[p2p-research] Being autonomous, tools for conviviality and DoOcracy was Re: [-empyre-] seeing yourself a prototype - the limits of open source (innovation as manipulation)

[Michel Bauwens]

thanks, that is indeed a very useful reminder of the basic conditions!

On Sun, May 2, 2010 at 5:16 PM, Alexandre Dulaunoy <a at foo.be> wrote:

> On Sat, May 1, 2010 at 8:01 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > I think we had this discussion about 18 months ago, when you talked about
> > the contempary situation as a new type of fascism.
> >
> > What is demobilizing about it, in my view, is that it overemphizes the
> > enemy, it presumes a total defeat of civil society, which is not the
> case,
> > yes, there are new state powers, yes democracy is in crisis, but do we
> live
> > in a totalitarian state, or totalitarian capitalism, no, absolutely not.
> >
> > I think that the fact the you mention insurrectionist anarchism, surely
> the
> > most ineffectual strategy at present, as using Agamben, is indicative, it
> > leads to nihilism.
> >
> > Otherwise of course, I do find your thoughts and contributions very
> > informative, since I probably won't have the time to read it all, but I
> > truly feel that the language the post-modern left is using, is bringing
> it
> > further and further away from any contact with real social movements, and
> > totally away from the construction of a new p2p world, I feel it is the
> > scholastics of our time,
> >
> > the way I see the method is: take something which has a grain of truth,
> say
> > measures of exception, take it as the absolute truth, then build a whole
> > system of thought on that doubtful premise,
> >
> > of course, I wouldn't be able to engage in a convincing discussion about
> > this, but I noted how activists on the ground, often felt the same way as
> me
> > during this type of academic conferences ...
> >
> > Michel
>
> Dear Michel and p2p enthusiasts,
>
> When I see the current discussions around p2p concepts and our societies,
> there is always a common requirement that would allow more p2p activities
> between citizen : this requirement is the autonomy of each element in a
> p2p networks (in our societies or in the non-physical world).
>
> To be autonomous, you need two important concepts:
>
> - (1) The ability to control your tools to be autonomous and
> - (2) also getting the benefit of running autonomous.
>
> (1) is what's called by Ivan Illich the "tools for conviviality"[1] where
> he was
> already making a definition of free software[2] in the seventies. Everyone
> must have the control on their tools (e.g. technologies, information
> tools,...) and
> be able to use them without the need of a monopoly.
>
> "A convivial society should be designed to allow all its members the
> most autonomous action by means of tools least controlled by others."
>
> (2) is self explanatory, if you can't get a benefit/reward (either
> direct or indirect),
> the incentive to be autonomous is very low.
>
> Looking at the past discussions, it seems sometimes that we could
> be afraid to jump into a "DoOcracy"[3] because some risks exists but
> I think the risk is higher to give up and ask "large organization" to do
> the next tools for the next years. We will then loose the control of the
> tools
> and won't be able to be autonomous.
>
> That's why when doing something to render people (and/or machine)
> more independant, we need to keep in mind (IMHO) that the system
> must be simple and convivial for everyone willing to use or modify it.
>
> Just a small comment,
>
> Thanks to all for your work.
>
> adulau
>
> [1] http://clevercycles.com/tools_for_conviviality/
> [2] Free software as defined by the FSF with all the 4 freedoms.
> [3] http://www.communitywiki.org/en/DoOcracy
>
> --
> --                   Alexandre Dulaunoy (adulau) -- http://www.foo.be/
> --                             http://www.foo.be/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Diary
> --         "Knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance
> --                                that we can solve them" Isaac Asimov
>



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