<div dir="ltr">Keep in mind that the research papers of the flok project can become part of a political movement of the commons in Equador. <div>Even revolutionaries engage in movements that request from the government to pass some laws.</div>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2014-07-06 2:23 GMT+03:00 Kevin Carson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:free.market.anticapitalist@gmail.com" target="_blank">free.market.anticapitalist@gmail.com</a>></span>:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I think this is a good general observation on the likely result of<br>
most successor economy projects carried out in cooperation with state<br>
agencies: the most important outcome will be the horizontal functional<br>
connections (including with state personnel working within the belly<br>
of the beat) that persist after the state itself decays.<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
On Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 10:54 PM, Michel Bauwens<br>
<<a href="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net">michel@p2pfoundation.net</a>> wrote:<br>
> Here is a nice ecuadorian and in my view balanced evaluation of the flok,<br>
><br>
> in order to avoid inflaming, I removed the name of the author and most of<br>
> the persons cited<br>
><br>
> Since I have been repeatedly threatened and intimidated in an attempt to<br>
> avoid any independent political evaluation of the flok, I don't see any<br>
> point in continuing to be careful about some of its unfortunately realities:<br>
><br>
> from an ecuadorian person who participated in the flok process<br>
><br>
> <<<br>
><br>
> It's sad but the failure of something like FLOK is just another part of<br>
> life. Big picture, what mattered in Ecuador was introducing revolutionary<br>
> ideas to the population, and I think the way your team decided to carry out<br>
> research did impact many key people and foment important connections<br>
> in-country. What mattered for the P2P movement worldwide is learning from<br>
> failures, and you're more in tune with how that is going to move forward.<br>
> The case of Bernardo is very sad ... the case of Daniel V. somewhat sadder.<br>
><br>
> I do understand Ecuador much more than Bernardo or Daniel V. do, and I can<br>
> predict what FLOK is going to mean in the political landscape: the word FLOK<br>
> will eventually mean nothing. The papers it produced will mean nothing. What<br>
> will last will be the connections between people that it left behind. This<br>
> is why it saddens me that within the category of the people who met via<br>
> FLOK, some of them don't see the value of the others, and the strength that<br>
> the organism that coalesced in Quito could have. I'm sorry that they're<br>
> treating you the way they are. It's despicable. I think that people that<br>
> know you will see through the vitriol and judge you for your actions rather<br>
> than the words of others.<br>
><br>
> I don't think "FLOK" as it was imagined in Ecuador can be rescued. I think<br>
> if there's a power struggle over the idea or the papers produced at the<br>
> summit, that will just sink it faster. My opinion (and keep in mind that I<br>
> don't know much about what happened at the summit) is that you would benefit<br>
> from even more distance between yourself and Daniel V's project, that you<br>
> should continue to be open to the public and continue to process the "whys"<br>
> of your split and critique of the project, but move on without the label<br>
> "FLOK" on what you do. There's a measure of pride and ownership in not<br>
> wanting something that you loved, i.e. the idea of FLOK, to be completely<br>
> taken over by people whose ideas you hate, but that's how open source stuff<br>
> works, I suppose :) I don't think the way Daniel V. and co. do things is<br>
> going to conquer Ecuador. Actually, I'm positive that he will continue to<br>
> fail. Ecuadorians are not fond of being ruled by centralized power,<br>
> especially not from abroad. He's successful when he operates in the shadows<br>
> and when he uses Ecuadorians like Andres or Isabel as puppets to speak to<br>
> the locals, and foreigners with more cache, like yourself, to speak to the<br>
> international community. On his own, operating in Ecuador, he's pretty<br>
> harmless. And since he continually alienates people, I think he'll always<br>
> end up alone.<br>
><br>
> So, take heart, I suppose? "<br>
><br>
> --<br>
> Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record<br>
> of previous communication, proposals, etc ..<br>
><br>
> P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a><br>
><br>
> Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br>
><br>
> #82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a><br>
><br>
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><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">--<br>
Kevin Carson<br>
Senior Fellow, Karl Hess Scholar in Social Theory<br>
Center for a Stateless Society <a href="http://c4ss.org" target="_blank">http://c4ss.org</a><br>
<br>
"You have no authority that we are bound to respect" -- John Perry Barlow<br>
"We are legion. We never forgive. We never forget. Expect us" -- Anonymous<br>
<br>
Homebrew Industrial Revolution: A Low-Overhead Manifesto<br>
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</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse"><pre style="white-space:pre-wrap"><br></pre><pre style="white-space:pre-wrap">
Sincerely yours, </pre><pre style="white-space:pre-wrap"> Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis</pre></span>
</div>