[p2p-research] Fw: babysitting coop as civic network

Fri Jun 4 16:20:30 CEST 2010

Hi Sam, or Neal,

could I also ask you to add the diagram to the article, for some reason, I
could not copy/past the URL,

MICHEL

On Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 5:06 AM, Neal Gorenflo <neal at shareable.net> wrote:

> Michel, I took a crack at it.  Is this what you had in mind?  If it suits
> you, feel free to copy edit and format as needed.  Neal
>
> --
>
> My colleague Michel Bauwens asked me to share some thoughts about the
> timing of a shift to a P2P world using the panarchy model<http://shareable.net/blog/resilience-primer>developed by the Resilience
> Alliance <http://www.resalliance.org/1.php> as a guide (see diagram). This
> is an interesting challenge as I'm not familiar with it as an economic
> forecasting tool. However, I welcome the challenge because a recent event I
> co-hosted, Design 4 Resilience (D4R)<http://shareable.net/blog/design-4-resilience-thriving-in-an-uncertain-world>,
> asked participants to apply resilience thinking in unique ways outside of
> the normal use in academe and ecosystem management.
>
> That being said, what I share here is exploratory. My goal with this short
> post is just to introduce the possibility of using the panarchy model to
> learn something about where we are and what may come in the near future.
>
> The starting point is to understand that social and ecological systems tend
> to move through four recurring phases: growth and conservation (resources
> committed, stable, slow change, predictable), release and reorganization
> (resources freed up, chaos, fast change, opportunity). At the recent Viennese
> Talks on Resilience & Networks<http://shareable.net/blog/viennese-talks-on-resilience-networks>,
> the assumption was that the world system is in a late K, meaning approaching
> the end of the conservation phase and the beginning of the release phase.
>
> Here I share characteristics of the conservation phase with some
> corresponding real-world signals:
>
> -Increased rigidity: The long series of failed WTO talks.  The inability of
> leading governments to respond appropriately to climate change.
> -Slowing growth: Many stock analysts believe we're in a long-term secular
> bear market.
> -Increased specialization: this is the age of the long tail and 1,000 true
> fans.  Specialization is escalating in the Internet age.
> -Bound up capital accumulation: Only recently, US and Germany's budgets are
> 100% committed to existing programs and debt servicing.  No money is
> available for new programs.
> -Increased efficiency: The rapid increase in computing power described by
> Moore's Law. The Toyota Prius is an cultural icon symbolizing efficiency.
>
> I share the perspective that we're in late K because we see unprecedented
> vulnerability in the global economy and environment that is resulting in
> dramatic episodes of disruption, and with increasing frequency. It appears
> that we are pushing against thresholds on many fronts, thresholds that once
> crossed result in swift, dramatic, and sometimes irreversible change.
> Release may be near.
>
> As to timing, the transition from conservation to release can be sudden.
> There is no way to predict exactly when the transition will start. I suspect
> that at the society scale, the timing of transition is influenced by human
> lifespans. Generational theory has much to about the relationship between
> cycles and generations. It suggests to me that it's no accident that we are
> experiencing late K crises as baby boomers begin to retire.
>
> One thing I would pay attention to is any change in pace of late K signals.
> My casual observation is that the frequency and magnitude of disruptions has
> accelerated since 9/11. The keynote at the Vienna Talks<http://fas-research.com/viennese-talks-on-resilience-a-retrospective>,
> Buzz Holling<http://fas-research.com/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=313&id=9&lang=en&task=videodirectlink>,
> famed ecologist and founder of the Resilience Alliance, pointed to the fall
> of the Berlin Wall as a signal of the onset of late K.
>
> I would also take into account the relationship between geographic scales
> and the pace of change. Resilience thinking teaches us that change at large
> geographic scales is slow while there is more flexibility at lower scales.
> This dynamic argues for concentrating on bottom up strategies for change
> while staying engaged with higher scales albeit with more patience. This
> perspective also explains why cities have outstripped nations and
> international bodies in responding to crises such as climate change. Holling
> offered some personal advice along these lines at the Vienna Talks - stay
> positive by working on what you're passionate about while moderating your
> expectations that large institutions will change.
>
> Going forward, it may be difficult for the structures baby boomers built up
> to be maintained. Rather, new forms of organization may emerge in the nexus
> between a new generation, a different mix of resources, the rise of
> developing nations, and a new spatial fix<http://www.creativeclass.com/creative_class/2008/07/11/the-new-spatial-fix/>.
> The P2P blog and Shareable <http://shareable.net/> make a case that this
> is already happening.
>
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> On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 8:45 PM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Neal,
> >
> > this is a pretty crucial topic in terms of timing of change,
> >
> > is there any possibility that you write a paragraph, or two,  to publish
> with the graph, and  reference to your articles?
> >
> > thanks for considering it,
> >
> > otherwise, I'm asking sam and paul if they can help with this important
> topic,
> >
> > Michel
> >
> > On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 8:06 PM, Neal Gorenflo <neal at shareable.net>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Michel,
> >> Here's a post that gives an overview of the four stage complex adaptive
> cycle that Buzz and others developed:
> >> http://shareable.net/blog/resilience-primer
> >> Late K is where the growth cycle slows dramatically or ends.  You see
> declining returns on complexity.  The system is organized at a critical
> state.  The frequency and magnitude of disturbances increases.  Yet change
> is impossible because resources are locked up in existing relationships.
>  The next stage is breakdown when resources are released.  This sets the
> stage for renewal.  The resilience mindset sees breakdown as necessary and
> positive.  It argues for co-management of the process rather than control or
> avoidance.  Most management systems are linear in orientation and try to
> manage for an ideal, stable state.  Resilience thinking argues for managing
> with the cycles in mind.  And in late K, managing with the expectation that
> big, unpredictable disturbances will happen.
> >> I also highly recommend these books:
> >> Panarchy:
> >> http://astore.amazon.com/shareable08-20/detail/1559638575
> >> The Collapse of Complex Societies:
> >> http://astore.amazon.com/shareable08-20/detail/052138673X
> >> And I just wrote this post which has a collection of signals that
> suggest our civilization is in late K.  That was certainly the assumption of
> Buzz and others at the recent Vienna resilience event:
> >> http://shareable.net/blog/viennese-talks-on-resilience-networks
> >> I hope this is helpful.
> >> Cheers,
> >>
> >> Neal
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> Neal Gorenflo || Publisher, http://shareable.net || @ShareableDesign
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 7:57 PM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi neal,
> >>>
> >>> i'm very interested in the timing issue for p2p change,
> >>>
> >>> could you explain more in detail what the late K state is, and how and
> where buzz discusses this? (or send links if you know of any)
> >>>
> >>> Michel
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 11:50 PM, Neal Gorenflo <neal at shareable.net>
> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Alex,
> >>>> Very interesting about what you bring up about scale.  I spoke last
> week at the Viennese Talks About Resilience & Networks with Buzz Holling,
> Bernard Lietaer, Harald Katzmair, and others.
> >>>> A strong theme emerged about the importance of cross scale linkages.
>  In the resilience framework, adaptation is made much more difficult if
> there are no or weak cross-scale links.
> >>>> Yet, in the context of social change currently, Buzz made the point
> that political organization at the national and international level is so
> constrained, so unable to respond, that his advice was to not get depressed
> about it, it's natural at this phase of an adaptive cycle (late K), and
> instead do something positive you know about at your scale for the common
> good.
> >>>> Community organizing is perfect for this because it connects
> individuals with small groups and small groups with a neighborhood and a
> neighborhood to a city.  It connects all the scales where there still some
> room to maneuver.
> >>>> In the resilience context, p2p innovations are quite adaptive as work
> arounds the frozen upper scales creating new patterns of value creation that
> set the stage for a new economy that uses less energy,creates more value, is
> more resilient, and distributes value more broadly.  Anyway, let's hope so
> ;)
> >>>> Cheers,
> >>>> Neal
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>>
> >>>> Neal Gorenflo || Publisher, http://shareable.net || @ShareableDesign
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 3:28 AM, Alex Rollin <alex.rollin at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> What do you think of when you see this list?
> >>>>> Boy Scouts of America
> >>>>> Chamber of Commerce / Junior Chamber of Commerce
> >>>>> Alcoholics Anonymous
> >>>>> Future Farmers of America
> >>>>> Rotary International / Rotaract
> >>>>> The Freemasons
> >>>>> I'm a member of more than 2 of these, myself.  Many of them follow
> the bulk of the rules outlined in the Shareable post.
> >>>>> I would add churches to the list as well, but I think it's pretty
> clear by now that modernity and postmodernity make it rather difficult for
> the average human to simply walk into a church, get on with everyone, and
> feel well enough at home to contribute to the common good.
> >>>>> The future of civic networks will require something that none of
> these offer, while still offering everything that these offer (in
> another/some form).
> >>>>> While in graduate school I spent quite a bit of time researching
> civic network protocol.  One place where I spent some time was in churches
> doing political organizing...just like Barack Obama...and my teacher was
> form the same lineage as Obama's, as a matter of fact.  The idea behind this
> was that churches, in America, remain the last standing consumer power base
> aggregation point of any worthy note.  It was unfortunate that this was the
> case, but it was and still is true all the same.
> >>>>> At any rate, my time spent on this line of work was centered around
> understanding how small teams of one or two people can quickly facilitate a
> self-organizing node in a network (of churches / religious people / people).
>  This node, ideally, would be resilient and responsive to the needs of the
> community, quickly growing and  iterating to provide for the various needs
> of the community with regards to committing themselves further towards the
> needs of the members of the network node, all the while staying
> action-oriented towards a common superordinate goal.
> http://p2pfoundation.net/Superordinate_Goal
> >>>>> I spent over 10 years in this variety of organizing, at the
> explicitly personal/individual and node, and intra-node.  My now issue of
> the past 6 years has more to do with 'network jumping' between networks
> created around superordinate goals  Networks of networks of networks of
> networks of networks of networks...  Turtles all the way down.  Protocol
> every which way.
> >>>>> At this moment I am most concerned with the set of principles that
> allows us to understand how scale invariance looks, as a protocol, at what
> only appears to be different layers.  It's as if we look at the personal,
> the node, the intra-node, and we would like to think that there really are
> different things happening at each level.  I just don't believe that.  I
> know it's not true.
> >>>>> The Next civic organizations are built of protocol that allows for
> scale invariance.  As above, so below.
> >>>>> It's my intention to continue to work on documenting what the heck
> that looks like on the P2P Foundation wiki.  Scale invariance for protocol
> requires lots and lots of documentation.  Everything that would be true for
> a country is true for an individual.  Every principle that holds a people
> together is so for individuals.  Each interaction has some anallog at every
> level.
> >>>>> Alex Rollin
> >>>>> http://alexrollin.com
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 12:06 AM, Gary Myers <garymyers222 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> What is your best example of a civic network?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> ________________________________
> >>>>>> From: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
> >>>>>> To: Alex Rollin <alex.rollin at gmail.com>
> >>>>>> Cc: Gary Myers <garymyers222 at yahoo.com>
> >>>>>> Sent: Sun, May 30, 2010 12:34:22 PM
> >>>>>> Subject: Re: Fw: babysitting coop as civic network
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> dear alex, here are the 20 rules:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 1. Should be engaged in a perpetual campaign to improve the quality
> of life on the ground. Must be rooted in local communities unified by a
> common vision that everyone can work toward. They must create a narrative
> that is open for users to dialog with that guides action and gives purpose.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 2. Must help individuals self-assess, self-author their lives, fully
> express their passions in the community, and become leaders in the field of
> their choice, however obscure. The network should give users the opportunity
> to:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> * Know their strengths and passions
> >>>>>> * Help others according to strengths and passions
> >>>>>> * Develop projects aligned with their beliefs, strenghts and
> passions
> >>>>>> * Invite others to help them with their projects
> >>>>>> * Become leaders by doing the above
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 3. Must cultivate moderators at each level of the network
> (inter-household, neighborhood, community) willing to promote, moderate,
> grow and manage the community.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 4. Must offer a wide variety of services that enable citizens to
> self-organize to meet their needs. To get a critical mass of participation
> at the local level, civic networks will have to offer a wide range of
> services. Like Facebook, the civic network will be a platform for
> applications. The only difference is that civic applications are focused on
> increasing quality of life rather wasting users time.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 5. Must create a culture of cooperation through such things as:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> * Personal profiles that inventory an individuals skills, talents,
> experience, knowledge, goals, and projects and invite collaboration
> >>>>>> * Create norms for cooperation, trust, and social connections
> through soft (culture-based) and hard (software-based) methods
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 6. Cooperation must follow a developmental path from simple, easy,
> low trust collaborations like exchanging information to more complex, more
> difficult, higher trust activities like cooperative childcare, artistic
> collaborations, and asset sharing.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 7. Must make visible human and physical assets of the network. An
> asset map better allows users and the community to mobilize resources to
> achieve goals.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 8. Must connect individuals and organizations in the network in a
> system of explicit interdependence and mutual benefit. This means that every
> entity knows not only what they will get but how the community will benefit
> as a whole by participating. Ideally, each entity gets something they
> desperately need.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 9. Must show immediate benefit to individuals and institutions while
> working toward larger long-term benefits.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 10. Must make it a meaningful infinite game. The network must
> measure and reward individual and network progress toward vision with
> intrinsic rewards making everyone feel a part of a larger story of ongoing
> success with no limit on the rewards.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 11. Must make it a fun finite game. The network must create
> constructive competitions rewarding those who contribute the most to the
> network with time limits, scorekeeping, and extrinsic rewards (that
> hopefully feedback into the community, no ipod contests!).
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 12. Must give back any profits to the community in a systematic,
> predictable, and transparent manner. The recipients of donations must be
> democratically determined by a disinterested third party (i.e.community
> foundation or community development corporation) or by members.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 13. Must give every member a chance to become a leader, steward or
> evangelists for the network and systematically cultivate leadership so there
> is a stable pipeline of talent. Then connect the leaders.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 14. The progress of the network must be reported on regularly to
> create a positive feedback loop. News flow must emphasize success stories,
> report on progress toward vision, profile network role models, how tos,
> report on network assets, and demonstrate the power of cooperation.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 15. The service must shape a socially constructive identity for
> users to dialog with. Users must be given a role to play out in a story told
> by the interplay between system and user. The system must activate the
> heroic archetype in users.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 16. The brand of the network must be a user-supported call to
> action. The brand must be inclusive, co-created, and experiential. The brand
> must have a civic architecture.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 17. Must have a charter detailing the norms of the network, norms
> which help ensure fidelity to the purpose of the network.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 18. Real, open, and owned identity. The network must incorporate
> trust systems that verify identity. Must support open ID (portable
> profiles). Users’ personal and usage data must be controlled by users. Only
> users can determine the privacy policy.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 19. Users rule, literally. The network must be user owned, managed,
> and governed by users for the benefit of users in a completely transparent
> manner.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 20. Quality over quantity. The goal of the network is to cultivate
> leadership in members, not just get members at any cost. While consumer
> culture creates consumers, this system creates citizens. The way to create
> citizens is to create quality leadership development experiences,
> experiences that are life-changing. For instance, the opportunity to
> co-manage a babysitting coop organized online could be a life-transforming
> leadership development experience.”
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 1:53 AM, Alex Rollin <alex.rollin at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> I spent some time in China...I can see where this person is going
> with the Civic Network.  Can you pass along the "20 qualities of a civic
> network?'  I'd like to see that.
> >>>>>>> I am working on a set of documents for supporting highly open
> non-privateering cooperatives.  I'm also putting heavy emphasis on 'civic'
> preservation of capital operating assets, ie 500 year horizon.  I'm
> reorganizing the p2p wiki pages now to support an interlocking system of
> small cooperatives functioning to out-coordinate local private enterprise.
>  I am making these notes and linking pages to
> http://p2pfoundation.net/Cooperative_Ecology_Project.  There's plenty of
> room for others to help in the endeavor.
> >>>>>>> Are you the person behind the accounting system on the babysitting
> site?  I've been rolling around a few ideas for custom solutions to other
> niches where coordination is outsourced to for-profit companies, but where
> the work itself is basically simple accounting and compliance related tasks.
>  I've not had yet enough time to put together a perfect storm assay of all
> the qualities that will make these 'edge' opportunities easily identifiable,
> but they certainly exist, and coops with not-for-loss perspectives will have
> the best chance of building trust with 'markets' where the choice between
> one offering and another is rarely about money.
> >>>>>>> A
> >>>>>>> http://alexrollin.com/
> >>>>>>> On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 8:24 PM, Gary Myers <
> garymyers222 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> See below...thanks for your help.  What more can we do to get more
> momentum on these tompics?
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> ----- Forwarded Message ----
> >>>>>>>> From: Gary Myers <garymyers222 at yahoo.com>
> >>>>>>>> To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>; Samuel Rose <
> samuel.rose at gmail.com>
> >>>>>>>> Sent: Sun, May 30, 2010 11:21:55 AM
> >>>>>>>> Subject: Re: babysitting coop as civic network
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> Thank you for your interest babysittingcoop.com as an example of
> a civic network enhanced by a money-free computer assisted barter system.
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> I have attached a sample thesis I just mailed to a grad student in
> China. I am looking for help!
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> ________________________________
> >>>>>>>> From: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
> >>>>>>>> To: Peer-To-Peer Research List <p2presearch at listcultures.org>
> >>>>>>>> Cc: Samuel Rose <samuel.rose at gmail.com>; garymyers222 at yahoo.com
> >>>>>>>> Sent: Sun, May 30, 2010 9:41:20 AM
> >>>>>>>> Subject: babysitting coop request
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> comment via
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> Gary Myers
> >>>>>>>> babysittingcoop.com
> >>>>>>>> garymyers222 at yahoo.com
> >>>>>>>> 67.185.50.144
> >>>>>>>> Submitted on 2010/05/29 at 5:36pm
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> I have been looking for this kind of guideline for building a
> community. I invite you to help me build your vision with all the members of
> babysittingcoop.com
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> These moms are re-inventing the idea of neighborhood. It is really
> amazing to see the strength of the support for each other that grows once
> the co-op gets started…the makings of a good masters thesis…
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> I am looking for anyone that wants to make a small bit of history
> in building a community like envisioned in this article.
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> In another application of the twenty rules, the BP spill site has
> 96,000 technical suggestions sent in. A good civic community could self
> organize and allow people to step into a variety of roles needed to review
> filter and screen this massive number of suggestions. Who knows a very good
> idea may be buried in those 96,000 emails.
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> --
> >>>>>>>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net/  -
> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/; Discuss:
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens;
> http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens;
> http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> Think tank:
> http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  -
> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens;
> http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens;
> http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Think tank:
> http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  -
> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
> >>>
> >>> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
> >>>
> >>> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
> >>>
> >>> Think tank:
> http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  -
> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
> >
> > Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
> >
> > Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
> >
> > Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

-- 
P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org

Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
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