Alain Badiou sees money as a stand in for a general, abstract and unlimited desire. Worth watching and carefully listening to! (in french, english subtitles) Watch the video here:
Essay of the Day: Peer Mutualism, Market Power, and the Fallible State
* Article: Practical Anarchism: Peer Mutualism, Market Power, and the Fallible State. By Yochai Benkler. Politics & Society41(2) 213–251 Here is a summary of its contents, followed by some excerpts: ‘Based on several examples of working anarchies in the networked environment Benkler argued that peer mutualism works in certain contexts. Even though it is not… Continue reading
Critiques of empathy from the point of view of reason: are they valid?
Tom Atlee is reacting to the point of view expressed in the following two essays: * The Baby in the Well by Paul Bloom and * The Case Against Empathy by David Harris-Gershon – that critically compare empathy with reason. Tom Atlee: “These two essays maintain that empathy causes us to focus on the narrow… Continue reading
Building Trust and Limiting Risk in the Sharing Economy
“Maintaining trust and safety is critical for businesses built on peer-to-peer exchanges. As the sharing economy grows, so does the importance of systems to verify user identity, build community, and otherwise support trust and safety. What tools are businesses developing today, and what trade-offs do they face when balancing security, privacy, growth, and community?” Watch… Continue reading
Announcement on Two Psyop Operations Targetting the P2P Foundation and its Networked Relationships
Dear friends, This is an important announcement. We probably won’t give more details than this, except orally through Skype or some other more confidential medium. A sister organisation and the p2p foundation were victims of two ‘psy-ops’ that came in the form of forgeries and intrusion that resulted in the blocking and email deletions of… Continue reading
On the Importance of Recognising Post-Capitalist Spaces in Capitalist Society
* Article: Towards a Post-Occupy World: the importance of recognising “post-capitalist” spaces in “capitalist” society. By Richard J White. Here are 3 excerpts from this interesting essay: 1. From the Introduction: “Running deeply through radical critiques that have emerged across dissident academic, activist and public communities – critiques that have pricked the mainstream consciousness through… Continue reading
Social Media as a Facet of Neoliberalism
Excerpted from William Davies: “The fact that it is social media that is facilitating this new form of state power, that it is social networks that are the object of its gaze, may indicate that neoliberal government no longer places quite so much emphasis on the market, as a mechanism for organizing knowledge, regulating freedom… Continue reading
Alternate G8 Interview on Open Government
This interview appeared in the first issue of the ‘zine’ Radical Realities published by the Alternate (G8) Collective which also features a keynote on peer governance by Heather Marsh. This issue selects transcripts of speakers from the AG8 Conference hosted by the Collective in Birmingham, UK on June 22nd 2013 (mine was a remote intervention… Continue reading
In Brazil, the Mídia Ninja citizen journalist group is making waves
Republished from Rachel “Rio Gringa”: (the original has links) “One of the most interesting elements of Brazil’s protests, which continue to simmer across the country in smaller numbers, is the use of new media to plan, broadcast, and report on the demonstrations. Mídia Ninja is perhaps the best known group to emerge, and has used… Continue reading
Project of the Day: The Unmonastery
(Un)monastery has nothing in particular to do with religion. However like a monastery it aims to bring together a community of like minded individuals. In this case passionate change makers, artists, activists and innovators. To live and work together on creative world changing projects for 6 months to a year in Matera Southern Italy. The… Continue reading