Around the world, we are seeing the emergence of creative alternatives to destructive economic paradigms. The good news is what is healthy for an ecosystem is also good for people: key ingredients are localization and regionalism. The best economic and environmentally sound solutions are place-based, diverse according to region, and are responsive to local communities… Continue reading
Will Bitcoin change the money landscape?
In a recent email, a friend of mine who is into currency speculation, especially the Iraki Dinar, made little of Bitcoin and said the current money system is just fine. I had tried to make him aware of the existence of this new kind of currency by sending him links to articles. Now I am… Continue reading
Removing regulation, not governance!
If we want the city to produce a different outcome, it will take a different kind of organisation running it, responsible for it. The very idea of the city as a public good fundamentally rests on this. And the very idea of the sustainable city relies on understanding that the city is a public good…. Continue reading
Bauwens, Kleiner, Restakis on Cooperative, Commons-based venture funding
A must-listen trialogue between Michel Bauwens, Dmytri Kleiner and John Restakis sketching out proposals for radical new economic models that draw on the best from the Co-op, commons and P2P and Venture Communism movements. This conversation was originally recorded by KMO of the C-Realm Podcast. Excerpted from the podcast: “KMO remote-hosts a trialogue between Michel Bauwens, Dmytri… Continue reading
The funding problem of progressive movements today
Excerpted from Michael Lind of the New America Foundation; “…in the mid-twentieth-century glory days of American progressive-liberalism, upscale progressive “traitors to their class” were only part of a coalition that included populist farmers and militant industrial workers. The farmer-labor coalition had its own sources of funding—they didn’t depend on grants from philanthropic progressive foundations or… Continue reading
The Emerging Cooperative Economy – Interview with Michel Bauwens
Earlier this month Michel Bauwens took part in the Meridian University online summit The Spirit of Enterprise: Business Approaches to Regenerating the Commons. “For four days, over 30 leaders and pioneers of generative and creative enterprise came together to explore The Spirit of Enterprise: Business Approaches to Regenerating the Commons. Speakers Included: Chana Anderson, Dean… Continue reading
Project of the Day: Casserole
Casserole helps people share extra portions of home cooked food with others in their area who are not always able to cook for themselves. From the FAQ: “Casserole is a project that connects people who like to cook and are happy to share an extra portion of a delicious home cooked meal, with older neighbours… Continue reading
Why everybody should own their home as non-speculative property
Excerpted from Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language (1977). (From Pattern #79, Your Own Home) “People cannot be genuinely comfortable and healthy in a house which is not theirs. All forms of rental — whether from private landlords or public housing agencies — work against the natural processes which allow people to form stable, self-healing communities…. Continue reading
Book of the Day: Moral Origins
Christopher Boehm in Moral Origins concludes, after intensive analysis of 50 representative hunter-gatherer cultures, that our ancestors likely experienced a “radical political change,” evolving from a hierarchic “apelike ‘might is right’…social order,” to become more egalitarian. * Book: Moral Origins. By Christopher Boehm. Excerpted from a review by Jag Bhalla: “Social contracts are written into… Continue reading
Video: E.F. Schumacher and the Reinvention of the Local Economy
This is one of the best documentaries about Community Supported Agriculture, Community Land Trusts and Community Currencies! Watch the video here: Details: COMING HOME: E.F. Schumacher & the Reinvention of the Local Economy from Christopher B. Bedford on Vimeo. “COMING HOME: E.F. Schumacher and the Reinvention of the Local Economy, is a new 37 minute… Continue reading