“The aliens tend to be wealthy upper class members of society, as well as politicians. When the aliens realize he can see them for what they truly are, the police suddenly arrive.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Live
He starts seeing the world as it really is, after minute 2”
Access to Contexts – Hoarding Vs Intentional Commons , in social networks
“Authoritarian Individualism” ( ? )
– or the cultural results of “Competitive Individualistic Culture” ( ? )
Is the ( provocative ? ) term I used today,
in an exchange with a friend living in Brussels,
for expressing the “hoarding of opportunities”
related to our shared context.
More specifically, a perceived “need of control” on surrounding contexts,
which can have as consequence
the hoarding of access to “space” and a potential “flow” of interdependencies.
Instead of a potential for inclusiveness,
enabling personal choice of ones own attention
without a specific sense of need for hoarding of one’s context.
A mode of “contextual property”,
which in my definition,
can enable a right of access to contexts we facilitated to converge or create,
as long as the other does not hoard, but contributes to such context.
Some kind of “copyleft/access” license which does not enable the other to hoard what we share in the first place.
—
In other words, the issue I underline may come from
a difference in “borders” set in our realities:
Example:
I may choose to constantly keep my reality “open”, day and night,
including all my resources, knowledge, social networks, and access to living spaces,
while my friend’s “borders”, and that of other people I met in a city such as Brussels,
currently seem to be limited to the direct perceived personal interests, defined in time and space by my friend,
and more often related to direct consumption of leisure opportunities,
which, according to my interpretation, complement while sustaining a lifestyle
of “psychological and emancipatory deficiencies”
of an apparently extrinsically motivated conditional working lifestyle,
compensated by access to an opportunity inter-dependency space conditioned by monetary transactions.
In yet other words,
my friend’s experience of an individualist lifestyle
seems to be different from my individualist lifestyle.
In my own case, All my resources are set available to a network of people “I choose” to connect with.
Usually people I share common intentions, values, objectives with.
In other words, I can set myself as an operational access node within a “intentional commons”.
The big question is “how to enable synergies” between such two modes,
while not enabling the control of “intentional commons” forms of autonomous / free association individualistic lifestyles,
by “conditions for participation” of a “hoarding type of individualism” ?
Conditions often related to personal consumption and gratification on the moment,
and not necessarily staying at the service of opportunity making towards shared intentions.
Such “individualist authoritarianism”, according to my own experiences,
often limits the sets of “choices” within the “conditions” and norms of such forms of “individualistic” memes.
Open Source Prototypes …
videos :
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=factor+efarm&search_type=&aq=f
—
These video episodes help explain the concept of Open Source Ecology:
Factor E Distillations Episode 1 – Introduction
Factor E Distillations Episode 2 – Product Ecologies
Factor E Distillations Episode 3 – Towards an Open Source Tractor
Factor E Distillations Episode 4 – On a Technology Base for Evolving to Freedom
” we keep telling everybody to drop what they are doing now – and participate in producing the option of a viable, highly productive, open source economic system – which helps those with higher aspirations than a 9 to 5 to pursue their dreams. This has be be done once – and then the tools become available. So subscribe to this work – and put your money where your mouth is on realizing these ideals. “
Factor E Distillations – Episode 5 – The CEB Story
—————
http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
” is a movement dedicated to the collaborative development of the world’s first replicable, open source, modern off-grid “global village.” By using permaculture and digital fabrication together to provide for basic needs and open source methodology to allow cheap replication of the entire village, we hope to empower anyone who desires to move beyond the struggle for survival and “evolve to freedom.”
By our analysis, most of the technologies needed for a sustainable and pleasant standard of living could be reduced to the cost of scrap metal + labor. There is immense potential for social transformation once this technology is fully developed for building interconnected self-sufficient villages, since people will be freed from material constraints and able to seek self-actualization.
We understand that this is an ambitious task, but we have accomplished much and are making rapid progress. Factor e Farm is the land-based facility where we are putting this theory into practice. Our means of achieving these goals are meticulously detailed in the “Global Village Construction Set” and the OSE Proposal. ”
and also see 41 technologies
http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Global_Village_Construction_Set
I realize it is much easier for me to meaningfully empower others.
For example , I do not have health insurance anymore , but I am not worried about it.
I do not have money income , but I am not worried about it.
I am not worried about other people either ,
but it feels meaningful to be cocreative and share with the other ,
it feels easier and more meaningful to empower others , and with others ,
as somehow I feel “trust” that by doing what I can best do , others will do what they can.
So I guess that the easiest for me , is to continue networking people sharing common intentions ,
facilitating the visualization and understanding of intentions and ways of manifesting ,
and let each other realize what is needed to empower others ,
feeling empathy for each others learning experience while making choices that empower intention and the consciousness at all levels of abstraction ,
doing what can , being a mirror , without the need for it , without need to please ,
empowering ourselves by empowering others , or rather , empowering ” can “.
Others can empower me in surviving and continue the flow of can ,
so that I can empower others in maintaining the flow of can ,
and then we end up with a rhizome that is mutually empowering.
I also like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(philosophy)
Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows;
A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you be able to improve?
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Dante-Gabryell Monson
Date: Thu, May 15, 2008 at 1:43 PM
Subject: meaning through shared realities
I have grown up in a individualist society , and I feel that my heart and mind is not satisfied with competitive and consumerist individualism. In eastern europe I discovered a certain sensibility that resonated with my heart , yet at the same time I realize that I am part of a Paradigm that is not one of ( some mainstream socio culture in ) eastern europe , or not of western europe , but one that is in creation.
I realize that there are some precious people I meet on my road , and with whom I would like to build with.
I also realize that what has meaning is to share , and to co-create , yet that it is not easy in the current situation to find a way to share space in peoples realities , as often it is already packed with their obligations , or also because a lot of people are scared of the chaos of the unknown , which I might reflect to them through my attempts of creating new solutions , beyond the current structures ,
even when many of them do appreciate that I am trying to develop new solutions.
I meet a lot of people , but at the same time it feels isolated , as it is most of the time only for the time of a cup of tea , and not in a shared reality , towards a common intention.
Sometimes people are curious about my different approaches , but when i stay for longer then a cup of tea it seems to often make them feel threatened by my different approach , perhaps as it becomes a mirror to their reality , and to a potential of doing things differently , which re-questions their own structures , and re-questions the validity of what they considered being obligations.
Yet I am progressively developing the intentional networks with which I hope to co-create , and develop the bases that will facilitate alternative lifestyles , approaches , solutions – preserving and expanding our space to be different , while opening up the opportunities to empower each other through and with our differences – in a collaborative individualist approach :
Many people , including politicians and economics , are not satisfied with the current financial system , and the ways whereby we count economics and value creation , as we realize that it does not necessarily lead to ” development ” , but to destruction in the interest of a few.
To be able to cope with the complexity of the world of today , we need to empower each other while using the available tools , and learning and living approaches are very central.
Trust information systems and decision making are also very central ,
and today , compared with the past , we do not need to fight for control over land and people to have control on communication channels that enable such society building ,
we do not need to go through civil wars ( as the one that hapenned in Finland in the beginning of the 20th century ) ,
we can develop alternative systems that can provide solutions directly to the people , and , as more and more people see their interest in using it , it will grow by itself without having to take over control on any other system – in effect , ending up with multiple parallel societies and realities , and as individuals we could choose the multiple solutions and societies we are active in – complementing each other.
Anyway , hope this does not all sound too complicated. I hope soon we can develop some documentary that can illustrate and make such perspectives easily accessible.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Dante-Gabryell Monson
Date: Sat, May 17, 2008 at 1:52 PM
Subject: Build up of mutually empowered critical mass of prosumers ?
To: hc_ecology – at – yahoogroups.com, sustainable_solidarity – at – yahoogroups.com
I felt like writing some additional ideas , in relation to potential developments and projects I see around me , and question myself as to where to converge ” physically ” while being able to live, and facilitate the … ” Build up of mutually empowered critical mass of prosumers ? ” – while not disconnecting ourselves from the city / not fully living in autharcy – but being open to a globalised world , with a capacity for higher levels of mutual empowerment and collaborative creativity.
and how to facilitate the networking and collaboration of organizations , cooperatives , academic institutions , students , … any individual towards such intentions ?
When the picture is so synthetic and complex , where to start ?
…
a follow up on a previous thread and response which you will find below
————-
…
I also notice another trend – the urban redevelopment trend around knowledge and creation centers.
this is my main reason for now visiting Helsinki , as there is a urban re-development plan , shifting a declined industrial neighborhood into a art/design/high tech – living , research and development , management , lifelong learning space.
http://www.helsinkivirtualvillage.fi/Resource.phx/adc/inenglish/index.htx
also see another project in the united states :
if you have a good internet connection , you might want to view this very easy to read and informative 10 Mb pdf file :
www.arc.cmu.edu/cmu/rci/PDFs/RCI_Hazelwood2007.pdf
if not , some more google entries related to
Remaking Cities Institute – Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture
One of the aims of mine and of many people I end up meeting , along these last years , is to connect further our intentional networks , with a variety of individuals from different backgrounds sharing it , activists , academic institutions, students , organizations , businesses , governmental organizations , representatives , etc
share practices , experiment , increase our credibility through joint projects , increase support and access to a variety of resources , …
There are a number of very interesting initiatives , in many OECD countries – for example here a japanese practice sharing platform :
http://www.japanfs.org/
Although sometimes it feels simple yet complex , and I doubt strongly that the verbal language tool , even when extended by information technologies , and emails like this one , can be effective enough – i feel more and more that what is needed is new forms of language , some kinds of dynamic mapping into which we can add , position , extract , compare , correct , …
beyond wiki s , yet including them , extracting available data from the internet , from our environments , and be able to visualize them through some post symbolic visual language.
I am also not surprised to see that many a case , as with the Arabiaranta Helsinki redevelopment project , the central synthetic and creative environment , the convergence space for trans-disciplinarity , are choses to be art universities , or more precisely , art and technology development oriented environments ,
dreaming and designing futures and the relations between all elements , including dreams about new esthetical forms of lifestyle …
Or am I wrong ? I am perhaps too young to have experienced it , but it seemed that in the end of the 60 ies , the social movements erupted from the humanistic faculties ?
Is this still te case ? I traveled all over europe in the last years , met a lot of students of politics and sociology , and often they would end up being the activist side of the movement , but often in an approach that is ” fighting ” and not necessarily with new visions.
It feels that Design and Technology Development / Research ” clusters ” are becoming ” fashion and being developed , not necessarily through grassroot movements , but because of the needs and evolution of businesses ( and consumerism ? ) into products that require such solutions.
Which perhaps sounds a bit contradictory to a prosumer spirit ?
Business seems to have been successfull in absorbing the individualist needs of the 68 generation into … consumerism ? ( I paste below some references to a BBC series of documentaries ” The century of the self ” ) ,
but will it take further control over current psychological , and potential structural developments ?
Or are we able to create the prototypes that can better deal with complexity and offer alternative modes of organization and lifestyle then the current dominant competitive , consumerist , scarcity creating , individualist models ?
A dilemna I feel is that the resources are still on the side of a capitalistic mode of production and managment.
Organizing ourselves , and connecting between each other , cooperatives , that can facilitate the mutual empowerment of individuals while creating some of the resources they need to live , eventually selling to a broader market , or even creating its own markets ( and own alternative – intentional ? – currencies ? more complex barter systems involving information technologies ? to trade between partners / cooperatives that share common intentions ? )
Can we inspire the creation of a critical mass ?
Where do we start to converge a critical mass ?
With food cooperatives ? With learning practices and school environments ?
I know that its in every different field that we can be active , and spread such socio-cultural memes ,
yet for some of us , it does not feed us yet –
The p2p foundation ( and other platforms and movements ), the convergence of various examples and ideas under the wiki , blog , ning , mailing lists
http://p2pfoundation.net
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
is where we seem to be now.
But how to connect a critical mass ? … as to empower ourselves with the resources needed ,
without having to be dependent on a capitalistic mode of organization and production ?
—-
” The Century of the Self ”
part 1 )
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2637635365191428174
part 2 )
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-678466363224520614
part 3 )
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6111922724894802811
part 4 ) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1122532358497501036
About ” The Century of the Self ” :
extract from http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self.shtml
To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?
some more videos on my blog
http://dante.ecobytes.net/
On Sat, May 17, 2008 at 1:01 PM, Dante-Gabryell Monson wrote:
Hi Marco , Michel , Sam , ( cc : Alicia , Marilyn , Steve , Synnove , Andrius , Josef , Franz , Jeff )
yes , I guess that the people that are fully interested in investing themselves in a shift of lifestyle patterns in such kind of approach – pro-suming ( ? ) – form some kind of sub-culture –
The eco-village movement ( such as http://gen.ecovillage.org/ ) might be one such kind of sub culture , although too often I realize they tend to reject information technologies and try to move to some more collectivist structures , going back to the past , trying to escape complexity and live a simple life ,
although there are also some examples of emerging networks , such as
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalvillages/
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?GlobalVillages
and also emerging , existing , communities such as one I know about ( but did not visit up to now ) in the netherlands ,
http://www.eva-lanxmeer.nl/
http://www.changelabproject.org/searchkb1.asp?id=114&action=view&tier=1
http://www.google.fi/search?q=EVA-Lanxmeer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a
they also organize a festival ( in dutch – Michel might understand : http://www.c4real.nl/ )
and where an acquaintance of mine met at a ecotopia camp http://eyfa.org/projects/ecotopia ,
“alicia falvey” , has been ( and still is ? ) very involved in – I also remember she mentionned some other projects in Ireland ? –
I also paste below for Michel an extract in dutch extracted from
http://www.eva-lanxmeer.nl/ :
De wijk EVA-Lanxmeer
De Culemborgse wijk EVA-Lanxmeer is een stadswijk, die is gebouwd op basis van gedachtengoed over integrale sociaal-ecologische stedenbouw en permacultuur. In dit gedachtengoed staat de kwaliteit van de leefomgeving centraal, waarvoor de bewoners en bedrijven die er wonen en werken zelf medeverantwoordelijkheid dragen. De inrichting van leefomgeving wordt gekenmerkt door ecologisch bouwen, organische vormgeving en architectuur, afvalwaterzuivering in de wijk, centrale parkeerplaatsen, landschapsarchitectuur, samenhang tussen privé tuin, gezamenlijke tuin en openbaar groen, behoud van cultuurhistorische elementen, ontwikkeling van natuur, biodiversiteit en biologische landbouw.
Recurrent Transition Point – Faith in Manifesting the Co Creative Impulse :
I am again at this recurrent transition point ,
where I need to remind myself what I am doing ,
decide if I invest my time in ” working for money ” while doing jobs that do not have meaning for me ,
or going on finding what I am passionate about and finding ways of putting the pieces of the puzzle together ,
connecting people and converging people around common intentions.
Every time , my conclusion is that I should go on doing what I am passionate about ,
and continue trying to reach out to people with which I can do things and co create together ,
and eventually , at some point , there might be further mutual empowerment emerging ,
and raising my quality of life out of the nothingness of being in between or out of shared space in other peoples realities ,
roofless , or spending much of my time between roofs and the friends that support them , hitch hiking to bridge them ,
and attending conferences all over.
Being tired of being constantly on the road , I decided to try a local convergence approach , moving less on scales of hundreds or thousands of kilometers.
I keep faith , and remind myself what I am doing ,
and what concepts I can manifest to express the rhizome synthesis consciousness.