We, as free peoples, have arranged ourselves socially into democratic, autonomous neighborhoods. We are self-governing, through our Home Assemblies. We recognize no authority over us other than our own self-legislation and treaties that we have negotiated with other neighborhoods and voluntarily bound ourselves to. We have negotiated many such treaties covering the distribution of goods, and particular projects like regional hospitals, telephone networks, research facilities, community parks, and large factories, which by their very nature are trans-neighborhood undertakings. In this more general treaty, this General Agreement, we seek to establish a larger Association of Democratic, Autonomous Neighborhoods to stabilize a world composed of free communal peoples and to promote the democratic, autonomous way of life. Neighborhoods which have not founded assemblies for self-governance obviously cannot join the association since only such assemblies can sign the pact.

      As signers of this General Agreement, we agree to abide by the following principles and practices:

      1. Voluntary Agreement. Signing the General Agreement, by our Home Assembly, is entirely voluntary, but once agreed to, binds us to abide by the principles and practices indicated.

      2. The Right to Withdraw. As self-governing neighborhoods, we reserve the right to withdraw from this association, and thus void our promise to abide by its principles and practices, if we come to the conclusion that it no longer serves our interests. This also means of course that we forfeit any advantages that our membership in the association might have brought us.

      3. Non-Aggression Pact. We agree never to organize a military force to invade other neighborhoods.

      4. Non-Territorial Basis for Neighborhoods. We agree that land is not a commodity that can be bought or sold, and therefore cannot be owned either. That is, we reject the concept of ownership as applied to land (and other resources; see next point). This means that our neighborhoods actually have no territorial boundaries. They are socially defined, through membership in Home Assemblies.

      5. Resources Shared. Similarly we reject the idea that natural resources can be owned, bought, or sold. They can only be shared. Thus a neighborhood that is sitting on top of a rare mineral, for example, which is needed by many other communities, cannot be said to own that mineral, or sell it to its own advantage. It can only be shared, through equitable and reciprocal treaties regarding its development and use.

      6. Cooperative Labor. Human labor is not a commodity and cannot be bought or sold. We agree therefore that all neighborhood projects and trans-neighborhood projects will be cooperatively and democratically conducted.

      7. Treaties. We agree that final decision-making power rests with Home Assemblies. Therefore all trans-neighborhood needs and projects must be met by negotiating treaties with other neighborhoods and not by setting up regional congresses staffed by representatives (or what amounts to the same thing, by sending delegates to regional councils), with the power to make laws that can be imposed on neighborhoods. That is, there is no power higher than a Home Assembly.

      8. Treaty Negotiating Facilities. To the extent that expensive communication networks and regional assembly halls become necessary for efficient treaty negotiation, we agree to pay our fair share of the cost of building and maintaining such facilities.

      9. Direct Democracy. We agree that our assemblies, in the neighborhood, in our projects, in our households, and in all special interest associations, shall be governed by direct democracy, that is by the face-to-face discussion and voting by all members, without representatives. If, rarely, it is thought necessary that a project be directed by one person or a few, this change, for this particular project and for a prescribed time period, can only be made by the Home Assembly itself.

      10. Social Arrangements within the Neighborhood. The commitment to direct democracy and cooperative labor implies at a minimum, besides the establishment of a neighborhood assembly for self-governance, democratically and cooperatively conducted projects, and democratically and cooperatively conducted households. Naturally, there will be considerable variation, from culture to culture, in the actual shape and workings of such social entities. But it's hard to see how a neighborhood could eliminate them altogether and still remain free. In any case, this is the standard to which this Association is committed.

      11. Membership in the Neighborhood. We agree, as neighborhood assemblies, to try to strike a balance between the right of others to select their place of residence (to choose where they will live), and our own right to choose whom we will associate with. We agree that, as a general rule, our neighborhoods will be as completely open as possible, while still reserving the right to exclude and expel persons from our assemblies. Naturally, with the disappearance of the buying and selling of land and residential properties, and of universal money, and of the world market, no one could just move into our neighborhoods without first gaining admission to a household, and hence to project- and home-assemblies. They would have no way to feed, clothe, or shelter themselves. We agree to establish traditions of hospitality and admission which are civilized, fair, and equitable.

      12. Voting Procedures within Our Assemblies. We agree to invent voting procedures for our assemblies that enhance direct democracy and self-rule in our neighborhood. There is no hard and fast rule, no easy resolution of the majority rule versus consensus quandary, nor any magic formula for majority/minority relations. Consensus voting, which strives for the largest possible majority on any given issue, will probably be the norm (as opposed to simple majority rule). But we will not limit ourselves to this. We will aim for a good mix of consensus, majority rule, and other procedures as seem applicable, all the while realizing that a minority cannot be forced, ultimately, to abide by a majority decision that it strongly opposes. Neighborhood assemblies are therefore obliged in practice to always strive to win a minority's willingness to go along with a decision, at the very minimum. Otherwise there can be no cooperatively undertaken projects. But minorities must also realize that it is a rare occasion when they can simply pack up and leave (or force the majority to leave). The number of instances where we can each go our own way are few in comparison to those in which we must reach collective decisions in order to survive (or to do most anything). So minorities too are under pressure to compromise and reach mutually acceptable decisions. No one ever said that democracy was easy, only that it is the only way we can be autonomous, free social beings, in control of our own destinies, to the extent that this is possible at all in a universe without certainties.

      13. The Products of Our Labor. We agree that the products of our cooperative labor are not commodities and cannot be owned, bought, or sold, but will be equitably shared among all members of the neighborhood. Every member has a right to a fair share of this wealth, in return for a fair share of the labor needed to produce it, as defined by the Home Assembly. We recognize the problem of freeloaders and will deal with it through a variety of social constraints, including ostracism if need be, or as a last resort, expulsion, although we do not anticipate that this will be a huge problem. In instances where we produce more than we need we will create networks of swapping and gift-giving with other neighborhoods for the interchange of these goods.

      14. Relations with Neighborhoods that Haven't Joined this Association. Our Association is incompatible with a world organized into nation-states. We seek therefore to dismantle and destroy nation-states. The more neighborhoods there are that have joined our Association, the more likely we are to win this struggle. But obviously, this will not happen all at once. There may even be neighborhoods that never join. Naturally, we seek to spread our way of life and protect it from attack. Hierarchy and anarchy are natural enemies. But unlike hierarchy, there is room within anarchy for great diversity. Tribal peoples, for example, may prefer to keep their customary governing arrangements, based mostly on kinship and other traditional forms of authority, rather than change over to deliberative assemblies based on direct democracy. There is no reason these peoples couldn't exist side by side with anarchic communities. Neighborhoods that have not converted over to cooperative labor and self-governance, but which are still embedded in the (hopefully rapidly disappearing) capitalist labor market and commodity culture, also may not want to join. As the world of free communal peoples gains in strength, however, and the world of atomized, commodified individuals weakens, these neighborhoods will be in something of a bind. It will be harder and harder for them to hang on to their profit-oriented culture and practices in a world of increasingly decentralized, democratic, cooperative anarchic communities. Nevertheless, unlike capitalism, anarchy (face-to-face democracy) is not something that can be imposed. But it is something that can be defended from those who seek to destroy it.