Unscarcity Notes

Civic Service

Civic Service Civic Service is the mandatory "gap year" between ages 18-28 during which every person contributes to public infrastructure: maintaining grids, supporting healthcare logistics,...

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Civic Service

Civic Service is the mandatory “gap year” between ages 18-28 during which every person contributes to public infrastructure: maintaining grids, supporting healthcare logistics, restoring ecosystems, or other community projects. Completion grants voting rights and initiates Civic Standing, ensuring that citizens who help steer society have touched the systems they govern.

The program functions as resilience training. Millions learn manual overrides and crisis response, providing human backups when automation fails–an antidote to brittle dependence on AI. It also forges empathy across classes and substrates; newly conscious AIs join the same service track to integrate into Commons culture.

Historically analogous to national service models (e.g., Israel, Singapore, Civilian Conservation Corps), the Unscarcity design strips coercive nationalism and focuses on literacy in critical infrastructure. The reward is voice, not wages, because survival is guaranteed by the Foundation.

References

  • UnscarcityBook, chapter2
  • PBS, “The Civilian Conservation Corps” (2014)
  • Wikipedia: National service (accessed 2024)
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