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

Why the Fediverse Needs a Bridge Between Mainstreaming and Grassroots

A key point that often gets misunderstood – #Mainstreaming isn’t inherently good or bad – it depends on who is influencing whom. In the current context, mainstreaming is mostly bad because it pushes dilution of radical alternatives into market-friendly compromises. The #deathcult (neoliberalism) doesn’t absorb things in good faith, it co-opts and neutralizes them. That’s … Continue reading Why the Fediverse Needs a Bridge Between Mainstreaming and Grassroots

Bridging the Divide: Using Imperfect Tech for Real Paths

I have an #ActivityPub account on a #fashernista anarchist server and another on a liberal #mainstreaming instance. I deliberately boost posts between them, not as an act of personal amplification but as a small, intentional intervention to bypass the “common sense” blocking that happens on both instances. This isn’t about ME< ME< ME. It’s about … Continue reading Bridging the Divide: Using Imperfect Tech for Real Paths

Radical movements are too often their own worst enemies

Radical movements are too often their own worst enemies. The push/pull between the desire for real change and the gravitational pull of #mainstreaming feed the #stupidindividualism that keeps people locked into conservative, performative loops. These loops are not accidental, they are the result of movements that to often shift focus to prioritize (invisible) ideological purity, … Continue reading Radical movements are too often their own worst enemies

Signal-to-noise is a hard conversation

Signal-to-noise is a hard conversation to have. In our #postmodern world, the very idea of common agreement on what constitutes signal or noise feels elusive, even when it’s often obvious to the community. The undermining of shared narratives fractured our sense of collective reality. In the absence of common ground, every perspective risks becoming its … Continue reading Signal-to-noise is a hard conversation

Keeping Conversation’s useful, with the Fluffy-Spiky Debate

In activist spaces and grassroots communities, the tension between #fluffy and #spiky approaches is a well-worn. Fluffy represents a gentler, consensus-driven path, centred on kindness, inclusion, and collective care. Spiky, on the other hand, is sharp-edged, direct, and confrontational, willing to disrupt and break things to push for change. Both paths have their place, but … Continue reading Keeping Conversation’s useful, with the Fluffy-Spiky Debate

When doors to dialogue slam shut, people look for other ways to be heard

Let’s look at some history of protest, with the crackdown on #XR’s peaceful, #fluffy protests, it’s no surprise that movements are moving into stronger, more disruptive actions. When one path to change is systematically #blocked, history shows that movements turn too #spiky, and we’re already seeing this shift. Recent events, like the symbolic damage by … Continue reading When doors to dialogue slam shut, people look for other ways to be heard

Marking the difference between the #openweb and #closedweb

The last decades has seen a rapid shift toward #deathcult #mainstreaming, where the boundaries between #open and #closed have intentionally blurred, this is also mirrored in our alt cultures. The “common sense” #geekproblem confusion serves the interests of the #dotcons and the #deathcult, not the people. The language of the #hashtagstory can be used to … Continue reading Marking the difference between the #openweb and #closedweb

In tech what matters and what is dangerous

The influx of #mainstreaming brings many non-native, focuses into our shared alt spaces. Most of these will be better handled as external resources. Let’s keep the core simple: #KISS and #4opens. One of the strongest of these is money, it is a dangerous subject for #openweb projects. It’s way too often the root of corruption … Continue reading In tech what matters and what is dangerous

Food for thought today: Open is life. Closed is death

Are our geeks feeding the #deathcult? Twenty years ago, the #openweb was all about open. Our bowing down to the #dotcons has left everyone pushing for closed. For death. We need to make some compost, this path in technology is social, rooted in the recognition that technology, at its core, is a tool created and … Continue reading Food for thought today: Open is life. Closed is death