| BYLAWS | | REASONS |
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| A. | Mission | |
| 1. | The mission of Common Good Bank™ (the "Corporation") is to promote the Common Good of all people, through sensible and compassionate decentralized democratic economics. |  |
Tying compassion, decentralization, democracy and economics together backs the Corporation's purpose with expertise, justice, effectiveness and power. |
| 2. | By "Common Good" we mean | |
| | a. | The well-being of each and every individual person, beginning with those most in need, including adequate food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, education, community, satisfying work, and self-determination.; | |
We choose to care about each person. |
| | b. | Peace and justice — a spirit of cooperation and community between all people, with equitable sharing of the world's resources; and | |
Peace and justice promote well-being better than adversity and inequity do. |
| | c. | A healthy, sustainable planet, with clean air, clean water, clean earth and a healthy and diverse population of animals and plants. | |
A healthy planet is required for individual health. We also choose to treasure the earth's natural beauty and to care about the well-being of the animals and plants. (see The Earth Charter) |
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| B. | Branches | |
| 1. | The Corporation shall consist of one or more Branches, each of which covers a contiguous geographical area (its "Territory"). Initially the Corporation shall be one Branch, whose Territory is limitless. | |
Geographical proximity enables greater efficiency and helps promote a spirit of cooperation and community. |
| 2. | Each Branch shall govern itself autonomously, subject to the Corporation’s Charter, Bylaws and Policies. | |
Delegation of administration for greater democracy and efficiency. |
| 3. | Full faith and credit shall be given in each Branch to the Policies, Decisions and Records of every other Branch. | |
Promotes a spirit of cooperation and community and avoids duplication of effort. |
| 4. | Any Branch may divide itself into two or more independent Branches, whose Territories do not overlap. | |
Delegation of administration for greater democracy and efficiency, while avoiding confusion and duplication of effort. |
| 5. | No Territory except the Corporation's shall be more than 130 kilometers (about 80 miles) across. | |
Decentralization ties information to responsibility, for greater democracy and efficiency. |
| 6. | Any two or more Branches with neighboring Territories may unite to form a single Branch. | |
Facilitates regional cooperation. |
| 7. | Responsibilities. A Branch shall: | |
| | a. | Promote the Common Good of the inhabitants of its Territory and the Common Good of all people. | |
Each Branch serves the Corporation’s purposes. |
| | b. | Maintain a sound financial footing by serving as a financial intermediary; accumulating, loaning and investing the savings of its Members and competing effectively with other banks and economies. | |
Necessary for survival and growth. |
| | c. | Organize human and material resources efficiently. | |
Low waste results in more benefits for everyone and a healthier planet. |
| | d. | Prevent significant harm to any person or to the planet. | |
Protects the well-being of individuals and the health of the planet. |
| | e. | Assess and collect Fees (Article E), Distribute surplus revenue (Article F), and arrange for Voting (Article D3), Arbitration (Article H) and Wealth Management (Article G), as set forth herein. | |
Each Branch administers the functions of the Corporation. |
| 8. | Limitations. A Branch and its employees shall not: | |
| | a. | Engage in any activity detrimental to the Common Good, including the promotion, manufacture, purchase, use, sale or financing of any product deleterious to the health of the planet, the health or well-being of any individual person, or peaceful cooperative relations between all people and all Branches; | |
The Branch must serve, not hinder, the Corporation’s purposes. |
| | b. | Deceive or withhold information from anyone, except that confidential information about other businesses and confidential personal information about any individual may be withheld; | |
Lies and secrecy hinder a spirit of cooperation and community. |
| | c. | Budget a deficit or habitually spend into deficit; | |
Solvency is required for financial stability. |
| | d. | Inflict or promote suffering or death. | |
Protects the well-being of individuals and promotes a spirit of community. |
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| C. | Members | |
| 1. | The members of the Corporation ("Members") shall be the human depositors and their dependents. | |
Democracy is governance by people, not organizations. |
| 2. | The members of a Branch shall be the members of the Corporation residing in the Branch’s Territory. | |
Self-determination. |
| 3. | Responsibilities. Every Member shall be expected to: | |
| | a. | Serve and defend the Common Good of all people. | |
In a spirit of cooperation and community, each Member works for the Common Good. |
| | b. | Protect and defend the rights of all Members. | |
Defending anyone’s rights protects everyone’s. |
| | c. | Vote, personally or by Proxy, on all votable Questions in the Member's Branch. | |
Participation by everyone in decisions is essential to democracy. |
| 4. | Rights. Every Branch shall extend these rights and liberties to all Members and shall not deprive a Member of any of these rights or liberties without probable cause: | |
| | a. | The right to adequate food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, education, fulfilling work, local community, and a healthy environment. | |
Self-determination, included as part of the definition of the Common Good, must take second seat to the good of the community, so it is an ideal but not a right. |
| | b. | Freedom of speech. | |
Supports democracy. |
| | c. | Freedom of religion. | |
Supports democracy. |
| | d. | The right to assemble peacefully. | |
Supports democracy. |
| | e. | The right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, communications and effects, against physical harm, verbal or written abuse, and unreasonable searches and seizures. Any probable cause for search or seizure shall be supported by affirmation and shall specify the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. | |
Supports democracy, protects the well-being of each individual. |
| | f. | In all criminal prosecutions entailing loss of rights, liberties or home, the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation and to be confronted with witnesses. | |
Protects the rights of each individual. |
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| D. | Decisions | |
| 1. | These Bylaws and all Branch Policies concerning Members shall remain general, simple and rare enough that legal experts are unnecessary, so that Members can know and comprehend these Bylaws and those Policies in their entirety. | |
True Democracy is only possible if the people are knowledgeable. |
| 2. | Directors | |
| | a. | For each Branch, a board of Directors shall be charged with overseeing all affairs of the Branch, in service to the Common Good. | |
Practical administration of democracy. |
| | b. | The most Trusted willing Members of the Branch shall serve as unpaid Directors ("Trustees"), subject to approval by the other Directors, and shall be primarily responsible for upholding the Common Good. | |
Protects the common good. |
| | c. | The Trustees shall appoint paid Directors ("Supervisors") to manage all affairs of the Branch, in service to the Common Good, subject to the requirements of these Bylaws and the Branch's Policies. | |
Practical administration of democracy; aligns expertise and power with responsibility. |
| | d. | The Trustees may veto any decision or action of the Supervisors that the Trustees determine is harmful to the Common Good. The Trustees and Directors shall be jointly responsible for avoiding any such veto by the Trustees. | |
Protects the common good. |
| | e. | No contracts, including loans, shall be entered into on behalf of the Branch, except as authorized, in general or specific, by its Directors or by a Vote of its Members. | |
No power without responsibility. |
| | f. | The Directors of the Corporation shall schedule an Annual Meeting at a suitable time and place. | |
An opportunity for celebration and promotion. |
| 3. | Proxies. | |
| | a. | Each Member shall choose one ongoing Proxy and one or more ongoing Alternate proxies from among the willing Members of their Branch. | |
Representative democracy with revocable Proxies provides an efficient alternative to voting directly on every issue, without sacrificing democracy. |
| | b. | The Member may change these assignments at any time. | |
Keeps representatives representative. |
| | c. | If a Member fails to Vote, that Member’s vote goes to the Proxy, then to the Alternate(s), then to the Proxy’s Proxy, Alternate(s), and so forth; then to the Alternate’s Proxy, Alternate(s), and so forth; and so on. | |
Gives first precedence to the most directly trusted proxies. |
| | d. | The number of Votes that a Member casts (directly) on behalf of other Members (for whom the voting Member is a proxy, directly or indirectly) shall be a formal measure of how "Trusted" the Member is. | |
Formalizing this calculation and the assignment of responsibilities reduces the need for costly legislative, judicial and financial infrastructures. |
| 4. | Voting. | |
| | a. | Any issue to be decided by the Members of a Branch ("Votable Question") shall be presented with three or more Options, if possible. | |
Promotes creative problem solving and permits Ranked Approval voting. |
| | b. | Any decision on a Votable Question ("Voted Decision") shall be by consent of 95% of the Branch's Members, except that if no Option is consented to by 95% of those Members, the decision shall be any Option that receives the greatest acceptance and | |
Democracy, promoting a spirit of cooperation and community. A scant majority cannot abuse the minority. |
| | | i. | for any quantifiable question, if all possible quantities were offered as Options, the decision is final; | |
Provides, for example, for large-group democratic budgeting. |
| | | ii. | for any other question, the question shall be revisited and revoted within 30 days and the decision shall stand, pending that revote. | |
Enforces the consent requirement. |
| | c. | All Voted Decisions in a Branch shall be open to direct participation by: | |
| | | i. | All adult Members of the Branch; | |
Democracy. |
| | | ii. | All adult members of the Corporation, residing within 10 miles of the Branch. | |
Democracy. Close neighbors are affected by decisions. |
| | | iii. | Minors, otherwise eligible under i. or ii., subject to oversight and consent by their Proxy or Alternate. | |
Democracy. Children are people, too. |
| | d. | The period for voting on any issue shall be at least 5 days, during which a Member may change vote. | |
Supports democracy by allowing time to revoke Proxies, change opinion or participate actively in discussion and voting on an issue that needs attention. |
| | e. | Every voted Question shall include an Option equivalent to no change. | |
Supports democracy by preventing a forced choice between bad alternatives. |
| | f. | Every other Option shall be accompanied by a Reason, explaining how the Option serves the Common Good. | |
True Democracy is only possible if the people are knowledgeable. |
| | g. | Any 5 Members per hundred in a Branch may, after consulting the Directors (but without requiring their approval), introduce a Votable Question and/or one or more Options for a Votable Question, each Option accompanied by a Reason. | |
Supports democracy. |
| | h. | Any Votable Question and/or Options and Reasons so introduced by the Members shall be presented unedited for decision. However, the Directors may add additional Options and Reasons to any Votable Question. | |
Supports democracy. |
| | i. | Questions requiring a vote by the Members include | |
| | | i. | Changes to these Bylaws, the Corporation's Charter, or Branch Policies that concern Members; | |
Protects democracy. |
| | | ii. | The Branch’s annual budgets for lending priorities and contributions to the community under Article F; | |
Protects democracy. |
| | | iii. | Any question at the request of three or more Directors. | |
Protects democracy. |
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| E. | Fees | |
| 1. | Only financial transactions, and activities that are harmful or costly to the Common Good, shall incur fees. | |
Lets the profit motive drive productivity, limited only by the Common Good. |
| 2. | Fees for each harmful or costly activity shall be set, as much as possible, so as to cover all the related costs to the Branch and the Common Good, including prorated overhead. | |
Uses the profit motive to serve the Common Good. |
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| F. | Disbursements | |
| Each Branch shall maintain a Cash Reserve into which all the net earnings of the Branch shall be deposited. The Branch shall make distributions from this Fund as follows: | |
| 1. | First, to meet losses, contingencies, adjustments, dividends and other obligations of the Branch; | |
Fiscal stability. |
| 2. | Next, to hold as liquid assets or replenish the Cash Reserve of other Branches, equitably, as needed to maintain in each Cash Reserve a balance that is the greater of (a) the level required overall by law and (b) a percentage (set by Corporate Policy) of the total deposits in the Branch, initially 10%; | |
Helps prevent fiscal crises. |
| 3. | Next, half of any excess to a fund for establishing new Branches; | |
Serving more people. |
| 4. | Last, all of the remaining excess to be distributed annually, as directed by the Branch's Members, as direct subsidies for food, healthcare, housing and other vital services to people who cannot afford them, or for other purposes that advance the Common Good. | |
Advances the common good in the short term. |
| 5. | At least half of that excess shall go to benefit primarily people outside the Branch's Territory, and at least half of that half to benefit primarily people outside the Branch's nation. | |
Advances the common good more widely and, in the long term, better. |
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| G. | Wealth Management | |
| 1. | Any Member with Sufficiently Large assets or Sufficiently Large gross annual income shall be expected to submit to public oversight in applying the excess toward the Common Good. | |
Promotes a spirit of cooperation and community, with equitable sharing of the world’s resources. |
| 2. | Amounts greater than 100 times the median gross income among all the Members of the Member's Branch shall be deemed Sufficiently Large. | |
A high limit encourages productivity, allows voluntary giving and wide choice, and avoids administrative costs unless benefit to the Common Good is high. |
| 3. | The hourly compensation of an employee of any Branch shall not exceed three times the median hourly income of the employed inhabitants of that Branch’s territory. | |
Economic fairness promotes a spirit of cooperation and community. |
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| H. | Dispute Resolution | |
| 1. | In any dispute between two or more Members, the case shall be decided by a willing Arbiter, chosen directly or indirectly by each disputant. | |
The Arbiter may be agreed upon explicitly or chosen systematically by Proxy. |
| 2. | In any dispute between one or more Members and one or more Branches, or between two or more Branches, or in any appeal, the case shall be decided: | |
| | a. | If any disputing Branch is the Corporation itself, then by the seven most Trusted willing Arbiters; | |
The most trusted individuals arbitrate. |
| | b. | Otherwise, by the three most Trusted disinterested willing Arbiters. | |
The most objective and trusted individuals arbitrate. |
| 3. | Disputes shall be arbitrated promptly. | |
Quick resolution, reconciliation and atonement supports a spirit of community and cooperation. |
| 4. | Arbiters shall settle disputes using principles of kindness, fairness and the Common Good, guided by these Bylaws and applicable Policies. | |
Putting kindness and fairness first promotes the well-being of the individuals involved and lets Arbiters be chosen for their kindness and fairness rather than for a detailed knowledge of Law. |
| 5. | Arbiters shall assign the costs of arbitration, including overhead, to one or more of the disputants, or to any Branch with its permission. | |
Practical way to pay the costs of the dispute, without financial risk to the Branch. |
| 6. | Any disputant may appeal any judgment once. | |
Protects against anomalous bad decisions. |