The History We Inherited
In the 1960s, something shifted in the American economy. Conglomerates—massive corporate entities that absorbed companies across industries—became the preferred vehicle for consolidating power. A single corporation could own manufacturing plants, media companies, insurance firms, and retail chains simultaneously.
The laws that followed weren't accidents. They were engineering. The lobbying deregulations of the 1990s, the Citizens United decision of 2010, the systematic erosion of antitrust enforcement—each piece was carefully placed to concentrate wealth and decision-making power into fewer and fewer hands.
Meanwhile, the language became more obscure. Contracts grew longer. Terms of service became unreadable. Legal jargon transformed into a barrier, keeping ordinary people from understanding the agreements that governed their lives, their data, their labor.
"If the consolidation of power was engineered, then liberation can be engineered too."
The Flip
If conglomerates concentrated resources through acquisition, we concentrate them through connection. If lobbying shaped laws through money, we shape understanding through clarity. If corporations built moats of complexity, we build bridges of plain language.
Global Citizens Engineers is not a company. It's a network. A database of understanding. A movement of small businesses, freelancers, makers, and builders who recognize that our collective power—when organized, when connected—exceeds any single corporation.
We make up the majority of economic activity. We are the labor force, the consumers, the creators. We simply haven't been connected. Until now.
Linguistic Clarity
Language has been weaponized against us. Contracts are designed to be unreadable. Legal documents assume a specialized vocabulary that most people don't have. Terms of service are intentionally long because confusion is consent in the eyes of a court.
We reject this. Clarity is power.
Every resource in our network is written in plain language. Every contract template explains itself. Every legal concept is demystified. We believe that understanding is the first step toward agency, and agency is the first step toward change.
When you understand what you're agreeing to, you can negotiate. When you can negotiate, you have power. When many people have power simultaneously, that's a movement.
Engineering Together
The term "engineer" is intentional. Engineers don't just dream—they build. They design systems, test them, iterate, and improve. That's what we do here.
We're not waiting for permission from gatekeepers. We're learning the technologies that shape our world. We're sharing that knowledge freely. We're building tools that serve our community, not corporate shareholders.
When someone in the network learns something, everyone learns. When someone builds something, it becomes available to all. When someone needs help, the network responds. This is mutual aid meets open source meets collective bargaining.
The Principles
1. Clarity Over Complexity
Every piece of communication, every agreement, every resource prioritizes understanding. If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough to share it.
2. Connection Over Competition
Small businesses aren't each other's enemies. The real threat is consolidation that benefits the few. We grow stronger when we collaborate instead of compete.
3. Action Over Ideology
We're not interested in endless debate. We build. We ship. We iterate. Practical improvements compound faster than theoretical perfection.
4. Open By Default
Knowledge shared is power multiplied. Our resources, templates, and tools are freely available. The network effect grows with every new participant.
5. Real People, Real Backing
Every technology we endorse, every solution we promote, is backed by real people in this network. No faceless corporations. No abstracted shareholders. Accountability through community.
The Invitation
This is an invitation to participate, not just observe. To build, not just consume. To teach what you know and learn what you don't. To see your neighbor's success as your own, because in a network, it is.
The tools exist. The knowledge exists. The people exist. What's been missing is connection. That's what we're building.
Welcome to Global Citizens Engineers.