Bitcoin has taken quite a beating for its libertarian design biases, price volatility due to speculation, and the questionable practices of some currency-exchange firms. But whatever the real or perceived flaws of Bitcoin, relatively little attention has been paid to its “engine,” known as “distributed ledger” or “blockchain” technology. Move beyond the superficial public discussions… Continue reading
Date archives "March 2015"
None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use
We are constantly told that large corporations are ‘wealth creators’, however as is common in the Alice-In-Wonderland world of corporate propaganda, in fact the precise opposite is true, at least when one looks at the big picture. As the environmentalist Paul Hawken has pointed out, ‘We are stealing the future, selling it in the present,… Continue reading
After the great Piketty debate
If de-growth on a global level is inevitable sooner or later – and there is enough evidence to suggest that it is – then the implications go far beyond Piketty’s solutions for how we can achieve a just and sustainable world. The following article was originally published as an editorial in the November-December 2014 edition… Continue reading
From Industrial to Artisan: Modernism’s Sleight-of-Hand
By Nikos A. Salingaros. Original article here. I post this as a response to a former post about William Morris and 3D-printing, as I hope new technology combined with the scientific theory developed by Salingaros can help making Morris’ visions into reality. Figure 1. On the left, mass-produced Art Nouveau silver jewelry box by P. A…. Continue reading
Is GNU social decentralized or distributed?
Before giving an answer to the question of whether GNU social is decentralized or distributed, it would be interesting to give some definitions, because it is important to answer this question and understand its consequences. The distinction between network topologies is an old Indiano tool to understand the major social changes of the last decades. This… Continue reading
Assessing the Greece / Eurogroup negotiations (3): the Varoufakis strategy as neither victory nor capitulation ?
The current conjuncture, in Greece and also beyond, is marked by efforts to make sense of what happened at the February negotiations within the Eurogroup. Sources close to the Greek government try to present their outcome as a «victory», while other people, outside but also inside SYRIZA, consider instead that this was a «defeat» or… Continue reading
The Tseringma Pilgrimage, 1971: An eco-philosophic ‘anti-expedition’
By Nils Faarlund. The following essay will soon be published in Canada in a book, edited by Aage Jensen and Bill Henderson, commemorating the Norwegian ecophilosopher Sigmund Kvaloey Setreng. The idea behind an eco-philosophic ‘anti-expedition’ to Tseringma came up in the spring of 1969, when professor of philosophy Arne Naess and his assistant Sigmund Setreng… Continue reading
Excluded communities and the future of sharing
In response to criticisms that the sharing economy appeals mainly to white middle class populations, it must become more inclusive and closely aligned with other fundamental forms of sharing in economic and political terms, argues STWR’s Rajesh Makwana. Below is an edited transcript of a talk given at an event organised by the People Who… Continue reading
LabGov Pioneers the Paradigm of City as Commons
What would it be like if city governments, instead of relying chiefly on bureaucratic rules and programs, actually invited citizens to take their own initiatives to improve city life? That’s what the city of Bologna, Italy, is doing, and it amounts to a landmark reconceptualization of how government might work in cooperation with citizens. Ordinary… Continue reading
Michel Bauwens at the Economie Collaborative event in Geneve on March 21st
http://www.ville-geneve.ch/agenda/detail/agenda/conference-debat-economie-collaborative/ Economie Collaborative BD
Video of the Day: Ferananda Ibarra on The unfolding story of a life-affirming economy
A very impressive, impassioned video by VillageLab co-founder Ferananda Ibarra. From the video description This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Ferananda Ibarra explores the unfolding story of a life-affirming economy. Ferananda Ibarra is internationally recognized in the fields of collective intelligence and the next economy…. Continue reading
Island in the net or an alternative to the net?
Could new free systems, thought of as alternatives to Facebook and Twitter, and with a distributed structure, create a different logic and dynamic from these born on centralized services? At the end of 2010, we published several posts on the nature and the consequences of the FbT-model, that is, socialization on Facebook + Twitter. The… Continue reading
Return with Freedom and Occupy Banking
Statement #OccupyBanking #ReturnWithFreedom Enric Duran from Radi.ms on Vimeo. We want to finance the team that is already working on the launch of the #OccupyBanking campaign with the intention of placing at the center of public debate the total lack of democracy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and large private banks who control the monetary system, and especially the creation of money. A perverse… Continue reading
Moment-to-moment unfolding
By Vera Bradova. Original post here. You are lost in a the middle of a dark primeval forest. A moonless night breathes all around you; soft rain is falling. You long to be somewhere safe, warm, and dry. A tiny keychain flashlight illuminates the immediate space — the rest is near-impenetrable blackness. Bogs, logs and… Continue reading
Me Through We: Cooperation, Indra’s InterNet and Africa’s Ubuntu
Excerpted from Nick Jankel: “There is a beautiful Buddhist scripture, the ‘Flower Garland Sutra’, that contains an empowering metaphor that can help us navigate the waters of authentic collaboration. In the sutra is description of a net used by the King of the Hindu Gods, Indra. The net, draped over his palace on Mount Meru,… Continue reading
A new social settlement for a sharing society
The latest phase of research from the New Economics Foundation proposes a new framework of ideas that are all premised on the need for a more equal and sharing society, one that “serves the interests of people and the planet, not the other way around”. A major new report was launched this week by the… Continue reading