Volzhskaya Volnitsa (Volga Free Folk), an autonomous non-profit organization
Goal. Increasing the number of people living in Floating House) and improving the conditions of this way of life through technology and rationalization.
Objectives.
- Compiling and popularizing information about the designs of floating houses, dachas, townhouses, and cottages, and about successful ways of managing life and work on water.
- Attracting business (investors) to the Mass Construction of Floating Homes to create the most infrastructurally convenient, environmentally friendly, and energy-independent forms of existence on water. Supporting entrepreneurs and business people who cooperate with Volzhskaya Volnitsa (VV) with knowledge bases and the organization of marketing and PR campaigns.
- Providing legal and organizational support to residents of Floating Cities and houses, and comprehensive assistance with their self-organization.
- Protecting the interests of individuals and organizations with respect to their activities consistent with VV's goal; activities carried out within the bounds of the law and generally accepted standards of fair conduct of business (fairplay).
Cultural code
The communities of Northern Eurasia have always been closely tied to their rivers. Periods of successful activity along the inland waterways were marked by general prosperity as well. We see the main way out of the circumstances that took shape at the start of the 21st century in the resettlement of a greater number of people onto bodies of water and in support for their productive activity within such a way of life. The type of social organization used by floating cities and multi-unit houses entitled to the patronage and symbols of VV is that of city-states — observing national jurisdiction (where they are located within the territory of an entity recognized by the world community) and internally self-governing on the basis of a republican form of government and the principles of universal suffrage. VV continues the historical traditions of veche and Cossack self-government, as well as the natural self-government of the Volga Region in the pre-state era.
Leadership and coordination
VV is governed by the People's Assembly (PA), consisting of all residents of floating houses without restriction (actual attendance and constructive participation are sufficient). Communication among participants at PA meetings takes place in person or through electronic channels. To ensure decisiveness in VV's actions and speed of response to external and internal challenges, the PA elects two strategists by simple majority vote. Any PA participant may become a strategist. The function of a judicial body for VV's internal matters is performed by the senate. Senators are elected by PA participants. To be elected senator, a candidate must present the PA with at least two successful projects carried out in line with VV's goal and objectives.
The total number of VV senators must not exceed 21 people but may be fewer. Both strategists and senators are accountable to the PA. They can be replaced by new members elected by the PA at any time, by simple majority vote. This principle guards against possible usurpation and arbitrary rule, and requires all interested parties to be maximally involved in VV's affairs, creating sufficient motivation to work on its objectives in any formal capacity.
Security of Volzhskaya Volnitsa
VV's security is not the exclusive prerogative of any person or structure holding formal status, and rests on 2 principles.
Awareness
All members of the People's Assembly are "self-defense forces," understanding their own interest and their own responsibility for the prosperity of our community.
Human nature
The societies around us are unable to be sufficiently principled in pursuing any worthy goals while at the same time being "like-minded." To integrate views across large territories, they rely on a contradiction whereby any effectively functioning organization — and government first of all — essentially contradicts the principles formally in force in such a society. This leads to "moral damage" as one rises through the social pyramid, which in turn inevitably results in weak involvement of the rest of that society's members and, correspondingly, its low productivity.
Volzhskaya Volnitsa brings together people who do not seek self-realization in such an environment — which is determined by human nature itself: the natural desire to spend one's time, which has no substitute, tastefully and without conformism, and, at the same time, most importantly, on an intellectual basis.
Principles of VV's cooperation with business
VV is a non-profit organization and does not aim to make a profit. At the same time, workers temporarily hired by VV to carry out specific tasks may receive a salary from the organization. In addition, VV may acquire equipment to support the performance of its objectives. Businesses cooperating with VV remain entirely free in matters of earning and spending their own profit. The only requirement is to strictly adhere to the documented commitments they have made to PA members. The PA may forbid an entrepreneur or business person from using VV's symbols and names, and may bar them from participating in VV's floating cities, if it establishes that they have violated their obligations to one or more PA members.
Contacts
Coordinator and evangelist of the project — Pyotr Kuznetsov