Well, that's the problem - folks are organizing around political
matters, to rally, to protest - but not to act.
Seems to me we need something more like the green committees that
cropped up after Earth Day - and proceeded to start cleaning up rivers,
launch recycling problems. Perhaps a coalition of organizations - like
the ways VOADs organize service organizations to respond to disasters,
or United Ways help Habitat for Humanity put together housing builds -
or Live Aid & Farm Aid. Hence the notion of a "Civic Internet" that
brings lots of different folks together to collaborate.
In a sense, the way the Internet Flag Day focused the attention of lots
of different groups, and types of groups, on getting everthing ready for
the cutover.
In a sense, the challenge seems to be one of how do we get back to
working together, to mutual benefit - rather than every individual &
organization trying to be the one ring to rule them all.
A lot of us lived through the Internet - from Licklider's original memo
to today's hive of minds. We found a way to work together to wire the
world. What can we learn from the process? How can we rekindle the
spirit of collaboration?
Miles
Franklin, Dan wrote:
There is a lot of organizing happening.
Are you aware of "50501" - the big rallies at the capitals of all 50
states? Or the work of reconstituted Indivisible chapters (a new one
just formed for Melrose and Wakefield)? These chapters meet in person
or on Zoom to plan out protests and mass calls to Congress. The many
guides to protesting, and discussions of what matters? The rally on
Valentine's Day on the Boston Common?
Or the fact that the Capital switchboards are getting so many calls
that they're overloaded?
People are acting and organizing. Find your local Indivisible chapter,
or start one if there isn't one already.
Dan Franklin
On 2/9/25 12:36, Miles Fidelman wrote:
Hi Folks,
/Turning and turning in the widening gyre /
/Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/
/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,/
/The best lack all conviction, while the worst /
/Are full of passionate intensity./ ... Yeats
It strikes me that we - We The People, Americans, Humanity - need an
Attitude Adjustment.We need to relearn how to think & work together
for mutual support & benefit. My best efforts have been to little
effect. I'd welcome some suggestions, some support, some
participation.Herding cats is one thing, but one can only tilt at
windmills for so long.
We've networked ourselves together. 6 Billion of us have the power
to be anywhere & everywhere, all at once. To think & work together
on a global scale. To think globally focus our resources to act
locally. So what do we do? We share cat pictures, watch porn, flood
the world with spam, and troll each other with political polemics.
We've become the Borg, we're living in the Matrix, and 3-D Printing
Westworld around us. Our planet is dying, our infrastructure is
crumbling, monsters rise from the id of our collective consciousness,
and we hand the nuclear codes to a "Reality" TV star, with a penchant
for firing people & stirring up WWE style mayhem.
Is there some way back to /Life Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness, E
Pluribus Unum, Truth/ /Justice & the American Way? /Or forward to
/Prosperity & Long Life/ in /Infinite Diversity in/ /Infinite
Combination, Being All that We Can Be, Being Excellent to Each Other
& Partying / /On? /
----
At least some of us, here, were involved w/ FreeNets and the early
days of /Community Memory,/ bulletin boards, FidoNet, community
networks - attempts to build an /American Public Telecommunications
Network/ of FreeNets, and an /Association for Community Media/ for
cable access channels. All of that was lost when FaceBook & Social
Media & NextDoor & local websites hosted by big ate the world.
My work at the /Center for Civic Networking -/ and now with
/Civic.Net/ and /ThisOldNeighborhood.Net /- is an attempt to recreate
a network of public spaces on the Internet - an Internet or Syndicate
of Neighborhood Networks & Civic Forums - but there are not a lot of
Neighborhood Networks or Civic Forums to integrate.
It seems like folks don't /want/ to talk with each other anymore.
The polarizers, and propagandists, and market segmentationists have
done their work all too well. People don't come to town meeting or
condo meetings. Everyone wants to be a rockstar and a solopreneur,
rather than part of a team, or a community. Folks flock to the
latest personality or fad, a virtual event with a politician or media
personality - but actually sit down to think and work together, to
mutual benefit - not so much. Folks will march for this cause or
that, work for politicians, buy snake-oil. Some will go to Cons and
LARPs, and build a city in the dessert at Burning Man; some will
show up for Hackathons, Service Days, /Habitat-for-Humanity/ Builds,
rush off to map crises or jump into fires, but collaborate - think &
plan & work together for mutual support & benefit - not so much.
We're oh so much better at shouting slogans at each other - than at
looking for ways we can work together to mutual benefit.
----
I've been doing my damndest to recruit volunteers to organize local
/civic networks/ and /community forums/- to use platforms they
already have to bring people together (the way WBUR in Boston has
organized /CitySpace/ as a venue for events & programs that bring
people together. Or the Whole Earth Catalog & the WELL, back in the
day. Or what /MainVest /tried to do as a crowdsourcing vehicle for
main street businesses - until their bank failed).
I haven't been getting a lot of traction. I've got a bunch of
followers on /LinkedIn, /a bunch of (mostly non-paying) subscribers
to my blogs - but practically /nobody speaks up /- either to talk
about what they're doing and seeking collaboration for, or even to
ask folks to join with them to work on local pressing common
problems. And all the media types who HAVE large audiences, are
moving to Substack, spouting the same-old same-old, and inviting
people to attend their lectures, webinars, have coffee with them,
send them money - but offering nothing to help people work with each
other. All talk, no action.
---
It seems like the old line is true - you can lead folks to water, but
you can't make them drink.
Whatever happened to the /Spirit of America?/ What will it take to
wake people up? To motivate people to respond to a clear & present
danger the way they did following the first /Earth Day? /
Please... Speak up. With serious suggestions & proposals. Save the
pontification for other threads.
Thanks,
Miles
--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In our lab, theory and practice are combined:
nothing works and no one knows why. ... unknown
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In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In our lab, theory and practice are combined:
nothing works and no one knows why. ... unknown
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