Date archives "September 2013"

Discussion: Permaculture and Capitalism

This is only the introduction to the dialogue, see the original article for the full version. See also the earlier treatment of the same issue here. Rafter writes: “I’ve written before about the challenges faced by permaculture enterprises. Farms, like other land-based permaculture projects, are faced with the formidable task of regenerating ecosystems and communities,… Continue reading

Movement of the Day: Is the X Party the ‘Party of the Future’?

X Party: The only party that does not want to represent you. There is a whole wave of Internet-Based Political Parties, especially in “Latin” countries, on which our friend Bernardo Gutierrez devoted an article, “How Net Parties Are Changing the Rules of the Political Game“. The essence is that this parties are non-representational and choose… Continue reading

The Emerging Collaborative and Sharing Mentalities of the Millenial Generation

Dan Schawbel, expert on millennials in the workforce, interviewed by Jeremiah Owyang: (excerpts) * Jeremiah: Is it true that Millennials seek access to goods and products rather than owning them?. What impacts does that have to brands who’re trying to sell to “Consumers”? What should brands do? Dan: A lot of industries are having a… Continue reading

Phonebloks – a mobile phone that can be configured, upgraded, repaired: An idea whose time has come?

Phonebloks is an idea. A mobile phone that can be configured, upgraded and repaired. No one is making it yet, but a campaign for its existence is about to launch… a thunderclap (https://www.thunderclap.it/) is planned for 29 October. Certainly, having a phone like that would cut down electronic waste in landfills and recycling bins. It… Continue reading

Project of the Day: the Panera Bread Pay-What-You-Can Store

Excerpted from Amy Sullivan: “Look closer and you’ll notice something unusual for a restaurant chain that brings in more than $3 billion each year. There are no prices listed next to items on the menu boards and no cash registers. Instead, donation boxes sit on the counter, with signs telling customers: “Take what you need;… Continue reading

Post Growth’s Institute Formula for a For-Benefit Future

The Post Growth Institute is an international network of activists committed to analysing the underlying causes of the mess we find ourselves in and to building a broad global movement to create global prosperity that is not dependent on economic growth. Their crowdfunded book, “How on Earth? Flourishing in a Not-for-Profit World by 2050”, describes… Continue reading

Towards T-Corporations: Do we need a new legal, cooperative regime for sharing companies?

The companies made one fatal error: You can’t truly remedy today’s economic problems by using the same business structures that created the economic problems. Because of their current ownership structure, Airbnb, Lyft, Über, and TaskRabbit could be bought out by ever larger and more centralized companies that won’t necessarily care about the well-being of people… Continue reading

Project of the Day: Jai Ranganathan on Engaging the Public, Improving Your Science

Jai Ranganathan interviewed by Celya Guson-Daniel – Engaging with the Public, Improving Your Science We chose three of the podcast interviews by Celya Gruson-Daniel to present to you. Celya Gruson-Daniel has just finished a tour of the United States interviewing  more than 60 people on their views about science, open source and reproducibility. Essentially this is a user’s… Continue reading

Project of the Day: the JFloat collaborative consumption self-insurance platform

Some time ago, the UK-based auto insurance company, jFloat launched a “collaborative consumption self-insurance platform“: “jFloat users come together and pay the majority of their premiums into collective pools of 100 people called “floats,” which consist of extended family members and like-minded people who fill out a survey on the company’s website. The cohort can… Continue reading