There's another novel relevant to this idea: Bruce Sterling's Distraction [1] describes groups of people ('Moderators' and 'Regulators') who live under alternat

There's another novel relevant to this idea: Bruce Sterling's Distraction [1] describes groups of people ('Moderators' and 'Regulators') who live under alternative, network-moderated social contracts ('reputation servers'). In Sterling's book, these 'proles' live without money, but earn positive reputation for engaging in pro-social behaviour. They are not under the boot-heel of the state. [1] http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218566.Distraction http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218566.Distraction