Now that states are too weak to solve planetary problems, how do we move to forms of global governance that can tackle them? Excerpted from Arnaud Blin and Gustavo Marín of the Forum for a New World Governance: “There is a great revolution—in fact, the first global revolution in history—deeply transforming the manner by which… Continue reading
Date archives "June 2012"
Five argumentative fallacies and one methodological fallacy without which degrowth cannot stand
Excerpted from David De Ugarte in Five argumentative fallacies and one methodological fallacy without which degrowth cannot stand: “The degrowth arguments form a unique fabric of classic, yet socially widespread, fallacies. Together, they form an argumentative fabric as false as it is seductive, which is able to generate the illusion of rationality, propped up on… Continue reading
Video of the Day: Ayah Bdeir on littleBits
“Imagine a set of electronics as easy to play with as Legos. TED Fellow Ayah Bdeir introduces the open source project ‘littleBits’, a set of simple, interchangeable blocks that make programming as simple and important a part of creativity as snapping blocks together”
Freicoin – Bitcoin with Demurrage
Inspired by the Occupy movement and Bitcoin, Freicoin is a decentralized, distributed electronic currency designed to address the grievances of the 99% and correct the excesses of the 1%. One criticism of Bitcoin is that it is designed first and foremost as a store of value, a kind of digital gold. As a result many… Continue reading
A critique of Socially Responsible Investment
Excerpted from Woody Tasch (Slow Money), on The State of SRI, 2012: ‘To look at some of the growth statistics provided by the Social Investment Forum, you would conclude that SRI is making substantial inroads into the capital markets. From 1995 to 2005, assets under management using one or more of the three core socially… Continue reading
Video of the Day: Campbell Mithun on Sharing Attitudes 2012
“What does the growing trend of collaborative consumption mean for marketers? In this video, Campbell Mithun presents data (and insights) gathered from a national quantitative survey on consumer attitudes about the growing trend. (Campbell Mithun partnered with Carbonview Research to conduct the study in January 2012.)”
Book of the Day: Phyles, Economic Democracy in the Network Century
Phyles: Economic Democracy in the Network Century. by David de Ugarte Introduction by the author: “This work is the last instalment in a series of books, written by half a dozen authors besides me, that try to describe and understand, from a common logic although from different angles, the vast social changes which took place… Continue reading
Invitation to participate in the collaborative development of a General Theory of Relationality
A very important initiative proposed by Daryl Taylor: (for background see here) “A small team (Melbourne and east coast of Australia) have begun a focussed discussion about collaborating on the development of a ‘General Theory of Relationality.’ Starting with Adorno, we’re investigating shifts from a 20th C scientific-technical-industrial-instrumental rationality to a 21st C socio-ecological-egalitarian-empathic relationality…. Continue reading
Essay of the Day: Commons and World Governance
• Essay: The Commons and World Governance. Toward a Global Social Contract. Arnaud Blin and Gustavo Marín. Forum for a New World Governance. April 2012 (draft version) Excerpted from Arnaud Blin and Gustavo Marín, What’s wrong with the state and the market: “A new set of problems and issues have arisen that have shown the… Continue reading
Linux and the Management of Decentralized Networks
Essay: MANAGEMENT & VIRTUAL DECENTRALISED NETWORKS: THE LINUX PROJECT. By George N. Dafermos. This older essay is still very interesting and worth reading as a primer on peer governance. Abstract “This paper examines the latest of paradigms – the ‘Virtual Network(ed) Organisation’ and whether geographically dispersed knowledge workers can virtually collaborate for a project under… Continue reading
Graphic of the Day: Social Sharing Button Playground Infographic
By Heather Sundell: Social Sharing Button Playground brought to you byThe Search Agency
Book of the Day: Zapotec Science
Book: Zapotec Science. Farming and Food in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca. By Roberto J. González. University of Texas Press, 2001 Zapotec farmers in the northern sierra of Oaxaca, Mexico, are highly successful in providing their families with abundant, nutritious food in an ecologically sustainable fashion, although the premises that guide their agricultural practices would… Continue reading
History of Community Asset Ownership
Report: A history of community asset ownership. by Steve Wyler. Development Trusts Association, 2009. Description “In the last few years community ownership of land and buildings has become, alongside social enterprise, a hot topic across the political spectrum, evidenced by manifesto promises, government reports and White Papers, enabling legislation, regulation and guidance, new investment funds,… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: New Work
Franz Nahrada describes the work of Frithjof Bergmann: “At its very core, the New Work movement that he is heralding is searching for technologies that allow people to become more self-reliant, less economically dependent, in a very serious sense of that word, more “free.” The point is to showcase that an astounding diversity of innovations… Continue reading
Monitoring Bitcoin: Two significant hardware developments are announced.
In a clear example of how code and hardware exist in a relationship that can be understood as a feedback loop, two Bitcoin-specific hardware products have been announced in the past days. The Bitcoin protocol has given birth now to a new kind of chip, especifically designed to maximise the speed of Bitcoin cryptographic calculations… Continue reading
Viva PeerPoint!
I’m disappointed but not surprised that the PeerPoint Open P2P Application Design Specification Project[1] is viewed with scorn by old-guard digital libertarians and anarchists. They accuse the PeerPoint project of being too ambitious and naive–they’ve seen everything and done everything and they have a superior, smug, cynical attitude. They argue that the only solution is… Continue reading