May 2011 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Fwd: Kosmos Journal Article on Free Culture
by Michel Bauwens 31 May '11

31 May '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Felix Stalder <felix(a)openflows.com> Date: Tue, May 31, 2011 at 3:57 AM Subject: Kosmos Journal Article To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> Hi Michel, My article "The state of free culture, 2011" is finally online: http://felix.openflows.com/node/182 Felix --- http://felix.openflows.com ----------------------- books out now: *|Deep Search.The Politics of Search Beyond Google.Studienverlag 2009 *|Mediale Kunst/Media Arts Zurich.13 Positions.Scheidegger&Spiess2008 *|Manuel Castells and the Theory of the Network Society. Polity, 2006 *|Open Cultures and the Nature of Networks. Ed. Futura/Revolver, 2005 -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

1 0

Open Decentralized Society
by Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis 31 May '11

31 May '11

I would like to inform you of a project I just started. It aims at decentralizing the flow of information. What this means is solve a very simple problem. Every day, each of us receives a lot of information. How do we evaluate their trustworthiness; Due to our necessary specialization to a specific kind of knowledge, we use our limited knowledge to evaluate the person rather than the information, ie we try to find people that are trustworthy rather than try to understand the subject we are not proficient with. But this leads us to the problem of whether we are able to evaluate a person we dont know. This project aims at solving this problem. By automating the word of mouth phenomenon, each person will be able to use friends of friends to judge that person instead of trying without result to judge him himself. This will give each person personalized information based on his trust relations, giving him full control of the flow of information he accepts ot rejects. I am looking forward at having someone review my ideas and proposing me with suggestions. I have looked at the problem from a mathematical point of view, but the most important concepts require a sociologist as you will understand by reading my idea. You will find my idea at http://opensociety.referata.com . If you think you can help, dont hesitate to contact me. ps. I have also created a new Economic model that could be the economic basis for the Open Hardware and Manufacturing movement, but I will disclose more information after someone has reviewed the previous. Yours, Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis

2 1

Re: [P2P-F] How the 'ecosystem' myth has been used for sinister means
by Michel Bauwens 31 May '11

31 May '11

very useful Andy! On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 2:21 PM, Andy Robinson <ldxar1(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hiya, > > Oh, wonderful... another Hobbesian critique of autonomy... just what > the world needs :-( > > The theoretical error here is confusing the idea of self-organising > networks with the much more widespread, older, and more insidious idea > of a natural order. The ideas are similar in that they both posit a > certain form of organisation which, if realised and then left to its > own devices, will be stable. Where they differ, is that the old idea > of natural order implies some kind of equilibrium model. In fact if > we want to trace this idea we have to go at least as far back as > Aristotle, who also believed that everything in the world has a > 'natural' function and if everything fulfilled its function, the world > would be a harmonious order. > > Of course this view is very helpful for the process known as > 'naturalisation' in discourse analysis: taking a contingent social > fact and insulating it from critique by declaring it to be 'natural' > (gender relations, heteronormativity, racial hierarchies, poverty, > class differences and so on). The trick is that the 'natural' > situation still has to be actively socially constructed, and relies on > hierarchy and violence to keep it in place. This is what's going on > in the South African case discussed. > > Hence the criticism is conflating self-organising networks with the > equilibrium model of natural order, and the use of naturalisation in > discourse. A self-organising network is neither of these things for > two reasons: 1) by definition it does not require a hierarchy to keep > it in place, 2) it is a complex system and not a fixed order, ranking > or equilibrium. (That's not to say that complexity theory doesn't > have its own skeletons in the closet - TBH I was expecting at least > some reference to the sins of cybernetics here - Curtis isn't doing > his research as well as he might). > > The 'Green movement = Romanticism' or 'Green movement = conservative > views of natural order' trick has been pulled many times before. > There was a certain love of the countryside and concern for > conservation in pro-peasant Romanticism and rural aristocratic > conservatism, but it's not much like Green thought, because the vision > of nature is radically different, so too is the politics, and anyway, > the main concern is with the virtues of peasants or aristocrats - > conservation is almost an afterthought, keeping the rural folk in > their 'natural environment'. It's possible to write a history of > ecological concern in that direction, but it's also possible to write > one which goes through Morris, Kropotkin and other figures of the left > (even Marx talks about alienation from nature). > > Note also that if we're playing reductio ad hitlerum (South Africa > count as Nazi?), this author's stance can just as easily be debunked > the same way, i.e. people who believe nature is a Hobbesian chaos > quite often end up as control-freak eugenicists and ecocidal maniacs > (Herbert Spencer comes to mind); people who believe social movements > need strong organisation and leadership are repeating what the > Stalinists did in Russia, and are going to shoot us like partridges or > betray us like in Spain; the view of power as definitive in social > life is shared with Carl Schmitt, who of course is a Nazi, etc etc. > Seriously, an authoritarian Hobbesian does not want to start that > particular game, particularly when arguing with anarchists (who are > measurably the furthest possible one can be from Nazis on political > compass - guaranteeing that whoever is using the argument is closer). > > The part of the article on Biosphere is a grotesque misreading... all > that it shows is that scientists don't (yet) know enough about how the > elements in an ecosystem interrelate to be able to build an ecosystem > at this level of complexity. Maybe this is a case for further > scientific research, maybe it's a case for trusting local knowledge > over modern science when dealing with complex local systems. I'd add > that scientists *have* created homeostatic ecosystems in jars > involving only a handful of species (I've seen one on display in a > science centre). Here we are: > http://www.mlms.logan.k12.ut.us/science/BioJar.html Hence very bad > attempt to discredit a concept. > > Old leftists are very twitchy about the newest wave of social > movements - if not downright hostile, and it's always attached to this > same kind of suspicion that 1) they don't realise the need for > discipline/authority/strong organisations and 2) they're really > Thatcherites in disguise, too caught-up in self-expression to do > 'serious' politics'. It's really the same as the objections of old > rightists, which far more explicitly whine about lost authority and > the breakdown of values and how 'selfish' people are and 'in my day > they'd all have been hung from the railings by their gonads'. The > leftist version is an echo of the same discourse, with the same > objections to contemporary society and its social movements. I think > it's partly a psychological problem and partly a generational problem. > In fact there was a characteristic of the old pre-60s 'consensus' > which has broken down, a kind of unquestioning acceptance of authority > and discipline, and to someone who still believes in this lost world > of proto-fascism which was shattered by the 60s rebellions, the New > Left and New Right look strangely similar. Hence the tropes we see > here: new social movements = irresponsible individualism and refusal > of normativity, autonomy = managerialism, social movements need > discipline to be effective (instrumentalism vs expressionism), and a > world without a strong boss to tell everyone what to do isn't going to > work because the world just doesn't work that way goddamnit it'd be > anarchy. > > It's a product of a desire for a strong 'trunk' and arborescent > structures which is either a psychological disposition (think either > 'Authoritarian Personality' and 'Fear of Freedom', or else maybe > certain Myers-Briggs types), or a learnt cultural disposition which > these people are having trouble unlearning (this is what they were > socialised into, they were 'good subjects' then, and they hate the > fact that they're not 'good subjects' any more, even though they've > always just about played by the rules they were socialised into, that > for them are 'just the way it is'). I've seen it a thousand times, it > comes up whenever networked protest groups or direct action or the > Black Bloc or subcultural deviance or any freedom vs collectivism > dispute comes up, and it's almost identical in structure every single > time. It's not a good idea to take it too seriously, because these > types seem pre-programmed to be unreflexive about the origins of their > own assumptions, and therefore are unable to justify their selection > of this particular set of assumptions - it isn't a conscious choice, > it's a reflex. > > The real struggle now is not within the old industrial economy (old > right vs old left) but within the new > creative/informational/precarious economy (new right / new Third Way > vs new left / newest social movements), and the way these kinds who > want to go back to the old industrial economy relate to this struggle > is invariably reactionary: their 'need' for greater order is met by > the right-wing side of the current struggle, and they're therefore > drawn into it on the 'wrong' side, even if precariously so. > > bw > Andy > > > > On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 6:40 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > Sam, > > > > I hope you survived the tornado? > > > > I hope some of our participants can react to this very interesting > challenge > > from Adam Curtis in the Guardian, > > > > Michel > > > > On Sun, May 29, 2011 at 9:50 PM, Kevin Flanagan <kev.flanagan(a)gmail.com> > > wrote: > >> > >> How the 'ecosystem' myth has been used for sinister means - Adam > >> Curtis - Guardian > >> > >> When, in the 1920s, a botanist and a field marshal dreamed up rival > >> theories of nature and society, no one could have guessed their ideas > >> would influence the worldview of 70s hippies and 21st-century protest > >> movements. But their faith in self-regulating systems has a sinister > >> history > >> > >> > >> > http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/29/adam-curtis-ecosystems-ta… > >> > >> Episode 1 of his current documentary is up on youtube > >> > >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX5jImWRREc > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> P2P Foundation - Mailing list > >> http://www.p2pfoundation.net > >> https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation > > > > > > > > -- > > P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - > http://blog.p2pfoundation.net > > > > Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: > > http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation > > > > Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; > > http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

2 2

Fwd: [gang8] The debt overhead: capital accumulation or an autonomous dynamic?
by Dante-Gabryell Monson 30 May '11

30 May '11

excerpted from message below : " to get economists and many economic reformers to see that the financial system is decoupled from the production-and-consumption economy. It is autonomous. " may be an interesting starting point to overlap with " Michel points out that “With the bursting of the internet bubble there was Big crisis. No more money. But instead of stopping innovation accelerates. Now why?” http://p2pfoundation.net/Gordon_Cook_Interviews_Michel_Bauwens *///////////////////////* further excerpts from message below : " Most Third World debt represents accrued interest – not necessarily unpaid interest, but new bank loans to enable debtors to pay the interest. This is what Hyman Minsky called the Ponzi stage of the financial cycle. " " The ECB demands that governments (“taxpayers”) in Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal take full responsibility for making good on the bad loans and reckless speculation of banks, so that wealthy and institutional investors who placed their credit and fortunes behind such schemes would be saved from having to take any loss. In such cases it is preferable to drive even national economies into bankruptcy. Mass poverty appears merely as an “externality” to financial fortune hunting at the top of the economic pyramid. " ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Hudson <michael.hudson(a)earthlink.net> Date: Mon, May 30, 2011 at 4:28 PM Subject: [gang8] The debt overhead: capital accumulation or an autonomous dynamic? To: GANG8 <gang8(a)yahoogroups.com>, Dear Gang, It seems almost impossible for me to convince Marxists and Georgists that the debt burden is NOT an accumulation of capital representing high profits (causing under-consumption) or land rent, but that debts can accrue — becoming creditor “savings” -- without any surplus at all. How to make this clear? Here’s my attempt so far. When the Merchant of Venice Antonio owed Shylock a pound of flesh, he had a debt, but there was no surplus – no substance – out of which to pay. His ship failed to come in. And it even was a zero-interest loan. (Friends did not charge interest in polite aristocratic ages.) There was a debt, and it was owed to Shylock – who made his surplus by lending money to merchants, who made it by trade. (There was little wage labor as yet, and not much mortgage lending.) Other creditors made loans to government – against taxes that were levied on basic commodities, or the land, or charged as user fees for public monopolies (transportation), or achieved in war by looting to pay off the creditors. That is how the first Crusade was organized, after all: The Doge of Venice advanced funds to the Crusaders, in exchange for a quarter of the loot. This was not a surplus. One could argue tautologically that loot had to be produced as a surplus before. But the volume of loot was independent from the volume of debt that came to be erected. If all debt reflected an existing surplus, then somehow it could be paid. But the problem is that many debts can’t be paid – except by eating into the bone, NOT the surplus. The Greeks rioted because the Socialist government was threatening to take away their livelihood to pay the bankers – as Brown’s Labour Government sought to do to Iceland, and as Spain’s Socialist Government was trying to do. Yet it is hard to get economists and many economic reformers to see that the financial system is decoupled from the production-and-consumption economy. It is autonomous. Many Marxists imagine that the financial crisis represents an “accumulation of capital” in excess of investment opportunities because of profit that employers squeeze out of wage labor. This is over-accumulation, or under-consumption – a failure of Say’s Law and the circular flow, as Keynesians and classical economists alike would say. There is over-accumulation of capital in the production sphere,” as one Marxist friend of mine puts it. All finance capital – and its interest revenue – is squeezed ultimately out of wage labor. Marx went to great lengths to speak of M-M' avoiding the basic M-C-M'. Suppose that labor were indeed paid “its entire product.” Then it would have an economic surplus. It might use this to buy the first criterion of status in today’s world: a home in a nice neighborhood with good schooling. It then would buy trophies, cars – on credit, at interest. I hear much the same kind of argument from followers of Henry George. They believe that “all interest comes from land rent.” The economic surplus is attributed to land rent – or as some admit, to other forms of economic rent, most notably monopoly rent, e.g. of the radio broadcasting and communications spectrum, phone systems, patented seeds and technology, etc. Yet what is left out is the unique banking and financial monopoly – that of credit creation. The great majority of debt that is owed does NOT imply a primary surplus produced by the “real” production-and-consumption economy on which most economists focus – and even most Marxists, Georgists and others. Today’s financial system is autonomous from the “real” economy. Marxists say But now, debt is created freely on computer keyboards. And once there is debt, it accrues interest. There have been times in history when creditors have helped economies organize a surplus out of which to pay interest. The papacy in the 13th century enabled Britain to pay Peter’s Pence and other tribute by creating a market for wool in the Low Countries (Belgium and Holland), which wove it into textiles and tapestries to sell to Romans. So the Roman economy paid the Netherlands for handicrafts, and they paid the British farmers who paid the government to pay Rome. That was the 13th-century circular flow. The World Bank and IMF wee supposed to help Latin America, Africa and Asia create viable economies to pay back World Bank loans and those of its global commercial bank clients. But the “development policy” was too shortsighted, too geared to financing foreign dependency on U.S. farm exports, and northern hemisphere industrial products. The EU’s relationship to its indebted member countries has made almost no contribution to the economic surplus at all. Its behavior has been purely predatory on the part of German, Dutch and French bankers, acting as their collection agent. “Bailing out” Greece and Ireland is simply a means of making these bankers whole for loans that have gone bad. The loans have been created largely on computer keyboards – or were pure gambles, in the case of derivatives. A gamble on a horse race, on the direction of interest rates, on the national lottery, or on foreign currency exchange rates does not require a surplus. Horse betters may have their kneecaps broken if they don’t pay, but it would be tautological to call their kneecap a form of surplus (although it was produced by eating food, which was produced on the land – and sold by stores employing wage labor, and so forth). This occurs regardless of a surplus. An unpaid bill becomes a debt. A mortgage that goes unpaid accrues interest, late fees, penalties and related charges – mostly pseudo-charges for foreclosure and other “services” provided by bank subsidiaries in today’s vertically integrated financial world. Most Third World debt represents accrued interest – not necessarily unpaid interest, but new bank loans to enable debtors to pay the interest. This is what Hyman Minsky called the Ponzi stage of the financial cycle. The ECB demands that governments (“taxpayers”) in Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal take full responsibility for making good on the bad loans and reckless speculation of banks, so that wealthy and institutional investors who placed their credit and fortunes behind such schemes would be saved from having to take any loss. In such cases it is preferable to drive even national economies is into bankruptcy. Mass poverty appears merely as an “externality” to financial fortune hunting at the top of the economic pyramid. __._,_.___ Reply to sender<[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20The%20debt%20overhead%3A%20capital%20accumulation%20or%20an%20autonomous%20dynamic%3F>| Reply to group<[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20The%20debt%20overhead%3A%20capital%20accumulation%20or%20an%20autonomous%20dynamic%3F>| Reply via web post<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gang8/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxa2o1OXEyBF9TAzk3MzU5N…>| Start a New Topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gang8/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlcmxudWE1BF9TAzk3MzU5N…> Messages in this topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gang8/message/15909;_ylc=X3oDMTM2ZXFjYzkxBF9T…>( 1) Recent Activity: Visit Your Group<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gang8;_ylc=X3oDMTJldWlia2FiBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BG…> The gang8 list is devoted to Creditary Economics. To unsubscribe, email: gang8-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com [image: Yahoo! Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJkcGs4YmFtBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzEyM…> Switch to: Text-Only<[email protected]?subject=Change+Delivery+Format:+Traditional>, Daily Digest <[email protected]?subject=Email+Delivery:+Digest> • Unsubscribe <gang8-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . __,_._,___

1 1

Re: [P2P-F] project kachikachi (ARS Electronica 2011)
by Michel Bauwens 30 May '11

30 May '11

Dear Sepp, Leopold is asking to spread his idea, which I don't fully understand at present based on the blog. Could you look into it, in order to write a little presentation for the p2p blog? Michel I entered a last minute project at ARS electronica dealing with the >>> global nuclear threat. >>> As starting point for launching the project I created two Weblogs: >>> http://kachikachi.wordpress.com/ (Englisch) >>> http://kachikachide.wordpress.com/ (Deutsch) >>> >>> Please spread the idea to get a lot of contributions. >>> >>> regards, Leopold >>> -- >>> Leopold Zyka >>> Pfarrwiesengasse 11/1/11 >>> A-1190 Vienna >>> Tel.: 0699 1024 1032 >>> >> >> > > > -- > P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net > > Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: > http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation > > Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; > http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens > > > > > > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

5 8

Fwd: News and opinion From: Marxist-Humanist Initiative
by Michel Bauwens 30 May '11

30 May '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Marxist-Humanist Initiative <mhi(a)marxisthumanistinitiative.org> Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 5:07 AM Subject: News and opinion To: MHI Information <mhi(a)marxisthumanistinitiative.org> May 16, 2011 Dear Friend, In New York City, we attended a May Day demonstration for labor rights and immigrant rights with some 10,000 people, perhaps half of them Latino. The rally also called for solidarity against Islamophobia and condemned Congressman Peter King's racist investigation of U.S. Muslims. Immigrants’ rights groups and Left Latino parties brought out a lot of people, including Chinese, Filipinos, and others in addition to Latinos. The major unions didn’t come, but a number of smaller unions did––the ones that immigrants tend to belong to, if they are lucky, such as the laborers and the asbestos workers unions, i.e., workers with the most hazardous and worst paid jobs. Some immigrants spoke about the terrible conditions under which they worked before their workplaces were unionized. That part of the rally was good. Not so good were the speakers who said exactly what we criticized in the flier we distributed in English and Spanish ( both copied at the end of this letter): unrealistic analyses of what's wrong with the economy, and blind faith that we can change things by being united and trying hard enough. I hope you’ll look at the editorial and stories about Libya and the other Middle East revolts that we have posted on our web publication, *With Sober Senses <http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/our-publication>.* We believe our political and historical analysis of why we advocate support for the rebels while opposing U.S./NATO intervention is an important contribution on this difficult and contentious issue. We welcome comments on it and every article. In other news, we’re glad that Osama bin Laden is dead, but we’re nervous that pro-U.S. hysteria whipped up by his killing could translate into support for continuing the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan and Pakistan that is killing civilians every day, as well as continuing the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. News reports seem, however, to show Americans saying, “OK, now that we got Bin Laden, let’s pull our troops out!” A supporter of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA<http://www.rawa.org/>) looked at seven recent polls (from before bin Laden was killed) and found that sentiment in favor of the U.S. getting out of Afghanistan ranged from 58% to 73%. We completely support Afghan feminist and human rights heroine Malalai Joya’s <http://www.malalaijoya.com/dcmj/>call to aid the Afghan people in opposing what she terms their *three* enemies: the U.S. occupation, the Afghan government, and the Taliban and warlords. MHI members have long attempted to re-orient the moribund U.S. anti-war movement towards people-to-people solidarity with those fighting for secular democracy and the rights of women and workers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we were glad to hear her speaking to Americans again recently. MHI also continues to engage in debates with other Leftists over whether capitalism can be reformed so that it substantially and sustainably improves the lives of the masses of people––we think not. We just attended the Historical Materialism-NYC conference; an audio recording of Andrew Kliman’s talk on the precarious state of the capitalist economy, and the lively discussion that followed, is posted on *With Sober Senses<http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/economic-crisis/audio-kliman-on-th…> *. Please also check out the amendments we’ve made to our organization’s Principles<http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/philosophyorganization/statement-o…>and By-Laws<http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/philosophyorganization/by-laws-of-…>. The changes are designed to make clear that we welcome Members and Supporters from around the world (see requirements for applying in the By-Laws), and that we will endeavor to provide them with electronic means to participate in MHI discussions. We hope you will consider actively supporting our ideas. In Solidarity, Anne Jaclard, Organizational Secretary, MHI http://www.marxist-humanist-initiative.org *MAY DAY 2011: U.S. WORKERS AND IMMIGRANTS FIGHT FOR* *JOBS AND PAY WHILE CAPITALIST ECONOMY STAGNATES* * * * Excerpts from an editorial in Marxist-Humanist Initiative’s on-line publication, With Sober Senses: **(* http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/mhieditorial/mhi-editorial-support…<http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/mhieditorial/mhi-editorial-support…> ) The capitalist system has shown itself over and over since the Great Depression of 1929 to be prone to crisis and unable to change the way it operates in order to benefit working people. We believe it must be uprooted and replaced with a different system. Yet much of the U.S. Left continues to advocate and plan its reformation. *It is time for the Left to face economic reality. It needs to give up unworkable, populist calls to solve administratively–within capitalism–problems that are inherent in capitalism. * Consider these non-solutions to the austerity required by this moment of capitalism. “Tax the rich” won’t do it as long as the rich can move themselves and their businesses out of states with high taxes. The slogan “Money for _____, not for war” is also popular (fill in the blank with jobs, schools, housing, etc.; we hear one of them at every demonstration against budget cuts). Even were there some prospect of stopping war within the capitalist system, the resulting “peace dividend” would not be nearly enough money to finance *all* the programs that the Left demands be funded. There is simply not enough money available to government for it to supply all of people’s needs. And of course, no amount of spending could transform capitalism into a humane system. Look at the European social-democratic countries which have greater social services than the U.S. but still retain alienated labor in the workplace, and keep in mind that capitalism can *only *function by extracting the maximum labor from workers while paying them the minimum that it can get away with. To the extent that unionized government workers have decent pay and benefits, they only constitute an “elite” when compared to low-paid private sector workers such as those in industries whose unions have been broken over the past 30 years. But even unionized work places today frequently go along with owners’ demands for give-backs and pay freezes under the threat of businesses closing down. * * *Even if a strike is won, the workers will always have to repeat the fight over and over in the future. We of course support workers’ resistance to employer, education, and government service cuts, but we do so without pretending that workers’ lives will substantially and permanently improve within the current economic system. The failure to say this loud and clear is to mislead working people.* * * *As *recent empirical studies<http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/a-crisi…> * **have shown,* workers’ pay and benefits have stagnated because the economy has stagnated**.* Neither workers’ share of corporate profits nor their real wage and benefits packages have decreased, in spite of the tale told by much of the U.S. Left. That tale goes that greedy capitalists are squeezing larger and larger shares of profits out of workers. The facts, instead, are that workers’ wages and benefits reflect a long-term low rate of profit. *By refusing to face and discuss these facts, much of the Left is fostering the illusion that workers’ resistance alone can substantially and permanently better their lives, i.e., that capitalism can be reformed. Meanwhile, the “new normal” of lower pay, high unemployment, and fewer government services is being established on the ground.* * * *To those who think that replacing capitalism is unrealistic, we ask: what is the point of devoting your life to lesser goals, when reforming capitalism has definitely proved to be unrealistic? We urge you instead to join in the theoretical working out of a real alternative, so that significant help is ready when workers’ resistance turns into revolt. * ** **See* Marxist-Humanist Initiative’s booklet, *The Persistent Fall in Profitability Underlying the Current Crisis: New Temporalist Evidence<http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/literature/the-persistent-fall-in-…> ,** *by Andrew Kliman. * * * *PRIMERO DE MAYO 2011: OBREROS ESTADOUNIDENSES Y INMIGRANTES LUCHAN POR EL EMPLEO Y LOS SALARIOS MIENTRAS LA ECONOMIA CAPITALISTA SE ESTANCA* *Extractos de un editorial en la publicación en internet de la Iniciativa Marxista-Humanista, With Sober Senses: ** http://www.marxist-humanist-initiative.org* El sistema capitalista se ha demostrado una y otra vez desde la Gran Depresión de 1929 a ser propenso a las crisis y no puede cambiar la forma en que opera con el fin de beneficiar a los trabajadores. Creemos que capitalismo debe ser arrancado y reemplazado por un sistema diferente. Sin embargo, gran parte de la Izquierda EE.UU. sigue aporando y planear la reforma de ese sistema. *Es hora que la Izquierda afronta a la realidad económica. Es necesario renunciar a las demandas inviables y populistas para resolver administrativamente––dentro del capitalismo––los problemas que son inherentes al capitalismo.* Considere la falta de soluciones a la austeridad requerida por la situación actual del capitalismo. "Impuestos a los ricos" no va a funcionar siempre y cuando los ricos se pueden mover a sí mismos y sus negocios fuera de los estados con altos impuestos. El lema "Dinero para _____, no para la guerra" es también muy popular (llene el espacio con puestos de trabajo, escuelas, viviendas, etc; escuchamos uno de estos en cada manifestación en contra de los recortes). Incluso si hubiera alguna posibilidad de detener la guerra dentro del sistema capitalista, el "dividendo de paz" no sería suficiente dinero para financiar *todos* los programas deseados por la Izquierda. Simplemente no hay suficiente dinero disponible para el gobierno para todo las necesidades que la gente requiere. Además, por supuesto, ninguna cantidad de gasto podría transformar el capitalismo en un sistema humano. Mira a los países socialdemócrata que tienen más servicios sociales de los EE.UU., pero aún conservan el trabajo alienado en el trabajo, y tener en cuenta que el capitalismo sólo puede funcionar mediante la extracción de la mano de obra máxima de los trabajadores, al mismo tiempo, pagando el mínimo posible. En la medida en que los trabajadores sindicalizados del gobierno tienen un salario y beneficios decentes, ellos solamente constituyen una "élite" en comparación con los trabajadores del sector privado con salarios bajos como los de las industrias cuyos sindicatos se han roto en los últimos 30 años. Pero aún los lugares de trabajo sindicalizados hoy van con frecuencia a lo largo de las demandas de los propietarios para concesiones de los sindicatos y congelación de los salarios bajo la amenaza de cerrar los negocios. *Aun cuando una huelga se gana, los trabajadores siempre tendrán que repetir la lucha una y otra vez en el futuro. Por supuesto que apoyamos la resistencia de los trabajadores a los recortes salariales y recortes en los servicios de educación y gobierno, pero lo hacemos sin la pretensión que la vida de los trabajadores será sustancial y permanente mejora en el sistema económico actual. La falta de decir esto alto y claro es equivalente a engañar a la clase obrera.* Recientes estudios empíricos han demostrado* que los salarios de obreros y beneficios se han estancado porque la economía se ha estancado. Ni la parte de obreros de las ganancias empresariales, ni su salario real y paquetes de beneficios han disminuido, a pesar de la historia contada por gran parte de la izquierda EE.UU. Esa historia dice que los capitalistas están exprimiendo un porcentaje creciente de las ganancias de obreros. Los hechos, en cambio, son que los salarios de los trabajadores y los beneficios reflejan un bajo índice de ganancias en la largo plazo. Al negarse enfrentar y discutir estos hechos, gran parte de la izquierda está fomentando la ilusión de que la resistencia de los trabajadores sólo puede substancial y permanentemente mejorar sus vidas, o que el capitalismo puede ser reformado. Mientras tanto, la "nueva normalidad" de los salarios más bajos, el alto desempleo, y menos servicios del gobierno se está estableciendo en el suelo. *Para los que piensan que el capitalismo siendo reemplazado es poco realista, les preguntamos: ¿cuál es el punto de dedicar su vida a menores objetivos, cuando la reforma del capitalismo definitivamente ha demostrado ser poco realista? Le instamos en lugar a unirse en la elaboración teórica de una alternativa real, por lo que ayuda significativa estár listo cuando la resistencia de los trabajadores se convierte en revuelta.* * Consulte a *The Persistent Fall in Profitability Underlying the Current Crisis: New Temporalist Evidence,<http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/literature/the-persistent-fall-in-…> * por Andrew Kliman. ** -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

1 0

Fwd: China : "Many farmers grow their own food separately from the chemically-raised crops they sell"
by Michel Bauwens 30 May '11

30 May '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 7:07 AM Subject: China : "Many farmers grow their own food separately from the chemically-raised crops they sell" To: econowmix(a)googlegroups.com "Many farmers grow their own food separately from the chemically-raised crops they sell. "I feel there is nothing safe I can eat now because people are in too much of a hurry to make money," said Huang Zhanliang, a farmer in Hebei." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/17/exploding-watermelons-chinese-f… -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

1 0

Re: [P2P-F] Solutions article on: How Defining Planetary Boundaries Can Transform Our Approach to Growth
by Michel Bauwens 30 May '11

30 May '11

strongly recommend the planetary boundaries approach, the last paragraph states that solutions journal will be dedicated to the details of global commons institutions .. Michel On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 3:16 AM, Solutions Journal < solutions(a)thesolutionsjournal.com> wrote: > [image: Solutions Logo] <http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/> > > *How Defining Planetary Boundaries Can Transform Our Approach to Growth<http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/935> > **by Will Steffen, Johan Rockström, Robert Costanza* > [image: Solutions Logo] <http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/935> > > Are there limits to our planet’s ability to absorb human activity? The > authors specify nine areas that need planetary boundaries and explain the > steps we must take to live within them. > > Visit us online at www.thesolutionsjournal.com > [image: Subscribe Now] <http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/subscribe> > > FOLLOW US > <http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Solutions-Journal/141002349354><http://twitter.com/SolutionsMag><http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2349132> > > *Solutions* is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. > > [image: Solutions] <http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/934> > > *Teaching Happiness: The Prime Minister of Bhutan Takes on Education*<http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/934> > *interviewed by Dahlia Colman* > > With a shift to democracy in 2008, many in Bhutan are worried about the > consequences of increasing globalization and modernization. Now, Bhutan’s > first prime minister is attempting to radically transform the country’s > education system to fight materialism and promote the values that lead to > true prosperity. > [image: Solutions] <http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/930> > > *Harvesting Utah’s Urban Winds*<http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/930> > *by Cathy L. Hartman, Edwin R. Stafford, Sandra Reategui* > > Despite wind power being one of the largest growth industries in the energy > sector, many wind energy projects are struggling to win approval from local > governments and communities. This piece describes the struggle to build the > first urban wind farm in Utah and offers lessons for how to win local > support for alternative energy. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Unsubscribe: > https://www.lists.pdx.edu/lists/listinfo/solutions#subscribers > > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

1 0

Fwd: 2 min video - (Astro)Turf Wars: How Corporate America is Faking a Grassroots Revolution
by Michel Bauwens 30 May '11

30 May '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, May 25, 2011 at 6:54 PM Subject: 2 min video - (Astro)Turf Wars: How Corporate America is Faking a Grassroots Revolution To: econowmix(a)googlegroups.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8k66kB4Zn8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing *Astroturfing* is a form of advocacy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy> often in support of a political <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics> or corporate agenda designed to give the appearance of a "grassroots<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassroots>" movement. The goal of such campaigns is to disguise the efforts of a political and/or <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And/or> commercial entity<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_personality> as an independent public reaction to some political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event. The term is a derivation of AstroTurf <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AstroTurf>, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass. Astroturfers attempt to orchestrate the actions of apparently diverse and geographically distributed individuals, by both overt ("outreach", "awareness", etc.) and covert (disinformation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation>) means. -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

1 0

Fwd: [fcforum] CreationMix
by Michel Bauwens 30 May '11

30 May '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Camille Harang <mammique(a)yooook.net> Date: Wed, May 25, 2011 at 7:32 PM Subject: [fcforum] CreationMix To: fcforum(a)list.fcforum.net Hi all, I drop you an tiny message about the launch of the CreationMix platform. It is directed by Lawrence Lessig and funded by Joi Ito (CEO of Creative Commons), it proposes the hosting of CC licensed content, and optionally their monetization (by waiving some restrictions on an ad hoc basis). I invite to you to discover it (and, why not, upload some of you creations) there: http://creationmix.com/ Cheers, Camille. -- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly under Creative Commons! https://yooook.net/r/lp1 ----- + info http://list.fcforum.net/wws/info/fcforum ------- -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

1 0