The UK’s New Statesman author Jonathan Derbyshire writes that: Phillip Blond’s ““Red Tory” thesis is attracting support from left and right, and the man emerging as the Conservatives’ philosopher-king is a grave threat to Labour.” Here are some of the details on the political theory: “Blond’s Red Tory thesis is that the Conservatives can, and… Continue reading
Date archives "December 2009"
Sharing with value creators through Open Pay?
Intriguing project, which allows participants to share 2% of their salary to people who influence and benefit them (and vice versa): (Details on the Open Year project at Shareable.)
Can open education learn from open software?
This is an excerpt from a 2-part inquiry (1, 2) by (Jan) Philipp Schmidt, cofounder of the Peer 2 Peer University. It has interesting details about the peer governance and culture of open source communities, and how this might be applied to an open education projects like the P2PU. Philipp Schmidt: “As open communities grow,… Continue reading
Emerging Alternatives to the Shareholder-centric Model
* Article: Not Just For Profit: Emerging alternatives to the shareholder-centric model could help companies avoid ethical mishaps and contribute more to the world at large. By Marjorie Kelly This paper “explores three new-style corporate designs: 1. stakeholder-owned companies; 2. mission-controlled companies; and 3. public-private hybrids. Ms. Kelly is exploring ways in which corporations can… Continue reading
The Liberator and Post-Scarcity Economic Development
Marcin Jakubowski wanted to let us know about the latest development of The Liberator, an open-source Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press, and the free enterprise model. So here is a relevant post I found that I’d like to share:
Continue readingOn the prospects and strategy of peer-to-peer energy
The new special issue of Re-public journal includes – amongst others – a very interesting essay by our friend Eric Hunting on the prospects and strategy of peer-to-peer energy. He proposes that a renewable energy infrastructure must integrate a very vast assortment of technologies and employ a new kind of ‘grid’ more akin to a… Continue reading
The (atmostpheric) commons and (climate) justice
An important warning from Massimo De Angelis that the commons are themselves a field of struggle. Read the whole entry with quotes and examples here; below, the summary of the argument: “Commons are not a substitute for justice. Injustice, and the struggle for justice, also occurs within commons. In the “atmospheric commons”, as in any… Continue reading
Ecorev 33: the exit out of capitalism has already begun
Issue 33 of Ecorev, (from eco-revolution), a french magazine covering political ecology, is dedicated to updating the legacy of Andre Gorz, an important thinker on contemporary social change, and pioneer in the analysis of the ‘immaterial economy’ and its impact on the material political economy. See: http://ecorev.org/IMG/pdf/EcoRev_33-PenserL_apresCapitalismeAvecAndreGorz.pdf The starting point for the reflection by the… Continue reading
Transitioning to a more just decentralized economy
Heather Young sees the economy as a series of 3 interlocking circles, with the outer globalized circle having usurped the balance: “With the current economic crisis, we have an opportunity to create tools and structures that facilitate a shift away from wealth accumulation and competition for scarce resources to a more democratic, cooperative, and caring… Continue reading
The long tail of stuff: towards the democratization of the means of industrial production
Chris Anderson, at Supernova 2009, starting at minute 11, on the new open and distributed manufacturing trends, well worth listening to; or rather I would say, a ‘must see’. Lots of details about the first open source “Rallye” car of Local Motors, amongst the interesting examples. (thanks to Charles Collis for the suggestion)
Reclaiming the sovereignity of communities through innovative legal strategies
This is so important, a video presentation (excerpt only) via Peak Moment TV on how local communities can defend themselves against corporate abuse, based on a new interpretation of the legal sovereignty of the local community, civil society and the commons: “In this excerpt from a longer presentation, Shannon Biggs, of Global Exchange, describes how… Continue reading
Mondragon and the Market
Interesting commentary by Bernard Marszalek: “Mondragon obviously is embedded in the global capitalist order. It functions with that reality everyday. Its decisions are based on the proverbial bottom-line. Furthermore, it operates in countries seemingly without concern for the factors many liberals in this country believe should influence investment decisions. Mondragon invests in developing countries to… Continue reading
The Energy Co-op Solution
Interesting video interview on how to tackle distributed energy infrastructures on the local level, via Peak Moment TV: “What if a community owned its electric utility cooperatively, rather than paying a for-profit company? Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative could be a model. Energy Services manager Jessica Nelson describes how this locally owned, democratically governed non-profit serves… Continue reading
Open up patents for development and mitigating climate change: a concrete proposal
open source R&D, licensing and commercialization of what the UNFCCC calls “environmentally-sound technologies (EST)” can provide an alternative to the proprietary intellectual property licensing vs. compulsory (state-mandated) licensing of EST for diffusion and absorption of these technologies in deprived communities in both developed and developing nations A message from Liam Rattray: “Some of you who… Continue reading
The Evolutionary Case for the ‘Survival of the Kindest’
Via Paul Fernhout, from Science Daily: “Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to… Continue reading
Pharmaceutical companies pay to delay pay-offs keep generic drugs out of the market
An excerpt from TPM: “Over the last few years, drug-makers have embraced a startlingly simple tactic for fending off competition from generic brands: paying them off. In a nutshell, the company that holds the patent on a profitable drug strikes a deal with the maker of the cheaper generic brand: you hold off on marketing… Continue reading