Category: Gift Economy

Access to Contexts

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.

Mutually Empowering Rhizome

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?

meaning through shared realities

———- 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.

Build up of mutually empowered critical mass of prosumers ?

———- 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.

see:

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.

local boundary spanning and convergence – stigmergy and emergence of intentional networks

I am interested in developing interconnected media facilitating a trans and meta overview ,

and if possible , also a dynamic relative overview ,

within and between ” intentional networks “.

Towards such an aim ,

I believe , at first , in using existing technologies , and then progressively build collected materials and position them towards each other , collectively , eventually implementing new applications and solutions to do so.

Let me explain my approach.

In the last 5 years , I have been hitch hiking all over europe , developing different perspectives , interacting and living with people from various backgrounds , while staying in touch with these people , and also with other emerging intentional networks , through the internet , using email , wiki s , mailing lists , social bookmarks , …

I quickly realized the need for two approaches , beyond convergence and exchanges in online environments , connecting online interaction with real world spaces and interaction :

on one hand , the need to facilitate the emergence of interconnected networks of individuals that apparently may be called
” boundary spanners “

( expressed in some old brainstormings such as ” Open World ” : http://oikoumene.coforum.net/OpenWorld

and on the other hand , convergence spaces , which may also be living spaces , where such boundary spanners can converge , live , and develop their projects , while feeling at home , or having the opportunity to have several places where they feel at home.

Also , during my travels , the decisions concerning my moves depended on the options that would come to me along communication channels in the networks of people I met , and on information  from the networks of individuals to which I connected to online ,

opening up several options to me , from which I would constantly re-actualize my alignment of options ( several options making it possible to attract me rather in one part of europe at a certain time of the year , rather then another , according to the capacity to open up new opportunities , meet people , converge resources , and the efforts invested )

I would also use email to facilitate efforts of ” stigmergy ” with my networks of friends throughout europe ,
and optimize the opportunity and connection making through my hitch hiking low budget moves , by connecting with people along the way according to common interests , or complementary interests , I would feel.

Other important factors in my travels being the potential for having inconditional opportunities for reality sharing – feeling more often that I had more such chances in certain places in eastern europe then in western europe , as western europe , especially in its big cities , seemed to have its social organization based on much more conditional reality sharing.

After an estimated 300 000 km hitch hiking , I feel it is time to find opportunities to increase the resource base , and find ways to converge more effectively , using some of my experience , and try to implement the understanding and broader view of interconnected / inter related pieces of ” puzzle ” I would see , and the potential for new synergetic , or eventually , emergent relation making processes.

I am now back in Brussels , my home town , and a major center of decision making in europe and in the world , itself being positioned in between other major decision making centers in europe , such as London , Paris , Amsterdam , the Ruhr Gebiet and Koln …

—

I woud like to start very simply.   I am happy to see that there are projects such as ” The Hub ” that are emerging , new hubs opening up accross major cities accross europe and the world , inspired on the Hub London s success.

I am somewhat sceptical of its business model , yet like to promote the development of such transdisciplinary convergence spaces.
( I still feel such model might still too much be aimed at maximizing income , even though some hubs might choose to be not for profit – I am also concerned about ownership and control of communication channels related to these convergence spaces , … etc … but thats another debate. )

—

Together with some friends , such as Synnove , we also discussed the development of ” Convergence shared living spaces “.

These might also combine with other more temporary convergence/living intentional network spaces , such as ” collectives ” of a few days , or a few months , such as the Couchsurfing or BeWlecome Collectives , or the 24 hour or 24 weeks projects the espians develop : http://wiki.espians.com/24_weeks

—-

In some of these projects , video , wiki s , and mailing lists are being used to facilitate collaboration between individuals from all over the world with convergence points such as collectives.

I would be interested in developing platforms , together with all other emerging technologies ,
that facilitate such collaboration ,

first at a local scale , such as at the scale of brussels ,

visiting different actors potentially sharing common or complementary projects and intentions ,

understanidng their needs and offers ,

and trying to position them by facilitating some ( audio-visual ) recordings , that would include meta tags ,

and facilitate the mapping of each of them towards each other.

I would also be interested , after using existing tools and mashing them together ,
while also using real world spaces , which can in effect also become ubiquitous as to interact with each other through the online communication channels and also through physical space , facilitating ” stigmergy ”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmergy

Ideally , grant makers , social entrepreneurs , researchers , people in the field , decision makers of all kinds , etc

can more eaisly allocate their efforts and resources , and collaborate with each other ,

not having to follow specific power structures of organizations , but directly working around common intentions ,
and optimizing the use of resources , facilitating also the understanding of mutual synnergies and the different inter relations ,
understanding priorities and how each element may further lead to new opportunities.

This would be complemented with data bases , and their immersive visualization – tools that still need to be developed , some of which I may briefly be detailing on

http://oikoumene.coforum.net/wikka.php?wakka=abstractobjectdimensions

————————

Another very important aspect I see to such emergence ,

is the inconditonality , towards common intentions.

Everyone does wat one can , and empowers each other , eventually leading to ones own empowerment through mutual emergence.

new forms of finance can emerge , including new forms of measurment , facilitated by the new holoptic capacity of such a intentional network.

By holopticism , I mean the capacity for everyone to see the bigger picture , and to evaluate as to better potion ones own actions and potential decisions in accordance to others , facilitating self regulation , in a non hierarchic way.

Everyone could be creative , and people having access to any kind of resource may decide to invest and donate to people working on various aspects of the broader intention ,

or on new understandings of opportunties that may rise into new initiatives and solution development.

—————-

For example , I might go and see various individuals , schools , universities, non governmental organizations , governmental political bodies , private companies , etc

and by documenting and inter relating each others needs and situations , make it easier for each of them to see potentials for synnergies , and new opportunties to create / solutions to develop together.

by doing so , some of them might see the ” value creation ” I can bring , and through a transparent donations platform ,
allow them to donate to me , while seing what my own living needs might be.

I can show , like in a video game , what my daily survival needs are , and how much of them might have been filled up within the next week or two , and if they want to support me , they may see for example that in one week time I do not have enough money to fulfill my estimated eating expenses , and they can decide to donate one or two euros – which then appears transparently on the online system.

more details about such a solution on

http://oikoumene.coforum.net/MagicHat

——–

So to start with , I would simply need to go and visit local actors , and help positioning them , by fiding out about a series of question that could facilitate such positioning , and eventuallymake some short audiovisual recording , which can then be meta tagged and inter related with all other potential recordings and pieces of information.

This can facilitate local meetings in the real world ,

and if it really creates value , it can be a first step for me to receive donations and survive ,
while not being told what to do , whitout having to work for anyone , and without needing to set up any specific legal structure of my own ( I hope – we will see )

I also look forward to further use and include tools , such as potentially the ones developed by Joe Edelman :

http://citizenlogistics.com/

Event : Sustainable Hospitality Exchange , Amsterdam , 27-29 June

http://www.opencouchsurfing.org/wiki/SHE

last weekend of June in Amsterdam (27-29 June)

” SHE also wishes to connect the praxis of
hospitality exchange to a wider framework of cultural exchange,
gift-economy, trust-metrics, sustainable traveling and living a joyful
life ”

more below …

also see the bewelcome collective , same place , same time ,

but on a longer period  :

http://www.bevolunteer.org/wiki/Amsterdam_BeWelcome_Collective

https://www.bewelcome.org/forums/s374-Amsterdam%20BeWelcome%20Collective

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kasper Souren
Date: Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 5:17 PM
Subject: Fwd: SHE wants you as a facilitator!

You heard about the SHE-conference? SHE stands for Sustainable
Hospitality Exchange and is a conference that organised during the
last weekend of June in Amsterdam (27-29 June). It is based in a local
former squat that can host a hundred people and more. The goals of SHE
is to increase exchange of knowledge on the different hospex-networks
around the world & foster debate and change.

SHE wants to be an open-space conference on topics related to
hospitality exchange. SHE wishes to enable face-to-face debates and
workshops on how these networks are run, on best-practices, on
volunteer-work, on empowerment, on community building and all other
related topics. In addition, SHE also wishes to connect the praxis of
hospitality exchange to a wider framework of cultural exchange,
gift-economy, trust-metrics, sustainable traveling and living a joyful
life because above everything SHE wishes to create the debate: what do
we mean with sustainable hospitality exchange?

In the end though, SHE is how you envision her. Look her in the eyes
and think what you could do with SHE! Imagine a space with
enthousiastic people who are very eager to hear about the history of
Hospitality Club, Couchsurfing & Bewelcome, as well as Servas and
other networks of hosp-exchange. Imagine an open podium, space for
art-installations & great food, a self-managed bar and lots of nice
people that want to live & learn by sharing.

SHE is curious to know if you are interested. SHE is really looking
forward to hear from people such as you to start thinking what you
would like to do with her. Would you for example like to facilitate a
workshop on any of the topics related to SHE? Or do you have any other
groovy ideas that SHE might benefit from? Of course you do!

Workshops that SHE is already envisioning are for example: experiences
on volunteer work, how to build up a local hospitality exchange
community, sustainable traveling and hitchhiking, trust, hospitality
exchange and money system, free software and coding, salsa, cultural
western-centrism, history of any given network, et cetera.

The space for SHE is already organised. It has lots of room for
plenary sessions & workshops. There are tables, chairs, a bar, a
dj-set and a podium as well. But SHE also already exists in
wiki-space. So why don’t you start getting into SHE? You can check her
out for more information. You can also edit the pages and give your
input straight away: http://turl.ca/sheconf

For now SHE is being facilitated by a small but committed group of
people who would love to hear from you. Please write SHE-assistants
Kasper (kasper.souren – at – gmail.com) or Robin (robokow – at – gmail.com) with
your ideas and forward this e-mail to good people.

Hope to hear from you soon!

SHE

"People are collectively participating in a system that is enslaving them."

<>
http://www.seek2know.net/money.html

( I found this last link through http://www.droppingknowledge.org/ questions list – more exactly: http://www.droppingknowledge.org/bin/posts/focus/10261.page – Is pusuit of profit/money or Life the goal here – by Atma )

also see

http://www.altruists.org/ideas/economics/

http://www.equilibrismus.de/

and other links ( including about alternatives ) I add to

http://del.icio.us/deliciousdante/Economy?setcount=100

http://del.icio.us/deliciousdante/AlternativeEconomics