The Failure of #Mainstreaming – What Comes Next?

It should be painfully obvious by now that all the current #mainstreaming paths have failed. Whether we look at politics, technology, media, or activism, the same patterns emerge, co-option, stagnation, and eventual collapse under their own mess and self-destructive contradictions. The valid question isn’t whether mainstreaming has failed, it has. The real question is – … Continue reading The Failure of #Mainstreaming – What Comes Next?

Paranoid individualism creates mess

Fighting the #mainstreaming is pointless if you don’t have anything to replace it with #KISS. With this central in our minds, we need to present a sharp critique, that current funding structures not only shape but often stall #openweb development. The issue is that #NGO funding models divert energy away from real grassroots alternatives, trapping … Continue reading Paranoid individualism creates mess

What software do activists need?

The core problem for the last 20 years has been that most activists were locked into #dotcons (corporate social media silos) because open alternatives were either too difficult to use, lack network effects, or fail to meet their practical needs. With the current reboot of the #openweb with the #fedivers based on #ActivityPub has already … Continue reading What software do activists need?

The #geekproblem is too often soft blocking change and challenge in tech

The #geekproblem has been an ongoing issue in the development of radical and open internet paths. This is particularly evident in the influx of #mainstreaming users into the #Fediverse, bringing with them behaviors that, for us #openweb natives, are easy to recognize as part’ish, a mix of good intentions and ingrained habits that common sense … Continue reading The #geekproblem is too often soft blocking change and challenge in tech

Trump and the tools of the old world order

An example of this is The United States Agency for International Development (#USAID) which was presented as a humanitarian force for economic and social development worldwide. However, its origins and operations paint a different much darker path, of geopolitical manoeuvring and #neoliberal hegemony over the last 40 years. Now, with the hard shift to the … Continue reading Trump and the tools of the old world order

These aren’t pointless projects

#mainstreaming #liberalism has lost its way. For the past 20 years, many self-described liberals have spewed out bilge water disguised as “common sense.” But when pressure mounts, they reveal themselves as dogmatic and intolerant, almost as if they aren’t truly liberal at all. How did we end up in this mess? The #deathcult, #stupidindividualism, and … Continue reading These aren’t pointless projects

How #mainstreaming can meaningfully fund grassroots movements, they get the value from

One of the biggest tensions in the fight to build an alternative, sustainable future is the relationship between mainstream resources and grassroots projects. The reality is STARK: grassroots movements need resources to survive and thrive, yet the very act of receiving funding, if they can access it at all, drags them into the suffocating grip … Continue reading How #mainstreaming can meaningfully fund grassroots movements, they get the value from

Fear, hope, and #climatechaos

The path we are on, climate change, mainstream politics, and fear reveals a troubling pattern: in times of crisis, like #climatechaos, mainstream politics instinctively shifts to the right. It’s essential to understand the underlying role of fear in pushing this drift. Fear is a powerful political motivator. Right-wing ideologies thrive on it, whether the fear … Continue reading Fear, hope, and #climatechaos

“Compost tending” the fabric of #openweb

Let’s look at what makes sense: it’s about collective dynamics, not individual blame. The focus is on mapping the social landscape, understanding the patterns of dysfunction, and then figuring out how to break through those blockages. The idea of switching between #spiky and #fluffy approaches as needed is powerful, rejecting rigid ideology in favour of … Continue reading “Compost tending” the fabric of #openweb

We need to break out of this cycle

Funding structures are built for #NGO nonsense, not grassroots projects where actual value is created. The #OMN, #indymediaback, and #OGB challenge this, but funders can’t grasp it because they don’t understand value outside institutional framing. Fixing the funding #blocking, funders need to THINK, not just UNDERSTAND. Right now, they “understand” in the framework of existing … Continue reading We need to break out of this cycle