September 2014 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

the end of euro-centrism, by rajani kanth
by Michel Bauwens 07 Sep '14

07 Sep '14

*The Final Hour* The Doomsday Clock, for all species that inhabit this earth, was set into motion only with the arrival of the European as a Force in World History. The planet had mustered an ill manner of maladroit equipoise - despite the tyrants , East and West, that come and go with such monotonous, and ill-fated, regularity in the iniquitous annals of the universal Archetype of Patriarchy. However, all of them, even taken together, could not have hoped, in their wildest orgies of despoliation, to even dream of approximating the realities of the all-Extirpating scourge that Europe , in its Modernist Avatar, in its unseemly haste to streak straight from barbarism to decadence, unleashed upon this world. The *modus* of ‘Modernism’ it invented and embraced – and which rules us all today, East or West - robbed the Species of little choice other than to go further and further along that path of collective self-immolation. *To iterate the obvious, when I make reference to the ‘European’ , I am always denoting their governing orders - not the hoi polloi, who , like all subalterns, scramble but for the crumbs , material and ideological, that fall off the regal table.* The extraordinary thing is that, to this day, these worthies remain all but unaware of their incredibly apocalyptic , historical ‘mission’. This might appear surprising - until one fathoms the underlying mystery. Unlike, say, their Eastern counterparts the genius of the European has always lain in precision-mapping of all things: *especially in their micro-domains*. Here , I must interject a *caveat:* this prepossession, whilst a generic trait, is far more pronounced amongst the *Anglo-American* *genre* than , say, in their German or Latin cousinages. So, the ‘*Big Picture’* is not, in the first instance, their real concern: Anglo-Saxon , empiricist, pragmatism has a taste, nay a fascination, for ‘facts’ , rather than grand theory: so they dig deep, and like moles, stay stupefyingly immersed, up to their gills, in the dirt of the datum. This has many obvious benefits, which we associate, in sum, with the Hesperian “Way of Life’ that dominates the globe today. But it comes at quite a prohibitive cost. *Put metaphorically, they crave Knowledge, as it gives them Power: but not the Wisdom that might confer Felicity*. In antipodal contrast , is the Vedic tradition of Ancient India - which imbues all knowledge , *ab initio and post-factum* - with the pervasive spirit of a perennial *wisdom.* You both begin and end with the ‘*big picture’* in the* latter*: not so, in the *former*. The latter project , in other words, is , ever, a *moral *undertaking: the former, only a *material* one. *Thereby the former are unable, in effect, to arrive at an intrinsic, ‘implicate’, comprehension of the Whole.* Indeed, *morality* (being always *societal)* is constituted at the level of the whole, not its parts: so our Micro-modelling geniuses cannot put it all together*, speaking metaphorically, *any more than they could patch-up Humpty Dumpty*, post factum, *, at time deferred. Stated differently, the Cartesian ‘mechanical ‘ metaphor simply fails with organic entities. The (Modernist) Enlightenment researcher, in his/her ‘value-free’ *cum* materialist garb, was appropriately ‘color-blind’ with respect to perceiving the *moral cement* binding societal entities .This might help explain why Adam Smith *, e.g.,* is lauded very widely for his *Wealth of Nations* tome , but few even recall his *Moral Sentiments *work. To underline the critical import of this ‘difference’: the nuclear bomb cannot be built, or even thought of, in the one world: but it comes about all too easily in the other. (ii) EuroModernism effectively begins with the adoption of *materialism* as its guiding metaphysics : wherein its supernal success – and abject failure. Since this stance is openly flaunted as a *virtue,* not least by ‘progressive’ trends within it (*e.g.,* Marxism), I will not expend time in establishing the fact. More interesting ,perhaps, might be to indicate why this happened. The ‘Reformation’ paved the way for *Modernist Greed*: this could only be done by wholly demolishing the Late Christian ideology of the *ancien regime.* So classical Christianity (Canon Law, *e.g.)* , of a monist-idealist bent, was swiftly subverted , and stood on its head, with a banal ,materialist calculus replacing it. But it is even more profound than that. When *gemeinschaft *was dismantled, with it fell the* moral *economy upon which it rested: the new ‘*social contract’* notions of society (*i.e.* the *gesellschaft* form) could only conceive of society as a ‘*balance of interests’*, rather than a ‘*balance of affections’ (i.e.*, care, consideration, *etc*.) - it is in this pivotal moment that the *‘material’ economy* replaced the more ancient, and *anthropic *, mode of social* being*. Given that Europe became *Modernist*, in this sense, far ahead of others, it embarked upon the road to ruin well before the rest. *Morality is not an arbitrary episteme, a ‘choice’ as Modernism views it: it emanates , in fact, from our anthropic being, , as an ontic necessity.* *Its eternal provenance is the need for secure child-rearing (at once, both a natural and social necessity) in the warring warren of what I have elsewhere termed the ‘paradigm of masculinity’*. Given that women are the first providers of infant needs, universally, it falls to them to be the *prime custodians of morality (i.e*. , the guarantors of the security of the newborn). *Indeed, the first moral (at once natural and social) relationship is the mother-and-child one.* *So , the ‘material economy’ inhabits the arena of masculine drives (greed, power) , whereas the ‘moral economy’ lies in the hinterland of feminine hospitalities (nurturance, care-giving).* The broad distinction between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ domains corresponds to this divide. *So, Morality is the gift of Women, much as Politics is the bane of Men.* Prior to the advent , and domination, of EuroModernism , even the material economy was , if only partially, offset by the persistent demands of the moral one. But with its outright triumph, it erodes, in straight line depreciation, to the point where , now, in the US, it has virtually negated any signs of the moral economy - outside of the vanishing residual of the nuclear family. As I have stated in earlier posts, the US is, in most regards, now an *amoral,* *Post-Human* Society: which is the ‘face of the future’ of all Modernist formations of today. Now, as for *materialism* itself , in this age of Quantum Physics, there is no necessity for proffer of argument (I have detailed its *lacunae* in previous posts) : *it is, very simply stated, bad physics, faulty philosophy, and shabby morality*. Poignantly, in the words of Arthur Schopenhauer "...materialism is the philosophy of the subject who forgets to take account of himself”. And, as I have written in previous posts, it is in the *degree and intensity* of this paradigm of materialism that Europe, since the inception of Modernism, differs, portentously and prophetically, from *All *species of the *Other.* (iii) The nascent EuroModern economy leeched off all domains that it could annex: women’s labor at home, serf , slave, and wage-labor, abroad. It is this * primal annexationism, *beginning in the Sixteenth century, that explains its hypertrophic growth to *giantism* in the Twentieth Century. The gap between Europe and *Non*-European societies was not the painfully negative one it was to become - at the *start *of this process. One has only to gauge the pathetic riches of, say, England, in the 16th Century, in relation to that of the Indian Sub-Continent, to understand this in all its dark poignancy. It was Expropriation of all *Other *worlds that ‘created’ the *First World,* in its mature form in the Twentieth Century, despite the tendentious posture of benign concern for the former affected today by the North Atlantic powers(even whilst bombing, occupying, and looting them, wily-nilly!). And what a saturnalia of accumulation that was! That lurid history covers the holocaust of genocide, colonial looting , slavery, and confiscation , where Europe ran riot throughout the world in an orgy of pillage, piracy , and plunder never before seen on the globe. Messrs . Attila and Genghis appear but mere village pick-pockets, and small-time hoods, in comparison. That same process gave the European that very current *elan *of being the Law-giving , ultimate “Masters of the Universe’ imprint that is such a hallmark of that ilk - as they still go about dismantling regimes, destroying nations, and debilitating cultures , globally. (iv) *Strike One* of EuroModernism was, as described in the foregoing section, the debauchery of *Other *domains of economy and society, both domestically and abroad (England*, e.g.,* colonized its hapless Celtic neighbors even whilst subduing foreign lands) . *Strike Two,* is the very *Late Modernist* one, inaugurated by the Reagan-Thatcher Anglo-Am set of Policy Initiatives that , essentially, in *self-cannibalising* fashion , undermines , today, the very basis of Modernism - *via *its ‘revised’ manifest of illimitable greed *at any cost*. *Partly*, this is to point to the quick transition from rampant *immorality* to the chilling *amorality* as was achieved , say, in the Post-WWII period. As anthropic beings , we are either moral or immoral: but *amorality* is a Euromutation of apocalyptic significance that surfaces first in the Anglo-Am formations. Not only is the *self-cannibalising* extant within the social economy, in Late Modernism , it is paralleled also in the systematic ‘deconstruction’, *i.e.* annulment, of anthropic traits that the ‘civilising’ process (where it exists) effects over time. It means we are engineering, stolidly, a new generation of robotized, crypto-humanoids that will, fittingly, inhabit the urban wastelands that Late Modernism is ‘creating’, with such breathtaking neglect, in its own decrepit backyards. But, mostly, I am referring to the entire set of *Neo-Liberal Strategies* that ended up empowering the most *parasitic* forms of capitals – such as* finance* – over the traditionally more societally useful, and productive, ones :to the point where the domestic economy is longer a primary base for sustainable *productions.* The US , with its financially crippled middle-class, its demobilized, and demoralized, quasi-labor force of a part-time, itinerant, and non-benefited ‘under-class’ , and its fast-dwindling, traditional workforce, set against an all-powerful , all-appropriating, corporate, Financial Oligarchy is both a case in point, and a regressive ‘model’ for others. *Rentier* Capitalism, or the *regime of coupon clippers,* can only survive, bubble to bubble, tenuously , on Financial scams and Ponzi schemes, crisis to crisis. *The system survives, precariously, today, on the continuous circulation and re-circulation of ever-escalating debt: *with industry shipped off abroad, and jobs with it, with the consumer base thereby radically attenuated, the Anglo-Am economies are held together, increasingly, only by this ever growing mass of indebtedness - public , private, and foreign. As it is , we are now teetering on the brink of a collapse, or series of collapses, of the various mini asset-bubble economies. The Fed’s propping of gold, control of interest rates, and pumping of liquidity into banks has mollified a stricken system thus far – if at grievous taxpayer expense. But the familiar salves of wars, sabre-rattling, and domestic repression cannot stave off the inevitable crash of Late Modernist economies (that are technically bankrupt already). So the EuroModernist world has, by now, and in these very times, reached the tail end of its overly long tether. Indeed, few systems have tried harder to win the game of *self-subversion.* (v) The choice before the world is , thereby, stark, and grim. If the Late Modernist rollercoaster is not halted, and *reversed ,* in form and content, soon, we all go over the abyss into a zombie world already at the draft and design stage. Is there a fate worse than extinction? Yes, there is. The implacable misanthropes who pushed the nuclear button , back in the mid-twentieth century, can quite easily do so again. And that would, of course, end it all - for much that inhabits our little corner in space. *But if they didn’t* - and actually succeeded in getting the world to bail them out with yet more blood and sacrifice, *then what lies ahead is little short of a dire dystopia that decisively punctuates, maybe even terminates, our long history of Anthropic Evolution.* I am referring to the nouvelle, sci-fi, *TransHuman* world that latter-day Dr Frankensteins and Dr Strangeloves are busy concocting, in their hidden laboratories, albeit far from public scrutiny. Late Modernism achieved the *Post-Human* Society as its choice contribution to anthropic *devolution.* *Strike Three of Modernism will be the TransHuman Society that will halt about 200, 000 years of our anthropic existence.* This *emergent techno-industrial complex* will, predictably, take-off, once every last vestige of real resources has been monopolized, and every nation reduced to vassalage to the North Atlantic Hegemons. *It will , very likely, transfer the Transgenic processes applied thus far to plants and animals to humans,: *and internalize , quite literally, the new *genre* of bio-tech innovations - to clone a new class of androids and cyborgs, according to corporate taste and inclinations. Projects of molecular nanotechnology all-purpose ‘assemblers’, reanimation of cryogenically suspended patients, uploading of human consciousness to virtual reality: these are all , but a few of the ominous ideas that are being seriously examined and discussed, some even within the nether realms of Academe. *Much the same way that nuclear devices were first conceived of, then produced, and then deployed, so will the new human robotics , now being avidly researched, even at public expense*, be put to early, and diabolic, ‘use’. *So, the bionic species is only , I suspect, but , a few decades away, if the current genre of Corporatism is allowed free rein.* Once again, it will be the ever dependable North Atlantic Anglo-Ams that will pioneer and lead this fateful, even fearful, technology: so, with the characteristic twist of a Greek tragedy, they who spearheaded the Modernist cataclysm will now oversee perhaps , what may well be, the *Final Hour of the Species.* Of course, it will all be marketed (as was the case with transgenic crops) as but the newest means to eliminate poverty, hunger, sickness - and the rest of the slew of cravenly dissembling shibboleths of public policy parlance. One can only hope there is , out there, some merciful *’god-being’* to stop them, and in time - if we can’t do it for ourselves. Indeed, If IT doesn’t exist, we may well have to invent it. For, they that set off the Doomsday Clock appear determined to make it , *asap,* entirely , and permanently, superfluous. -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [Commoning] Fwd: [transcollab] Fwd: [Blockupy International] Brussels meeting Sept. 26th/27th - Reminder with detailed info and proposed agenda
by Michel Bauwens 07 Sep '14

07 Sep '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Orsan Senalp <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, Sep 7, 2014 at 8:51 PM Subject: [Commoning] Fwd: [transcollab] Fwd: [Blockupy International] Brussels meeting Sept. 26th/27th - Reminder with detailed info and proposed agenda To: commoning <commoning(a)lists.wissensallmende.de> Begin forwarded message: *From:* Anton Haffner <anton.haffner(a)googlemail.com> *Date:* 7 Sep 2014 15:27:28 GMT+2 *To:* transcollab(a)lists.so36.net *Subject:* *[transcollab] Fwd: [Blockupy International] Brussels meeting Sept. 26th/27th - Reminder with detailed info and proposed agenda* *Reply-To:* transcollab(a)lists.so36.net In addition to the call and general invitation for a Blockupy&Beyond meeting in Brussels that Orsan has forwarded over this list already, there is now more precise information on accomodation, travel reimbursements etc available. It would be great to see some of you there. I think the discussions there might also help to find a better understanding of where the Agora process might be headed. See for yourself and feel free to spread the call! Best, Anton +++ please spread the word to your networks, contacts, comrades +++ *Updated information for the open assembly in Brussels on Sept. 26th/27th **(for info see also pdf file)* *For building together a transnational space of initiative for a Europe from below - through, against and beyond current Europe* *Invitation from Blockupy International to all movements, networks and organizations* Dear friends, comrades, activists, In the summer the Blockupy International coordinating group called for an open assembly in Brussels on September 26th/27th – a call for building a transnational space of initiative for a Europe from below. A space to collectively examine the current phase of economic, political and social life in times of "post austerity“+ its narrative, on transnational politics and the possibilities for radical change; a space to strategically debate our practices and proposals for building common initiatives, for framing our heterogeneous struggles within and against the newly consolidated EU crisis regime and the „new exploitation regime“? We know there are many attempts to link struggles across borders and to create a transnational resistance. We recognize that different networks across the European space are facing similar limits and contradictions. We do think it is time to turn this situation into a political opportunity – and therefore want to repeat our invitation to all of you to come to Brussels and join the meeting (for the call see the attachment or go to: http://blockupy.org/en/3866/blockupy-international-invites-european-movemen… . Many of you already responded to that call – we are happy how many of you expressed your interest – even if the concrete information at that time was limited. This is wonderful! With this email we therefore not only want to repeat out hope that many of you still can join the meeting. But we are also, eventually, sending the detailed information about the meeting – the time frame and location, possibilities of accommodation and reimbursement of travel cost, and the proposal of the agenda (see for that also the attached pdf file). Please read the following lines carefully + spread the word within and beyond your networks. And please confirm your participation – especially if you need accommodation and/or support for the travel costs – *until September 15th.* ð Please send all emails/confirmations to: international(a)blockupy-frankfurt.org We are very much looking forward to that opportunity to discuss with many of you all these and other questions, to have a space to get to know each other better and to develop common strategies. See you or hear from you soon Corinna (for the international Blockupy group) *Updated information for the open assembly in Brussels on Sept. 26th/27th **(see also as pdf file) * *For building together a transnational space of initiative for a Europe from below - through, against and beyond current Europe* For questions/all confirmations please write to: international(a)blockupy-frankfurt.org *I. General Information: Time frame, Location, Language* *Time frame* We will start Friday, September 26th at 6.30 p.m. (until 9 p.m.) and will continue on Saturday, the 27th from 9.00 am until 5 p.m. *Locations different) for Friday and Saturday* a) The meeting on Friday will take place at the Maison de la Paix Rue Van Elewyck 35, 1050 Ixelles/Brussels Room Rosa Luxembourg https://maps.google.be/maps/ms?msid=200922095939554547901.0004bad003dd58b74… b) The meeting on Saturday will continue at Bruxelles Laique asbl. Avenue de Stalingrad 18, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgien ( https://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=Avenue+de+Stali…) *Language and communication* Our main language of communication will be English. However, we will provide simple technical equipment for translation if needed. However, it needs to be self-organized. *II. Accommodation* There is accommodation (for free) for up to 50 people from Friday to Saturday night (in a hostel in central Brussels). ð Those of you who need or want to be accommodated there please let us know as soon as possible – the latest date to let us know is *September the 15th* so that we have an overview and can make arrangements for sure. When we know for sure on September 15th whether we need more beds, we will organize something. *III. Travel costs – possibilities of reimbursement* We have (limited) funds for travel reimbursement. With the support of the following delegations from the *Gue/NGL: DIE LINKE. im EP, Podemos and **’Altra Europa con Tsipras* we are able *to provide reimbursement for one person per network/group/organization/region *for sure. Whether there is more for each group depends on the numbers and travel costs all in all. Therefore it is crucial to let us know your need of reimbursement not later than September 15th. ð For a fair distribution to all groups *we need you to let us know until September 15th (the latest) your participation + need of travel reimbursement* (incl. the price of the ticket). When we have an overview of all those who need reimbursement, we will know whether there is room for more tickets than just for one “delegate”. ð Please also indicate your network, group, organization, and region. And do not forget to include your contact details (email/phone number). ð However, it is reimbursement of a ticket (flight, bus, train). You have to buy the ticket yourself and will be reimbursed *after* the meeting in Brussels. You will get the form in Brussels, please keep the original tickets/boarding passes for reimbursement. *IV. Agenda of the Brussels Meeting* *Friday September 26th* *6:30 pm - Welcome and coming together* Warm up and self-presentation of the participants: current activities and future initiatives of networks, organizations and groups under the context of consolidation of the EU crisis regime. Greetings by a member of the GUE/NGL group of the EP. *(End of the evening approx. 9:00 pm. Afterwards feel free to continue the meeting in an informal way.)* *Saturday September 27th* *9:00 am - Introduction to the discussion* Introduction to the meeting: the Blockupy process and the meaning of the open meeting invitation *9:45 am - Plenary discussion: Crisis regime, „post austerity“ and ways to radical change* Discussion on the current phase of economic, political and social life in times of "post austerity“ narrative, on transnational politics and the possibilities for radical change: How can we frame our heterogeneous struggles within and against the newly consolidated EU crisis regime/a „new exploitation regime“? *(**Based on the amount of participants, the discussion could be organized splitting up in smaller groups.**)* *12:30 pm - Lunch break* *1:30 pm - Workshop discussion: Common discourses and common actions* 1. Towards a „road map“ of networks against austerity policies/crisis regime/exploitation regime: In which ways we can connect the different activities, narratives, practices and meeting points as a common process? 2. Towards the Blockupy blockade of the ECB: Relevance and coordination of disobedient actions against austerity. *(The first workshop could be split, based on the results of the plenary discussion.)* *3:30 pm - Plenary Discussion: Next steps of mobilization* Discussion of the workshops' results and shared decisions: Which points are to be continued during the working groups of the Blockupy Festival in November? Which key practices are to be strengthened after the meeting? *(End of the meeting 5:00 pm)* <Call for meeting Blockuyp September eng. doc.pdf> <20140904_General information on Brussels meeting Sept 2014.pdf> --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: transcollab-unsubscribe(a)lists.so36.net For additional commands, e-mail: transcollab-help(a)lists.so36.net _______________________________________________ Commoning mailing list Commoning(a)lists.wissensallmende.de http://lists.wissensallmende.de/mailman/listinfo/commoning -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [transcollab] Fwd: [Blockupy International] Brussels meeting Sept. 26th/27th - Reminder with detailed info and proposed agenda
by Orsan Senalp 07 Sep '14

07 Sep '14

> From: Anton Haffner <anton.haffner(a)googlemail.com> > Date: 7 Sep 2014 15:27:28 GMT+2 > To: transcollab(a)lists.so36.net > Subject: [transcollab] Fwd: [Blockupy International] Brussels meeting Sept. 26th/27th - Reminder with detailed info and proposed agenda > Reply-To: transcollab(a)lists.so36.net > > In addition to the call and general invitation for a Blockupy&Beyond meeting in Brussels that Orsan has forwarded over this list already, there is now more precise information on accomodation, travel reimbursements etc available. > It would be great to see some of you there. I think the discussions there might also help to find a better understanding of where the Agora process might be headed. > See for yourself and feel free to spread the call! > Best, Anton > > +++ please spread the word to your networks, contacts, comrades +++ > > > > Updated information for the open assembly in Brussels on Sept. 26th/27th (for info see also pdf file) > > For building together a transnational space of initiative for a Europe from below - through, against and beyond current Europe > > Invitation from Blockupy International to all movements, networks and organizations > > > > Dear friends, comrades, activists, > > In the summer the Blockupy International coordinating group called for an open assembly in Brussels on September 26th/27th – a call for building a transnational space of initiative for a Europe from below. > > A space to collectively examine the current phase of economic, political and social life in times of "post austerity“+ its narrative, on transnational politics and the possibilities for radical change; a space to strategically debate our practices and proposals for building common initiatives, for framing our heterogeneous struggles within and against the newly consolidated EU crisis regime and the „new exploitation regime“? > > We know there are many attempts to link struggles across borders and to create a transnational resistance. We recognize that different networks across the European space are facing similar limits and contradictions. We do think it is time to turn this situation into a political opportunity – and therefore want to repeat our invitation to all of you to come to Brussels and join the meeting (for the call see the attachment or go to: http://blockupy.org/en/3866/blockupy-international-invites-european-movemen…. > > Many of you already responded to that call – we are happy how many of you expressed your interest – even if the concrete information at that time was limited. This is wonderful! With this email we therefore not only want to repeat out hope that many of you still can join the meeting. > > But we are also, eventually, sending the detailed information about the meeting – the time frame and location, possibilities of accommodation and reimbursement of travel cost, and the proposal of the agenda (see for that also the attached pdf file). > > Please read the following lines carefully + spread the word within and beyond your networks. And please confirm your participation – especially if you need accommodation and/or support for the travel costs – until September 15th. > > ð Please send all emails/confirmations to: international(a)blockupy-frankfurt.org > > We are very much looking forward to that opportunity to discuss with many of you all these and other questions, to have a space to get to know each other better and to develop common strategies. > > See you or hear from you soon > > Corinna (for the international Blockupy group) > > > > > > Updated information for the open assembly in Brussels on Sept. 26th/27th (see also as pdf file) > > For building together a transnational space of initiative for a Europe from below - through, against and beyond current Europe > > > > For questions/all confirmations please write to: international(a)blockupy-frankfurt.org > > I. General Information: Time frame, Location, Language > > Time frame > > We will start Friday, September 26th at 6.30 p.m. (until 9 p.m.) and will continue on > > Saturday, the 27th from 9.00 am until 5 p.m. > > Locations different) for Friday and Saturday > > a) The meeting on Friday will take place at the > > Maison de la Paix > Rue Van Elewyck 35, 1050 Ixelles/Brussels > Room Rosa Luxembourg > > https://maps.google.be/maps/ms?msid=200922095939554547901.0004bad003dd58b74… > > b) The meeting on Saturday will continue at > > Bruxelles Laique asbl. > > Avenue de Stalingrad 18, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgien > > (https://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=Avenue+de+Stali…) > > Language and communication > > Our main language of communication will be English. However, we will provide simple technical equipment for translation if needed. However, it needs to be self-organized. > > II. Accommodation > > There is accommodation (for free) for up to 50 people from Friday to Saturday night (in a hostel in central Brussels). > > ð Those of you who need or want to be accommodated there please let us know as soon as possible – the latest date to let us know is September the 15th so that we have an overview and can make arrangements for sure. When we know for sure on September 15th whether we need more beds, we will organize something. > > III. Travel costs – possibilities of reimbursement > > We have (limited) funds for travel reimbursement. With the support of the following delegations from the Gue/NGL: DIE LINKE. im EP, Podemos and ’Altra Europa con Tsipras we are able to provide reimbursement for one person per network/group/organization/region for sure. Whether there is more for each group depends on the numbers and travel costs all in all. Therefore it is crucial to let us know your need of reimbursement not later than September 15th. > > ð For a fair distribution to all groups we need you to let us know until September 15th (the latest) your participation + need of travel reimbursement (incl. the price of the ticket). When we have an overview of all those who need reimbursement, we will know whether there is room for more tickets than just for one “delegate”. > ð Please also indicate your network, group, organization, and region. And do not forget to include your contact details (email/phone number). > ð However, it is reimbursement of a ticket (flight, bus, train). You have to buy the ticket yourself and will be reimbursed after the meeting in Brussels. You will get the form in Brussels, please keep the original tickets/boarding passes for reimbursement. > > IV. Agenda of the Brussels Meeting > > > > Friday September 26th > > > > 6:30 pm - Welcome and coming together > > Warm up and self-presentation of the participants: current activities and future initiatives of networks, organizations and groups under the context of consolidation of the EU crisis regime. > > Greetings by a member of the GUE/NGL group of the EP. > > > > (End of the evening approx. 9:00 pm. Afterwards feel free to continue the meeting in an informal way.) > > > Saturday September 27th > > > > 9:00 am - Introduction to the discussion > > Introduction to the meeting: the Blockupy process and the meaning of the open meeting invitation > > > > 9:45 am - Plenary discussion: Crisis regime, „post austerity“ and ways to radical change > > Discussion on the current phase of economic, political and social life in times of "post austerity“ narrative, on transnational politics and the possibilities for radical change: How can we frame our heterogeneous struggles within and against the newly consolidated EU crisis regime/a „new exploitation regime“? > > > > (Based on the amount of participants, the discussion could be organized splitting up in smaller groups.) > > > > 12:30 pm - Lunch break > > > > 1:30 pm - Workshop discussion: Common discourses and common actions > > Towards a „road map“ of networks against austerity policies/crisis regime/exploitation regime: In which ways we can connect the different activities, narratives, practices and meeting points as a common process? > Towards the Blockupy blockade of the ECB: Relevance and coordination of disobedient actions against austerity. > > > (The first workshop could be split, based on the results of the plenary discussion.) > > > > 3:30 pm - Plenary Discussion: Next steps of mobilization > > Discussion of the workshops' results and shared decisions: Which points are to be continued during the working groups of the Blockupy Festival in November? Which key practices are to be strengthened after the meeting? > > > > (End of the meeting 5:00 pm) > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: transcollab-unsubscribe(a)lists.so36.net > For additional commands, e-mail: transcollab-help(a)lists.so36.net

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Fwd: Call for Chapter Contributions: Intimate Economies
by Orsan Senalp 06 Sep '14

06 Sep '14

Begin forwarded message: > From: Susanne Hofmann <s.hofmann(a)HOTMAIL.CO.UK> > Date: 6 Sep 2014 21:12:55 GMT+2 > To: CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: Call for Chapter Contributions: Intimate Economies > Reply-To: Susanne Hofmann <s.hofmann(a)HOTMAIL.CO.UK> > > > > CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTER CONTRIBUTIONS > > Intimate Economies: Bodies, Emotions and Sexualities on the Global Market > > Edited by Susanne Hofmann and Adi Moreno > > > > Intimate economies, based on the commodification of bodies, emotions and sexualities, have become high value-producing forms of exchange in contemporary global capitalism. New technologies in the areas of communication, transport and medicine have allowed new types of commodification producing new subjects and social relations between different actors in the global economy. In various parts of the world commodified intimate exchanges have experienced not only a diversification, but also a ‘new respectability’ as a result of which a broader range of subjects from a variety of social backgrounds now participate in commercial transactions, trading body parts or bodily substances, intimacy and sexuality. > > > > Our book is interested in exploring the interrelatedness of individual practices of self-commodification and contemporary technologies of the self, which are based on ‘free agents’ who ‘actively choose’ to sell body parts, access to their bodies and different kinds of emotional and intimate labour in the capitalist market, often subjugating themselves to new forms of control and exploitation. This book aims to analyse experiences of self-commodification in the context of the global political economy and wider processes of dispossession and disenfranchisement. > > > > We are seeking contributions which expand existing debates on neoliberal governmentality and intimate commercial exchanges, shedding light on how discourses of self-authorship and freedom of choice enable the masking of harsh realities of impoverishment, gross inequalities and economies of extraction, in which bodies and bodily capabilities from the Global South serve the needs and desires of the more affluent populations in the Global North. > > > > Papers are invited (but not limited to) for the following themes: > > · Intimate exchanges and market ideology > · Commodified forms of kinship and relationality > · Commodified sexualities / sex work > · Assisted reproductive medicine > · Commodified bodies and the organ trade > · Affective / emotional labour and neoliberalism > · Commodification of bodies / affect / sexualities and contemporary technologies of the self > · Bodies, the market and the state > · Migration, travel and bodies/ intimacy exchanges > > > Submissions are invited from across the social sciences, gender & sexuality studies, legal studies and economics. We are particularly interested in receiving contributions from the Global South. > > > > Interested contributors are invited to send a 1000 word long abstract by 1st November 2014 to int.eco.book(a)gmail.com. > > > > Important deadlines > > · Abstract submission by 1st November 2014 > · Full chapter submission by 15th March 2015 > · Resubmissions (after peer review) by 31st July 2015 > > Your chapter (of maximum 8000 words, including references and notes) will be peer reviewed by experts in your field and you might be asked to revise and resubmit your chapter. > > > > About the Editors > > Susanne Hofmann holds a PhD in Latin American Cultural Studies from the University of Manchester. She is a visiting researcher at the Gender Studies Centre (PAGU) of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Her main research interests are globalisation and transnational migration, the commodification of intimacy, affective labour, entrepreneurial subjectivities, neoliberalisation, and governmentality. She has published various articles on sex work in Mexico. > > Adi Moreno is a PhD Candidate from the Sociology Department, the University of Manchester. Her main research interests are assisted reproduction technologies and the global reproduction markets, queer kinship, the commodification of relationalities and late-modern subjectivities. > > > > Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us should you have questions with regard to the call or your submission. > > > > Kind Regards, > > > > Susanne Hofmann (Gender Studies Nucleus/UNICAMP): s.hofmann(a)hotmail.co.uk > > Adi Moreno (Sociology/University of Manchester): adimoreno(a)gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________ > Dr Susanne Hofmann > > PhD Latin American Cultural Studies > > Gender Studies Centre/PAGU > > State University of Campinas/UNICAMP > > Visiting Researcher > > > > See my blog: > http://susannehofmann.wordpress.com/about-3/ > Or follow me on twitter: > https://twitter.com/Susanne_Hofmann > > > > <CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTER CONTRIBUTIONS_final.pdf>

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Fwd: ZNet Commentary: Paul Street: Labor Day Reflections
by Michel Bauwens 05 Sep '14

05 Sep '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: ZCommunications <no-reply(a)zcomm.org> Date: Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 10:13 PM Subject: ZNet Commentary: Paul Street: Labor Day Reflections To: michelsub2004(a)gmail.com Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>. Paul Street: Labor Day ReflectionsZ Communications Daily Commentary The national United States holiday called Labor Day has for me traditionally been a time for reading on the beach, for saying goodbye to summer, and for reflecting on the history of workers and unions* [2]*. This recent Labor Day (two days ago) found me nowhere near a beach, but I did manage to spend some time looking for references to workers and unions in the pages of the passing summer’s surprise nonfiction bestseller – liberal French economist Thomas Piketty’s 685-page historical and economic tome *Capital in the 21stCentury* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> *.* Except for a brief opening reference to South African workers who struck and met deadly police violence in August of 2012, my search was fruitless. In his instantly heralded volume on the long history of economic inequality’s ebbs and flows (in which he shows that capitalism’s inexorable underlying tendency is towards the increased concentration of wealth) in the world’s richest nations, Piketty gives no discernible role or agency to workers, unions, labor parties, and working class struggle. The deletion is so complete that the index to *Capital in the 21st Century* doesn’t contain the words and terms “unions,” “trade unions,” “workers,” or “working class.” That is quite consistent with leading Marxist academician David Harvey’s criticism <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> of Piketty’s “mistaken definition of capital.” Harvey rightly describes capital as “a process not a thing … a process of circulation in which money is used to make more money often, but not exclusively through the exploitation of labor power. Piketty,” Harvey notes, “defines capital as the stock of all assets held by private individuals, corporations and governments that can be traded in the market no matter whether these assets are being used or not.” Workers’ absence is quite a glaring omission from Piketty’s subject matter. If Piketty thinks that labor history and the broader history of the working class and labor-capital struggle holds no bearing on the *long duree* patterns of wealth and income distribution under the profits system, he is badly mistaken. You cannot begin to fully understand historical wage and income patterns, the decline of inequality in the rich nations during the middle third of the last century, or the dramatic upward re-concentration of wealth and income over the last four decades (the long, so-called neoliberal era that is correctly understood by Piketty as a return to capitalism’s long-term anti-egalitarian norm) without “factoring in” workers and class struggle. It’s more than pure coincidence that the significant reduction in US inequality which took place between the 1930s and the 1970s took place alongside *the emergence and consolidation of an at first militant new mass-production unionism* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> .*[2]* And it is not for nothing that the US state-capitalist economic and power elite launched a “one-sided class war” (former United Workers President *Douglass Fraser* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>) against workers and unions – a top-down campaign that has reduced US union density (the percentage of US workers enrolled in unions) from *over 30 % in the 1960s to 11.3% (and below 7% in the private sector) today* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>– as an essential part of their effort to roll back “excess democracy’ and re-concentrate wealth and power since the 1970s. The deletion of workers, unions, and labor history is hardly the only significant flaw in *Capital in the 21st Century*. Piketty’s “masterpiece” (conservative French demographer Emmanuel Todd) is excessively long, tedious, and (consistent with its failure to include working-class people and their struggles) dull. To make matters much worse, Piketty’s “magisterial treatise on capitalism’s inherent dynamics” (elite academician Dani Rodrik) praises Western capitalism’s “modern economic growth” for having averted what he revealing calls “the Marxist apocalypse” (disparity and poverty so great as to usher in a communist revolution) but pays no serious attention to how “modern” growth-addicted capitalism is generating a real-life environmental apocalypse <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> right before our 21st century eyes. Piketty foolishly sees the failure and collapse of the Soviet dictatorships as events that discredit radical left anti-capitalism – as if serious left radicals <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> have ever thought that the Stalinist Soviet- bloc tyrannies represented a workers’ and peoples’ alternative to bourgeois rule. Piketty says he “ha[s] *no interest in denouncing inequality or capitalism per se* – especially since social inequalities are not in themselves a problem as long as they are justified, that is, ‘founded upon common utility,’ as article 1 of the 1789 *Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen* proclaims.” But what justifications of “common utility” can possibly be found in the extraordinary level of the socioeconomic disparity the profits system generates today? Just here in the US, where more than *16 million children – 22% of all children* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> *–* languish below the federal government’s inadequate poverty level, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 90% <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> and a probably comparable share of the nation’s “democratically elected” officials. *Six Walmart heirs* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> have more wealth between them than the bottom 40%. Between 1983 and 2010, the Economic Policy Institut <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>e has calculated, 74% of the gains in wealth in the U.S. went to the richest 5%, while the bottom 60% suffered a decline. This savage inequality comes courtesy of the class-based socioeconomic regime called capitalism, <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> a defining aspect of which is a constant underlying tendency towards the concentration of more wealth in fewer hands. It also comes from forms of elite business-class agency that Piketty does not come close to thoroughly examining. Last May, the left economist Jack *Rasmus rightly took Piketty to task* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> for missing two leading explanations for strikingly increased inequality in the US since the 1970s: “the manipulation of global financial assets and speculative financial trading” and the “reducing of labor costs across the board.” Focusing almost exclusively changes in the tax system (the third leading explanation by Rasmus’ account), Piketty ignores both the aforementioned top-down managerial class war and the remarkable proliferation and de-/non-regulation of financial instruments (credit default swaps and other complex derivatives and financial “innovations”). These omissions are part of why David Harvey is correct to observe <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> that *Capital in the 21st Century* “does not tell us why the crash of 2008 occurred and why it is taking so long for so many people to get out from under the dual burdens of prolonged unemployment and millions of houses lost to foreclosure.” What does the neo-Jacobin Piketty recommend in the way of solutions, so as to bring inequality back into the proper bourgeois-revolutionary boundaries of “common utility”? Proclaiming that that the standard liberal-domestic tax, spending and regulatory agenda is now ineffective in the face of capital’s planetary reach, he advocates a measure that is beyond the grasp of any currently existing national or international body: “a global tax on capital”– something Piketty candidly calls “a utopian idea” (*Capital in the 21st Century*, 515). Only such a worldwide levy “would contain the unlimited growth of global inequality of wealth,” Piketty writes. Given the monumental logistical and political barriers to the implementation of such a tax, it’s hard not to see Piketty’s heralded *Capital* as feeding popular pessimism about the existence of any alternatives to the United States’ drift into what former New York State Tax Commissioner *James Wezler* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> calls “a plutocratic dystopia characterized by wealth inequality approaching that of *ancien régime* France.” Piketty feeds the “de facto mental slavery” (*David Barsamian* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>) of our time: the widespread sense of powerlessness and isolation shared by millions of citizens and workers and the intimately related idea that there’s no serious or viable replacement for – and nothing much that can be done about – the dominant order. Given all this and more, including its oversized and tedious nature, why was Piketty’s *Capital in the 21st Century* such a big hit with relatively well-off, highly “educated” and supposedly “left”-leaning, bi-coastal US liberals this last spring and summer? Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, got to the heart of the matter last May, at the peak of the Piketty craze. In an email to Columbia University journalism professor Thomas B. Edsall, Baker wrote that “a big part of the appeal is that *it allows people to say capitalism is awful but there is nothing that we can do about it*.” The author of a comprehensive domestic policy agenda for reducing inequality, *Baker told Edsall* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>“that many people will feel that they have done their part after struggling through a lengthy book on economics, and now they can go back to their vacation homes and say it’s all a shame.” It takes a lot more time and energy to read Piketty’s *Capital in the 21st Century* than it does to vote for Barack Obama. Still, it’s hard to miss the parallel here. Like poking a ballot card for the fake-progressive president, purchasing (and maybe even working through some of) Piketty’s book seems to help some liberals think they’ve made a contribution to solving the world’s injustices even while it asks them to do nothing of substance to fight inequality and justifies that nothingness by suggesting that nothing much can be done anyway. *Paul Street’s new book is **They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy(Paradigm, September 2014)* <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> *Notes* 1. This is not to say that the first Monday in September is the most appropriate day for such reflection, historically speaking. It isn’t. May First is. For reflections on the reactionary business class considerations behind the official US Labor Day’s dating at the beginning of September rather than May 1st/May Day (the international workers’ day commemorating the Eight Hour Day Struggle in Chicago in 1886), see Ken Layne, “Labor Day is a Scam to Keep You Poor and Miserable Forever,” Gawker (August 30, 2013) <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>. Thanks to Matt Gardner for this source. 2. For an account of declining inequality in the mid-20th century US that is sensitive to the role of workers and unions, see Paul Krugman, *The Conscience of a Liberal* (New York, 2007), Chapter 3, “The Great Compression.” ZCommunications, 18 Millfield St., Woods Hole, MA, USA, 02543 Unsubscribe <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> | Manage Subscription <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> If you'd like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails click here <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/unsubscribe?upn=V-2FUUiW5KvBPNV-2FItFYsbuIFOqr58Na…> . -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: Why the NSP?
by Michel Bauwens 04 Sep '14

04 Sep '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Tikkun <info(a)spiritualprogressives.org> Date: Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 3:35 AM Subject: Why the NSP? To: Michelsub2004(a)gmail.com <http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1k2LZHXGvAW8KjFjPguMPtlG8JuSHv…> Why the Network of Spiritual Progressives? Just 2 months ago, I was living in Bellingham, Washington working as a collaborative divorce attorney, mediator, coach and trainer. I had a successful business contributing in a meaningful way to my local community. And I was engaged in local activism in various ways. Then I was offered an opportunity of a lifetime—to be executive director of the Network of Spiritual Progressives. When offered an opportunity to try to build a spiritually progressive social change movement for one-third the salary I was earning as an attorney, mediator and trainer, I jumped at the opportunity. So why would I walk away from a successful and enjoyable business contributing in a way I enjoy to take on a rather herculean task? More about that in a minute. First let me explain the political landscape as I see it. Here in the United States, there are thousands of wonderful local organizations focusing on either local issues or fighting against one or another form of injustice. And often they make contributions and progress to better the lives of some. But ultimately as activists spend hours and hours on end struggling to take out a right-wing bill or policy or win a lasting but limited victory (such as our gains in women’s rights and gay rights), global capitalists and the U.S. government emerge unscathed and continue to pound us with attacks that undermine all our efforts. Our government and the transnational corporate forces with which it is allied launch their attacks on social change struggles without any provocation at all or any care for the casualties of human suffering here and abroad. Meanwhile the tireless efforts of thousands upon thousands of people around the world continue to try to poke holes in the defenses of global capitalism—ultimately to no meaningful effect. Even when we win a few battles or a few rights, we do not change the larger context in which corporate power and right-wing ideology are becoming more abusive to the powerless, the middle class, and the earth that sustains and nurtures us. Choosing Hope over Despair I recently spent one day reading enough articles to leave me curled up in a ball on my bed feeling hopeless and powerless to change all the horror that is happening in the world. I first read a piece in the *New York Times* about prison guards beating mental health inmates while they were strapped to a gurney, even as mental health workers in the prison begged the guards to stop. Then I read about the Obama administration’s decision to send children who are fleeing Central American drug gangs back to their countries rather than accept them as refugees. I flipped through pages of bad news about Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, and finally turned my attention to the situation in Gaza. And none of this included pieces about the destruction of the environment—a looming cataclysmic disaster. And yet, staying in bed is not an option because there is work to do: work to change the world, to put forth and bring into the mainstream a different discourse—a discourse of love, kindness, and compassion rather than separation, “other-ing” and hatred. With each story about suffering and destruction, I am pulled to try to do something, and often when that happens I think I might want to join a local movement that focuses on one of the issues about which I am so deeply concerned (there are hundreds of them). And yet I notice that as those issue-focused groups work to stop some specific part of the harm that is occurring, things continue to deteriorate and more new struggles and issues arise. This is why I left the comfort and safety of my law practice to spend my time, energy, and life work focusing on a broader agenda—the transformation of our current bottom line to a new one, as put forth by the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP). Unlike local or issue-focused efforts, what the NSP offers is a worldview that promotes a New Bottom Line—one that judges the efficiency, rationality, and productivity of our institutions, government (and its policies), and corporations based not on the old bottom line of whether they maximize money and power, but instead assessing them on the extent that they maximize love and caring, kindness and generosity, empathy and compassion, social and economic justice, peace and nonviolence, and environmental sustainability, as well as encourage us to transcend a narrow utilitarian approach to nature and other human beings. The reasons I am focusing my energy on this broad vision are many. First, even as many wonderful organizations, activist groups, and communities organize to fight against fracking, coal exportation, prison violence, and environmental destruction, and to fight for immigrant rights, women’s rights, gay rights, and more, things are only getting worse. The more we try desperately to fill the holes in the dike, the more holes corporations and the ruling class blast through from the other side. We are swamped, overwhelmed, and drowning. We are losing the battle and need to join forces. Second, all these fabulous efforts have failed to unite together and put forth a different worldview than that promoted by the dominant discourse. Instead of seeing themselves as part of a larger movement, they operate as disparate pieces. It reminds me of imagining my body with all its parts not being contained by my skin—how would I make any progress in the world? I’d constantly be picking up the different parts and trying to get them to move forward one at a time! We desperately need a skin, a container to hold all these efforts together so that we can be more effective in our efforts. Third, we need a massive, popular social movement that puts forth a larger worldview of the world we want rather than reacting to what we don’t want. Returning to my body image, this reminds of my consciousness, brain, and heart. Sometimes my body reacts to attacks or threats, but often my body’s response is not particularly effective and sometimes it is downright inappropriate or harmful. But when I engage my brain, heart, and consciousness, then I can slow down, breathe, explore the possibilities, and see a larger perspective. From that place, I am able to envision in a pro-active, positive way how to respond in the most compassionate, empathic, powerful, and effective manner – not only in one area or on one issue, but to see a broader perspective and solutions. Instead of responding with hate or despair, I can offer ideas and solutions that are inspiring, innovative and creative. As Rabbi Lerner has said, “Martin Luther King Jr. did not motivate hundreds of thousands of people by saying ‘I Have a Complaint’!” King had a dream—and we at the Network of Spiritual Progressives also have a dream. We dream of a world where all human beings live in peace and harmony, live in alignment with the needs of each other and the planet, and treat each other with dignity and respect. We dream of a world where social and economic justice are the norm rather than the exception, and where we celebrate the awe, wonder, and radical amazement of this incredible universe in which we are lucky enough to float for one century if we are lucky. We can connect other disparate efforts with a unifying vision that will make each one and all us of significantly more effective. Instead of throwing ineffective stones or launching missiles, we can help people link what they are doing with what others are doing and together put forth a vision of a new society. Pursuing a New Bottom Line So what is getting in the way of this? Foremost, our own lack of belief that a New Bottom Line is possible. We have internalized global capitalism’s message that the only way we can survive is by looking out for ourselves, but in fact, if you look around the world, it is pretty obvious that we are not doing particularly well living in that paradigm. It’s time for us to tell and live a different story—one in which we actually do look out for each other, care for one another, practice generosity and love, see each other as embodiments of the sacred, and respond to the universe with awe, wonder, and radical amazement. In addition to putting forth the vision of a New Bottom Line, the NSP also has different projects that we are promoting: 1. Family Matters We are tired of the Religious Right claiming to promote Family Values while all the while creating policies and practices that undermine the security and safety of families and that limit who are considered a family. The ethos of materialism, selfishness, ruthless competition for scarce resources, and a theory that in the pursuit of success any manipulation or attempt to dominate others is legitimate - the lessons learned in the competitive capitalist marketplace and inscribed as the shared assumptions of most work environments - creates a mentality that inevitably undermines our capacity to see other human beings not for “what they can do for us” but rather as intrinsically valuable for who they are. It is this ethos of the marketplace that undermines loving relationships. It’s about time we in the progressive world became the real pro-family force, by exposing the contradictions inherent in the Right claiming to be pro-family while simultaneously embracing values that undermine rather than sustain love. 2. An Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment (ESRA) We are promoting a constitutional amendment that would ban all private or corporate money from federal and state elections (making them publicly funded and banning expenditures from any other source), require corporations with incomes over $50 million dollars to obtain a new corporate charter every five years, which they’d only get if they could prove a satisfactory history of environmental and social responsibility to a panel of ordinary citizens, and restructure our educational system so that courses on empathic communication, civic engagement, environmental sustainability, and learning to live in harmony with each other and the planet are required at every grade level k- through graduate school. 3. Generosity as a Strategy for Peace Our Global Marshall Plan would seek to enlist the major economic and industrial power-house countries in each year for the next twenty years to give 1-2 percent of their GDP to an international body that would seek to assist the people in developing nations to develop local community control of their own economic and political systems to eliminate global poverty, homelessness, lack of adequate health care, and lack of adequate education once and for all, and to do so in ways that are environmentally sustainable for the entire planet. It would also overturn economic arrangements and treaties sponsored by Western countries that have in effect destroyed local economies. 4. Transforming Work and Professions Many people want their work and professional lives to be filled with love, care, kindness, and generosity, yet again and again we see institutions, workplaces, and professions focused on the bottom line of money and power. As a result, consumers suffer and workers suffer too. The NSP is working to help people in various fields come together to envision how they can bring a New Bottom Line into their work and professional fields. 5. Peace, Justice, and Compassion for Israel/Palestine Network of Spiritual Progressives co-chair Michael Lerner has been at the forefront of those seeking to end the Israel/Palestinian conflict, and we at the NSP continue to advocate strongly for an end to the Occupation. Tikkun, the spiritual progressive magazine supported by the NSP, was one of the first U.S. publications to expose the horrors of the Nakba and the truth of what transpired in 1948 and since. The NSP is one of the very few organizations that is interfaith, bringing together Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists and every variant of secular-humanists, and openly pro-Israel and pro-Palestine both (because the only way to peace is a way that provides security and justice for both sides). The NSP seeks to affirm the humanity of both sides in face of the understandable but politically destructive path of trying to make one side the “righteous victim” and the other side “the Evil Other” (though admittedly in face of Israel’s brutality in Gaza this summer this position isn’t so easy to hold, yet we must if we want to actually change the situation rather than feeling our righteousness at being able to denounce “the bad guys” at any given moment). And the NSP has continued to introduce new ideas on Israel/Palestine into the public sphere by generating conversations in response to Michael Lerner’s book Embracing Israel/Palestine, which is unique in its historical and psychological understanding and explanation of the conflict and how best to solve it. Recently we have held conference calls with leading peace activists in both Israel and Palestine to learn about their efforts and to see how we can best support them. From these calls, we are putting together an activist training guide that includes steps that you can take to bring a new perspective to the discourse in your home, your community and the media. 6. Helping Youth Become Transformative Activists We believe that the youth of our world desperately want to be engaged in meaningful efforts to create a future that allows them to have a good life too, and we provide opportunities for them to promote the New Bottom Line in ways they find engaging and exciting. The Power Is In Our Hands We have a clear vision for how to move our world toward a politics of love and care, and we are already hard at work to turn that vision into a reality. We invite you to join us in casting off the ethos of scarcity and individualism that global capitalism requires and step with joy into a new understanding of the abundance and power that is already in our hands. To sustain this work, we do not need booby-trapped dollars from mega-corporations, centrist foundations, or oil tycoons. All we need is for the tens of thousands of people who already love and appreciate our work—including you!—to step up and contribute the equivalent of one hourly wage a month. This easy sliding scale is affordable for everyone because it is pegged to what you make. If you earn $10 an hour, then we ask that you donate just $10.00 per month for a year. If you earn or bill clients/patients $200 an hour (or the equivalent thereof), we ask that you donate $200 per month for a year. If you earn an annual salary of $40,000 per year, then (if you calculate a 40-hour work week) that amounts to approximately $20 per hour, so you would donate just $20 per month. We request a minimum donation of $5.00 per month for a year. (Of course you can donate a yearly lump sum equivalent if that is preferable for you.) In this way, without relying on corporate money, we can collectively step into our power, shake off our feelings of despair and powerlessness, and generate the resources we need to sustain this fight for a New Bottom Line into the coming year. Our Gifts to You Anyone who donates a minimum of $5 per month (or yearly equivalent as a lump sum) will receive the following gifts with their membership: o A yearlong subscription to *Tikkun*, an award-winning print magazine o *Radical Amazement*: a digital album of spiritual/progressive music (available in Fall 2014) o Holiday Guides: resources for breathing activist spirit into the holidays o The Network of Spiritual Progressives Songbook o Members Only Access Page If you donate $10 or more per month (or yearly equivalent as a lump sum), you will also receive a copy of Rabbi Michael Lerner’s book *Embracing Israel/Palestine*. And if you donate $15 or more per month (or yearly equivalent as a lump sum), in addition to all of the gifts above, you will also receive a copy of a second spiritual and progressive book from Tikkun. To join, click here <http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=04HCOKjRPWZsNj5mpGq229lG8JuSHv…> . Join Us We will be grateful for whatever amount you are able to contribute, even if it does not fall within this structure! But we would be deeply moved if, after reflecting upon the world you want to live in, you decide to join our collective movement to give up one hourly wage each month to sustain the NSP’s work to build a better world. Finally, if you are unemployed or otherwise genuinely unable to contribute, we still want to connect with you! Please look at the projects above and find one that interests you then email me, Cat Zavis, at cat(a)spiritualprogressives.org <cat(a)spiritualprogressives.org?subject=Re%3A%20Why%20the%20NSP%3F>, and I will help get you plugged in to our work, including helping you build a local contingency. We really cannot do this work without you. Thank you for stepping up to help us reach more people and do more wonderful work in the world! In solidarity, *Cat* Executive Director <http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OhZr1eeIhy1C8urtgoACH9lG8JuSHv…> ------------------------------ web: www.spiritualprogressives.org <http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Gy9pXfZ8IcnF0yhQyvr2yNlG8JuSHv…> email: info(a)spiritualprogressives.org *Click here to unsubscribe* <http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=V2djMBZfDJXiwGTNITqqENlG8JuSHv…> ------------------------------ Copyright © 2014 Network of Spiritual Progressives®. 2342 Shattuck Avenue, #1200 Berkeley, CA 94704 510-644-1200 Fax 510-644-1255 [image: empowered by Salsa] <http://www.salsalabs.com/?email> -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [climate09-int] NewDeal4Europe Info Issue 1 - 3 September 2014
by Anna 03 Sep '14

03 Sep '14

Please sign and circulate xx Begin forwarded message: > From: Nicola Vallinoto <nicola.vallinoto(a)gmail.com> > Date: 3 September 2014 14:24:45 BST > To: "info(a)newdeal4europe.eu" <info(a)newdeal4europe.eu> > Subject: [climate09-int] NewDeal4Europe Info Issue 1 - 3 September 2014 > Reply-To: Nicola Vallinoto <nicola.vallinoto(a)gmail.com> > > > > NEWDEAL4EUROPE INFO - Issue 1 - 3 September 2014 > > View this issue online here | To subscribe this bulletin please go to www.newdeal4europe.eu > > SIGN HERE OUR CITIZENS' INITIATIVE! > > > > Days left: 185 > > Campaign deadline: 7 March 2015 > > Signatures: 1.000.000 > > To be collected in at least 7 EU countries > > Calendar: > > Ventotene: 3 Sept. h. 17.30. New Deal 4 Europe: ECI for a European special plan for sustainable development and employment. Debate with Alberto Majocchi, UEF Italy, Domenec Devesa, UEF Spain > > Ventotene: 5 Sept. h. 11.00. Iniziativa dei cittadini europei: un piano straordinario per lo sviluppo dell'Europa.With Nicola Vallinoto MFE, Fausto Durante CGIL, Antonella Valmorbida ALDA, Raffaella Bolini ARCI. > Varese: 7 Sept. h. 10.30. Quale Europa a 70 anni dalla Resistenza? With Marco Revelli sociologo, Simona Bonafè MEP, Antonio Longo MFE. > > Genova: 8 Sept. h. 18.00. Lavoro, ambiente, democrazia: un New Deal per l'Europa. With Brando Benifei MEP, Renata Briano MEP, Andrea Baldini GD, Antonio Longo MFE. > > European Action week. 13-21 September 2014. > > > > Welcome to the first issue of the NewDeal4Europe weekly bulletin. It will be the best way to follow news and action updates about our campaign "New Deal 4 Europe", whose aim is to collect 1.000.000 signatures before 7th March, 2015 in at least 7 EU countries. We have 6 months to reach an ambitious objective. Together we can. > > One reason to support the European Citizens' Initiative New Deal 4 Europe > > [..] Today, Internet technology and renewable energies are beginning to merge to create a new industrial infrastructure for a Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) that will change the way power is distributed in the 21st century. In the coming era, hundreds of millions of people will produce their own green energy in their homes, offices, and factories and share it with each other in an “Energy Internet,”-a distributed smart grid-just like we now generate and share information online. The establishment of a TIR industrial infrastructure will create thousands of new businesses and millions of jobs and lay the basis for a sustainable global economy in the 21st century. [..] Jeremy Rifkin, European Commission Conference, May 29, 2012 > > The main objective of our initiative is: "a EU special program of public investments for the production and financing of European public goods (renewable energy, research and innovation, infrastructural networks, ecological agriculture, protection of the environment and cultural heritage)" > Current news > > "My number one priority and the connecting thread running through each and every proposal will be getting Europe growing again and getting people back to work. To do this, within the first three months of my mandate, I will present a Jobs, Growth and Investment Package to generate an extra EUR 300 billion in investment over the next three years.", Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, "A new start for Europe: My agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change", speech at the European Parliament on 15 July 2014. > > Our initiative demands an extra EUR 400 billion in investment in the same period. The other main difference is that we indicate the European own resources to make extra investments: a financial transactions tax and a carbon tax. > > Our campaign in the media > > Interview with Fausto Durante, Representative of the "New Deal 4 Europe" citizens' committee (IT). > > EuroEFE: Una Iniciativa Ciudadana Europea pretende reunir 400.000 millones para crear empleo (ES). > > Supporters of the ECI NewDeal4Europe > > > Video: Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, Bruxelles, 4 March 2014 > Photo news: Susanna Camusso, General Secretary of CGIL, Rimini, 8 May 2014 > > > Video: Roberta Carbone, campaigner, Strasbourg, 9 May 2014 Photo news: Philippe Grosjean, ECI European Committee substitute, EESC plenary session, Bruxelles, 5 June 2014 > SIGN HERE OUR CITIZENS' INITIATIVE! > Follow us: > > > > > > > - NewDeal4Europe Info Issue 1 - 3 September 2014 > Short URL: http://tinyurl.com/ND4EInfoIssue1 > > -.-.- Climate Justice Action Network International Coordination List -.-. > POST TO LIST: climate09-int(a)lists.riseup.net > UNSUBSCRIBE: send a blank email to climate09-int-unsubscribe(a)lists.riseup.net > LISTKEEPERS: climate09-int-editor(a)lists.riseup.net > > > > > > > >

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Fwd: [Networkedlabour] Fwd: [Squares] Festival for Solidarity & Cooperative Economy in Athens
by Michel Bauwens 03 Sep '14

03 Sep '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Orsan <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 4:46 AM Subject: [Networkedlabour] Fwd: [Squares] Festival for Solidarity & Cooperative Economy in Athens To: "<networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org>" < networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org> Begin forwarded message: *From:* Mikifus <mikifus(a)gmail.com> *Date:* 2 september 2014 22:23:25 CEST *To:* squares <squares(a)lists.takethesquare.net> *Subject:* *[Squares] Festival for Solidarity & Cooperative Economy in Athens* *Reply-To:* squares(a)lists.takethesquare.net Hi, A bunch of us from Spain are helping groups in Greece with international communication, and we wanted to ask for your help... Greece is organising their 3rd *Festival for Solidarity & Cooperative Economy <http://www.festival4sce.org/en/>*, that will take place in Athens from October 10th to 12th. Round 200 groups participate each year: social clinics and pharmacies, Thessaloniki's 136 Water movement, the worker's recovered factory Vio.Me, time banks, social centres, communication projects... all the support and solidarity networks that have sprouted with the crisis. This year they are going to invite groups and initiatives from around Europe and we are launching a Crowdfunding campaign to find the funds to pay for the travel costs of those who come (4000€ to cover up to 150€ per person). Lodging will be covered by activists in Athens. We are in a process of identifying different initiatives in different countries and sending them the invitation (one person per collective). All who want to come may come of course, but they are making a selection of those to fund in order to cover a good variety of topics of discussion and countries. *So... this is what we would love to ask help from you :)* 1) Please send the press release to your media contacts and/or post on your site or blog if possible: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2s9CAB9OS_-ck5sZDEzV1k0UHpRcXR0RXo3ZDR1Nk… 2) Share the Crowdfunding campaign in your networks: http://www.kapipal.com/festival4sce2014 (and of course participate if you wish!) and here a HTML code <http://www.kapipal.com/03f18f333071411580fbde80e4c4c7e4/promote> that can be embeded in a website while the campaign is running, if you want to use it. HT #Festival4sce & #EmptyYourPockets by @athensfest4sce <http://twitter.com/athensfest4sce> and of course... https://www.facebook.com/festival4sce Thank you VERY much! _______________________________________________ n-1 working group: https://n-1.cc/pg/groups/104127/take-the-square-international/ Squares mailing list Squares(a)lists.takethesquare.net for unsubscribe/etc: https://lists.takethesquare.net/mailman/listinfo/squares or Squares-owner(a)lists.takethesquare.net _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: Tasting like a Forest
by Michel Bauwens 03 Sep '14

03 Sep '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Doors of Perception <mailing(a)list.doorsofperception.com> Date: Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 5:17 AM Subject: Tasting like a Forest To: michelsub2004(a)gmail.com [image: logo] AUTUMN NEWSLETTER from John Thackara - Tasting like a forest - UnBox in India - Forthcoming events FROM SYSTEMS THINKING TO SYSTEM SENSING Fifty designers, artists and architects spent a week at our Xskool on Grinda last month to explore the subject of food systems and design. Once on the island, we focused on two questions: What does this food system taste like? and, How does this forest think? One team invented a Soil Tasting Ceremony. They made infusions from ten different berries on the island and displayed them next to soil samples taken from each plant's location; the soils were displayed in wine glasses. We were then invited to compare the tastes of the teas and soils in silence. It was a powerful moment. (There are images here <http://https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.558136864292578.1073741828…> ). Ahead of the event I thought soil as a living system, and soil health, would be a hard to sell to a cerebral group of (mostly) grad students. Today's designers think far more about connecting with each other, I assumed, than about connecting with the soil. Why would they? Fewer than half of us ever see or touch the stuff. My concerns proved unfounded. It was like pushing at an open door. Xskoolers went scrabbling around the forest of Grinda like so many voles. They found ways to catch the taste of the forest and put it in a pot. They made cookies with forest berries and bartered these with tourists. They created tactile pathways so we could we feel the forest through our feet. A Latvian designer made pine cone syrup and gave it to Teacher, who was mightily pleased. This positive energy was welcome, but unexpected. In searching for an explanation, I came across a wonderful book called Soil and Soul <http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/soilandsoul.htm> by Alastair McIntosh. "We yearn for connection with one another, and with the soul" McIntosh writes, "but we forget that, like the earthworm, we too are an organism of the soil. We too need grounding". Otherwise stated: Resilience and systems *thinking* will never be transformational in the absence of systems *feeling*. But how to achieve that? Asking researchers to empathise with earthworms feels like a big ask. For every designer learning how to think like a forest by tasting one, as we did on Grinda, thousands more spend most of their time in studios, online, or within the rarefied walls of the research economy. Perhaps my search for a 'solution' to the ecoliteracy 'problem' <http://www.doorsofperception.com/art-perception/desert-of-the-real/> is old-fashioned. If McIntosh is right, and we all share a latent need to be grounded, then it probably makes no sense to demand changes to professional curriculums. A better way is to meet in life-rich places without an agenda. See you at a future Xskool. Here is the Xskool Facebook page <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Doors-of-Perception-Xskool/349523758487224?re…>. I also gave this year's Xskoolers a Food Systems Reader <http://www.doorsofperception.com/food-systems-design/food-systems-and-desig…>. Xskool was a partnership between Doors of Perception, Konstfack <http://www.konstfack.se/>, and FuturePerfect Festival <http://http://futureperfect.se>. This event builds on a series of experimental Xskool encounters <http://doorsofperception.com/xskool/> over the last three years including Xskool Grinda 2013 <http://designobserver.com/feature/between-sorrel-and-supertanker/38057>. UNBOX FESTIVAL For this year's UnBox Festival <http://www.unboxfestival.com/> in New Delhi (12-14 December) I'll be joining Mansi Gupta <http://www.core77.com/blog/kickstarter/trmtab_how_buckminster_fuller_and_on…> for a workshop to develop the programme of the Kanpur Design Innovation Lab. The project embodies, in Mansi's words, “a new story about the leather industry and the people who work in it”. The Lab, situated at the heart of India's largest leather-producing region, will develop products and services that combine clean forms of leather making with direct connections between between producers and customers. If I have any say in the matter, I'll also be re-visiting the subject of cycle commerce <http://designobserver.com/feature/cycle-commerce-as-an-ecosystem/37905/> and my modest proposal for the de-motorisation of Delhi <http://doorsofperception.com/notopic/caloryville-the-two-wheeled-city/>. MY TALKS THIS AUTUMN - Reyjkjavik, 11 September <http://www.nbo.nu/bdh_filearea/Bo_och_forvalta_i_Norden.pdf>, Nordic Housing Association - Reyjkjavik, 12 September <http://lhi.is/english/programmes/ma-programmes/ma-design/research-and-colla…>, Iceland Academy of Arts, MA Design Workshop (Tel +354 552 4000) - Eindhoven, 15 September <http://www.natlab.nl/programma/2365/Club_Natlab_I_Lezing_John_Thackara/%20>, Plaza Futura at Club Natlab - Växjö, Sweden, 24 September, <http://lnu.se/education/programmes/daid2?ec_vt=English&l=en> Linnaeus University - Oslo 15 October <http://www.systemsorienteddesign.net> System Oriented Design Conference - Dundee, 22 October <http://www.dundee.ac.uk/research/main/news/> Chiasma, Sustaining Rural Scotland - Buenos Aires, 28 October <http://www.fidbsas.com/programacion2012>, International Design Festival - Amsterdam, 20 November <http://www.dezwijger.nl/104618/nl/joint-venture-2014-dag-1-de-energieke-sam…>, Pakhuis de Zwijger, De energieke samenleving CONTACT Contact me (John Thackara, Doors of Perception) by Email john(a)doorsofperception.com *Blog* *doorsofperception.com* <http://www.doorsofperception.com/> *Twitter* *@johnthackara* <https://twitter.com/johnthackara> *LinkedIn* *www.linkedin.com* <http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=139933&trk=tab_pro> * Unsubscribe * To unsubscribe please visit http://list.doorsofperception.com/unsubscribe/be9d04d2-bed1-4d2e-8a92-f8073… / <http://list.doorsofperception.com/unsubscribe/be9d04d2-bed1-4d2e-8a92-f8073…> -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: Shareable and Arroyo S.E.C.O. want to turn LA into a sharing mecca!
by Michel Bauwens 03 Sep '14

03 Sep '14

dear Kevin, thanks for checking if this is blogworthy, Michel ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Arroyo Seco <asecolocaleconomy(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 5:44 AM Subject: Shareable and Arroyo S.E.C.O. want to turn LA into a sharing mecca! To: Arroyo Seco <asecolocaleconomy(a)gmail.com> Dear Friends of Shareable and the Sharing Economy, As partners in sharing work and community building, and as Los Angeles' Sharing City Network leader, the Arroyo Sustainable Economies Community Organization <http://www.arroyo-seco.org> launched the ShareLA campaign <http://myla2050connect.maker.good.is/projects/ShareLA> to win $100,000 from the Goldhirsh Foundation to advance a radical new vision for Los Angeles. Our plan is to create an open source blueprint for any community interested in becoming a sharing community. With strategies that range from grassroots to high-level civic partnerships, this blueprint seeks to sometimes quietly and not-so-quietly disrupt the broken systems upon which we can no longer rely. Today Shareable published an interview that reveals why we are pursuing this important and transformative work: "Sharing Activists Reveal Plan to Turn Los Angeles into Sharing Mecca" <http://www.shareable.net/blog/sharing-activists-reveal-plan-to-turn-los-ang…> As of noon today our campaign is live and open to voting. Online voters will determine who wins $100,000 in the Connect category to implement a radical new vision for LA. It doesn't matter who you are or where you live - *anyone can vote online in this contest*! *PLEASE visit this link and support our work with your vote by Sept 16th!* http://myla2050connect.maker.good.is/projects/ShareLA It only takes a moment to vote and you can easily sign in with Facebook. In return, you'll know that your 5 minutes translated into community-based strategies that have the power to bring people together, combat poverty and isolation, and revitalize neighborhoods simply through the power of sharing resources, information and time. Attached is a press release with more information. Please contact me directly with any questions. In the spirit of coproduction and a new way forward, Sarah -- Sarah McGowan Dear *Project Developer, Board Member and Sharing EnthusiastArroyo Sustainable Communities Organization <http://www.arroyo-seco.org/> Arroyo SECO Network of Time Banks <http://www.asntb.com/>* direct 323-336-2860 -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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