dear Paul, Stacco and AM of our operational and communication streams should be able to follow this up if you explain a bit what the expectations are,
I'm aware that opencollective seems to work as crowdfunding and collective budgetting tool, Michel On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 10:08 PM, Paul B. Hartzog < [email protected]> wrote: > Michel, et al > > I am putting together an OpenCollective called CommonsWealth Network > that will function in parallel to my CommonsWealth Institute, > and which should allow all of our affiliated groups to function as a > single complex system. > An OpenCollective is a group of groups and backers > that can co-manage a set of shared resources and co-budget those resources. > > For an example see: > https://opencollective.com/brusselstogether#parenting > > I would be delighted to know if anyone is interested in being a part of > this process. > I firmly believe that the way the old system keeps the new system from > coalescing > is to keep the new parts fighting over resources rather than sharing them > and > becoming more powerful. I've decided to take a hand at ending that > problem. ;-) > > much thx > -Paul > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------- > http://www.PaulBHartzog.org > [email protected] (o|o) > ------------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------- > If you bow deeply to the universe, it bows back. > ~ Ueshiba Morihei > > The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms. > ~ Muriel Rukeyser > > Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. > ~ Hannah Arendt > > Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. > ~ William James > > We come out of the world, not into it. > ~ Alan Watts > > If the path before you is clear, you're probably on someone else's > ~ Joseph Campbell > > And if you have a subject, you're going to have objects too > ~ Richard Adler > > Perceive differently, then you will act differently. > ~ Paul B. Hartzog > ------------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------- > > On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 8:59 AM, Michel Bauwens <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> I am going to take an initiative, with support of SMart, for a federation >> of commons-oriented think thank groups, to get the best proposals together >> at the European level, this will be for the end of this year ... >> >> Hopefully this will also advance our common desire for more >> commons-oriented policymaking! >> >> On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 2:43 PM, pat commonfutures < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I totally agree with you Michel. >>> >>> There is some interesting work going on by Commonweal in Scotland to >>> develop a governance structure for new public banks that is akin to the >>> Community Land Trust model in the USA which is explicitly >>> multi-stakeholder. They coincidentally suggest this without clear links to >>> the CLT ideas. >>> >>> Also some work happening in the UK on a co-op model for public banks >>> that the new 2014 Co-op law in the UK coincidentally enables. The Community >>> Savings Bank Association is being revived to foster this. Corbyn proposes >>> regional banks but has not yet a model firmly in mind as far as I am aware. >>> Hence this CSBA work is good and timely. >>> >>> So huge potential to unite the elements we want to see for economic >>> democracy ways forward that focus on common-ing. >>> >>> But you are right to underscore the danger of the sound ideas being >>> hijacked and taking everyone quickly in the wrong direction. >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> On 01 February 2018 at 13:27 Michel Bauwens <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> hi pat, >>> >>> I wasn't reacting to public banking at all, which I support though I >>> would prefer multi-stakeholders arrangements for their governance if not >>> ownership, sorry for the misunderstanding, >>> >>> just generally speaking, both the left and the social-populists are >>> still in nation-state centric vaguely neo-keynesian modalities, and it is >>> high time to inject more commons thinking and practice .. not to abandon >>> the nation-state, but to add both (trans)local and trans-national elements >>> to their strategies, centered around the creation of strong and shared >>> commons >>> >>> Michel >>> >>> On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 2:22 PM, pat commonfutures < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Touche. >>> >>> But we are talking at cross purposes Michel. You make valid points and >>> raise concerns that are vitally important but you misunderstand the case I >>> am making. >>> >>> Public banking need not necessarily be neo-Keynesian. Yes commonly and >>> almost always in social democratic traditions this has been the case. Post >>> Keynesian ideas are different and relevant to Post Capitalism and that it >>> is in this vein I am making this case. >>> >>> The Bank of Canada during its radical days before 1973 and from 1938 >>> financed infrastructure by creating interest free money and finance. This >>> was not in the restricted neo-Keynesian song book. >>> >>> This other short piece by Zoe Williams in the Guardian and again on the >>> Magic Money Tree and on People's QE (that Corbyn took up but then dropped >>> as a hot potato) shows up the wall of ignorance and on how peaceful social >>> investment is being totally blocked as this is a Taboo subject. >>> >>> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/04/printi >>> ng-money-jeremy-corbyn-quantitative-easing-peoples-qe >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> On 01 February 2018 at 12:13 Michel Bauwens < [email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> I know this is going to sound arrogant and self-serving, but seriously, >>> after ten years of research and engagement in two intense projects at >>> nation-state and city level, I think we have a pretty good handle of the >>> inter-relationship between commons, market and state; we pretty much know >>> the most important elements of this relationship ... it's more a question >>> now of making more things happen that exemplify it, >>> >>> as a reminder, in Ecuador we looked in-depth at how to create national >>> knowledge commons, with the instutiional, regulatory and material >>> conditions to make it happen, offering a specific methodology, and in >>> Ghent, an institutional framework for public-commons cooperation at the >>> city level, focusing on material provisioning systems, >>> >>> if you put the two together, and add John Restakis' developments on the >>> same theme , focusing on the social economy, we have the basics at hand, >>> >>> this is why I think it is now vital to bring these insights to >>> social-populist politicians, to give them a way forward beyond >>> neo-keynesianism, >>> >>> at the P2P Foundation, feeling confident about the basic logic of >>> commons-market-state cooperative institutions, we are now moving to the >>> underlying social and ecological conditions that underlie such an >>> institutional structure >>> >>> one is commonfare and the reform of social protection so that it can >>> protect autonomous workers (and the care economy); the other is >>> bioacapacity-based supply chains and accounting, >>> >>> it's gonna be at least a five year plan <g> >>> >>> On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 10:52 AM, pat commonfutures < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Thanks Mike, Michel, Dirk, Stacco and Margie for the supportive feedback. >>> >>> We need to fit together the commons, co-op and partner state jig-saw >>> pieces. But how and Now? >>> Let me widen the analysis and think how to turbocharge the superb >>> bootstrap grassroots work in Barcelona, Ghent, Bologna and Preston. Bear in >>> mind that Bruno Roelants is now head of the ICA and he supports the >>> solidarity economy and has a growing interest in commons and co-op commons >>> especially. >>> >>> From an utter state of dire poverty and crisis, Preston is making a >>> co-operative fight back. There are many post industrial towns in Northern >>> France and other parts of southern and Eastern Europe precisely in this >>> dire state today and without a commons co-op Plan supported by social >>> investment they will continue to be lured by the far Right. >>> >>> Councillor Matthew Brown in Preston has been inspired by the Evergreen >>> Co-ops in Cleveland, Ohio and the work of Ted Howard at the US Democracy >>> Collaborative. Ted has been to speak in Preston 2 or 3 times in recent >>> years. >>> >>> On the need for monetary and banking reform to complement the Preston >>> set of ideas , here in Wales we ran a very successful Build a Co-operative >>> Country conference last June and simply allowed the Community land trust >>> groups, the social co-op groups for care services, the renewable energy >>> co-ops, the housing co-ops, freelancer co-ops and others like this to tell >>> their stories in a big plenary. This worked wonderfully well because the >>> different co-op and commons innovators are so busy ploughing their own >>> separate fields, they were not well aware of what their other comrades in >>> arms were doing and succeeding with. If they were not aware, the wider >>> pubiic is even less aware of a practical What if vision? >>> >>> The politicians in attendance were very impressed with these commoner >>> stories. All these projects are lacking in strategic investment badly and >>> none has the scope to move from micro-level success to upping their game >>> big time. We do not have the democratic financing infrastructure in place >>> to do this. For example a recent report on renewable energy co-ops in Wales >>> showed that they cannot aggregate easily to attract low cost patient >>> capital from public sector pension funds that are looking to invest in >>> non-fossil fuel alternatives. This got us thinking about how to put in >>> place such a bridge. >>> >>> During the Great Depression public banks like the early Bank of Canada >>> created new money to invest in public services, housing, health services, >>> rural revival, electrification etc. It worked. >>> >>> Over the past 18 months we have been working on a public bank for Wales >>> that could create money out of thin air and invest in the commons and co-op >>> sectors big time. All the politicians of most parties say There is no magic >>> money tree for social investment. This short article from Zoe Willams in >>> the Guardian reveals the massive ignorance of MPs of all parties about how >>> money is created. A good one this for the Common Transition Plan. >>> >>> https://www.theguardian.com/global/shortcuts/2017/oct/29/how >>> -the-actual-magic-money-tree-works >>> >>> We held a public meeting on a public bank for Wales last October and got >>> to attend the Minister for Local Government and Finance and the chief >>> economist for Welsh government. The research we had stimulated came out >>> before this meeting and is getting on side our thinking. We are soon to >>> complete another report on the public bank and money creation that the >>> Minister has invited us to send him. >>> >>> Ellen Brown at the Public Banking Institute in the US has joined our >>> Public Banking action group and has been twice to Wales to talk. >>> >>> Public banks that really create new money are a key piece of the >>> jig-saw for commons. In our forthcoming report we are advancing the case >>> for the creation of £1 billion of new money by a Welsh public bank from >>> year 1 on a ratio of 5:1. That is five times new money created for patient >>> social investment to the core capital in the new bank that we are inviting >>> local governments in Wales to put up from say 5% of their annual capital >>> budgets. Leverage this and you can get take-off locally and thereafter >>> regional. >>> >>> We need to operationalise Magic Money Trees at local government area >>> levels across Europe. >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> On 31 January 2018 at 17:58 Michael Lewis < [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> This is a brilliant article Pat. Thanks for sharing. >>> >>> On Jan 31, 2018, at 6:21 AM, pat commonfutures < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> In the UK it would be great if we had a supportive mayor somewhere like >>> in Barcelona or the work in Ghent. One local government though that is >>> going down this road is Preston. This article in the Guardian today tells >>> the story. >>> >>> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/31/presto >>> n-hit-rock-bottom-took-back-control >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> On 30 January 2018 at 20:01 Holemans Dirk < [email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Me too, I just bought a second-hand version of Henry’s book online >>> >>> Michel: we can share it! >>> >>> >>> *Van: *<[email protected]> namens Michel Bauwens < >>> [email protected]> >>> *Datum: *dinsdag 30 januari 2018 14:10 >>> *Aan: *pat commonfutures <[email protected]> >>> *CC: *Simona Levi Xnet <[email protected]>, emanuele braga < >>> [email protected]>, "[email protected]" < >>> [email protected]>, David Bollier <[email protected]>, George >>> Papanikolaou <[email protected]>, Daniel Chavez <[email protected]>, >>> Stacco Troncoso <[email protected]>, Fiona Dove <[email protected]>, >>> Hazel Henderson <[email protected]>, John Restakis < >>> [email protected]>, Holemans Dirk <[email protected]>, Alex Foti >>> <[email protected]>, p2p-foundation <[email protected] >>> ct.org>, Geert Lovink <[email protected]>, Margie Mendell < >>> [email protected]>, Michael Lewis <[email protected]> >>> *Onderwerp: *Re: My review (bauwens) of Alex Foti's General Theory of >>> the Precariat >>> >>> >>> looking forward to Henry's book! >>> >>> >>> On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 1:59 PM, pat commonfutures < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Michel >>> >>> Thanks for this link. Just to let you know that the communitarian >>> thinker and former UK civil servant Henry Tam is compiling a book on >>> Reinventing Government. I am contributing a chapter on ideas like those I >>> have shared and Anna Coote at New Economics Foundation is also doing a >>> chapter on social commons. She is drawing from your work and David >>> Bollier's. >>> >>> Henry's book will come out later this year. >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> >>> On 29 January 2018 at 13:27 Michel Bauwens <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> thanks a lot Pat, very useful! >>> >>> >>> keeping track of 232 current commonfare initiatives here for just that >>> reason: >>> >>> https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Category:P2P_Solidarity >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 1:33 PM, pat commonfutures < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Dirk. Alex and Michel >>> >>> We need to be aware that public services as we know them had their >>> origins in pioneering class struggles by commoners that developed the >>> fundamental social economic innovations. We forget this out of ignorance >>> and at our peril. >>> >>> A great book on the history you ask about Dirk is Eric Hopkins' >>> Working-class Self-Help in nineteenth century England. By 1900 there were >>> 27,000 friendly societies providing a wide range of mutual aid services for >>> funerals, for sick pay and also for small pensions. They date back in >>> formation to the 18th century and many early trade unions before they were >>> legalised after 1825 operated clandestinely as friendly societies. Also >>> early co-ops used friendly society laws to form legally. >>> >>> Alex you are right that social democracy emerged decades before 1945 and >>> those who studied closely over a century ago mutual aid, friendly >>> societies, co-ops and trade unions, like the Fabian socialists Beatrice and >>> Sidney Webb, advocated that the emerging Labour parties should seek to >>> collectivise the best practices of friendly societies and co-ops via >>> welfare state practices to provide sick pay, retirement pensions, >>> industrial injury payments and primary health care. The 1911 National >>> Insurance Act in the UK provided these services in collective ways via the >>> state in a three way contributory system into social insurance funds with >>> the workers paying in a third, employers a third and the government a >>> third. This was the deal with the state and from 1911 until 1948 - when the >>> National Health Service widen coverage and health services comprehensively >>> - the friendly societies were involved in the administration of the 1911 >>> Act. >>> >>> As Michel points out, trade unions in Belgium and in countries in >>> Scandinavia still to this day play a key social security delivery role. >>> >>> From 1948 as friendly society roles diminished as the state took all the >>> roles over, the numbers in the UK have reduced now to only about 200. >>> >>> Interesting to see that the Broodfonds or Bread Funds in the Netherlands >>> developed after 2006 as 21st century friendly societies when the Dutch >>> state ended access to sickness benefits for self-employed people. So where >>> markets fail and states leave gaps as is increasingly the case since 2010, >>> mutual aid re-emerges. >>> >>> You are right Dirk, the dialectical tension between waves of commons >>> movements and the state and how relationships are forged for better or for >>> worse is key for developing strategies for the new commons movement. >>> >>> Given that the public services required commons innovation and the >>> current commons innovations need to spread, what the deal is with the state >>> and especially municipalities is crucial for the emergence of a democratic, >>> social and ecological economy. >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> >>> On 29 January 2018 at 08:43 Michel Bauwens < [email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> by the way, I just want to mention that the p2p foundation maintains a >>> closed 'visioning' discussion list, in which high quality discussants are >>> very welcome, >>> >>> >>> Stacco can add you to the list, >>> >>> >>> Michel >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Jan 28, 2018 at 5:47 PM, Holemans Dirk < [email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Dear all, >>> >>> >>> Many thanks for this inspiring dialogue. As ecologist (director of green >>> foundation Oikos and city councillor in Ghent), I see I can learn a lot >>> from your contributions, and authors like GDH Cole and Clifford Douglas. >>> >>> >>> Being inspired by Polanyi, I am trying to connect his lines of thinking >>> with the historical research on the three waves of commons in Europe since >>> the Middle Ages. To reduce complex research to this simple line, one could >>> argue that the democratic second movement of Polanyi correspondents with >>> the second wave of the commons. By this I am very interested in what Pat >>> writes on the “23,000 mutual friendly societies set up over decades of >>> social movement struggles and almost all promoted and supported by diverse >>> trade unions for their members”. Are there specific articles or books that >>> documents these pre-war social movements in the UK? >>> >>> >>> Already many thanks >>> >>> Dirk >>> >>> >>> *Van: *pat commonfutures <[email protected]> >>> *Beantwoorden - Aan: *pat commonfutures <[email protected] >>> oop> >>> *Datum: *zondag 28 januari 2018 13:31 >>> *Aan: *Alex Foti <[email protected]>, Michel Bauwens < >>> [email protected]> >>> *CC: *Simona Levi Xnet <[email protected]>, John Restakis < >>> [email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, Hazel >>> Henderson <[email protected]>, Fiona Dove < >>> [email protected]>, Holemans Dirk <[email protected]>, " >>> [email protected]" <[email protected]>, emanuele >>> braga <[email protected]>, p2p-foundation < >>> [email protected]>, George Papanikolaou < >>> [email protected]>, Geert Lovink <[email protected]>, Daniel Chavez < >>> [email protected]>, Margie Mendell <[email protected]>, Michael >>> Lewis <[email protected]> >>> *Onderwerp: *Re: My review (bauwens) of Alex Foti's General Theory of >>> the Precariat >>> >>> >>> Hi Michel and Alex >>> >>> The commons work in Ghent is great to see. Also the Bologna regulations >>> work of Christian Iaione are needed to help commons and local government >>> partnerships and social contracts to be negotiated. >>> >>> Why GDH Cole and guild socialism ideas are relevant to the present is >>> that Cole proposed in 1919 in his book on Guild Socialism Restated that >>> guild congresses for economic democracy should complement local government >>> and regional and national governments and that social economic actors >>> involved in production and reproduction could be a co-operative economic >>> counterpart to parliamentary democracy. Therefore economic democracy would >>> become a separate form of democracy complementary to political democracy. A >>> system of checks and balances. >>> >>> Garden city ideas where all the land would be commonly owned and >>> economic rent captured for residents transparently was a foundational >>> concept for Cole for the guild assemblies locally. >>> >>> Remember Polanyi showed that the capitalist system is oppressive and >>> structured historically because people, money and land have been enclosed >>> and commodified. What was interesting about the guild socialist ideas in >>> the early 1920s that Bertrand Russell, RH Tawney and GDH Cole were working >>> on is that the garden city ideas and socialist planning would take land out >>> of the market for new housing, workspace, commons spaces etc, workplace >>> democracy advancing then and across Europe would end wage labour and the >>> further step would be pursued as Clfford Douglas argued by taking money out >>> of the market by issuing social credit as a national dividend that would be >>> locally managed by monetary authorities that could be part and parcel of >>> the guild economic congresses so that underconsumption would no longer be >>> addressed by more capitalist debt issuance by banks but by transparent >>> monetary reform to democratise money. >>> >>> Tawney and Cole did not push for what Douglas was arguing for which was >>> a pity. Polanyi only wrote about the tripartite need to take people, money >>> and land out of the market in his Great Transformation in 1944. But these >>> three reforms are the bedrock for a commons mode of production to pursue >>> structurally the paradigm shift to advance economic democracy and to secure >>> co-operative commonwealth. Sadly Massimo De Angelis only mentions Polanyi >>> in passing in his latest book and missed all this. Otherwise his book is >>> excellent I think. >>> >>> On your query about mutuals and co-op innovations and the doubt you have >>> Alex about the state replicating these. Keynes's gets his ideas of 'cheap >>> money' which is not the same as social credit from Clifford Douglas and >>> Silvio Gesell. See the last chapter of the General Theory by Keynes. >>> >>> In 1943 when the National Health Service was being designed, >>> co-operative and mutual health services in the UK were patchy but being >>> then provided by 23,000 mutual friendly societies set up over decades of >>> social movement struggles and almost all promoted and supported by diverse >>> trade unions for their members. There was an effort to incorporate these >>> mutuals into the NHS but authoritarian socialists refused to allow this to >>> happen. >>> >>> Also if you look at the reconstruction of housing and new towns after >>> 1948 in the UK, they used co-op Garden City ideas for guidance for public >>> land and public housing design but left out the ecological dimensions and >>> pursued post War reconstruction from the top down. >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> On 27 January 2018 at 19:40 Alex Foti <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Dear Pat, >>> >>> >>> thanks for your observations on mutualism and the ecological and social >>> rights to the city. i'm a big gdh cole fan, btw. the weekend has >>> overwhelmed me with obligations. i ll try to come back to in more detail >>> tomorrow with more time. however the only thing i m doubtful the fact that >>> mutualism is replaced by the welfare state which was a way of neutralizing >>> and institutionalizing the commonist and separatist tendencies of the >>> working class. at least since 1919 it seems to me social democracy opted >>> for state intervention rather than self-reliant mutualism (or worse, >>> syndicalism). >>> >>> >>> best ciaos! >>> >>> >>> lx >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 7:27 PM, pat commonfutures < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Michel and Alex >>> >>> My two cents...... >>> >>> Enjoyed reading your review Michel and hearing loud and clear the >>> comments from Alex. Glad to see you recognise strategically the role for >>> economic democracy organisations to come together to develop commonwealth >>> solutions. Challenge is to animate and mobilise co-ops, trade unions, >>> mutual aid organisations and commons movements and other actors to cross >>> connect. >>> >>> Capital needs to be on tap not on top. Labour needs to hire capital. >>> Thus economic democracy is the operative mantra. But how.....? >>> >>> I think the analysis of Massimo De Angelis in Omnia sunt communia that >>> focuses on commons solutions for provisioning to address precarious >>> housing, precarious work, precarious social services, etc. is the way to >>> increasingly Walk the Talk. >>> >>> But so much of the infrastructure needs aligning to develop a generative >>> system to build the new to replace the toxic old. In the period from 1910 >>> to 1948 it was the working class self-organisations and partnerships with >>> municipalities that co-developed a turn key system for affordable housing, >>> mutual insurance services for access to health care, patient finance >>> instruments, etc. As you highlight Michel, without this proving of the >>> possible, the Post 1945 welfare states would not have been practical. >>> History has airbrushed out of memory all the working class achievements >>> leading up to social democracy's action to rebuild war torn Europe with >>> guidance from Keynes. Keynes himself took credit for what commoners had >>> innovated and brought into being over many decades. >>> >>> But we are back to the same situation again. >>> >>> To pursue pluralist commonwealth post capitalist futures, the facts are >>> similar at least as a pattern to 1945... >>> >>> Many good solutions that emerged out of commoner struggles since the >>> 1970s now exist as viable and proven models. Examples include Community >>> Land Trusts for housing and workspace, social co-operatives for care >>> services, community renewable energy, freelancer co-ops, etc but we lack >>> the general assembly of protagonists to plan and co-ordinate them all and >>> bring them together into a viable system. Neoliberalism continues to >>> repress and marginalise these Cinderella Liberties that if nurtured and >>> united could tackle the multiplying wants that make no sense among >>> economies of plenty perversely allocated. >>> >>> The Garden City movement pioneers developed socialist planning guidance >>> in 1906 which played a key role to unite the fragments. We need to revive >>> democratic planning again and make this participative to set in train >>> evolutionary urban and rural reconstruction and to help animate, activate >>> and co-ordinate economic democracy in action. Garden cities were on the >>> right road as they sought to unite urban and rural life in ecological >>> resilient ways. >>> >>> The guild socialist ideas of GDH Cole in the early 1920s are worth >>> revisiting. As Danny Dorling shows in his book on the 1%, between 1918 >>> and1978 social and economic inequality reduced across developing countries >>> and indeed as forms of socialism advanced stage by stage. >>> >>> Today socialism needs to be planned and re-implemented with deeper >>> democracy methods and on a co-operative and ecological economics >>> foundations to produce commonwealth via a commons mode of production. I >>> look forward to reading your book Alex. >>> >>> Thanks to you both for the joint inspiration. >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> On 26 January 2018 at 12:38 Michel Bauwens < [email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> hi alex, >>> >>> >>> very happy to engage, and I fully understand the legitimacy of your >>> strategic choices, though your vision of a successful new new deal is also >>> a sign of optimism in itself .... I agree we have to fight for it >>> >>> >>> this is a very good overiview of the other polarity, I think at the p2p >>> foundation, we are somewhere in between, even as we are very liberally >>> cited in this overview of commons-based relocalization: >>> https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Networked_Cities_as_Resilient >>> _Platforms_for_Post-Capitalist_Transition#Excerpt >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 10:34 AM, Alex Foti < [email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Dear Michel, Dear Friends, >>> >>> a trillion thanks for this thoughtful and appreciative review. i look >>> forward to co-developing a veritable post-capitalist strategy by embodying >>> the commons-based approach and i find your criticism of an excessive >>> capitalist realism justified (lost a few nights' sleep about it, but i am >>> very fearful of cryptofascist reaction, and think we can force liberal >>> capitalism into a social compromise - which you're right would make funding >>> and reclaiming the commons a central feature of society - and also i guess >>> i wanted to avoid excessive utopianism given that current historical >>> reality is so dystopian). again thanks for taking the time to read and >>> engage with the book's arguments. >>> >>> best milanese ciaos, >>> >>> lx >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 9:25 AM, Michel Bauwens < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> see also link here at https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net >>> /General_Theory_of_the_Precariat#Evaluation >>> >>> >>> "This book is essential reading for all commoners that want to think >>> through the right strategy for social change. It squarely places itself >>> from the point of few of the new social groups (or class in formation, as >>> Foti would have it) that have grown under the conditions of neoliberalism >>> and its decline, or in other words under the emergence of cognitive >>> capitalism or 'informationalism'. This key group are the various >>> constituent parts of the precariat, all the people who can no longer work >>> with dependable classic labor contracts and the steady income and >>> protection deriving from it. >>> >>> This book should be read through its end, i.e. chapter five, because its >>> first four chapters on the precariat are only set in a more complex >>> geopolitical context in that last chapter. To be honest, I was quite >>> reactive at times during the reading of the first four chapters, because >>> two very important structural elements were missing in his analysis. First >>> is the commons itself, the other side of the antagonistic struggles of the >>> precariat; and second is the ecological crisis, the very material >>> conditions under which this struggle must occur today. Foti indeed calls >>> for economic and monetary growth, and sounds like an unabashed >>> neo-Keynesian but only in the last chapter stresses that this growth should >>> be thermodynamically sound (i.e. he calls for monetary growth, but not >>> growth in material services). Foti also almost completely ignores the role >>> of the commons and 'commonalism' in the first four chapters, only >>> acknowledging in a few parts of chapter 5, that it is a vital constituent >>> part of the precarious condition. If you don't read chapter 5, you could be >>> mistaken for seeing Foti's analysis as an exercise in re-imagining the >>> class dynamics and compromises of the New Deal and post-WWII european >>> welfare states, and has simply replaced working class with precariat, >>> working class parties with social populism, and the New Deal with a social >>> compact for green capitalism. >>> >>> So, the fact that this is a remarkably thought out book about >>> contemporary strategy for social change, should be tempered by a few >>> paradoxes that the author has not completely resolved. >>> >>> Indeed at the heart of the book lies also an enduring paradox: Foti >>> calls for the most radical forms of conflict, and identifies with the more >>> radical cultural minorities, acknowledging their anticapitalist and >>> anarchist ethos, yet calls for mere reformism as a focus and outcome. This >>> is therefore not a book about transforming our societies to post-capitalist >>> logics, this is a book about a new reformism. This is a book against >>> neoliberalism, not against capitalism. At times, it is plain 'capitalist >>> realism', as Foti explicitly acknowledges he sees no dynamic value creation >>> outside of capitalism. For Foti, it is clear, if sufficient conflict and >>> precariat self-organisation can occur, then a new regulation of capitalism >>> can occur. He justifies this by a detailed analysis of the different >>> regulatory modes of capitalism (smith-ism, fordism, jobs-ism) and how they >>> relate to the kondratieff economic cycles, drawing on the insights of >>> Carlota Perez and others. Foti distinguishes crises of demand, where there >>> is too much accumulation of capital, and not enough distribution. These >>> crises he says, are essentially reformist crises, as people mobilize to >>> restore balance in the redistribution, but not against the system per se. >>> The crisis of the 30's and the crisis after 2008, are such crises, he in my >>> view convincingly shows. Other crises are caused by a failing supply, due >>> to over-regulation of capital and falling profit rates, such as the crisis >>> of the 70s, and these crises, which are inflationary, are revolutionary. >>> This distinction between crises of accumulation and crises of regulation, >>> is in my opinion very insightful, and true. This recognition may of course >>> be troubling, but if true, we have to take serious stock of it. We are >>> simply not in revolutionary times, right now, but rather in a struggle >>> between national populism and social populism. From this analysis, Foti >>> then argues that the first priority is for the precariat to re-regulate for >>> a distribution of wealth, much like the old working class achieved after >>> WWII. >>> >>> But even if we acknowledge this conjuncture, I would argue that Foti >>> insufficiently balances his outlook between reforming capitalism and >>> constructing post-capitalism, beween antagonistic conflict and positive >>> construction of the new. He argues that without income, there can be no >>> such construction. This is very likely true, so we need to rebalance >>> redistribution, in a way that income growth can lead to immaterial growth >>> that is compatible with the ecological limits of our planet, and use these >>> surpluses to transform societal structures. Foti calls for social (or 'eco' >>> populist movements and coalitions as the political means to that end, >>> pointing to Podemos and En Comu, and perhaps Sanders and Corbyn, as such >>> forces, supported by to be created Precariat Syndicates. He also puts >>> forward the thesis that the enemy is national populism, an alliance between >>> retrograde fossil fuel capitalism and the salariat, with on the other side >>> a possible alliance of green capitalism (a real effort not a marketing >>> ploy) with the precariat, with the former fighting for top-down coalition >>> and the second for bottom-up regulation. This division of the working class >>> is in my view way too stark, and perhaps even defeatist. I would very >>> strongly argue to seek alliances and develop policies that can give hope to >>> the salariat. The thrust of our work for the Commons Transition aims at >>> precisely that. (elsewhere in the book, Foti does call for an alliance with >>> progressive middle classes, but if these are not the workers with jobs, >>> where are these then ?) >>> >>> Now Foti correctly critiques in my view, people like Mason and Rifkin >>> for failing to problematize the post-capitalist transition, they make it >>> seem like an inexorable process if not affirming that we are already >>> post-capitalist, as some others do, but in my view then in his turn he >>> fails to pay proper attention to it. What if the re-regulation of >>> capitalism doesn't work for example ? Then at some point, say in about 30 >>> years, as Kondratieff cycles would indicate, we would still face a crisis >>> of over-regulation, and a more revolutionary moment. For Foti, we have to >>> take it on faith that green capitalism will be a successful new regulatory >>> mode of capitalism. What if it turns out to be a unworkable compromise and >>> that more drastic action is needed. But Foti has no faith in alternatives >>> to capitalism, which means that the only alternatives would then be >>> eco-fascism as a new feudalism with only consumption for the rich, lifeboat >>> eco-hacking, a situation akin to that of medieval communes, or dictatorial >>> eco-maoism, say Cuba on a global scale. >>> >>> Contra this 'capitalist realism', our contention at the P2P Foundation >>> is that post-capitalism is both necessary and possible, even if we >>> recognize that today is a possible reformist moment in that >>> evolution/transformation. In that context, the construction of seed forms, >>> the recognition of other forms of value creation (which can be monetized!), >>> of other forms of self-organization is absolutely a vital side of the coin >>> in the dialectic of construction and conflict. Foti seems to forget that >>> the traditional working class did not simply 'fight', but constructed >>> cooperatives (both consumer coosp and producer coops), unions, parties, >>> mutualities and many fraternal/sororal organizations. The very >>> generalization of the welfare system was an extension by means of the >>> state, of the solidarity mechanism of the working class, which had taken >>> decades to develop. Also vitally, the identity itself of the working class >>> was not just as a part of capitalism, but as a movement for another type of >>> society, whether that was expressed through socialism, social-democracy, >>> anarchism, and other variants. When that hope was lost terminally, that was >>> also the end of the strength and identify of working class movements. There >>> can be no offensive social strategy without a strong social imaginary, and >>> mere reformist designs won’t do. So commonalism is not just something that >>> we do when we come home from work, or tired from our conflictual organizing >>> against an enemy from whom we want mere redistribution. On the contrary, it >>> is vital part of the class formation and identity, this is why we stress >>> our identity not just as precariat, which is a negative formulation that >>> characterizes us as the weaker victims of the capitalist class, but as >>> commoners, the multitude of co-constructors of viable futures that >>> correspond to contemporary emancipatory desires. We cannot just trust green >>> capitalism, we vitally need to build thermodynamically sound and mutualized >>> provisioning systems as commons even if we have to compromise with >>> capitalism. Post-capitalism should not be essentialized as something >>> occuring 'after the revolution', but as an ongoing process, dynamically >>> inter-linked with political self-organizing and conflict. Foti in this >>> book, is only really good at conflict. Even if we look at conflict, I would >>> argue that the strength of the reformist compromise after WWII was very >>> much linked to the fear of the however flawed alternative that existed, and >>> that the forms of compromise were the result of decades of invention of new >>> forms. >>> >>> If we take that view, then I believe the contradiction in Foti's book >>> can be resolved. Indeed in that case we do not have to ask the radical >>> precariat to give up it's values for a reformist compromise, but to >>> productively combine radically transformative post-capitalist practice. >>> >>> There is another issue with Foti's book. He very much stresses the >>> superdiversity of the precariat, and the key role of gender and >>> race/migration unity in their struggles. He also mentions en passant the >>> need for a potential eurasian alignment between Europe and China , now that >>> the Atlantic unity has been broken by Trump. But , at the same time, this >>> is really a very eurocentric book, calling for a new compromise in Europe >>> and 'advanced western states'. Obviously, since in the Global South it is >>> the salariat and proletariat which is growing, there is a theoretical >>> difficulty here. But what if a thermo-dynamically sound economy would >>> require a cosmo-localization of our global economy, as we contend at the >>> P2P Foundation, combining global sharing of knowledge with substantial >>> relocalization of physical production (as even big bank reports now >>> recognize) ? Only if we recognize this, can we actually have a new global >>> view of solidarity, as both elements benefit workers, salaried and >>> precarious, in the whole world. >>> >>> So, in conclusion, I find Foti's book to be an excellent first half of a >>> book, which would have been much better and sound, if it had more >>> extensively struggled with the commons equation of the precariat. The >>> commons is not something we do 'afterwards' , after a successful New Green >>> Deal, it is is something that is as ongoing and vital. Theoretically, in a >>> few paragraphs at the end of the book, Foti seems to recognize it, but it >>> is not integrated in his strategic vision, or only marginally. >>> >>> Readers who miss this aspect, could look at the ten years of research >>> and analysis we have conducted on that other half of the equation, at the >>> P2P Foundation. We may have the other weakness though, and in fact we >>> purposely have focused not on the conflict part, which is the natural >>> inclination of the left and needs no help, but in pointing out how any >>> self-organization, and construction of the commons, which inevitable comes >>> with conflict, is just an essential part of the programmatic alternatives >>> of the precariat. Not just as proposals of electoral parties and >>> syndicates, but as expressions of actual practice. Our orientation is to >>> try to achieve a greater understanding by emancipatory forces, of both the >>> salariat, the precariat, and progressive entrepreneurial groups, of the >>> importance of integrating the commons as a programmatic element in their >>> struggles, and their proposals. We will probably stick to this bias towards >>> the constructive side of the equation, tempered by a full awareness that >>> this is by itself insuffient, and requires the kind of understanding of >>> struggle, and its attendant strategies, as provided by Foti. >>> >>> In conclusion, Foti's enduring quality is to have worked out >>> systematically, what the conflict part of the equation entails, and that is >>> a very important achievement. Bearing in mind what we think is missing in >>> this book, there is much to be learned, and I believe the different >>> perspectives and different weaknesses in the approaches of people like Foti >>> and the P2P Foundation (and other) commons-centric approaches, there is >>> room for a lot of convergence and mutual enrichment." >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >> http://commonstransition.org >> >> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >> >> <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: >> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >> >> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >> > > -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
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