[P2P-F] weak vs strong ties as wrong dilemma

[Samuel Rose]

On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 3:17 PM, Dennis E. Hamilton
<dennis.hamilton at acm.org> wrote:
> I am fascinated by the current explorations concerning social media and how community formation and spontaneity are enabled.  I find a great deal to digest, and much thoughtful analysis in the recent threads.
>
> Although it is not material to the clarification of weak and strong ties as a false dichotomy, this one passage brought me up short:
>
> " ...what is destroying our opportunities for individuality and creativity, subverting us from realizing our human potential is not that we are tweeting about trivialities, but that the governance of our planet has been taken away from us."
>
> The hyperbole is appealing, but I wonder if there is something more important here.  When, if ever, have "we" possessed the governance of our planet?  Indeed, what can it possibly mean to give ontological standing to the notion of planetary governance and suggest that it has ever existed?
>
> I ask this because is it perhaps more the case that we have before us the opportunity to gain something, not that we ever lost it.
>
>  - Dennis
>
>


I see you  point and it is a good one.

There are some ways in which we lost at least some freedom over our
environments over time as the industrial revolution emerged. I can
think of the example of a farmer in Canada, who's ancestors came to
Canada generations ago to seek freedom from tyranny in Europe, and who
is now subject to legal system manipulations from companies like
Monsanto that threaten to take away his livelihood and force him to
buy and use products he never wanted to use in his operations (because
their patented strains of corn contaminated his and Monsanto came out
and discovered this)

For me, the meat of the article is the idea that weak ties and strong
ties is the wrong dilemma to focus on. I think this is true. I think
we need ties that are geo-physical local *and* "network" local (people
around the world that have any degree of connection with you that you
at least become aware of them). Fracturing and isolation weaken the
value people can get out of all of their connections.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: p2p-foundation-bounces at lists.ourproject.org [mailto:p2p-foundation-bounces at lists.ourproject.org] On Behalf Of Michel Bauwens
> <https://lists.ourproject.org/pipermail/p2p-foundation/2011-February/000401.html>
> Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 07:01
> To: p2p-foundation
> Subject: [P2P-F] weak vs strong ties as wrong dilemma
>
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Sam Rose
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"The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human
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