Feudalism, #FOSS native governance?

Interesting to see this metaphor take off, though the #mainstreaming have a very ignorant narrow view of this limited to the #otcons only. Here I focus on, #Feudalism, in Free and Open Source Software (#FOSS) governance, is not inherently native to the path, but is often found due to structural and cultural factors inside the … Continue reading Feudalism, #FOSS native governance?

#OMN Grounding (the roots as a story)

#techchurn is the endless cycle of adopting new platforms, tools, and technologies – not because they solve any real problems, but because novelty is mistaken for progress. It burns community trust, institutional memory, and activist energy, while leaving the underlying #nastyfew power structures untouched.https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=techchurn The #OMN uses #stupidindividualism to describe the culturally manufactured habit of … Continue reading #OMN Grounding (the roots as a story)

Growing the #openweb – Notes for Composting the #dotcons (and growing an #OMN)

Today there are a lot of dishonest people – it’s become the default. Finding someone who is actually truthful is rare. So with this in mind, let’s stop being polite about this, what we’re living inside online right now isn’t “social media.” It’s a managed enclosure – a system designed to extract value, shape behaviour, … Continue reading Growing the #openweb – Notes for Composting the #dotcons (and growing an #OMN)

Disciplined curiosity beats IQ, Oxford

There is a persistent myth pushed in our culture that intelligence – high IQ, academic credentials, elitist education – leads naturally to clear thinking. My organic experience suggests the opposite, what matters is disciplined, skeptical, freethinking curiosity. Without that, intelligence simply becomes a tool for defending whatever assumptions people already hold. This is one of … Continue reading Disciplined curiosity beats IQ, Oxford

Radical Reductions in Inequality

The current #dotcons economy is not neutral, it is designed to centralise control in the interest of the #nastyfew, platform owners, server landlords, data hoarders. These are the financial intermediaries who extract value without producing social good, this is not an accident or a side effect, it is the business model. We are told that … Continue reading Radical Reductions in Inequality

Chatsworth Rd: Stalls and Code

A DRAFT story about markets, misfits, and taking back the commons (Tagline: “They came for the avocados. They left with revolution.”) by Hamish Campbell OutlineTHE MARKET STIRS Setting the scene: It’s a Saturday in East London. The smell of jerk chicken, sourdough, and incense wafts over Chatsworth Road. A young stallholder, Luna (17), sells upcycled … Continue reading Chatsworth Rd: Stalls and Code

The Power of Film

The Godfather films, aren’t only stories about criminals, they’re stories about the world we live in – hierarchy pretending to be community, patriarchy pretending to be protection, capitalism pretending to be freedom, politicians pretending to be legitimate, family pretending to be love. To put it simply it’s the #deathcult mythos in cinematic form. They’re parables … Continue reading The Power of Film

Commons and the metaphor of “grow a backbone”

We do keep making a mess of our social, campaigning and activist paths. So lets look at one of these, with the tyranny of the structureless path, every attempt to share the commons decays into a fog of personalities, cliques, and unspoken power. What needs composting here is that, at best, you end up with … Continue reading Commons and the metaphor of “grow a backbone”

We Don’t Need More Liberal Techno-Utopianism

We need to start saying this more often, and without apology: there is a moral difference between left and right. Not just a difference in opinion, or strategy, or culture, but a real difference in the kind of people and world each side fights for. Left-wing politics, reflects our better human instincts: generosity, compassion, mutual … Continue reading We Don’t Need More Liberal Techno-Utopianism

Metadata and the #OMN Path: Who Controls the Invisible Hand?

Capitalism’s invisible hand has always relied on hidden data. In the digital age, that data is metadata the overlooked, under-the-hood information that tells us who, where, when, how often, and what next. It doesn’t matter what you say or do if someone else controls the context around it. That’s where the power lies. Let’s be … Continue reading Metadata and the #OMN Path: Who Controls the Invisible Hand?

A call-out for collective tech with teeth

It’s important to be honest about the messy world we’re working in. Just about every so-called “alternative tech” or #opensocialweb event – especially those run under the #NGO banner – is riddled with institutional parasites. They talk a big game about ethics, governance, and decentralisation, but their main role is to capture energy, not release … Continue reading A call-out for collective tech with teeth