Renaissance of the Commons
Cyndy of MouseMusings points us
to Renaissance
of the Commons, by Harvard Law's John Clippinger and David Bollier
a very long paper that describes the 'ghost dance' of our
intellectually and morally bankrupt culture, the desperate clinging to
antiquated and dysfunctional beliefs and denials of the grim reality
the culture has wrought. The authors explain that 'free market dogma'
is a form of fanatical belief that construes government and regulation
as inherently evil and inefficient, that has solidified into a
quasi-religious catechism and inviolate creed.
Drawing on a variety of work from the sciences, economics, anthropology
and social sciences, they argue that 'human nature' is ill-served by
the free-market dogma, and that the Internet, and particularly social
networking, are manifestations of true human nature: inherently and
instinctively collaborative, altruistic, built on trust and mutuality,
empathetic, collegial, non-hierarchical, sensory, psychologically
rooted in the natural interdependent ecosystem, and constructivist.
They argue as well that most competent economists realize that
free-market dogma is hopelessly simplistic and logically flawed -- that
a balanced economy is inherently better suited to optimize human
well-being than one based on untrammeled and unregulated 'free' markets.
What is emerging, due to thought- and action-leadership in all fields
of human endeavor, and evident especially in Internet-enabled discourse
and activity is a 'Renaissance of the Commons'. "Not only do these new
self-organizing, “bottom-up” networks of individuals arise
spontaneously without the customary “top-down” organizing apparatus of
a corporation, government agency or nonprofit, they tend to be much
more innovative and efficient than market mechanisms...Because
free-market dogma systematically fails to recognize the powerful
influence of social context, it fails to appreciate that its own
structure of property rights, contracts, enforcement, profit
incentives, etc., are sustained by a vast social apparatus and cultural
norms which entail huge agency and transaction costs. It is very
expensive for a company to offer high salaries to top management, hire
attorneys to draft contracts, go to court to enforce violators, and so
forth. But when leadership, coordination and motivation can be achieved
easily through self-synchronizing, self-enforcing means, gracefully
leveraging our natural social tendencies, why should anyone be
surprised that such a system of exchange will be more efficient,
effective and equitable than a market system? Communities of trust and
transparency can be fantastically efficient. The rise of the Internet
and various software systems are so powerful precisely because they
leverage people’s natural desire for meaning, trust and social
belonging – traits that free-market dogma cannot understand, but which
are deeply embedded in our evolutionary history."
They conclude: "The rudiments of a new citizen-based global culture are
sprouting up. But we must remember that the old rarely yields to the
new without a struggle. The new must be actively and imaginatively
built. That will require forging new networks of visionary thinkers and
bringing disparate disciplines together into new
conversations. It will require challenging the comfortable shibboleths
of free-market dogma and taking
new risks to develop a more accurate understanding of the human
species."
Very engaging reading and worth some serious study.
Collective Processes
Indigo Ocean has discovered Collective Processes,
a three-volume online guide to collecive work processes, consisting of
three parts:
- the effective conduct of collaborative and collective work
(what is consensus, how to make it work, and how to deal with
differences and subversions of the process)
- the application of the principles of collaborative and
collective work to the development of a model for global social and
environmental justice
- some pragmatic suggestions for creating a code of conduct
for some work, and applying it in practice
This is an exhaustive, well-reasoned and practical guide to building
consensus, and running an organization or body politic based on
respect, trust, egalitarianism and collective action. It is a valuable
companion to other materials needed to run or be part of a Natural
Enterprise or Intentional
Community.
Internet on the Road
Above the Fold reports
that you can now get broadband Internet connections -- and satellite TV
-- for your car, that works even when the car is moving. It's currently
cumbersome, large, and expensive, but it's the first prototype for what
I've been predicting
for the next decade -- portable always-on high-speed Internet access
that we'll all carry easily with us.
Larger, Cheaper, Sharper Flat
Screens
Another Above the Fold story
covers CNet's
report on carbon nanotube field effect display technology, and its
promise to provide much larger, lighter, and less expensive flat-screen
displays than today's technologies.
On a Lighter Note
Dan Greenburg's Expected Legislation from the President in last week's New Yorker is hilarious.
Egret photo by Ashly Schilling from the astonishing little-oak.net photoblog
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MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
