[p2p-research] las gaviotas

Sat Oct 17 18:21:57 CEST 2009

Dear Franz,

thanks for sharing these points.

if you would have any more formal article on the importance of gaviotas and
sekem (I don't know the latter yet), or any more structured critique of
stewart brand, thanks for forwarding them or to consider writing about them
..

I appreciate your efforts to write for a strong and small community, but
through our blog, you can reach 3,000 readers as well,

Michel

On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 1:47 PM, Franz Nahrada <f.nahrada at reflex.at> wrote:

> Thanks for informing me (about Gaviotas).
>
> There are many new pieces in the puzzle and I think its really now coming
> to a point where there must be a societywide desicion between survival or
> death ov villages.
>
> Places like Gaviotals in Columbia and Sekem in Egypt share the same
> pattern.
>
> Ans they are able to absorb the world population, if replicated by
> millions.
>
> In the recent days I came across the incredible blunder of Steward Brand -
> I was shocked and started to rant about it publically.
>
> ---- beginn rant ----
>
>
> http://transitionculture.org/2009/10/07/carolyn-steel-on-how-food-shapes-our-cities/
>
> "At the same time from a link in this video I witnessed an incredible
> blatand blunder in another short TED talk by Steward Brand.
>
> [ http://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_on_squatter_cities.html
> ]http://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_on_squatter_cities.html
>
> We live in times where people dont really understand the
> outrageouscontradictions in quality of thoughts any more. I wish Carolyn
> would challenge Steward Brand.
>
> Following comment is still awaiting moderation.
>
> Another one that shows it slower and clearer: [
>
> http://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_proclaims_4_environmental_heresies.html
> ]
> http://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_proclaims_4_environmental_heresies.html
>
> Dont get me wrong. That is a person I admired all my life. Thats what
> really worries me. Whole Earth Catalogue – that was like a bible.Immense
> support to communities, immense creativity to solve anyproblem. A person
> that majored in Ecology and Evolution. Still now is giving in to
> megaurbanisation, nuclear, genetic engineering and geoengineering. No
> thought about the destructive footprints of those urban monsters.
>
> “Ecological disaster of subsistence farms”? -I think we can applyour
> creativity to conceive organic city-villages that blend into
> themetablolism of nature and enhance it. Beautifully outlined by
> peoplelike Claude Lewenz, [ http://www.villageforum.com
> ]http://www.villageforum.com.
>
> Education is only available in large cities? We can apply ourcreativity to
> align nodes of communication with nodes of development.For example – Many
> people from Kibera are thinking of returning to thecountryside, bringing
> their urban knowledge and achievements with them.Broadband technologies
> could be helpful to enable lean and green citiesembedded in nature.
>
> We have no way to store solar energy? What a weird proposition. start
> googling “storing solar energy” and get 139.000 hits.
>
> and so on. I really think the challenge is there. Ecological thinking
> needs to be more creative."
>
> --- end rant ---
>
> but no, seriously:this is an incredible challenge, and we are called to
> answer that blunder
>
> thats a mental devastation of some of the most intelligent people:
>
> • h• t• t• p• :• /• /• w• e• b• .• m• e• .• c• o• m• /• s• t• e• w• a• r•
> t• b• r• a• n• d• /• S• B• _• h• o• m• e• p• a• g• e• /• D• i• s• c• i• p•
> l• i• n• e• _• j• a• c• k• e• t• .• h• t• m• l•
> • h• t• t• p• :• /• /• w• e• b• .• m• e• .• c• o• m• /• s• t• e• w• a• r•
> t• b• r• a• n• d• /• S• B• _• h• o• m• e• p• a• g• e• /• B• l• u• r• b• s•
> .• h• t• m• l•
> •
> • I•  • s• i• m• p• l• y•  • w• i• s• h•  • I•  • h• a• d•  • m• o• r• e•
>  • t• i• m• e•  • t• o•  • d• o•  • i• t•
>  • t• h• o• r• o• u• g• h• l• y• .•
> •
> •
> here is another point I made on Globalvillages to outline that more.
>
> --- begin
>
> Thats exactly in resonance with my point in general: we must seek to
> involve the dominant mode of business to help us provide (to maintain, to
> save, to create) a reality beyond business, because business in the market
> has become an overall costly and redundant activity with too many players
> everywhere - and a horrible dominance of marketing and sales over quality
> and sustainability. Economy is the modern equivalent of war, not of peace.
>
> The solution that I am pointing out is a world that provides local living
> opportunities based on agreements, which create a sustainable environment
> that is the base for a "minority game" called market. If we are not forced
> to sell ourselves, we might provide with pride.
>
> I call this scheme "Global Villages", which simply means a planet filled
> with millions of basiucally self-sustaining villages, linked in a global
> cloud of knowledge exchange and grouped in local independent regions
> around a number of "mothercituies". Exchange of material goods in this
> vision will only take place if it really provides substantial advantages
> over local production. Exchange of people, of travelling, of considering
> the whole planet as our home, will be greatly enhanced, though - still
> probably resulting in less transportation than today. Lets call it a 20 -
> 80 scheme: 20% global market economy, 80% local agreement economy. I
> worked this out in many places and I am buildung a Global Voillages
> Network of people who want to join development ideas and perspectives and
> their energies.
>
> "You may say that I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one" (John Lennon)
>
> So I want to report from the conference that the Global Marshall Plan
> Foundation recently held in Salzburg, Austria. It was meant to be a high
> level business conference, chaired by Prince Hassan from Jordania, about
> the emerging opportunities of collaborative approaches that take into
> account that our most essential wealth is commons, not prvately owned,
> something that we have really lost sight of.
>
> There was a group of children that started the "plant for the planet"
> project. One Million new trees in every country, every region. Very
> impressive, But there were some very mature and even more exciting
> business projects that deserve our fill attention.
>
> What stroke me most is the potential of DESERTEC, a very ambitious project
> of immense scale backed by the club of Rome and important European
> business players, that basically can be described as "creating a European
> - African energy grid". Desertec starts with the observation that turning
> a square of 400 by 400 Square kilometres in the Sahara to a thermal solar
> power plant - collecting sunlight with mirrors, heating water that drives
> steam engines - could provide enough electricity for the energy needs of
> the whole mankind!!! The costs of bringin one Kilowatthour to far remote
> places loke Europe would be one cent.
>
> Now the project starts with this observation, but is very open in
> development how to use this opportunity. Our first suspicion was that it
> is megalomanic, the second one that it is colonialistic.
>
> But the answers that came were very promising.
>
> * Desertec does not want to confine itself to large power plants. Solar
> power collection could be vastly decentralised.
> * Only 20% of the energy harvested should go to Europe, 80% should stay in
> Africa, be used for water desalienation and many other local needs
> * Europe should not totally rely on that energy, but only have 20% of its
> needs met by passive solar, while other renewable sources should also be
> addressed.
>
> So imagine if a project like this really becomes the backbone for African
> development.
>
> * The inner - African North South conflict (expansion of Islam etc) could
> be mitigated, a zone of intensive development and peaceful settlements
> powered ny the Grid would emerge in the Sahara and Subsahara. Europe would
> not have to be affraid of migrants any more, many Europeans would maybe
> like to spend a wintertime in warm climate and so on....
> * A real bridge for knowledge transfer and collaboration could emerge if
> the energy infrastructure could be combined with broadband communication
> infrastructure. Global Villages could emerge wghich use skills and inputs
> from the whole globe to Imprve their local living condition.
> * The most important local needs could be addressed; "Energy harvestiung"
> would be much easier and beneficial than exporting agricultural goods.
> Soil and water could be directed to local needs.
>
> Thats the approach and I ask myself what would be possible if the power of
> community led development like shown by Open Source Ecology
> (www.openfarmtech.org) and similar endavours would be merged with
> infastructural developments like DESERTEC and support projects like the
> Telepathology project that was also introduced in Salzburg.
>
> Is this possible?  I wonder.
>
> We should dare to dream - a European - African dream.
>
> Franz
>
> --- end
>
> So my question is: can we take up this challenge together ?
>
> It would requoire taking a public stand against Steward Brand and his
> followers and putting all these building blocks like Gaviotas in Context.
>
> Franz
>
>

-- 
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