April 2015 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Re: [P2P-F] [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: Update from the Office of Jeremy Rifkin
by Anna Harris 08 Apr '15

08 Apr '15

I consider both these comments unnecessarily negative. Disagreement is one thing, which I hope is welcomed as inevitable where diversity exists. But those deprecating remarks are intended to wound. They do not offer any grounds for open discussion. On 8 Apr 2015, at 16:50, Bob Haugen <bob.haugen(a)gmail.com> wrote: Actually, I thought it was interesting where he was going with his schtick. I had not kept up. Rifkin and Merkel! What a couple! On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 10:46 AM, peter waterman <peterwaterman1936(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi, Anna, > > I would have thought he was really on top of his self-publicity operation > and needed little extra from you. > > Best, > > P > > 2014. From Coldwar Communism to the Global Justice Movement: Itinerary of a > Long-Distance Internationalist. > http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/from_coldwar_communism > _to_the_global_emancipatory_movement/ (Free). > 2014. Interface Journal Special (Co-Editor), December 2014. 'Social Movement > Internationalisms'. (Free). > 2014. 'The Networked Internationalism of Labour's Others', in Jai Sen (ed), > Peter Waterman (co-ed), The Movement of Movements: Struggles for Other > Worlds (Part I). (10 Euros). > 2012. EBook: Recovering Internationalism. [A compilation of papers from the > new millenium. Now free in two download formats] > 2013. EBook (co-editor), February 2013: World Social Forum: Critical > Explorations http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/ > 2012. Interface Journal Special (co-editor), November 2012: For the Global > Emancipation of Labour > 2005-? Ongoing. Blog: http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman.???. > Needed: a Global Labour Charter Movement (2005-Now!) > 2011. Under, Against, Beyond: Labour and Social Movements Confront a > Globalised, Informatised Capitalism (2011) (c. 1,000 pages of Working > Papers, free, from the 1980's-90's). > > >> On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 9:02 AM, Anna Harris <anna(a)shsh.co.uk> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=588d35ee-35b3-44c4-8535-d… >> >> >> From: Office of Jeremy Rifkin <ojr(a)foet.org> >> Date: 8 April 2015 06:05:23 BST >> To: anna(a)shsh.co.uk >> Subject: Update from the Office of Jeremy Rifkin >> Reply-To: ojr(a)foet.org >> >> Having trouble viewing this email? Click here >> >> >> "Art and The End of Capitalism" >> >> >> >> "Jeremy Rifkin has diagnosed the beginning of the end of the capitalist >> era, and artists are part of the prescription for a healthy, collaborative >> future" >> >> Click here to see the full article from >> >> The Financial Times >> 500,000 >> Copies of >> The Third Industrial Revolution Have Been Printed in China >> Mr. Rifkin's New York Times bestselling book, The Third Industrial >> Revolution, was published in China in June 2012 and was the number one >> bestselling business book, currently with over 500,000 copies in print. >> The Zero Marginal Cost Society Has Now Been Published in 15 Languages! >> >> Click Here For More Information on >> The Zero Marginal Cost Society >> See our TIR Master Plans Website for more information on the TIR >> Consulting Group LLC >> >> >> >> >> SEE JEREMY RIFKIN'S BIOGRAPHY HERE >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Jeremy Rifkin Presents the Keynote Address at the European Investment >> Bank's "Momentum For Europe - Innovation and Competitiveness" Event >> On March 2nd, 2015 Jeremy Rifkin joined Angela Merkel, The Chancellor of >> Germany, Jean-Claude Juncker, The President of the European Commission, and >> Werner Hoyer, The President of the European Investment Bank, in Berlin, >> Germany to deliver the opening keynote address at the European Investment >> Bank conference on "Momentum for Europe-Innovation and Competitiveness". Mr. >> Rifkin presented a bold new plan for the next stage of the European journey: >> The build-out and scale-up of an Internet of Things infrastructure for a >> Digital Europe and the transition to a Third Industrial Revolution. >> >> Mr. Rifkin argued that the Digital Europe transition will revolutionize >> every commercial sector, disrupt the workings of virtually every industry, >> bring with it unprecedented new economic opportunities, put millions of >> people back to work, and create a more sustainable post-carbon society to >> mitigate climate change. >> >> >> Click Here To See Mr. Rifkin's Interview with EurActiv.com >> >> China's New Richest Man Says His Success is Inspired by Jeremy Rifkin's >> Vision of a Third Industrial Revolution >> >> In his new book, China's New Energy Revolution, Li Hejun, now China's >> richest man, says he was "deeply moved [by the] powerful set of coordinates" >> that Jeremy Rifkin lays out in his book, The Third Industrial Revolution, >> regarding the conceptualization and deployment of a digitalized Third >> Industrial Revolution infrastructure. In the preface to his book, Li Hejun >> writes "I was deeply moved by the author's insights. Reflecting upon my >> experience working in the new energy sector in the past 20 years, and >> especially in the PV industry in recent years, I found Rifkin's thesis very >> convincing." Li Hejun's company, Hanergy, is a leading thin-film solar power >> company in the world. Hejun envisions the installation of solar and other >> renewable energies in every community, allowing millions of people and >> thousands of businesses to produce their own energy and share surpluses with >> others on a digitalized Energy Internet stretching across China. Hejun's >> mission is to transform China into a sustainable post-carbon Third >> Industrial Revolution economy powered by renewable energies. >> >> Mr. Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution vision has also been embraced by >> the new Chinese leadership. In December 2011, Premier Li Keqiang announced >> that he had read Mr. Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution book with great >> interest and had asked the appropriate government agencies to pay close >> attention to the central themes in preparing China's plan to usher-in an >> ecological civilization. Vice Premier Wang Yang has also endorsed Mr. >> Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution economic development model. >> >> >> Click Here to View the Press Release from Bloomberg Business >> >> Thanks to all of you for your continued support! If you should have any >> suggestions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know. >> >> We look forward to hearing from you soon! >> >> >> >> Sincerely, >> >> >> >> Shawn Moorhead >> >> Chief of Staff >> >> Office of Jeremy Rifkin >> >> shawn(a)foet.org >> >> Forward email >> >> >> >> This email was sent to anna(a)shsh.co.uk by ojr(a)foet.org | >> Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. >> >> >> Office of Jeremy Rifkin | 4520 East West Highway | Suite 600 | Bethesda | >> MD | 20814 >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NetworkedLabour mailing list >> NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org >> http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour > > > _______________________________________________ > NetworkedLabour mailing list > NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org > http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour >

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Fwd: Update from the Office of Jeremy Rifkin
by Anna Harris 08 Apr '15

08 Apr '15

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=588d35ee-35b3-44c4-8535-d… From: Office of Jeremy Rifkin <ojr(a)foet.org> Date: 8 April 2015 06:05:23 BST To: anna(a)shsh.co.uk Subject: Update from the Office of Jeremy Rifkin Reply-To: ojr(a)foet.org Having trouble viewing this email? Click here "Art and The End of Capitalism" "Jeremy Rifkin has diagnosed the beginning of the end of the capitalist era, and artists are part of the prescription for a healthy, collaborative future" Click here to see the full article from The Financial Times 500,000 Copies of The Third Industrial Revolution Have Been Printed in China Mr. Rifkin's New York Times bestselling book, The Third Industrial Revolution, was published in China in June 2012 and was the number one bestselling business book, currently with over 500,000 copies in print. The Zero Marginal Cost Society Has Now Been Published in 15 Languages! Click Here For More Information on The Zero Marginal Cost Society See our TIR Master Plans Website for more information on the TIR Consulting Group LLC SEE JEREMY RIFKIN'S BIOGRAPHY HERE Jeremy Rifkin Presents the Keynote Address at the European Investment Bank's "Momentum For Europe - Innovation and Competitiveness" Event On March 2nd, 2015 Jeremy Rifkin joined Angela Merkel, The Chancellor of Germany, Jean-Claude Juncker, The President of the European Commission, and Werner Hoyer, The President of the European Investment Bank, in Berlin, Germany to deliver the opening keynote address at the European Investment Bank conference on "Momentum for Europe-Innovation and Competitiveness". Mr. Rifkin presented a bold new plan for the next stage of the European journey: The build-out and scale-up of an Internet of Things infrastructure for a Digital Europe and the transition to a Third Industrial Revolution. Mr. Rifkin argued that the Digital Europe transition will revolutionize every commercial sector, disrupt the workings of virtually every industry, bring with it unprecedented new economic opportunities, put millions of people back to work, and create a more sustainable post-carbon society to mitigate climate change. Click Here To See Mr. Rifkin's Interview with EurActiv.com China's New Richest Man Says His Success is Inspired by Jeremy Rifkin's Vision of a Third Industrial Revolution In his new book, China's New Energy Revolution, Li Hejun, now China's richest man, says he was "deeply moved [by the] powerful set of coordinates" that Jeremy Rifkin lays out in his book, The Third Industrial Revolution, regarding the conceptualization and deployment of a digitalized Third Industrial Revolution infrastructure. In the preface to his book, Li Hejun writes "I was deeply moved by the author's insights. Reflecting upon my experience working in the new energy sector in the past 20 years, and especially in the PV industry in recent years, I found Rifkin's thesis very convincing." Li Hejun's company, Hanergy, is a leading thin-film solar power company in the world. Hejun envisions the installation of solar and other renewable energies in every community, allowing millions of people and thousands of businesses to produce their own energy and share surpluses with others on a digitalized Energy Internet stretching across China. Hejun's mission is to transform China into a sustainable post-carbon Third Industrial Revolution economy powered by renewable energies. Mr. Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution vision has also been embraced by the new Chinese leadership. In December 2011, Premier Li Keqiang announced that he had read Mr. Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution book with great interest and had asked the appropriate government agencies to pay close attention to the central themes in preparing China's plan to usher-in an ecological civilization. Vice Premier Wang Yang has also endorsed Mr. Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution economic development model. Click Here to View the Press Release from Bloomberg Business Thanks to all of you for your continued support! If you should have any suggestions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Sincerely, Shawn Moorhead Chief of Staff Office of Jeremy Rifkin shawn(a)foet.org Forward email This email was sent to anna(a)shsh.co.uk by ojr(a)foet.org | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Office of Jeremy Rifkin | 4520 East West Highway | Suite 600 | Bethesda | MD | 20814

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french interview on new commons book in france
by Michel Bauwens 06 Apr '15

06 Apr '15

This interview is rather complete and more personal in nature than the usual journalistic work: http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2015/04/06/quand-survient-chaos-faut-deja-avoir-… -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org 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: PEGE: Organization to promote infinitism
by Michel Bauwens 06 Apr '15

06 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: PEGE Roland Moesl <founder(a)pege.org> Date: Mon, Apr 6, 2015 at 6:43 PM Subject: PEGE: Organization to promote infinitism To: "michel(a)p2pfoundation.net" <michel(a)p2pfoundation.net> Organization to promote infinitism founded March 2nd 2015, the non-profit organization to promote infinitism <http://paradigm.pege.org/organization/> was founded. To be or not to be, that is here the question [image: Paradigm infinitism Can a civilization develop an unlimited ability to survive? We think so! Thus, worldwide wealth and a limitless future is possible.] <http://paradigm.pege.org/> Can a civilization develop an unlimited ability to survive? We think so! Thus, worldwide wealth and a limitless future is possible. It is the worldview that man, science, politics, economy, just the whole civilization, engraved in all their deeds and actions. (*Download Info PDF* <http://paradigm.pege.org/infinitism.pdf>) Paradigm Neoliberalism Limitism Infinitism Textbook Nearly only critical books about neoliberalism The Limits to Growth Calculation ERROR <http://calculation-error.org/sehe/> Central idea The perfect market solves all problems: just watch Save Restrict Refrain <http://weltweiterwohlstand.org/bekenntnis/selbsterfuellend.htm>Worldwide wealth and a limitless future are possible Philosophy <http://paradigm.pege.org/philosophy/> It is cheaper to succumb than to survive Man is a pest Mankind has the task to obtain life on Earth for a very long time Science <http://paradigm.pege.org/science/> Economics The ecological footprint <http://weltweiterwohlstand.org/positionen/oekologischer-fussabdruck.htm> Ethics - the science of survival Politics Mainstream parties to neoliberalism The Greens WWW movement WorldWide Wealth <http://worldwide-wealth.org/> Economy <http://paradigm.pege.org/economy/> Change nothing! Preservation of old industry. Prevent everything! It could grow and grow... BB21C - Biggest Business 21st Century Half century ago, we have seen here the future full of optimism. What immense technical progress did we reach during the last half century. Each modern smartphone would have been seen on the set of Star Trek 1965 as the super technology of the 24th century. But what has become of our life circumstances? The once successful social market economy degenerated into “The perfect market solves all problems, just watch” 1972 saw another new World View “The Limits to Growth, Save Restrict Refrain.“ The one want to change nothing, everything should remain the same, the others want to thwart everything. This coincidence of intentions makes this at the first glance such contrasting views to perfect allies when it comes to stagnation and decline. What do you get when the one sees man only as a participant in the perfect market and the other even regarded man as a pest? A society that has no future, which remains with "We're still better than the neighbors" in a constant deterioration. Infinitism - in development since autumn 1991 In retrospect, infinitism started autumn 1991. The project “GEMINI inhabited solar power plant” and the term “PEGE - Planetary Engineering Group Earth” for civilization-planning does not match with any of the former paradigms, this was the origin of the Infinitism. The combined effect of the prevailing worldviews leads to self-destruction, this has been proven in the past decades. If you want to evolve in the direction of worldwide wealth and a limitless future, you buy the book, support us!: * Web site Infinitism <http://paradigm.pege.org/> PDF about Infinitism <http://paradigm.pege.org/infinitism.pdf>* Paradigma infinitism *Paradigm infinitism <http://paradigm.pege.org/>* Can a civilization develop an unlimited ability to survive? We think so! Thus, worldwide wealth and a limitless future is possible. *Paradigm infinitism: philosophy <http://paradigm.pege.org/philosophy/>* A diagnosis for the civilization on planet earth that has been overdue for 2 centuries Civilization jump from 'helpless as a baby' to 'Can solve immediate problems'. *Paradigm infinitism: science <http://paradigm.pege.org/science/>* What was named 1992 for the first time in the book ''Advance to solar age'' ''civilization planning'', developed to the design of a new science important for survival. *Paradigm infinitism: economy <http://paradigm.pege.org/economy/>* As early as 1992 in the book ''Advance to solar age'' has been described the biggest business in the 21st century. Because despite all necessity and chance of winning, it is still not already running. *Organization to promote infinitism <http://paradigm.pege.org/organization/>* The non-profit organization to promote infinitism <http://paradigm.pege.org/> has been registered March 2nd 2015 in Austria. It supports actions to disseminate infinitism Newsletter Archiv Zum Newsletter Archiv <http://www.pege.org/newsletters_e.htm> <http://www.pege.org/> Roland Mösl - PEGE - Planetary Engineering Group Earth Drachenlochstraße 1c/5 A-5083 Gartenau +43 699 17343674 Skype: roland.mosl Donate or / become a member <http://paradigm.pege.org/index.htm#donate> Help from PEGE <http://www.pege.org/help/> Cancel news <founder(a)pege.org?subject=No%20more%20news> -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org 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: [NetworkedLabour] THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONTEMPORARY CAPITALISM AND THE CONCEPT OF A TRANSNATIONAL CAPITALIST CLASS
by Michel Bauwens 06 Apr '15

06 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Orsan <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 5:31 AM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONTEMPORARY CAPITALISM AND THE CONCEPT OF A TRANSNATIONAL CAPITALIST CLASS To: "<networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org>" < networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org> THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONTEMPORARY CAPITALISM AND THE CONCEPT OF A TRANSNATIONAL CAPITALIST CLASS: A CRITICAL REVIEW IN NEO-POULANTZIAN PERSPECTIVE Joachim Hirsch and Jens Wissel In the last 40 years, various authors have argued that a new transnational capitalist class (TCC) has emerged, which operates across the borders of national states. The approaches in question are debated widely in the social sciences, not only because of their theoretical assumptions and the empir- ical evidence provided, but also because international power relations are changing, not least in the context of the current crisis. The main claim of the authors in question appears to be validated by the advancing interna- tionalization of capital relations and by the internationalization of the state. It appears that these processes have gained traction with the neoliberal trans- formation of capitalism. If this claim is true, it follows that there are far-reaching changes to state structures, the international state system, and the trajectory of social conflicts and struggles. Alterations in class relations are specifically important because they lead to new configurations of relations of forces1 and power apparatuses, and, in a second step, to new arrangements of domination and regulation. The aim of this article is to review the approaches in question critically. We assume that existing theories of transnational class formation are charac- terized by significant weaknesses, both in terms of basic class and state theoretical assumptions and in terms of accounting for the role of state apparatuses in class formation.... http://spe.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/spe/article/download/16051/13089 _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org 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: [NetworkedLabour] Digital Workers of the World Unite! A Framework for Critically Theorising and Analysing Digital Labour
by Michel Bauwens 06 Apr '15

06 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: peter waterman <peterwaterman1936(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Apr 6, 2015 at 3:00 AM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Digital Workers of the World Unite! A Framework for Critically Theorising and Analysing Digital Labour Really too long to be posted in full, but a crucial paper on the topic. All that is missing is, actually, digital workers on the world uniting. But not even I am always Politically Correct... http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/549/605 PeterW

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Fwd: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: [Debate-List] (Fwd) US imperialism stumbles towards collapse, blasting away (Dmitry Orlov)
by Michel Bauwens 05 Apr '15

05 Apr '15

worth reading on 'empire' ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Orsan <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 2:29 PM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: [Debate-List] (Fwd) US imperialism stumbles towards collapse, blasting away (Dmitry Orlov) To: "<networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org>" < networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org> Orlov forgets though mentioning the general-systemic and transnational dynamics i.e. class struggles, as well as other feedback-loops, so to speak, that keep re-create the pattern : March 31, 2015 Dmitry Orlov License to Kill <JakubRozalski.jpeg> <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uTKjOwFvXl0/VRlzyT8RX4I/AAAAAAAAGTs/unvPX6w9Dls/s…> Jakub Rozalski The story is the same every time: some nation, due to a confluence of lucky circumstances, becomes powerful—much more powerful than the rest—and, for a time, is dominant. But the lucky circumstances, which often amount to no more than a few advantageous quirks of geology, be it Welsh coal or West Texas oil, in due course come to an end. In the meantime, the erstwhile superpower becomes corrupted by its own power. As the endgame approaches, those still nominally in charge of the collapsing empire resort to all sorts of desperate measures—all except one: they will refuse to ever consider the fact that their imperial superpower is at an end, and that they should change their ways accordingly. George Orwell once offered an excellent explanation for this phenomenon: as the imperial end-game approaches, it becomes a matter of imperial self-preservation to breed a special-purpose ruling class—one that is incapable of understanding that the end-game is approaching. Because, you see, if they had an inkling of what's going on, they wouldn't take their jobs seriously enough to keep the game going for as long as possible. The approaching imperial collapse can be seen in the ever worsening results the empire gets for its imperial efforts. After World War II, the US was able to do a respectable job helping to rebuild Germany, along with the rest of western Europe. Japan also did rather well under US tutelage, as did South Korea after the end of fighting on the Korean peninsula. With Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, all of which were badly damaged by the US, the results were significantly worse: Vietnam was an outright defeat, Cambodia lived through a period of genocide, while amazingly resilient Laos—the most heavily bombed country on the planet—recovered on its own. The first Gulf War went even more badly: fearful of undertaking a ground offensive in Iraq, the US stopped short of its regular practice of toppling the government and installing a puppet regime there, and left it in limbo for a decade. When the US did eventually invade, it succeeded—after killing countless civilians and destroying much of the infrastructure—in leaving behind a dismembered corpse of a country. Similar results have been achieved in other places where the US saw it fit to get involved: Somalia, Libya and, most recently, Yemen. Let's not even mention Afghanistan, since all empires have failed to achieve good results there. So the trend is unmistakable: whereas at its height the empire destroyed in order to rebuild the world in its own image, as it nears its end it destroys simply for the sake of destruction, leaving piles of corpses and smoldering ruins in its wake. Another unmistakeable trend has to do with the efficacy of spending money on “defense” (which, in the case of the US, should be redefined as “offense”). Having a lavishly endowed military can sometimes lead to success, but here too something has shifted over time. The famous American can-do spirit that was evident to all during World War II, when the US dwarfed the rest of the world with its industrial might, is no more. Now, more and more, military spending itself is the goal—never mind what it achieves. And what it achieves is the latest F-35 jet fighter that can't fly; the latest aircraft carrier that can't launch planes without destroying them if they are fitted with the auxiliary tanks they need to fly combat missions; the most technologically advanced AEGIS destroyer that can be taken out of commission by a single unarmed Russian jet carrying a basket of electronic warfare equipment, and another aircraft carrier that can be frightened out of deep water and forced to anchor by a few Russian submarines out on routine patrol. But the Americans like their weapons, and they like handing them out as a show of support. But more often than not these weapons end up in the wrong hands: the ones they gave to Iraq are now in the hands of ISIS; the ones they gave to the Ukrainian nationalists have been sold to the Syrian government; the ones they gave to the government in Yemen is now in the hands of the Houthis who recently overthrew it. And so the efficacy of lavish military spending has dwindled too. At some point it may become more efficient to modify the US Treasury printing presses to blast bundles of US dollars in the general direction of the enemy. With the strategy of “destroying in order to create” no longer viable, but with the blind ambition to still try to prevail everywhere in the world somehow still part of the political culture, all that remains is murder. The main tool of foreign policy becomes political assassination: be it Saddam Hussein, or Muammar Qaddafi, or Slobodan Milošević, or Osama bin Laden, or any number of lesser targets, the idea is to simply kill them. While aiming for the head of an organization is a favorite technique, the general populace gets is share of murder too. How many funerals and wedding parties have been taken out by drone strikes? I don't know that anyone in the US really knows, but I am sure that those whose relatives were killed do remember, and will remember for the next few centuries at least. This tactic is generally not conducive to creating a durable peace, but it is a good tactic for perpetuating and escalating conflict. But that's now an acceptable goal, because it creates the rationale for increased military spending, making it possible to breed more chaos. Recently a retired US general went on television to declare that what's needed to turn around the situation in the Ukraine is to simply “start killing Russians.” The Russians listened to that, marveled at his idiocy, and then went ahead and opened a criminal case against him. Now this general will be unable to travel to an ever-increasing number of countries around the world for fear of getting arrested and deported to Russia to stand trial. This is largely a symbolic gesture, but non-symbolic non-gestures of a preventive nature are sure to follow. You see, my fellow space travelers, murder happens to be illegal. In most jurisdictions, inciting others to murder also happens to be illegal. Americans have granted themselves the license to kill without checking to see whether perhaps they might be exceeding their authority. We should expect, then, that as their power trickles away, their license to kill will be revoked, and they find themselves reclassified from global hegemons to mere murderers. As empires collapse, they turn inward, and subject their own populations to the same ill treatment to which they subjected others. Here, America is unexceptional: the number of Americans being murdered by their own police, with minimal repercussions for those doing the killing, is quite stunning. When Americans wonder who their enemy really is, they need look no further. But that is only the beginning: the precedent has already been set for deploying US troops on US soil. As law and order break down in more and more places, we will see more and more US troops on the streets of cities in the US, spreading death and destruction just like they did in Iraq or in Afghanistan. The last license to kill to be revoked will be the license to kill ourselves. -- To view previous posts, create a Google account with your current email and log in using gmail to access the archives. https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups " debate-list(a)fahamu.org" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to debate-list+unsubscribe(a)fahamu.org. To post to this group, send email to debate-list(a)fahamu.org. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/a/fahamu.org/group/debate-list/ . _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org 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: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: NAFTA’s gravediggers?
by Michel Bauwens 05 Apr '15

05 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: peter waterman <peterwaterman1936(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Apr 4, 2015 at 4:24 AM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: NAFTA’s gravediggers? To: "CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES(a)jiscmail.ac.uk" < CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES(a)jiscmail.ac.uk>, WSFDiscuss List < WorldSocialForum-Discuss(a)openspaceforum.net>, "< networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org>" ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sid Shniad <shniad(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 3:11 PM Subject: NAFTA’s gravediggers? To: http://isreview.org/issue/95/naftas-gravediggers NAFTA’s gravediggers? Review by Todd Chretien <http://isreview.org/person/todd-chretien> Issue #95 <http://isreview.org/issue/95>: Reviews <http://isreview.org/section/reviews> Continental Crucible: Big Business, Workers and Unions in the Transformation of North America By Richard Roman <http://isreview.org/person/richard-roman> and Edur Velasco Arregui <http://isreview.org/person/edur-velasco-arregui> Fernwood Publishing, Ltd., 2013 · 148 pages · $19.95 Rather than bemoan the twentieth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Richard Roman and Edur Velasco Arregui have written a call to arms in their provocative new book Continental Crucible: Big Business, Workers and Unions in the Transformation of North America. Free trade has become such a bipartisan mantra that it may surprise some readers to learn that then president Bill Clinton had to strong-arm the treaty through the Democrat-controlled House and Senate in the summer of 1994. Or as Rahm Emanuel, serving as a senior presidential advisor, prosaically warned reluctant lobbyists, “Look, your bosses are for this, so stop fucking bad-mouthing us.” Breaking the book into three parts, Roman and Velasco first demonstrate how significant sections of the US, Canadian, and Mexican capitalist classes created powerful corporate organizations in the 1970s (the Business Roundtable, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, and El Consejo Coordinador Empresarial), all aimed at radically shifting the balance of class forces in their respective countries. Though the US may have been the dominant promoter of the free trade agenda, Roman and Velasco demonstrate that the Canadian and Mexican ruling classes had their own reasons for turning to neoliberalism. “We are not talking about a situation of weak, dependent, comprador capitalists in Canada and Mexico,” the authors write. Especially interesting is their description of how this dynamic unfolded in Mexico. Ruling Mexico for seven decades, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) pursued a path of “state-guided” capitalist development in the years after World War II, leading to a huge boom based on import substitution and oil. This all came crashing down with the global credit crunch in the late 1970s, the 1982 peso devaluation, and a decade of wholesale privatization. However, as *Continental Crucible* shows, this was not merely a pragmatic scramble on the part of the old state-sector bosses and PRI politicos, it also signaled the rise of a new power in Mexico, “an increasingly strong, concentrated Mexican capitalist class.” However, as Roman and Velasco are quick to point out, no iron wall separates the “old” and the “new” bourgeoisie in Mexico, as many of the old-line PRI power brokers used their positions in the state to seize control of lucrative business ventures during the massive privatizations of the 1980s and 1990s. To top it all off, after losing its one-party dictatorship to the pro-business National Action Party (PAN) in 2000, the PRI is back in power under the neoliberal, Clinton-like Enrique Peña Nieto. The authors expertly catalog the statistics of misery suffered, if to varying degrees, by workers both north and south of the US–Mexico border. The old methods of union organizing restricted to single nations and based on a limited social contract no longer work, they contend, insisting that “solidarity must replace competition” among workers in North America. The good news is that, despite the dire situation, as *Continental Crucible* argues, “The corporate offensive has also sown the seeds of resistance both by the intensification of hardship and suffering and the unintended promotion of cross-border working-class links.” These connections exist because, first, many US and Canadian workers belong to the same internationals—even if these organizational ties have been degraded over the last decades. And, second, mass migration on the part of Mexican labor into the United States (and Canada to a lesser extent) has created an integrated “continental” working class. The real contribution the authors make is to force us to think in terms of an integrated *continental* working class, as opposed to, as is all too often the case—at least in the United States—simply thinking about the impact of immigration on the *US labor movement. *This point of view opens important vistas. With respect to economics, US capital’s access to the growing Mexican reserve army of labor in the wake of NAFTA was not an “insignificant factor in maintaining the general rate of profit” in the United States in the 1990s, they argue. As tech boomed, Mexican immigrant labor helped restrain wage growth, especially in the service sector upon which high tech relied for its operations, freeing up capital for investment. Thus, according to Roman and Velasco, there was not a tech boom that subsequently drew in Mexican service sector labor; rather, there was a tech boom (partially) *because* of the availability of Mexican labor. But Mexican workers are not simply victims; they may also be neoliberalism’s gravediggers. Here, Roman and Velasco advance a set of interlocking theses in which they contend that Mexican workers are “radically different than . . . their northern counterparts.” In sum, the Mexican working class faces greater exploitation and repression (both in Mexico and in the North), it retains “strong revolutionary traditions . . . from the Mexican Revolution,” and the Mexican regime itself has become destabilized by decades of economic restructuring and the state’s loss of its monopoly of armed force because of the drug war. There are elements of truth in all of these observations as anyone familiar with the concurrent 2006 rebellion in Oaxaca and the immigrant rights May Day marches all over the United States knows. Moreover, as last year’s Mexican teachers’ strike, the 2012 student movement, and the rise of self-defense militias against both the drug lords and the state all demonstrate, the level of social and class struggle remains qualitatively higher in Mexico than in either the United States or Canada (with the partial exception of Quebec). All this notwithstanding, the authors veer at times too close to presenting a one-sided analysis of the complexities of the tri-national class struggle, placing too heavy a bet on what they call the “Mexican spark.” “The Mexican working class,” they write, “is rich in traditions of struggle and collectivity but weak in terms of organization and resources. The Canadian and US labor movements, as weakened and under attack as they are, are rich in resources and organization.” The danger here is that international working-class solidarity is conceived of as divided into distinct active and passive agents. I hasten to add that *Continental Crucible*’s authors generally present a much more dynamic picture than this; they note that “the spark and the fuel can come from different sources.” They also have no truck with the common notion that US and Canadian workers are “bought off” or somehow benefit from Mexican workers’ exploitation and oppression. Yet, their emphasis on Mexican working-class militancy can obscure the challenges immigrant workers face in the United States when putting forward class demands that are independent from the rising, and increasingly influential, Latino middle class, which has its own economic and political ambitions. None of this should obscure the importance of *Continental Crucible*. At just 144 pages, it is accessible, sharply written, and pulls no punches in asserting that the only force capable of undoing the damage NAFTA has wrought is international solidarity. Roman and Velasco model a materialist understanding of the nature of class struggles to come and lay bare the golden strings that unite the continent’s rulers even as they jockey to extract the maximum advantages possible from one another. However, not content with analysis, the authors end with a hope: “Rather than gold to line the pockets of the corporate alchemists, the intense heat may produce the energetic and resolute re-emergence of the salt of the earth, the working classes of the continent, imbued with a renewed determination to build a new North America.” It is a hope we should all share. _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org 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: [c&f] Introduction au souffle du labyrinthe
by Michel Bauwens 05 Apr '15

05 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Hervé Le Crosnier <herve(a)cfeditions.com> Date: 2015-04-04 17:55 GMT+07:00 Subject: [c&f] Introduction au souffle du labyrinthe To: "cetf(a)cfeditions.com" <cetf(a)cfeditions.com> Bonjour, Quelques nouvelles des livres parus chez C&F éditions. Car au delà du succès du Fred Turner, plusieurs livres connaissent eux-aussi un véritable succès. - Tout d'abord nous avons le plaisir d'annoncer que nous avons procédé à un troisième tirage du livre "Dans le Labyrinthe" d'Alexandre Serres. Ce livre est largement utilisé par les documentalistes, dans leur formation de base, notamment pour la préparation du CAPES, et dans leur formation continue. Vous pouvez regarder la présentation du livre par Alexandre Serres : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKaOo4sfTik Autre bonne nouvelle : Alexandre Serres est en train de préparer une suite, un livre de formation et d'éclaircissement sur les pratiques informationnelles à l'heure de l'internet. - Le "Souffle de la liberté : 1944,le jazz débarque" de Nicolas Beniès approche lui-aussi de l'épuisement : nous avions sous-estimé son succès. Pas seulement parce que 2014 était le soixante-dixième anniversaire du débarquement, donc ouvrait une fenêtre sur les évènements parallèles à l'initiative militaire, mais également parce que ce livre accompagné d'un CD permet de mesurer la façon dont le jazz est pleinement plongé dans l'histoire du XXe siècle. Si bien que nous avons décidé de poursuivre l'aventure, non pas d'une histoire du jazz... mais du jazz dans l'histoire. Nicolas Beniès prépare donc un "Souffle de la révolte" qui couvrira les années vingt et trente. En attendant "Le souffle libre" sur le free-jazz... Pour l'instant, n'hésitez pas à regarder les vidéos que nous avons sélectionnées pour illustrer en complément "Le souffle de la liberté" : http://souffle1944.cfeditions.com/ - Enfin, le premier livre uniquement en format numérique que nous avons lancé en janvier nous permet de mesurer combien la lecture des livres numériques n'est pas encore rentrée dans les pratiques... Nous avons donc rédigé une page d'explication permettant au lecteur néophyte de comprendre comment lire des livres numériques sur son ordinateur, sa tablette ou son ordiphone : http://cfeditions.com/lireEpub On peut même tester avec le spécimen de "Introduction aux communs de la connaissance". Bonnes lectures et visualisations, en attendant les autres projets dont notre besace est pleine... mais chut, ce sera pour une autre fois. Hervé Le Crosnier ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liste d'information de C&F éditions Pour s'abonner : http://mail.cfcloud.fr/cfeditions/subscribe/cetf Pour se désabonner, envoyer un mail à sympa(a)cfeditions.com avec comme sujet et comme message le texte suivant : unsubscribe cetf Pour accéder aux archives : https://mail.cfcloud.fr/cfeditions/arc/cetf -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org 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: Macro vs Micro Analysis
by Michel Bauwens 05 Apr '15

05 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Bob Reuschlein <bobreuschlein(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Apr 4, 2015 at 6:16 PM Subject: Macro vs Micro Analysis To: Link to send to others by: https://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/macro-vs-micro-analysis/ *Macro vs Micro Analysis* by Dr. Bob Reuschlein *OVERVIEW* The inability of the human mind to comprehend worlds greater than that which one is working on is why the micro world catches our attention so much easier than the macro world. We have the expression “they can’t see the forest for the trees.” That means that the details often obscure the big picture. We have trouble getting out of our own way to see the bigger picture. When a person has lots of training in a wide variety of key fields, then it is more possible to see the bigger picture, the macro picture. We describe people like this as people who have “vision.” Vision is often just the ability to see a bigger picture that explains otherwise hard to understand concepts and ideas. *BARRIERS* Sometimes too much training can keep someone from seeing the new realities and can even narrow one’s thinking to not recognize the broader concepts. Even when one does see a new concept from a broader point of view, it is easier to dismiss the new concept because it lies outside the normal framework of reference. Summarizing a broader point of view comes easily to some people and is scoffed at by other people. Even when presented with evidence, some people are reluctant to recognize new truths and resort to labeling and dismissing those who are bringing forth the new truths. Others are naturally curious and will try to understand the new truths and see if they apply in new circumstances or not. They are willing to give the new ideas enough credence to put them to the test. But all too often, people fall back into familiar patterns and forget or dismiss new truths. This is very easy to do if you have a silo vision of the world, not so easy to do if you are constantly experimenting and learning new ways of understanding the world. *REFLECTIONS* I have often employed the technique of looking for the common link between two things that otherwise appear to be contradictory. Maybe there is a grey area between what appears to be black or white. I let the thought stick in my mind that way until I run across something new that sheds light on the situation of the “apparent contradiction.” That can then become my “aha” moment of enlightenment. We know from Planck’s Law in physics that sometimes you can get the position of a particle but not the speed. There is a tradeoff in measuring such things. This reminds me of a tradeoff I once discovered in an encounter group. At the end of the encounter group, each of us was asked to estimate who in the group grew the most and who in the group contributed the most. When I averaged the results, I learned an astonishing thing. Those that were perceived as contributing the most to the group had the least clear vision about who contributed the most or grew the most. Those that contributed the least had the clearest vision about who contributed the most or grew the most. So the silent ones had the best idea of who contributed the most or grew the most. The lesson I learned is that involvement distorts your perspective, while detachment clarifies your perspective. That is the value of meditation, prayer, and other techniques that give you the necessary detachment to see clearly new frameworks. That is perhaps the reason the “leaders” of the peace and justice studies organization take it upon themselves to attack me for trying to teach them new ways of thinking. *In my work macro trumps micro the following ways:* Micro looks at military spending as merely the spending of money. Macro looks at military spending as lost economic growth potential and lost capital investment. Micro looks at crime as a function of individual decisions and can’t explain the nineties crime drop. Macro looks at crime and sees the direct relationship with military spending changes. Micro sees the society fraying in the inevitable decline of an empire. Macro sees the society shaped by the size of the military and sees growth potential from reduced military eventually reversing all negative trends. Micro sees the greenhouse effect as the only significant global warming changer. Macro sees the evaporation effect separating land from ocean creating a 54 year cycle. Micro can’t explain the 15 year stall in global warming. Macro sees the land ocean temperature gap stalling global warming for the 27 year half cycle from 1998 to 2025. Micro sees conflict resolution. Macro sees empire reduction. For an academic class on the way out of micro into the new world of macro: Cover Letter, Proof of Concept, Nine Areas of Mastery, Creating Model, 31 Class Sessions: https://www.academia.edu/11786950/FRAMEWORK_For_Academic_Class_six_pages Dr. Peace, Dr. Bob Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute best contact to ask Bob to speak to your group: bobreuschlein(a)gmail.com to leave message: 608-230-6640 for more info: www.realeconomy.com (*Real Economy* and/or *Peace Economics* free pdf on request by members of the press) An archive of this yearlong press release campaign can be found at: http://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/ -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org 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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