Oscar Wilde was a Radical Socialist

Oscar Wilde wrote uncompromisingly of his radical desire for the complete and total abolition of private property – a precondition, he believed, for the emancipation of all humanity.

But how did Oscar Wilde arrive at such a radical socialist position? Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854 and raised in the affluent Merrion Square area. His family were part of the Anglo-Irish intellectual tradition. His father, Sir William Wilde, was an influential surgeon, and his mother, Lady Jane Wilde, was a well-known poet.

Yes, it might seem surprising that someone from such privilege would come to embrace left politics. Yet, his upbringing planted the seeds of revolutionary thought. Jane Wilde, writing under the pen name “Speranza,” was a radical poet and political agitator. Against the backdrop of the Great Famine in 1848, Jane Wilde explicitly called for revolutionary armed struggle to liberate Ireland from British imperialism. Writing in The Nation, she urged:

"Now is the moment to strike, and by striking save, and the day after the victory it will be time enough to count our dead."

Jane Wilde defended the Fenians, precursors to socialist movements, and aligned with the First International’s principles of workers’ liberation and solidarity. She was deeply committed to the emancipation of Ireland, labour, and women.

Her legacy echoes in Irish revolutionary thought. Marxist republican James Connolly referenced her work in Labour in Irish History, tracing Ireland’s socialist tradition. With such a powerful figure as his mother, it becomes clearer how Oscar Wilde came to develop his radical politics.

The Soul of Man Under Socialism: By 1891, Wilde had articulated his vision of a perfect society in this essay, he calls explicitly for the abolition of private property, declaring:

"Socialism, Communism, or whatever one chooses to call it, by converting private property into public wealth, and substituting co-operation for competition, will restore society to its proper condition of a thoroughly healthy organism, and insure the material well-being of each member of the community."

For Wilde, socialism was not merely about collective ownership. He envisioned it as a pathway to true Individualism:

"Private property has crushed true Individualism... With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things... One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

Unlike collectivist motivations typically associated with socialism, Wilde’s advocacy centred on freeing individuals, particularly artists, from the constraints of capitalist society. Art, for Wilde, was the highest form of Individualism:

"Art is the most intense mode of Individualism that the world has known."

Rather than being driven by material accumulation, Wilde’s socialism sought to liberate humanity’s creative potential.

Wilde rejected authoritarian paths in socialism. He argued that “all modes of government are failures” and envisioned a state with limited functions:

"[But] as the State is not to govern, it may be asked what the State is to do. The State is to be a voluntary association that will organise labour, and be the manufacturer and distributor of necessary commodities. The State is to make what is useful. The individual is to make what is beautiful."

He saw a future where automation and machinery would free humanity from menial labour:

"Were that machinery the property of all, everyone would benefit by it. Humanity will be amusing itself, or enjoying cultivated leisure... Machinery will be doing all the necessary and unpleasant work."

This aligns with Wilde’s ideal of socialism enabling human flourishing – artists creating beauty, thinkers advancing knowledge, and people simply enjoying life. Some might dismiss Wilde’s vision as utopian. He embraces the label, writing:

"A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing... Progress is the realisation of Utopias."

However, Wilde’s utopianism reveals a crucial limitation. He focuses on imagining an ideal society while remaining unconcerned with how to achieve it. Unlike Marxist socialism, which analyses class contradictions to determine the material conditions for revolution, Wilde’s approach reflects a more idealistic notion that great thinkers impose their visions on society.

This is evident in his understanding of historical movements. For instance, Wilde claimed:

"Slavery was put down in America, not in consequence of any action on the part of the slaves... It was put down entirely through the grossly illegal conduct of certain agitators in Boston and elsewhere."

This overlooks the agency of enslaved people, who resisted and rebelled in uprisings like the Stono Rebellion and Nat Turner’s revolt. Wilde’s perspective is rooted in the belief that oppressed classes require external agitators to awaken them to their suffering.

"Misery and poverty... exercise such a paralysing effect over the nature of men, that no class is ever really conscious of its own suffering. They have to be told of it by other people."

This view contrasts sharply with Marx’s materialist conception of history, where the working class is the primary agent of its liberation.

Oscar Wilde died young in 1900 at just 46 years old. His radical ideas remain strikingly relevant today. Many of his critiques of capitalism – its reduction of human life to accumulation and profit – resonate deeply in the face of contemporary crises. Wilde’s utopian socialism challenges us to imagine a better world, but the task before us is far more urgent. With #climatecatastrophe looming, the choices before humanity are stark: socialism or extinction.

The time for dreaming is over. To honour Wilde’s vision, we need to confront the contradictions of capitalism and fight for a progressive future. It is a struggle that, if alive today, both Oscar would undoubtedly support.

Activating the Open Media Network

The essence of the challenges we face in activism, can be expressed by the tension between the “fluffy” and “spiky” paths, which shape the progress and direction of movements. It’s vital to resist the dogmatic tendencies that stifle this dynamic tension, as both are necessary for a balanced and effective path forward.

We need focus for change, we must balance introspection (“how to make us better”) with external action (“how to change them”). The interplay between these perspectives builds strength and adaptability within movements. Recognising this balance avoids falling into the traps of arrogance or despair.

Reframing extremism, the right and centre as extremists, with the left as the moderates, is a #KISS powerful narrative. It challenges the status quo bias embedded in #traditionalmedia and shifts the perception of who holds reasonable positions. Activism can amplify this narrative to make it more widespread and disarm the usual accusations of left-wing “radicalism.”

Avoiding fear and darkness, fear is the weapon of the right and centre-right. Activists need to resist being drawn into their framing. Instead, they focus on, light, building trust, encouraging openness, and showing tangible progress that can inspire people.

Tools for the fight, the provide a framework for clarity and accountability, while the shovel metaphor reminds us of the hard, unglamorous work of composting the mess. These tools help create fertile ground for growth, even amid the chaos of conflicting stories.

Activating the Open Media Network (#OMN) can play a crucial role in shifting this narrative. By showcasing grassroots voices and bypassing gatekeepers, it challenges the #traditionalmedia and #dotcons while building a network of trust, openness, and collaboration.

We Need to Live Differently – And This Time, It Needs to Work

On this site I have been reflecting deeply on the way we live – not merely as individuals but as communities and as a species. It is difficult not to feel overwhelmed by the numerous challenges we face: #ClimateChange, #Inequality, and #Loneliness, the last 20 years of #techshit to name a few. Yet, a simple but profound idea continues to resurface: What if we chose to live differently? What if we focused on building paths, like the #OMN project, that works harmoniously for people and the planet, rather than the normal path of attempting to repair what is broken?

This is not a new, humanity has long dreamed of utopias and alternative ways of living. Numerous communities have attempted to bring these visions to life, and admittedly, many have failed or faded away. However, these past efforts have left us with invaluable lessons, which is why, with the current #openweb reboot, I believe this time can be different.

The key lies in the technological and social path we collectively take. We are not striving for perfection because perfection is unattainable. Instead, we aim to create something real and adaptable. This is not about rejecting modernity or pretending the world’s issues will vanish if everyone adopts ethical consumption or #DIY self-sufficiency. It is about establishing spaces where people can collaboratively create, grow and adapt—striking a balance between #Innovation and #Simplicity, as well as between #IndividualFreedom and #CommunityCare.

This path is not simply my own. It is shaped by countless conversations with people from diverse backgrounds: #Developers, #Activists, #Educators, both online and offline. What stands out is the shared sentiment that our current way of life no longer makes sense. There is a collective yearning for something better—not to escape the world, but to build a way of living that reconnects us with each other, with nature, and with ourselves.

The path we can take, what makes this feel achievable, is that it does not require starting from scratch. It involves building on existing foundations—acknowledging both successes and failures—and asking critical questions: “What has worked in the past, what is currently working? What is not? How can we approach this differently?” This willingness to experiment, learn, and grow together is what sets this path apart from the normal #deathcult worshipping mess.

Yes, this might sound idealistic, and in some ways, it is. However, bold ideas are often the catalyst for meaningful change. If this resonates with you, I encourage you to share your thoughts. What changes would you like to see in how we live? What would it take for you to feel like you are contributing to something greater than yourself? These questions hold potential—not necessarily in the answers, but in the act of asking them. If you feel inspired to engage with this path, feel free to add to this thread. #openweb #collectivechange

Save Radley Woods

Radley Large Wood, a historic and ecologically significant ancient woodland near Oxford, is under threat. Once part of the lands owned by the Abbey of Abingdon, these woods are now owned by St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. However, the college’s recent actions have resulted in the destruction of approximately 20% of this precious ecosystem. These actions have raised serious concerns among local residents and environmentalists, as the damage done is irreversible and undermines the woodland’s ecological and historical value.

Ancient woodlands like Radley Large Wood are ecosystems that have developed over centuries, providing habitats for meany species of plants, animals, and fungi. The oak trees in the woodland are alive with biodiversity, supporting everything from ivy, which creates hibernacula for insects, to woodpecker holes that serve as nesting sites for bats and birds. When an ancient tree is felled, a network of dependent species are destroyed.

The woods have a diversity of different ages and heights, making them resilient and self-sustaining ecosystems. Unlike managed forests or plantations, ancient woodlands are irreplaceable. Once destroyed, they cannot be recreated, no matter how many trees are replanted. This loss is an act of environmental vandalism, stripping away a natural heritage that has thrived for centuries.

The misguided justifications of St. Hilda’s College, who claim that the felling is necessary due to ash dieback disease and for regeneration purposes. However, local observers have found little evidence of widespread ash dieback in the woods. Instead of targeted interventions, large swathes of the forest have been cleared, exposing fragile soils to erosion, flooding streams with mud, and destroying areas of bluebells, wood anemones, and native flora.

Moreover, regeneration felling, as described by the college, should involve careful canopy management to encourage natural regrowth. Yet what has occurred is far more drastic, resembling clear-cutting rather than thoughtful woodland management. Heavy machinery has churned wet soils, crushed habitats, and failed to respect safe zones around badger setts and other sensitive areas.

Biodiversity at risk, the destruction might’ve impacted bats, particularly woodland specialists like the barbastelle bat, which is already under-recorded and poorly understood. These bats rely on hollow trees, woodpecker holes, and other features of ancient woodland for roosting. Surveys and ground-level inspections that could have been conducted to identify potential bat habitats appear to have been inadequate or absent. Without proper ecological assessments, the full extent of the damage to wildlife remains unknown.

What’s really driving this, some critics suggest that the motivations behind the felling may not be as noble as claimed. With rising demand for biofuel and wood fuel, it seems likely that much of the felled timber is being sold for profit. Additionally, the college may be eyeing carbon credits from replanting schemes, which, while superficially appealing, cannot compensate for the loss of centuries-old ecosystems and the embodied carbon they represent.

Radley Large Wood is not just a patch of trees—it is a living area of natural and human history, from its days under the Abbey to its use as a holiday camp after the war. The community is now rallying to protect this irreplaceable woodland. St. Hilda’s College needs to be accountable for its promises to manage the wood according to ancient woodland guidelines.

What you can do: Join the friends of Radley Large Wood Facebook group to connect with people advocating for the woods. Write to St. Hilda’s College to demand transparency and adherence to proper ecological management practices. Support local campaigns to preserve ancient woodlands and bring awareness about the destruction caused by misguided forestry operations.

You can get involved and join the group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/603807741990811

#OMN a practical response to the failures of greed-based paths

The #OMN (Open Media Network) introduces a transformative model that replaces the traditional free-market system driven by greed with an open/gift/use market grounded in cooperation and shared values. This experimental social tech path reimagines the digital commons by prioritizing the free flow of digital “objects,” which can encompass a wide range of resources—media, tools, data, or creative works.

The OMN’s open/gift/use market: Resources and information flow freely, breaking down barriers created by proprietary systems and monetized exchanges. Collaboration thrives on transparency and inclusivity, embodying the values of the .

Gift economy with digital “objects” shared without the expectation of direct compensation, fostering a culture of generosity and mutual aid. The value lies not in profit, but in the collective benefit derived from shared resources. With the shift to use-oriented distribution, the focus shifts from ownership to utility, emphasizing the practical application and communal use of resources. This aligns with sustainable practices, reducing waste and promoting reusability.

Advantages of the OMN path are decentralized control, grassroots participation and reduces reliance on centralized, profit-driven entities. Community empowerment prioritizes collective decision-making and strengthens local and global networks. Sustainability moves away from extractive economic practices, supporting an equitable and ecological path.

Challenges, transitioning mindsets from profit-driven to cooperative models requires hard and dangurus cultural shifts. Navigating the balance between openness and exploitation in a “native” digital common’s path will be challenging, as most people worship the #deathcult

Opportunities, establishing a resilient digital common, will inspire similar transformations in wider social paths. Leveraging #openweb technology to scale and optimize the flow of digital “objects,” is a new and to an extent “proven” path with the last 5 years of the Fediverse.

The #OMN experiment is more than a theoretical framework; it’s a practical response to the failures of greed-based paths. By growing cooperation through an open/gift/use market, it offers a hopeful and actionable pathway for a real, sustainable future.

Branding keeps coming up as an issue

The #fediverse is a glimpse of a radically new kind of society through decentralized and community-driven models of governance and organization. This could be used to challenge traditional hierarchies and power structures, making it possible to resist imposing liberal “common sense” solutions that align with existing paradigms of control. On this different path we should use tools like #OGB (Open Governance Bodies) to grow native systems that are transparent, participatory, and empowering.

Branding and its role in the #fediverse, branding, while seen as a unifying force, actually to often just imposes barriers to community ownership and agency. When centralized branding dictates the identity of a project, it stifles participation and creativity. To counteract this negative default path, we can:

  • Shift to Community Branding, with communities running instances to create their own visual and cultural identities. This empowers localized expressions while fostering ownership and pride.
  • Standardize for collaboration, develop shared guidelines for a cohesive experience, while maintaining flexibility for local adaptation.
  • Minimize branding barriers, by avoiding overly strong branding in open-source codebases to make technology easier for people and communities to adopt and customize.

This focus leads to a decentralized and inclusive ecosystem, where control is balanced with the communities rather than only developers and funders. Core to this is the path of challenging #StupidIndividualism, in this context the hashtag critiques the focus on individualistic thinking and self-serving branding in #openweb projects. To challenge this, we need to hold in place open dialogue on the power dynamics of branding and its impact on participation.

To flourish, we need to focus on decentralized trust-based networks like the #fediverse that amplify grassroots voices. Encourage messy, iterative approaches to activism that embrace the complexity of social change. Build #FOSS tools that empower communities to take control of their narratives, reclaiming native paths from centralized systems and corporate algorithms.

We need to counteract the entrenched despair of #mainstreaming paths to compost the mess for real, impactful change.

What can we learn, what can we do?

The tension between different approaches to activism highlights the need for creative synthesis in addressing the broader social and ecological crises we face.

  1. Fluffy vs. #Spiky: A Diversity of Tactics The idea that both working within the system (#fluffy) and challenging it directly (#spiky) are necessary is central to creating a robust and adaptive movement. Building “common ground” is crucial, but the left’s fragmentation under decades of #neoliberalism and #postmodernism has left it standing in a metaphorical swamp. Moving forward requires reclaiming a grounded, shared space—intellectually, socially, and ecologically.
  2. Revisiting #Modernism A return to modernist thinking—despite its flaws—can offer clarity and purpose, emphasizing structure, progress, and shared goals. Balancing this with the experimental potential of socialism and anarchism, especially on a distributed scale (enabled by federation and P2P technologies), creates room for growth outside the mainstream.
  3. Liberal Social Democracy as a Step Back While the ultimate goal may lie in more radical transformations, liberal social democracy can serve as a stepping stone away from the creeping threat of fascism. This pragmatic approach helps to stabilize the ground for further progress.
  4. Deathcult vs. #Lifecult: The Cultural Meta-Narrative The #deathcult metaphor encapsulates a culture driven by greed, materialism, and ecological destruction. The #lifecult offers a messy but hopeful alternative, grounded in values like ecology, social justice, and collective care. The process of “composting”—transforming negative aspects into fertile ground—is a powerful metaphor for this shift.
  5. The Role of Undercurrents True hope lies in the undercurrents of social movements that challenge mainstream culture and provide alternative narratives. These undercurrents, messy as they may be, are where transformative potential resides. A focus on “life-affirming values” helps to communicate with those who may be entrenched in rationality or blinded by the logic of the #deathcult.

Suggestions for Moving Forward: Focus on finding shared values between different activist approaches to grow solidarity while respecting diversity of tactics. Encourage scalable experimentation with alternative economic and social models, with federation and P2P tech to scale these efforts. Storytelling using metaphors like #deathcult and #lifecult to reframe conversations and make complex issues relatable and actionable. Education and agitation to challenge apathy and #stupidindividualism by helping people reconnect with collective action and shared purpose. Ecology of movements, its helpful to recognize the importance of both reformist (#fluffy) and radical (#spiky) approaches as complementary rather than contradictory.

And most importantly please try not to be a #blocking prat.

We can compost the barriers to building shared social truths

With the fragmentation of truth in the “post-truth world” we need to nurture social truths and build useful paths for collective understanding:

  1. Build trusted frameworks for information by promote fact-checking and transparency. Encourage platforms and networks to integrate transparent mechanisms for verifying claims (e.g., open fact-checking databases with linked sources). This builds credibility and promotes critical thinking. Create public knowledge hubs like Wikipedia as examples of crowdsourced truth. Amplify and protect such spaces to ensure they remain accessible. Support grassroots independent media by championing smaller, decentralized media networks (like #OMN) that prioritize transparency, ethics, and local reporting counteracting monopolized narratives.
  2. Reinvigorate the commons shared networks for dialogue by creating spaces (both online and offline) where diverse perspectives can engage in structured, mediated discussions. Encourage participatory governance (like the #OGB) of digital communities to nurture shared norms around truth and actions. Open hashtag networks can help, use hashtags to aggregate diverse perspectives under common topics, encouraging tagging flows that emphasize collaboration over conflict.
  3. Human-centric storytelling can help, use narratives to illustrate the human cost of disinformation and the value of truth.
  4. Encourage peer-moderated content and support networks where trust grows organically through consistent, verified contributions (e.g., OMN’s tagging model). Human relationships first before diving into debates—trust grows when people feel heard, not combative. Highlight smaller community efforts to reach agreements on shared realities, which can then scale regionally and globally.
  5. Grow a culture of open inquiry to embrace complexity, not all questions have simple answers—it’s okay to live with uncertainty while seeking truth. Balance humility, with a mindset of curiosity and openness to change one’s mind when confronted with new evidence. Public challenges with collective projects (crowdsourced investigations and open debates) to involve diverse voices and establish transparency in seeking truth.
  6. Develop social tools that bring attention to high-consensus content to balance polarizing materials. Tagging paths can build social consensus, use hashtags to organize content. The messy semantic web tools like the #OMN can foster collaborative environments where context and trust are added into content flows.

Addressing the Chicken-and-Egg Problem, to overcome the challenge of needing a critical mass to build momentum (e.g., hashtags gaining traction only when widely used). Start small by beginning with focused communities that share a commitment to truth and scales organically. Use catalysts, leverage influential advocates and events to draw attention to the importance of shared truths. Incentivize participation with recognition, visibility, and other motivators for contributions to truth-oriented networks. On this path, by growing the emphasis on collaboration, openness, and trust, we can compost the barriers to building shared social truths. What do you think?

Let’s look from a fresh view at the mess we need to fix

Socialism versus Liberalism, let’s look at the differences between two world-views that claim freedom and equality but define them in radically different ways. This isn’t just theory; it’s a look at how liberalism masks inequality with lofty slogans, while socialism might dismantle the structures enabling exploitation.

Socialism focuses on six key areas:

Freedom: Liberal freedom is individual but hollow, constrained by economic necessity. Marxist freedom is collective and material.
Democracy: Liberal democracy serves the wealthy, while proletarian democracy serves the working class.
Property: Liberalism protects private property as sacred, whereas Marxism challenges ownership of productive resources.
The State: The liberal state claims neutrality but serves capital. The Marxist state dismantles class power.
Human Nature: Liberalism naturalizes greed, while Marxism sees behavior as shaped by material conditions.
The Stakes: This isn’t just an academic debate but a struggle over the future of society.

In this breakdown, socialism critiques liberalism and offers an alternative rooted in material analysis and collective action.

Freedom – Liberalism claims that freedom means individual rights, equality before the law, and the ability to pursue success. But socialists point out that under capitalism, this freedom is formal, not real. Workers may be free to sell their labour to any employer, but they’re still forced to work to survive. Meanwhile, the capitalist—factory owner, landlord, boss—has the freedom to exploit labour, accumulate wealth, and protect their power.

This isn’t equality. It’s a system where one class’s freedom depends on another’s exploitation. For every self-made millionaire, countless workers remain trapped in poverty.

Socialism rejects this abstract view of freedom. Instead of focusing on rights in theory, it looks at material conditions—how power, property, and survival are distributed in society. True freedom can only exist when the means of production (factories, land, resources) are collectively owned and democratically managed.

Democracy – Liberal democracy is often celebrated, but socialism challenges its legitimacy. On paper, liberal democracy means rule by the people. In practice, economic power shapes political power. The wealthy fund campaigns, own media, and lobby politicians. Workers may cast votes, but the ruling class sets the agenda.

Socialism redefines democracy, it’s about direct participation through workers’ councils and collective decision-making. Proletarian democracy means the working class rules and shapes the world around them every day.

Property – Liberalism treats private property as sacred, but socialism notes this refers to the means of production, not personal belongings. Under capitalism, a minority owns productive forces, while the majority must sell their labour to survive. This isn’t about freedom—it’s about maintaining class domination.

Socialism advocates for collective ownership of the means of production, ensuring workplaces are democratically managed. Private property under liberalism protects the wealth of the few, while socialism serves the needs of the many.

The State – Liberalism portrays the state as neutral, a referee ensuring fairness. Socialism calls this a myth. In reality, the liberal state is a class weapon protecting the capitalist ruling class. Laws, police, and institutions safeguard private property and suppress dissent.

Under socialism, state power serves the working class, dismantling remnants of capitalism and empowering collective ownership. Over time, class distinctions fade, and the state itself withers away.

Human Nature -Liberalism argues that capitalism aligns with human nature, claiming people are naturally greedy and competitive. Socialism counters that human behaviour is shaped by social and economic conditions. In a system built on exploitation, greed is rewarded. In a cooperative system, solidarity and collective well-being flourish.

The Stakes – This isn’t just an academic debate; it’s a battle for society’s future. Liberalism defends inequality with abstract freedoms, while socialism seeks to abolish class divisions and create a world where freedom is a material reality.

For socialists, the choice is clear: remain locked in cycles of exploitation under liberal capitalism, or move toward collective liberation.

It’s worth thinking about this.


From socialism, we could step to communism: What is Communism?

Communism is a doctrine of the conditions needed to liberate the working class, known as the proletariat. The proletariat comprises workers who sell their labour to survive because they don’t own any means of production. Communism focuses on transforming society so the working class—those who produce the wealth—can escape exploitation and take control.

A key aspect of this liberation involves abolishing private property. However, this doesn’t mean all property—it specifically targets bourgeois property, such as factories, land, and resources owned by the capitalist class. This form of ownership enables inequality, as the wealth workers produce is taken as profit by the owners.

The historical context of class struggle – we need to frame communism within the broader history of class struggle, that history is shaped by the conflicts between social classes—masters and slaves, lords and serfs, capitalists and workers. Each era of human history is defined by these struggles, and capitalism has intensified them.

Under capitalism, industry concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few while leaving the majority—the proletariat—in increasingly precarious conditions. This system creates the very conditions that make revolutionary change possible.

The Goals of Communism

Abolition of Private Property - Socialism clarifies that this doesn’t mean taking personal items like clothing or homes but refers to ending private ownership of productive resources like factories and machinery. These are the tools that allow exploitation, and ending such ownership ensures collective benefit rather than private gain.

Elimination of Class Distinctions - Class divisions arise from unequal ownership of property. When resources are collectively owned, the basis for social classes disappears. This would allow individuals to contribute based on their abilities and receive according to their needs, fostering equality and mutual respect.

Universal Equality - Beyond economic equality, communism seeks to end social and political oppression. Capitalism concentrates wealth and power, perpetuating systemic injustice. True equality involves restructuring society to guarantee access to education, healthcare, and opportunities for all.

But how can communism be achieved? – The transition to communism on the normal path requires revolutionary change. The working class seize political power and establish a new form of governance that represents the majority. This revolution must be international, reflecting the global nature of capitalism.

Some of the practical steps for the proletarian government, including abolishing inheritance rights, centralizing banking under public control, ensuring free education, and merging agriculture with industry to bridge urban-rural divides. These steps aim to dismantle capitalist exploitation and lay the foundation for an equitable society.

A classless and stateless society – The goal of communism is a society without classes or a state. Class distinctions exist because one class controls wealth and resources, and the state enforces this dominance. By abolishing private property and redistributing resources, the basis for class distinctions disappears.

In this future society, the state, as a tool of coercion, becomes unnecessary. Instead, governance shifts to collective management of resources and services through democratic participation. The focus is on cooperation, where individuals contribute according to their abilities and receive according to their needs.

Why is communism important? – Communism as the liberation of the working class, the historical context of class struggle, and the goals and methods of the movement. By eliminating exploitation and fostering collective well-being, these ideas remain relevant today.

What do you think?


What does Karl Marx think about this? – That we need to understand the mechanics of capitalist societies:

Historical Materialism – Marx shows how material conditions (like economic systems) shape society’s structure. He argues that the economy—tools, labor, and production relationships—determines the legal, political, and cultural systems. He also critiques idealists (like Hegel) who claim ideas shape reality. Instead, Marx asserts that people’s material circumstances shape their consciousness. History, in his view, moves forward through class struggles, driven by conflicts between social classes with opposing interests.

The Commodity and Value Theory – Marx breaks down commodities into two aspects: Use-value: What the item is useful for. Exchange-value: What it’s worth in the market.

He argues that labour is the true source of a commodity’s value, challenging the idea that supply and demand determine worth. This leads to his concept of surplus value—the difference between what workers produce and what they’re paid. This is how capitalists profit, by exploiting workers.

Money and Circulation – Marx explains how money acts as a universal standard for exchange, simplifying trade but also enabling exploitation. Money becomes capital when it’s used to buy labour and production tools to generate profit (surplus value). This cycle of capital accumulation drives inequality and can lead to economic crises, like overproduction or market chaos.

Production and Exchange in Capitalism – Production is where human needs are met and wealth is created. In capitalism, the focus on profit leads to worker exploitation, poor conditions, and alienation from their work. Exchange—how goods are traded—creates competition and chaos in the market, often leading to economic crises. These contradictions show the instability of capitalism.

Historical Development – In a famous preface, Marx explains how society’s base (its economy) determines the superstructure (laws, politics, culture). Changes in the economic base drive changes in society, often through class struggles. He sees history as a series of conflicts between classes, where new systems replace old ones through revolution.

This is a starting point for understanding Marx’s critique of capitalism. These ideas set the stage, what do you think?

Open Media Network (OMN): An Overview

Principles of the #OMN

  • Simplicity: Keeping the network and its tools straightforward allows for greater accessibility and usability.
  • Decentralization: Empowering people and communities to control their narratives by avoiding reliance on centralized platforms and corporate algorithms.
  • : Building around open data, source, process, and standards to grow trust and collaboration.
  • Participatory and Transparent Processes: The network grows organically with a focus on grassroots engagement rather than top-down control.

This is a reformatted and updated text from 8 years ago:

The Open Media Network (#OMN) is a reboot of the “indymedia” project, reimagined as an open, decentralized network for sharing and aggregating content across websites. Guided by the principles of the and motivated by the PGA hallmarks, OMN creates a people-to-people trust-based tagging system for collaboration and ethical aggregation.

What Are OMN Nodes?

OMN nodes are the backbone of the network. These nodes perform specific functions to enable the sharing and dissemination of content within the OMN ecosystem:

Hosting Content Flows: Nodes curate and host flows of content based on tags from other OMN sites on subjects that interest them.

Content is imported via RSS from external sites and by #ActivityPub from #Fediverse and OMN sites.

Tagging and Retagging: Nodes can tag and retag objects within content flows to direct them to other nodes or to specific sections, such as sidebars/pages on websites.

Providing Tagged Content: Nodes offer tagged content flows to other sites, which can embed the content using codes as needed.

Content Archiving (Optional): Nodes may choose to archive content locally.

The roles and functionality of nodes will evolve organically as the network develops.

Types of Sites in the OMN

OMN sites serve different purposes within the network:

Publishing Sites: The original sources of content. Typically, provide an #RSS feed of ActivityPub flow for the network.

Aggregating Sites: Focus on specific subjects, localities, or themes. Receive feeds from publishing sites and curate high-quality, trusted content for distribution to higher-level nodes.

News/Link Portals: Regional, national, or major subject sites. Aggregate trusted feeds from intermediate aggregating sites and select publishing sites.

The Human Element of OMN

The OMN emphasizes human moderation and relationship building:

Trust: Relationships between node administrators, content providers, and users form the foundation of the network.

Decentralization: Unlike traditional centralized models, OMN’s structure encourages openness and collaboration.

Ethical Aggregation: Content is networked respectfully to create a robust alternative to failing commercial platforms (#dotcons).

Key Features of Ethical Aggregation

Prominent display of OMN links on participating sites.

Links are live and direct users to the original host site for reading and commenting.

Original sources are credited under content titles.

Aggregation behaviour (e.g., full content in apps) is agreed upon by both parties, with opt-out options available.

Ad placements near Creative Commons non-commercial content require explicit agreement.

Building the Network

OMN leverages existing web standards to build an open “data soup” that enables many new possibilities:

Legacy Web Integration: Uses RSS for backward compatibility.

Semantic Web Transition: Moves towards a peer-to-peer semantic web with more p2p protocols.

User Stories: Articles published on one site can appear on many other sites, always linking back to the original source.

User Contributions

OMN encourages continuous improvement and collaboration:

Content remains open-ended to invite contributions and dialogue.

Tags and semantic data added by aggregators enhance the content flow for others.

Joining the OMN

Participation is voluntary and flexible:

Existing sites can continue operating independently while sharing content via RSS.

Posting can be done through personal blogs, group sites, or portals like #indymedia.

For “news” – A New Indymedia

Aggregating hubs/nodes in OMN represent the “new indymedia”:

These hubs may focus on subjects, countries, regions, or cities.

Unlike the centralizing elements of traditional networks, OMN’s open model reduces the need for centralized control.

Licensing and Openness

OMN adheres to open licensing principles:

Content is shared freely within the network.

Licensing ensures respect for contributors and promotes ethical usage.

Encouraging Collaboration

OMN thrives on contributions and engagement:

Leave questions or incomplete ideas to inspire participation.

Create linking overviews or summary articles that highlight stories within content flows.

Encourage human relationships to grow the trust-based network.

Conclusion

The Open Media Network (OMN) is an ambitious and open-ended project that refocuses decentralized media sharing for the modern web. By collaboration, trust, and ethical practices, OMN empowers participants to grow a sustainable and impactful alternative to the dieing corporate media platforms.


Open Media Network (OMN): A second view

What Are OMN Nodes?

OMN nodes are the backbone of the network. anyone can run one, the flows between them are based on trust. These nodes perform specific functions to enable the sharing and dissemination of content within the OMN ecosystem:

  1. Hosting Content Flows: Nodes curate and host flows of content based on tags from other OMN sites on subjects that interest them.
    • Content is imported via RSS from external sites and by activertypub from OMN sites.
  2. Tagging and Retagging: Nodes can tag and retag objects within content flows to direct them to other nodes or to specific sections, such as sidebars on websites.
  3. Providing Tagged Content: Nodes offer tagged content flows to other sites, which can embed the content using codes as needed.
  4. Content Archiving (Optional): Nodes may choose to archive content locally.

The roles and functionality of nodes will evolve organically as the network develops.

Types of Sites in the OMN

OMN sites serve different purposes within the network:

  1. Publishing Sites:
    • The original sources of content.
    • Typically provide an RSS feed for the network.
  2. Aggregating Sites:
    • Focus on specific subjects, localities, or themes.
    • Receive feeds from publishing sites and curate high-quality, trusted content for distribution to higher-level nodes.
  3. News/Link Portals:
    • Regional, national, or major subject sites.
    • Aggregate trusted feeds from intermediate aggregating sites and select publishing sites.

The Human Element of OMN

The OMN emphasizes human moderation and relationship building:

  • Trust: Relationships between node administrators, content providers, and users form the foundation of the network.
  • Decentralization: Unlike traditional centralized models, OMN’s structure encourages openness and collaboration.
  • Ethical Aggregation: Content is networked in a respectful way to create a robust alternative to failing commercial platforms (#dotcons).

Key Features of Ethical Aggregation

  • Prominent display of OMN links on participating sites.
  • Links are live and direct users to the original host site for reading and commenting.
  • Original sources are credited under content titles.
  • Aggregation behavior (e.g., full content in apps) is agreed upon by both parties, with opt-out options available.
  • Ad placements near Creative Commons non-commercial content require explicit agreement.

Building the Network

OMN leverages existing web standards to build an open “data soup” that enables many new possibilities:

  • Legacy Web Integration: Uses RSS for backward compatibility.
  • Semantic Web Transition: Moves towards a peer-to-peer semantic web with technologies like ActivityPub, Nostr, ATprotocol etc.
  • User Stories: Articles published on one site can appear on many other sites, always linking back to the original source.

User Contributions

OMN encourages continuous improvement and collaboration:

  • Content remains open-ended to invite contributions and dialogue.
  • Tags and semantic data added by aggregators enhance the content flow for others.

Joining the OMN

Participation is voluntary and flexible:

  • Existing sites can continue operating independently while sharing content via RSS.
  • Posting can be done through personal blogs, group sites, or portals like indymedia.

A New Indymedia

Aggregating hubs/nodes in OMN could be represented as the “new indymedia”:

  • These hubs may focus on subjects, countries, regions, or cities.
  • Unlike the centralizing elements of traditional networks, OMN’s open path reduces the need for centralized control.

Licensing and Openness

OMN adheres to open licensing principles:

  • Content is shared freely within the network.
  • Licensing ensures respect for contributors and promotes ethical usage.

Encouraging Collaboration

OMN thrives on contributions and engagement:

  • Leave questions or incomplete ideas to inspire participation.
  • Create linking overviews or summary articles that highlight stories within content flows.
  • Encourage human relationships to grow the trust-based network.

Conclusion

The Open Media Network (OMN) is an ambitious and open-ended project that reimagines decentralized media sharing for the modern web. By fostering collaboration, trust, and ethical practices, OMN empowers participants to build a sustainable and impactful alternative to corporate media platforms.

A call to action, clear diagnosis

What a waste of public money, this #fashernista career-building projects.

When you think using social media is “natural,” remember you’re feeding #dotcons—platforms built on the worst parts of human nature. If you want civilization and society to have a future, you cannot keep supporting this. The #encryptionists sit at the heart of our current grassroots media tech disaster, while careerist #mainstreaming pisses from the other side. But shit makes good compost—and we have the shovels.

OMN is a path forward. Pessimism may travel faster than optimism, but only optimism holds the potential for real change. Feed the problem or solve the problem. There is no mythical “third way” out of this mess. What we have are shovels, #OMN, and shit for compost. Work hard enough, and you’ll get flowers and tasty vegetables. 🌸🥕

It’s well past time for composting. Let’s grow flowers. 🌱

Meany of our old friends in activism took the healthy internal stresses that once challenged projects like #indymedia and fed them to a #fashernista vampire class, building careers by draining the grassroots for 20 years. This is not a good look, and these are likely the people you have to talk through when you talk to “power.”

First step, clearly #stepaway from the #dotcons and return to the #openweb for our communication and news. #indymediaback and #OMN are solutions worth posting about, worth sharing, and worth doing. The #openweb lacks addiction algorithms. It will only thrive if you make it work. Gather like-minded people outside the #dotcons—it’s a solid first step.

We must stop pouring energy into pointless #techshit if we want a chance of surviving #climatechaos and escaping the grip of the #deathcult. Basic #KISS statement: What are you doing today that isn’t pointless?

On this, #indymediaback, #OMN, and the need more crew to make the rollout work. For decades, we’ve allowed the #dotcons to dominate our communication. Trump and Brexit aren’t the causes—they’re symptoms. We made this mess together, fuelled by unhealthy digital feedback loops.

Let’s compost this mess and seed real change. 🌱

Fuck Off to the #Bitcoin Bros and Their Cult of Scarcity

Let me say it loud and clear—again—for the ones in the back: P2P systems that tether their tech to encryptionsist/blockchain coin economy are a dead end. Full stop. Tying this native #openweb path of distributed technology to the idea of selling “resources” doesn’t just miss the point; it’s like engineering a system that’s designed to fail from the start. It’s self-sabotage on a systemic level, shooting yourself in the foot while you’re still lacing up your boots.

Why? Because these systems, heralded by the #Bitcoinbros and their ilk, are about enforcing artificial scarcity into spaces that could—and should—be models of abundance. Instead of embracing the revolutionary potential of #P2P networks to unlock and distribute resources equitably, they double down on the same tired “deathcult” economics of scarcity that brought us to the current mess in the first place.

Coding scarcity into abundance, is the fatal flaw, the beauty of distributed systems lies in their ability to facilitate abundance, bypassing the bottlenecks and hoarding inherent in centralized paths. Yet, what do these “geniuses” do? They take this fertile ground for innovation and graft onto it the same broken logic of capitalism that created the problem. Artificial Scarcity, instead of using resources efficiently and equitably, they introduce a transactional economy that prioritizes profit and competition over collaboration and sharing. Death by design paths embed scarcity into their structure, ensuring they will eventually choke out their own potential. What could and needs to be a fertile cooperative garden becomes a battlefield of extraction and exploitation.

The Bitcoin and crypto crew, with their get-rich-quick schemes, aren’t building the future—they’re pushing us all back into the past, rehashing old hierarchies in a new digital wrapper. Their vision of the world isn’t radical or liberating; it’s just #techshit wearing a suit made of gold leaf and bad ideas.

Then we have the #encryptionistas and their “Common Sense” cult, with the mantra of 90% closed, 10% open might sound like “common sense” to those steeped in fear and control, but what they’re really peddling is the same #deathcult ideology to lock down innovation, stifle collaboration, and strangles the potential of the #openweb path.

Both are enforcing scarcity as though it’s inevitable, despite all evidence to the contrary.
They frame their closed systems as “security,” but what they’re really doing is hoarding power and excluding voices. This isn’t progress; it’s regression. It’s the equivalent of building a massive wall in the middle of the commons and selling tickets to access what was already there for everyone.

The radical alternative is abundance by design, where we don’t need scarcity baked into our systems, we need abundance. We need tools and networks designed to share resources, knowledge, and opportunities without the artificial barriers of token economies and closed ecosystems.

  • P2P systems should empower cooperation, not competition
  • Decentralization should facilitate access, not introduce new forms of gatekeeping.
  • Abundance is the point: The beauty of distributed networks lies in their ability to amplify sharing, not enforce scarcity.

This is where the Open Media Network (#OMN) comes in—a vision rooted in the values of the : Open Data, Open Source, Open Process, and Open Standards. This isn’t about creating a new “elite” made up of the nasty few or another #dotcons “marketplace” policed by the #geekproblem. It’s about building #DIY networks, radically inclusive and genuinely liberatory.

What are we to do with the Bitcoin bros, the #encryptionistas, and their #deathcult economics? Compost them. Take their #techshit, strip it of its toxic scarcity mindset, and use it to fertilize better systems. Systems that prioritize people over profit, collaboration over competition, and abundance over fear.

To those still clinging to the Bitcoin fantasy: Grab a shovel. You’re going to need it—not to mine more tokens, but to bury the bloated corpse of your scarcity-driven ideology. It’s dead weight, and it’s holding us all back. The future belongs to those who can imagine abundance, build it, and share it. Let’s stop walking down the “common sense” dead-end paths and start digging our way out of this mess, composting matters, you likely need a shovel #OMN