It´s possible that Net parties may never govern a country. But it’s also very possible that, before long, they may change the rules of the political game forever. An article by Bernardo Gutierrez. Translation from the Spanish by Stacco Troncoso & AM Utronco/Guerrilla Translations. Bernardo Gutierrez: “The emergence of Partido X (Spain), Partido de la… Continue reading
Proposed Next Steps for the emerging P2P and Commons networks
In short, we need a alliance of the commons to project civil and political power and influence at every level of society; we need phyles to strengthen our economic autonomy from the profit-maximizing dominant system; and we need Chambre of the Commons to achieve territorial policy; legal and infrastructural conditions for the alternative, human and… Continue reading
Is there a crisis in Open Source Ecology?
This is the third “mass leaving event” I know of in OSE history (others were in 2009 and 2011). There has also been a steady stream of individual volunteers leaving because of the poor management. Money spent on OSE has been wasteful thus far because the management has been wasteful – constantly destroying and rebuilding… Continue reading
The rise and fall of Iceland’s Crowdsourced Constitution
Thorvaldur Gylfason gives a good summary on the origins, and, perhaps temporary, fall of the Icelandic constitution project: (exceptionally republished in full) “Following its spectacular plunge from grace in 2008 when its banking system crashed, inflicting huge damage on foreign creditors as well as on local residents, Iceland caught attention for trying to come to… Continue reading
Labor as both a commodity and a Common Pool Resource
Excerpted from Tom Walker: “The everyday experience of working people, economic policies of governments, bargaining priorities of trade unions and theoretical models of economists refute the idealistic maxim that labor is not a commodity. An early rationale for the proposition was given in 1834 by William Longson of Stockport in his evidence to the House… Continue reading
A new review of Money and Sustainability
* Book: “Money and Sustainability: The Missing Link” by Bernard Lietaer, Christian Arnsperger, Sally Goerner and Stefan Brunnhuber. Triarchy Press, 2012 Excerpted from Graham Barnes: “The authors first ‘make explicit’ the prevailing economic paradigm and contrast this with an ecological economics approach (which they claim is rooted in the response to Limits to Growth [the… Continue reading
Project of the Day: Jua Kali, Open Source Machinery for Africa
This Kenian site houses information on nearly a dozen farm tools and other devices, many with open-source construction guides. Rob Goodier explains: “Ask for a pair of door hinges at a hardware store in Kenya and the shopkeep might offer two options: regular and “Jua kali” hinges. The jua kali pair could cost half the… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: the Counter Cartographies Collective
The Counter Cartographies Collective (3Cs), propose a specific form of counter-mapping, autonomous cartography, to understand and intervene in social processes. “The Counter Cartographies Collective (3Cs) combines research with critical mapping to produce alternative ways of visualizing and inhabiting the world and our university. This paper advocates for an autonomous cartography, 3Cs’ combination of militant research… Continue reading
How the for-profit B-Corporation is leading to a decline of the Couchsurfing sharing community
Why has Couchsurfing become so gendered? Why is the community weak? I think the blame lies in an organization that has decided to focus on growth over building a community. The site went for-profit last year, and now, following time-honored corporate practices, is focused solely on growth. Membership growth. Quantity over quality. The more members… Continue reading
Book of the Day: the Global Political Economy and the Stratification of Labour
* Book: Zak Cope, Divided World, Divided Class: Global Political Economy and the Stratification of Labour Under Capitalism. This is “a book on the history of the labour aristocracy and its interrelationship with the rise of social-democracy as the political expression of the imperialist rent required for the maintenance of that class, with all the… Continue reading