[P2P-F] [NetworkedLabour] The class structure of the "solidarity economy" or any alternative community

Sun Aug 14 10:51:27 CEST 2016

A long time ago, I read The Magical Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce, which impressed me a lot. His critique of Western child-rearing practices went as far back as the medical approach to birth, which treats it as it were a disease. I could not forget his description of the effects of anaesthesia, for instance, on the baby itself, and the contrast between children born naturally and those born in hospitals.

The Magical Child has since been supplemented for me by the educational insights of John Holt (How Children Learn, How Children Fail). A.S.Neill (Summerhill) and the whole free schools movement.

Roberto

On Sun, 14 Aug 2016 10:41:23 +0700
Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net> wrote:

> Dear Anna,
> 
> are you familiar with the works of Wilhelm Reich at all .. some interesting
> hypotheses in his work which echo what you are saying
> 
> and are you familiar with the Institute for Psycho-History ?
> 
> Their history of child abuse is amazing, but also interesting because it
> breaks down the dichotomy between, the west is bad and based on domination
> vs the rest where all is good,
> 
> see http://www.primal-page.com/psyhis.htm
> 
> On Sun, Aug 14, 2016 at 2:12 AM, Anna Harris <anna at shsh.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> > I find this discussion very interesting, though haven't had time yet to
> > respond.
> >
> > "I think your basic traits were formed early and evolved through all of
> > your experiences."
> >
> >
> > The traits you are describing run deeper than class, though they do have
> > something to do with how we judge some classes better than others. So eg
> > working class is more honest, more down to earth, more on the same level,
> > upper class more arrogant, more rigid, more bigoted. But we also know these
> > are caricatures, and easily reversed in practice.
> >
> > I think what is here being described has to do with 'morality', something
> > we rarely talk about because it borders on religion. Peer to peer attracts
> > us because it is nearer to 'all of us being equal in the eyes of God'. This
> > has nothing to do with a belief in God, but something to do with what Peter
> > describes as "a dialectical and holistic disposition toward global social
> > emancipation".
> >
> > This also connects with Orsan's concern that people who appear to be 'on
> > our side' are being used/funded by people with different intentions.
> >
> > I've recently been reading neurobiologist Darcia Narvaez book
> > 'Neurobiology and the Development of Morality'. https://www.
> > goodreads.com/book/show/18378036-neurobiology-and-the-
> > development-of-human-morality
> >
> > What is clear from her research is that if a baby's needs are not met, eg
> > if it is left to cry itself to sleep, which is a common practice in many
> > western cultures, it is imprinted with the experience of a hostile world,
> > which can affect its development and produce mental problems such as
> > anxiety and depression later in life. The importance of the parent child
> > bond in mitigating such experiences, and the resources that a baby brings
> > with it, inherited and its own personality, all blend to produce a person's
> > identity, which as you say, may be changed with difficulty.
> >
> > There is a growing movement which sees the necessity of welcoming the
> > newborn with positive experiences, to counteract what appears to be the
> > 'natural' tendency towards aggression and insecurity in our culture.
> > Narvaez makes it clear that this needs to be a community effort, it cannot
> > be done alone.
> >
> > See the 20 presenters at the upcoming conference at Findhorn, Healthy
> > Birth, Healthy Earth.  https://hbhe.co/presenters/
> >
> > Anna
> >
> > On 13 Aug 2016, at 10:44, Bob Haugen <bob.haugen at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, Aug 13, 2016 at 12:51 AM, peter waterman
> > <peterwaterman1936 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Are these classes a cause of their behaviour or a result thereof?
> >
> >
> > At least related, I think.
> >
> > And, in
> >
> > any case, are these 'classes' or 'identities'? I mean in any conventional
> >
> > definition of classes.
> >
> >
> > Yeah, it's more complicated. If you believe in intersectionality in
> > the bell hooks sense (and I do) and in relationships of domination vs
> > relationships of partnership as described recently in this list (and I
> > do), then in the capitalist system you got polarities of domination
> > and subordination around gender, wealth and relations of production,
> > and culture/race.
> >
> > People's individual personalities are formed in some interacting
> > combination of whichever positions in the two or three of those poles
> > they were enculturated in.
> >
> > And it gets even more complicated than that.
> >
> > I'm just trying to account for some phenomena in some way that is
> > discussable without writing a book.
> >
> > Secondly, what DO you do?
> >
> >
> > http://mikorizal.org
> >
> > Maybe I would either belong to or become a member
> >
> > of the preferred class.
> >
> >
> > I'm not pointing fingers.
> >
> > I think your basic traits were formed early and evolved through all of
> > your experiences. You can consciously change some of them through
> > struggle from and social practice with your comrades, but it ain't
> > easy.
> >
> > On Sat, Aug 13, 2016 at 12:44 AM, Bob Haugen <bob.haugen at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I'm trying to connect to what I think I perceive in some of Orsan's
> >
> > posts. This is a different angle on what Orsan has been talking about,
> >
> > but I think it is connected and I think the subject line might be
> >
> > closer to the essence.
> >
> >
> > We have recent experience with very different groups that we have
> >
> > worked with in our "solidarity economy" software experiments. None of
> >
> > which shall be named. Yet.
> >
> >
> > Some people in some groups have this sense of entitlement, as if we
> >
> > are their employees or they are our customer, rather than us all being
> >
> > peers in an open source project.
> >
> >
> > They complain a lot. Occasionally they offer helpful suggestions, but
> >
> > mostly they like to complain. Sometimes when they do make suggestions,
> >
> > they are way beyond anything that could be implemented, and if
> >
> > implemented, they would not be able to use the results because the
> >
> > results would be beyond their competence.
> >
> >
> > They are arrogant. They assume they our intellectual superiors. They
> >
> > claim to have abilities that in subsequent events they fail miserably
> >
> > to demonstrate.
> >
> >
> > We meet other groups where people claim to want to collaborate but
> >
> > fail to do so. Often they are credentialed academics, and we are not.
> >
> > (I don't even have a college degree. The horror!) They want to publish
> >
> > papers in proprietary journals which will advance their careers. We
> >
> > are not helpful in that pursuit. They also assume they are our
> >
> > intellectual superiors.
> >
> >
> > We work with other groups who do not feel so entitled. Who are eager
> >
> > to collaborate. Who jump in and work on the software. Who not only
> >
> > suggest improvements to the software, they jump in and make the
> >
> > improvements themselves! What a concept! Like a real open source
> >
> > project!
> >
> >
> > It is so nice. Really.
> >
> >
> > I think we have class differences at work here. What do you think?
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > NetworkedLabour mailing list
> >
> > NetworkedLabour at lists.contrast.org
> >
> > http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Click here for Peter's recent writings
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > 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
> 
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> 
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-- 
Roberto Verzola <rverzola at gn.apc.org>