The following is a revised transcript of a discussion that took place on May 3, 2012 between Michel Bauwens, Jonathan Clyne, Alex Dirmeier, Lena Hanno and Jean Lievens on peer-to-peer and Marxism. For the full transcript go here. This is the first part. “Michel: I start with a thought on the Marxist theory of revolution,… Continue reading
Runaway climate change is already there
Extremely disquieting update on what we know about climate change acceleration. Watch the video here:
A new path for academic research: open value networks with local economies
A proposal from Tiberius Brastaviceanu: “While the higher administrative layers of Universities are still pushing for commercializing intellectual property, we (SENSORICA) find through our practice that scientists are more and more inclined to open their innovation, and to integrate “value networks” that bridge the academia with the local economy. SENSORICA value network already includes 2… Continue reading
The Transparency Delusion endangers really existing democracy
Is the citizen with the smartphone the one who can restore our trust in democracy and democratic institutions? I am sceptical. Smartphones may make it easier for us to control our politicians, but trust refers to the confidence in the operation of institutions that people cannot directly monitor and control. We don’t trust our families… Continue reading
P2P Debates: Arguments for and against central planning
(please note that my own approach, called P2P Theory, accepts both elements of markets and planning, but advocates massive mutual coordination through stigmergy as the new core of economics; and that this can be achieved through open book accounting and open supply chains as practiced by commons-friendly, commons-dependent, and commons-creating enterpreneurial coalitions that are owned… Continue reading
Essay of the Day: Stafford Beer’s Designing Freedom
* A classic text, well worth rereading: Designing Freedom. Stafford Beer. Stafford Beer wrote: “all these institutions we have been contemplating — the homes, the of?ces, the schools, the cities, the ?rms, the states, the countries—are not just things, entities we recognize and label. Theyare instead dynamic and surviving systems. Well, I did say it… Continue reading
A critique of the Rolling Jubilee strategy
The 99% cannot bail out the 99%, as both ‘bailouts’ and ‘the 99%’ are questionable strategic notions. For this reason, I am skeptical of the Rolling Jubilee. Excerpted from Matthijs Krul: “A quick comment may be appropriate on the subject of the so-called ‘rolling Jubilee’, a programme initiated by an organization calling itself Strike Debt…. Continue reading
What Contribution Do Foxconn Workers Make to Apple’s and Dell’s Profits?
The “GDP Illusion” is a fault in perception caused by defects in the construction and interpretation of standard economic data. Its main symptom is a systematic underestimation of the real contribution of low-wage workers in the global South to global wealth, and a corresponding exaggerated measure of the domestic product of the United States and… Continue reading
No real commons economics at the Mercator Research Institute for Global Commons
A critique excerpted from David Bollier: “After listening to the four speakers at the MCC’s inaugural one-day conference on November 15, “The Green Growth Dilemma,” the institute seems poised to explore modest, socially minded twists to the standard economic narrative. In other words, a fairly tame, meliorist agenda within the crumbling edifice of neoclassical economic… Continue reading
An Interview with Lewis Hyde on the Commons and Art
Excerpted from an interview conducted by Sarah Schultz and Sarah Parker at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Reprinted from the new book Open Field, and based on the findings of Lewis Hyde book, Common as Air. “Why do you think the idea of the commons has so much resonance now? All cultures must feel… Continue reading