A private network that we create and maintain.
It will be registered as a corporation.
It is open-source, distributed & multi-level.
Although it will be multi-level, it sole purpose is to support only one layer, the leaf layer - the perimeter which is the border defining and encompassing every member of the network.
Thus all decisions much stem from this leaf layer, and propagate into the network. All other nodes on this network are in support of these leaves.
It is an arrangement in which the leaders have no real influence on policy, but are only "servants" of the people. In that they are the recipients of the needs of the "leafs" and are there to communicate and enable the solutions to these needs to be carried out by making the resources (both human and material) available. This is because of the way in which decisions will be made, which will be in essence through the collecting of the "votes" of the collectives made up of the leafs. These leafs consist of 10 or so people who gather in what we call affinity groups to collect and collate these very votes, which are an expression of the needs of these groups.
Being a network, the decision of these groups are collated and distributed along the network, which is organised as a tree, until it reaches a level which is broad enough for their general needs to be satisfied. In essence, they will be dealt with on as local a level as possible, but if not, they propagate up the tree until they can be.
This is one of the essential features of the network. It is recursive, in that as these decisions/needs are propogated deeper into the network, they follow the same pattern of decision making that originated on the basic level, the level of the people.
In order to explain this process, we need to explain what the leaf nodes of this network are made up of. These I refer to as "affinity groups", or "circles of friends".
This process is transparent and recorded.
It is not this network that is the focus or goal of ToLNet. It is we, the people, that are the reason for this collective—each and every one of us. It is a tree of life, life being the fruit of the tree. These fruits are supported and nourished by vast and complex multi-layered network. One could say that in such an environment all the fruit are "well-connected" to all other fruit. Some of these connections are obvious and empirical, others are more subtle and elusive. Thus, the sap that feeds the tree are all the life-sustaining ventures/actions that the network initiates, facilitates and maintains. However, it is not the network that sustains this, but we—the people. It is only through our commitment, and the actions that result from that, that anything is sustained in the world.
In its basic form the network is a communication mesh, and a web of connections based on trust. It's growth must be organic, and by word of mouth—a growth through reputation. You will not invite something into the network who you do not know personally, and are not willing to take responsibility for. Once you sponsor someone, you are designated as their guardian.
What are the advantages of the network? Why should I participate. Because we need to create connected communities with which we share our resources and talents in order to build a world in which we can live as human beings, not controlled and manipulated and at the mercy of powerful influences that seem to not really care for humanity as a whole, but only for their own continued privileged existence.