[p2p-research] Would like to start a dialouge with you and seek some input

Sun Apr 25 16:46:16 CEST 2010

I will definitely be reporting back here, as things develop.  We are still
at a planning stage and are forming alliances, helping to build a common
understanding and bolster eachothers knowledge of the various topics
associated w/ forming cooperative economies through collective, grassroots
action.  Folks are very excited as, despite there being a lot of awesome
stuff going on re Evergreen, City Land Bank, and other exciting
sustainability/local economy projects, many of these projects are somewhat
siloed and inaccessible to the greater community.

This is why we are setting out under the principle of 'make a job' instead
of 'take a job', as folks are quickly realizing that economic transition,
relocaliation and re-prioritization will vastly rely on the momentum of our
own volition, and by networking our efforts we only stand to benefit and
prosper.  Our intent is to start small, with low-startup cost home-based
businesses, facilitating the formation of housing cooperatives, purchasing
cooperatives and other simple ventures.  Eventually, we hope to scale up
into more capital intensive ventures involving more complex equipment,
storefronts, or land as we are able to create pathways of investment, on our
terms, for legitimate local financiers and microlenders.  There is
definitely some strong interest in micro-manufacturing, as well as folks
with varied experience to back it up (milling, CNC, lathework, tool and die,
sheet metal, etc.), and possible alliances w/ union locals who are
interested in finding innovative ways to help to finance getting their
workers off the bench.

As we will be facilitating the growth of both physical and digital commons
over the course of this project, we will be aggregating information,
findings, and possibly discussions and decisions as they are made, and will
be making them available.  We are also in talks with folks throughout the
region about helping to facilitate the same types of projects elsewhere.

Report backs soon from the 'front lines',

Richard

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 12:24 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:

> I would really happy to seen your contributions here Richard, we need input
> from grassroots people who can report on what is happening,
>
> Michel
>
> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 12:25 AM, Kevin Carson <
> free.market.anticapitalist at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> > I am very impressed by your ideas and how you take some crucial economic
>> > concepts to the next level, create confluences of ideas, and are readily
>> > finding avenues to apply them.  I found myself following similar
>> channels
>> > and happened upon your stuff via OSE/Marcin a few years back.  Has
>> helped me
>> > to find some wonderful direction in thought and action.
>>
>> Nice to hear from you, Richard.  Thanks for the kind words.  I can't
>> write a line of code and my "shop skills" consist of occasionally
>> being able to drive a nail in straight, but the one thing I think I'm
>> good at is finding and correlating patterns in ideas/events.
>>
>> > I live in Cleveland and enjoyed reading the recent article @p2p
>> foundation
>> > blog (i also enjoy your posts on various list-serves, and would respond
>> more
>> > often if I had the time).  I'm glad we are on your radar.  Evergreen is
>> a
>> > complex thing that I would like to talk to you about, as they are not
>> > everything that they seem, and the Mondragon model is not the best
>> approach
>> > to organizing cooperatives, i would argue.  I work with Evergreen
>> > cooperative solar via my dayjob and have somewhat of an inside "scoop"
>> on
>> > the situation, if you will.  However, they are opening up peoples minds
>> to
>> > some very exciting opportunities and possibilities.
>>
>> > Here is a shortlist of the projects I am/have been involved with: Open
>> > Source Ecology, Columbia Exchange Circle, Cleveland Economic Democracy
>> > Network (includes IWW, FNB, coop organizing, among other things.  we
>> have
>> > read homebrew rev in discussion groups!), Open Pario, Forward
>> Foundation,
>> > Appropedia, etc.
>>
>> It's excellent to know there's someone on the ground in Cleveland
>> involved in the local economic democracy and cooperative initiatives,
>> who's also been involved in so much open manufacturing stuff.
>>
>> > I would really like to chat sometime soon, as i would like to have some
>> of
>> > your input on some of our (CEDNET) efforts around organizing truly
>> > cooperative, distributed networks of micromanufacturing shops, and other
>> > types of worker cooperatives, exchange systems, group purchasing and
>> ag-coop
>> > style syndicate organising.  We are serious, have skills, funding
>> sources,
>> > experience, and are drawing up some concrete plans.  A decent amount of
>> the
>> > folks in CEDNET have a variety of manufacturing experience, and we have
>> > worked with, in various capacities, and are beginning to approach
>> workers
>> > and local leaders in the interest of organizing with displaced workers
>> via
>> > USW, IUE, UAW,WU, etc.  Also, Forward Foundation has been doing local
>> > economic development projects all over, and has some great connections
>> > throughout the rust-belt.  They have clients who are looking to scale up
>> > some big micromanufacturing projects in Pittsburgh.
>> >
>> > So, would you be interested in getting a dialouge going? You can respond
>> via
>> > email, or eventually drop me a line at 440.476.7984 and/or 216.482.7617.
>> I
>> > also live in the ohio city neighborhood of cleveland, and you are free
>> to
>> > come by anytime and meet up with us (not sure where you are situated).
>>
>> I'm not sure how much help I can be, since (as I mentioned) my shop
>> and software skills are nil and I have no organizational talent at
>> all.  My main goal in writing the post at P2P Blog was to make the two
>> sides (the Cleveland cooperative folks and the P2P/Open Manufacturing
>> folks) aware of each other's existence and maybe foster some links
>> between them.  The fact that there's someone on Cleveland who's
>> invovled in both is very heartening.  It's also good that you've
>> worked with Sam Rose.  Just off the top of my head, I would suggest
>> subscribing to the P2P Foundation email list and the Open
>> Manufacturing list at Google Groups, if you're not already a member.
>> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
>> http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing?pli=1
>>
>> I'm not sure how much contact or input you have with the Democracy
>> Collaborative or Community-Wealth or any of the other official bodies,
>> but it would be interesting to see the results if some organization
>> like OSE, the Austin Fab Lab people, a nearby hackerspace, or
>> 100kGarages approached them officially,  organization to organization.
>>  Also if you know anyone with a ShopBot or other tools currently being
>> accepted into the 100kGarages network, they might make some overtures.
>>
>> FWIW, given that I'm completely out of touch with the situation on the
>> ground, it seems to me that anything that can spur
>> organization-to-organization contacts and increase the visibility of
>> the micromanufacturing movement to those in the upper  levels of the
>> Cleveland initiatives would be very imporant.
>>
>> I'm cc'ing this  to both lists in hopes someone closer to the center
>> of things can help.
>>
>> Best,
>> Kevin
>>
>> --
>> Kevin Carson
>> Center for a Stateless Society http://c4ss.org
>> Mutualist Blog:  Free Market Anti-Capitalism
>> http://mutualist.blogspot.com
>> The Homebrew Industrial Revolution:  A Low-Overhead Manifesto
>> http://homebrewindustrialrevolution.wordpress.com
>> Organization Theory:  A Libertarian Perspective
>> http://mutualist.blogspot.com/2005/12/studies-in-anarchist-theory-of.html
>>
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