[P2P-F] Fwd: the two economic-centric priorities for commoners right now

Mon Jul 27 09:17:58 CEST 2015

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>
Date: Mon, Jul 27, 2015 at 2:12 PM
Subject: Re: Continuing to fill in the context

I'll share my perspective on this, which may not be that of the others
copied in,

my first inclination today is that the focus needs to be on constructing
commons, immaterial and material, everywhere we can, and to create vehicles
so that this allows the creation of livelihoods and the self-reproduction
of the commoners. While the struggle between labor and capital remains a
reality as long as the current political economy dominates, I think
personally that all struggles that focus on bringing more labor into
subordinate working relations in view of redistribution, are no longer
operative, and that we must focus on counter-economic networks, with
decommodified cooperative labor co-constructing commons. This means, as
first suggested by Pat Conaty on this list, to create a in-between between
the commons and capital, i.e. to focus on cooperative accumulation. But
that cooperative accumulation can no longer be merely a coop that competes
on the capitalist marketplace, but a coop that co-produces commons, and
works with non-capitalist capital in a non-capitalist market. This means
concretely working on the creation of entrepreneurial coalitions that are
co-dependent and organized around the commons that they are co-creating.

Concretely, at the territorial level, this looks like what Stephanie
Rearick is doing in Madison,
https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/100-women-who-are-co-creating-the-p2p-society-stephanie-rearick-of-the-mutual-aid-network/2015/07/18,
or what Marion Rousseaux is trying to do in Lille with Encommuns.org
https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/100-women-who-are-co-creating-the-p2p-society-marion-rousseaux-on-the-commons-in-lille-france/2015/07/25,
i.e. create interlocking value chains for the cooperative commonwealth, at
the local or the translocal level.

At the more 'trans-national' level, this means a direct focus on the
creation of phyles, i.e. ethical, 'generative' business networks that
sustain a community and its commons. This means projects like lasindias.net,
enspiral, ethos, and others. (marty, you'll find descriptions of all those
in the p2pfoundation.net wiki, via the search box on the top right)

On Sun, Jul 26, 2015 at 11:08 PM, Marty Heyman <marty.heyman at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi to the others on the list.
>
> My quibble, such as it is, is that Capital (Finance) pervades and largely
> controls … especially “the conversation.” A program to reverse its
> enclosures of the economic, political, and social spheres would appear to
> need a core of equally committed and motivated strategists with the
> resources to create a contrary “movement” to mobilize wealth, power, and
> public sentiment. Absent the “Davos” of anti-Capitalism (most importantly
> it’s “core team”), I don’t know how to unseat them and their “system.”
>
> We need to continue to educate me on the philosophical underpinnings of
> terms like “the common good”. Language that feels like it pits “the common
> good” against “the private good” most broadly seem overly broad. Certainly
> the “common good” is the aggregate of the “private good”(s) of some
> collection of persons (and institutions). The usage here seems to want to
> exclude the “private good” of Finance, Capital, and Corrupt Politics …but
> such distinctions are hard to draw accurately as the Commons (Co-operative)
> and Solidarity movements rely heavily on Capital from somewhere for seed
> money.
>
> Finally, not all the “Externalities” lead to desertification and useless
> waste. Vast bodies of code, design, and  other technological artifacts are
> abandoned by Capital and Finance to our “Digital Commons”. I often think of
> Open Source Software as much a vast scrap-heap of discarded and abandoned
> code as I do a bazaar or innovation. There is too much redundant,
> self-gratifying “Innovation” and not enough refinement of the material
> already just sitting there waiting to be improved. I think, ultimately, we
> are seeing much the same with agricultural lands in climate zones
> considered non-optimal for industrial agriculture. Opportunities abound for
> self-directed, democratically governed initiatives and ventures IMHO.
>
> —
> Marty Heyman
> 510-290-6484
>
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