emissions)

Layer 3: Resource Blockchain

  • Every extraction, transformation, and sale is recorded on the blockchain.
  • Each product is a token with a complete history:
    • What resources were used
    • Where it occurred
    • How much potential RUAC accumulates
  • Immutable, transparent, auditable
  • Any citizen can verify the RUAC of any product.

Layer 4: IA-AdC as a Calculator

  • Integrates data from sensors, satellites, blockchain
  • Calculate potential RUAC at each stage of production
  • RUAC charges real when final consumption occurs
  • It adjusts dynamically according to scarcity, demand, and ecological factors.
  • Explain each calculation in an auditable manner.

Privacy vs. Transparency

Apparent paradox : How do you monitor resource use without constantly monitoring every citizen?

Demarchic solution (detailed in Article 20bis ):

  • Total transparency upwards : Citizens see EVERYTHING about corporations and institutions
  • Selective downward privacy : Institutions only see aggregated data, not individual data (except with explicit authorization or well-founded suspicion).

Example :

  • IA-AdC knows that Neighborhood X consumes Y liters of water
  • It does not know how much each house individually consumes (data encrypted at the source)
  • It can only alert if it detects an extreme anomaly (e.g., a house consumes 1000 times the average).
  • It requires authorization from the Citizens' Assembly to investigate a specific case

Corporations and large consumers : Total transparency (they are actors that use public resources massively, they must be accountable).

Ordinary citizens : Privacy by default, transparency only with authorization or legal justification. Includes "right to be forgotten" for old data.

Part VIII: Objections and Responses

Objection 1: "It will punish the poor who cannot pay RUAC"

Answer :

The system is designed precisely to benefit those who consume less:

  • Planetary Dividend is the same for everyone
  • RUAC depends on your consumption
  • If your consumption is low/moderate: DP > RUAC → You come out ahead

Numerical example :

  • Poor family consumes little: 150 UVU of RUAC/month
  • Receives DP: 1,000 UVU × 4 members = 4,000 UVU/month
  • Balance: +3,850 UVU/month
  • Wealthy family consumes a lot: 2,000 UVU of RUAC/month
  • Receives DP: 1,000 × 4 = 4,000 UVU/month
  • Balance: +2,000 UVU/month (still positive but contributes more)

The system is automatically progressive.

Objection 2: "It will destroy the economy, nobody will produce"

Answer :

The RUAC (Unique Tax on Consumer Use) is only charged on final consumption , not on production. Therefore:

  • Companies do NOT pay RUAC during production
  • They can produce efficiently without cumulative loads
  • RUAC is only charged when the product reaches the final consumer.

Furthermore :

  • Prices are much lower than in traditional systems (no tax accumulation)
  • Companies compete to create more value with fewer resources (which is a good thing)
  • The economy grows, it doesn't get destroyed

Evidence :

  • Alaska has collected oil royalties since 1976 → Its economy did not collapse; it thrives
  • Singapore has 100% public land (everything is leased) → World's most dynamic economy

Objection 3: "People will evade the RUAC"

Answer :

Evading RUAC is structurally impossible :

  • Everything is tokenized on the blockchain (each product has its own history)
  • Satellite monitoring detects undeclared extractions
  • IoT sensors automatically record consumption
  • There is no "black money" (every transaction is digital and traceable)

Attempting to evade would require:

  • Extracting oil without satellites detecting it (impossible)
  • Manufacturing products without tokens (impossible to sell, nobody would accept them)
  • Consuming water/energy without a meter (physically impossible)

Tax evasion requires opacity. The system is radically transparent. (See penalties in Article 35. )

Objection 4: "Requires Orwellian Surveillance"

Answer :

Monitoring is of physical resources , not people:

  • Satellites detect deforestation, mining, emissions (physical facts)
  • Sensors measure water flows, energy (aggregate consumption)
  • Blockchain records economic transactions (it already exists in current systems)

Crucial difference with Orwellian surveillance :

  • Orwell : The state monitors citizens to control behavior
  • Demarchy : Citizens monitor common resources to prevent hoarding

Power reversal : It's not "Big Brother is watching you"; it's "Citizens are watching the powerful."

Furthermore :

  • Personal data is encrypted
  • Only the individual controls access
  • Institutions see aggregates, not individuals

Objection 5: "The RUAC will be arbitrary and abusive"

Answer :

The RUAC is subject to multiple controls:

  • The Citizens' Assembly (chosen by lot, not professional politicians) sets the base rates
  • IA-AdC applies transparent and auditable formulas
  • Blockchain records everything; any citizen can audit it.
  • Ongoing simulations show the impact of different rates
  • Citizen feedback allows for adjustments if there are problems.

It is not the discretionary power of bureaucrats . It is a transparent, democratic, and auditable system.

Part IX: RUAC in Historical Perspective

The Canon That Should Always Have Existed

The RUAC is not an arbitrary invention. It is the correction of a historical injustice.

When the first systems of private property were established, there was an illegitimate original appropriation :

  • Those who arrived first or conquered by force took lands and resources
  • They declared that they were "theirs forever"
  • Those born later found that "everything was already taken"

The RUAC is the outstanding compensation :

  • We do not reverse historical ownership (it would be chaos)
  • But we establish: If you use common resources privately, you compensate the collective.
  • We restored balance without violent revolution.

Historical Precedents

The Roman Ager Publicus

Ancient Rome had public lands (ager publicus) that citizens could use by paying a fee.

  • It worked well during the Republic
  • It collapsed when patricians monopolized public lands without paying
  • It resulted in massive inequality → contributed to the fall of the Republic

Lesson : Common resource systems work if a fair fee is charged for private use.

The Enclosure Act in England (1750-1850)

The commons were fenced off and privatized without compensation

  • Farmers lost access to pastures, forests, and water
  • Forced to migrate to cities as the industrial proletariat
  • It created mass poverty while enriching landowners

Lesson : Privatizing common resources without compensation creates structural injustice.

Alaska Permanent Fund (1976-Present)

Alaska charges oil companies royalties for extracting oil.

  • The proceeds go to a sovereign wealth fund
  • Each Alaskan citizen receives an annual dividend (~$1,000-2,000)
  • It has worked for 45+ years without collapsing the economy

Lesson : Capturing rents from common resources and redistributing them works in practice.

The RUAC is the planetary, complete and automated version of these precedents.

Part X: Interaction with Other System Components

RUAC + Planetary Dividend

The RUAC is one of the three flows that feed the Planetary Dividend :

1. 50% Universal Partnership (AU50): Captures 50% of corporate profits. 2. RUAC : Captures private use value of common resources. 3. Oxidation : Captures stagnant capital value.

Flow : RUAC collected → Common Fund → Redistributed as DP, creating osmotic balance.

RUAC + MIR (Real Investment Market)

RUAC incentivizes projects in MIR that reduce resource consumption (e.g., recycling startups receive better funding due to low RUAC on products).

RUAC + CdC (Capital of Trust)

Under RUAC in activities improves your Code of Conduct , facilitating access to opportunities. Releasing content into the public domain improves your Code of Conduct and generates RUAC credits.

See Glossary of Key Terms for more interconnections.

Explore Demarchy in Greater Depth

Philosophical Foundations

Understand why Demarchy is necessary and how it is founded:

Diagnosis of the Current System

Analysis of the Conditioned Individual

Foundations of Individual Liberation

Mathematical and Architectural Principles

Solutions for the AGI/ASI Challenge

Understand why Demarchy is Necessary to Face the Future:

Economic System

The architecture that aligns individual prosperity with collective well-being:

Governance

How collective decisions are organized without permanent elites:

Technology and Infrastructure

The tools that make the system possible:

Law and Justice

The legal framework that protects sovereignty:

Culture and Society

Human Transformation in the Post-Scarcity Era:

Index of Key Concepts

  • Citizens' Assembly (CSA) : Oversees ranks and principles
  • Common Vault : Tokenization Platform.
  • CdC : Improvement due to low RUAC or altruistic contributions.
  • DP : Receives collected RUAC.
  • IA-AdC : Dynamically adjusts.
  • MIR : Integrates with RUAC for sustainable projects.
  • Oxidation : Complement to RUAC.
  • Tokenization : Technical basis of the RUAC.
  • Public Domain : Resources with a low RUAC (Single Registry of Assets) fundamental value; credits for contributions.
  • RUAC Altruistic Credits : Rewards for donors like Tesla.
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