[p2p-research] The grand alliance for the commons

Mon Mar 29 09:09:11 CEST 2010

Dear Ryan, I agree that the main focus must be access to productive
resources that allow p2p to occur, and this is why the focus must be the
buildings of the alternative infrastructures. However, this is not operating
in a vacuum, and there are now a vague of counter-attacks which aim to to
make these illegal, and also, a deep civilisational crisis which calls for
new macro-approaches. This is why I think that inevitably, the building of
open infrastructures will also call at times for political reactions.

Michel

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 5:29 AM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Michel,
>
> I have been reading these entries calling for alliances, etc. and it has
> caused me to reflect a bit on what I believe myself.
>
> I suppose, overall, I am suspicious of alliances because it generally
> forces me to align with ideas I don't hold.  I don't see much organizational
> need for that, myself.
>
> But if I were to summarize my own views of P2P advocacy (as opposed to
> interest), I would say I am interested in expanded access to ideas and
> technologies that enhance productivity.  For me, the social means of
> achieving this are very secondary.  I am quite happy if capitalist markets
> do it, and just as happy if socialist-like experiments do it.  I have grave
> doubts about the latter, but that's neither here nor there.  Whatever
> works.  Truly, I don't care.
>
> Enhanced productivity needs to enable broader access to the means of
> enhanced productivity whether it be elite educational and training resources
> or technical tools such as software.  As such, I see the mission of P2P as
> surrounding access and productivity.  Productivity is always contrasted with
> standards of externalities and similar trade-offs (e.g. pollution).  People
> care a lot about those sorts of costs and justifiably so.
>
> So boiled down, I think there is one issue: Greater access to means of
> being productive with productivity defined in terms of minimal negative
> externalities.
>
> Anyone who signs on to that, I guess is an ally.
>
>
> Ryan
>
>
>
>   On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 2:56 PM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
>>   slated for publication on april 2 in the blog:
>>
>> The grand alliance for the commons
>>
>>
>>
>> In my writings on P2P Theory, I have a rather simple, but I believe true,
>> formula to describe the crisis of the global system of neoliberal
>> capitalism.
>>
>> Namely,
>>
>> -          i.e. based on a false belief that nature is infinitely
>> abundant as a resource to be used by humanity, without regard for the
>> finitude of our planet, the necessary cycles of renewal in nature, etc…
>> Nature is an object to be depleted, and for waste to be dumped in. This is
>> what I call ‘pseudo-abundance’
>>
>> -          i.e. based on the false belief, disproved again and again by
>> studies, that the exchange of knowledge regarding  innovation, culture
>> and science have to be restricted artificially, in an exaggerated manner
>> that protects monopolies and their rent-based income. This is what I call
>> artificial scarcity.
>>
>> Hence a sustainable civilization or political economy needs to reverse
>> both polarities. It needs to recognize the limits of the natural world and
>> respect its cycles of regeneration, and it needs to relax its artificial
>> scarcities to that knowledge and innovation can flow more freely to the
>> whole of humanity. In fact, we cannot really solve the first problem,
>> without tackling the second.
>>
>> However, we could imagine solutions to the above, that would take place
>> without regard for the welfare of humanity itself, i.e. that would not
>> include the equally important requirement for social justice. Hence the need
>> for a third leg for our stool.
>>
>> We can translate these three tasks, reversing pseudo-abundance and
>> artificial scarcity in the context of social justice, by looking at existing
>> and emerging social movements.
>>
>> The environmental movement, and all those other forces which are starting
>> the integrate the demands for sustainability of our physical production, are
>> the necessary allies for the protection of our biosphere.
>>
>> The social justice movement is represented by the many social forces
>> defending the interests of workers and farmers and for socially just
>> structures, on the local, national, and global levels.
>>
>> The peer to peer moment in history brings one more emerging social
>> movement in this potential grand alliance: the movement for the free flow of
>> knowledge, culture and innovation. This is the contribution of the free
>> culture movement, of the open access movement,  of computer hackers, and
>> many other actors tackling artificial scarcity.
>>
>> Each of these moments has its own related but complementary vision of a
>> world centered around the commons and civil society. For the environmental
>> movement, the earth and its resources are a commons whose sustainability has
>> to be protected; the social justice movements wants to make sure that the
>> fruits of the physical commons are distributed in a fair manner so that no
>> part of humanity is excluded from the basic demands of well-being; and the
>> free culture movements protects the digital commons of education, knowledge,
>> science and innovation.
>>
>> This is what the grand alliance of the commons is about: recognizing the
>> joint interest of these grand social movements in the resilience,
>> sustainability and thrivability of natural and human commons.
>>
>> The creation of this grand alliance is the task of 21st century politics.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University - Think
>> thank: 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> Ryan Lanham
> rlanham1963 at gmail.com
> Facebook: Ryan_Lanham
> P.O. Box 633
> Grand Cayman, KY1-1303
> Cayman Islands
> (345) 916-1712
>
>
>
>
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>

-- 
Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University - Think thank:
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
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