Re: [FRIAM] Lessig OccupyBoston
On 10/11/11 2:50 PM, glen wrote: The point being that it's very difficult to take a principled stand. Occupy Damascus-- yeah, that's a good way to die. Marcus FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
Re: [FRIAM] Lessig OccupyBoston
ERIC P. CHARLES wrote circa 11-10-11 10:35 AM: If you want to hurt the evil corporations with their super-rich owners... stop giving them your money. Technologically, I thought some of the most interesting things about the Arab spring were all the creative ways protesters circumvented popular, corporate-run communication channels (in their case because the government shut down access). Surely it would be possible to do the same here if people really wanted to make a principled stand. And on that note, I've finally dumped my Mastercard for Discover in protest of MC's refusal to allow payments to Wikileaks. I've switched from T-Mobile to Cricket in the wake of T-Mobile's agreeing to be acquired by ATT. I'm moving my personal funds out of all banks and into credit unions, getting rid of my Visa debit card in the process. Etc. [sigh] I'm convinced my actions will have zero effect. I'm trading one brand for another in most cases. The point being that it's very difficult to take a principled stand. Anecdote: Awhile back, Renee' discovered she liked organic milk better than ... what? ... regular milk? pesticide-, hormone-laden, produce from exploited, tortured animals? Anyway, I also have a friend who is convinced raw milk is much more healthy. So, I'd been thinking about milk for awhile. (which is a bit gross for me... milk is just nasty, almost as bad as mushrooms.) In order to help her make her decisions and try to figure out why some milk tastes better and lasts longer in the fridge, I began trying to figure out where the actual milk comes from for any given brand. Of course, organic milk isn't any better than any other type of milk because the label organic has been taken over by shadowy networks of multinational corporations with armies of marketing, scitech, and legal operatives ensconced in every institution. (Although this site helps: http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html) I have similar anecdotes about ground beef, pre- and post-manufactured sheds, portable radar speed signs, and commercial real estate. -- glen FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
Re: [FRIAM] Lessig OccupyBoston
One approach to Glen/Eric's observations is to take small steps that actually help you too. I'm having a terrible time with cellular phones. I want a truly mobile phone which implies GSM, not the weird non-standard american technologies. But ATT sucks and TMobile appears to be going out of business (Deutsche Telekom, who owns TMobile wants to pull out of the US market.) So I started looking into other alternatives and found a list of all carriers in the US (Cricket is one of them, for example) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_wireless_communications_service_providers But I then stumbled into the MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) idea: companies who buy wholesale quantities of cellular services from the big guys and resell it to you for a reasonable price and personal service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_MVNO I'm considering one of these. The upside is that you can completely avoid contracts. You can also just buy the phone you want rather than having to use whatever the telco wants you to use. Yes this appears to be expensive, but buying an unlocked phone easily pays for itself within the life of the phone. The main point is that steps towards independence can be made reasonably. One of the MVNO's for example specializes in supporting green energy. They're sorta micro industries that use the big guys tech but match your needs better. I hope we see a lot more like the MVNOs in other areas like credit cards, paypal alternatives, and so on. -- Owen FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
Re: [FRIAM] Lessig OccupyBoston
A simple corollary question might be: Why don't we find coop style services to compete with the multi-opoloies? The main thing I know of in this nature is the Credit Union. Are these truly regulated out of possibility by the lobby-interests? Or are we just too lazy? Or is it too hard to agree to do anything like this without a profit motive? My candidates: Telecom services (esp. cellular) Insurance Gasoline (yes there are local coops related to the farming industry) Car Rental One approach to Glen/Eric's observations is to take small steps that actually help you too. I'm having a terrible time with cellular phones. I want a truly mobile phone which implies GSM, not the weird non-standard american technologies. But ATT sucks and TMobile appears to be going out of business (Deutsche Telekom, who owns TMobile wants to pull out of the US market.) So I started looking into other alternatives and found a list of all carriers in the US (Cricket is one of them, for example) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_wireless_communications_service_providers But I then stumbled into the MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) idea: companies who buy wholesale quantities of cellular services from the big guys and resell it to you for a reasonable price and personal service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_MVNO I'm considering one of these. The upside is that you can completely avoid contracts. You can also just buy the phone you want rather than having to use whatever the telco wants you to use. Yes this appears to be expensive, but buying an unlocked phone easily pays for itself within the life of the phone. The main point is that steps towards independence can be made reasonably. One of the MVNO's for example specializes in supporting green energy. They're sorta micro industries that use the big guys tech but match your needs better. I hope we see a lot more like the MVNOs in other areas like credit cards, paypal alternatives, and so on. -- Owen FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
