It seems quite clear to me that the P2P ethos and sensibility differs from both the old and new forms of leftism, including the postmodern variants. Where then, can we trace back some historical connections for this sensibility? One historical connection could be made with the historical tradition of civil socialism which existed before the… Continue reading
Education is a Commons!
Conference: Beneath the University, the Commons. University of Minnesota, April 8-11, 2010 “Seemingly discrete struggles over the conditions of university life have erupted around the world within the past year. These struggles share certain commonalities: outrage over precarious and exploitative conditions, the occupation of university spaces, and goals of reclaiming education from state and corporate… Continue reading
Lessig against the scourge of institutional corruption
Brilliant presentation by Lawrence Lessig on the mechanics of institutional corruption in the U.S., and how important it is to reverse it.
Against Money Relativism
While diversity and experimentation has its value, we live in a time when we can no longer afford to be distracted solely by peripheral currencies that have marginal impact on the global economy as a whole. A central emphasis must be placed on making qualitative judgments about which monetary systems are most appropriate in the… Continue reading
Increasing the public credibility of climate science through transparency
The broader issue is the need to increase the public credibility of climate science. This requires publicly available data and metadata, a rigorous peer review process, and responding to arguments raised by skeptics. The integrity of individual scientists that are in positions of responsibility (e.g. administrators at major research institutions, editorial boards, major committees, and… Continue reading
Hazel Henderson: Investing in Climate Prosperity
All the evidence now shows that there is no shortage of money to finance the global green economy. The only shortage is time, and we have all the technology needed for this transition. Re-deploying just 10% of pension and endowment funds away from fossilized sectors, hedge funds, oil and commodities, derivatives and speculation on interest-rates… Continue reading
Paul Grignon on the Esssence of Money
Thomas Greco writes: “Paul Grignon, creator of the excellent videos, Money as Debt I and II, came to my presentation on Salt Spring Island and brought with him a new short video called The Essence of Money, a Medieval Tale. In less than eight minutes, this video explains as well as anything I’ve seen how… Continue reading
On the insufficiency of lifestyle changes
That, ultimately, is the biggest problem with the hand-made approach to sustainability: even when it works, it makes us passionate about small things in our lives, not engagement with the world. Visiting a neighbor’s great backyard garden may well encourage me to want to grow my own; it doesn’t encourage me to understand global agrobusiness,… Continue reading
Book of the Week: The Sharing Solution
Book: The Sharing Solution. How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community. Janelle Orsi & Emily Doskow. Nolo, 2009. This is an extremely practical handbook for people who want to organize or join sharing networks in their lives. This is how lawyer-authors Janelle Orsi and Emily Doskow explain their motivation: “Some people worry… Continue reading
P2P and the Social Cloud
Social networking services available on the web are based upon proprietary software which have the ultimate purpose of advertisement-driven profit which implicitly demands tracking user activities. On the other hand, in order to allow people’s collective intelligence to fully develop by means of their self-organized social networks, communication in social networking software must be independent… Continue reading
The three revolutions in human productivity
About (roughly) 5,000 years, humanity witnessed a first revolution in productivity. It discovered that you can make people work through coercion (slavery), or by forcing farmers to give away a part of their production. To simplify, the emergence of negative extrinsic motivation was born. The city-state was probably one of it earliest instrument. As it… Continue reading
Varieties of authoritarian spiritual abuse
William Yenner’s book on the spiritual abuse happening at Andrew Cohen’s community, American Guru, has been the subject of a vigorous counter-campaign by his followers, yet no denial’s of the factual allegations have come forward, only the argument that they should be understood ‘in their context’. For those readers who may not have read the… Continue reading
The coming revolt of the guards, by Howard Zinn
This is an excerpt from chapter 24 of Howard Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the United States, chosen by Paul Fernhout: “However, the unexpected victories-even temporary ones-of insurgents show the vulnerability of the supposedly powerful. In a highly developed society, the Establishment cannot survive without the obedience and loyalty of millions of people who… Continue reading
The Rally Fighter: a crowdsourced car
A report via Mutopo: “Local Motors wants to build C.O.O.L cars. They invite a large community or car enthusiasts to participate in the development of their car. But this is where the similarities with Powell Motors ends, because Local Motors decides to decide differently. While Homer was the decider with rather unfortunately results, Local Motors… Continue reading
Frank Pasquale’s Assessment of Algorithmic Authority
This is a comment on Clay Shirky’s “A Speculative Post on the Idea of Algorithmic Authority,”, excerpts of which were also featured on our p2p blog. Frank Pasquale: “Here are some reasons to worry about that process: a) Shirky notes in the piece that there are several kinds of knowledge out there unsusceptible to assessments… Continue reading
The operating system of money is obsolete
Douglas Rushkoff’s keynote from the O’Reilly Web 2.0 conference. Key thesis: How we’re using an obsolete operating system for money, optimized for a pre-Internet economy. (an interesting video, with remarks on the situation in the Middle Ages)