For the last 40 years, we’ve been entrenched in a system that pushes economic efficiency, shown by the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer. This mess has been touted as the ideal, leading to an “efficient” economic structure that, in reality, has been a disaster of environmental destruction and social disintegration. It’s well past time we recognize the worship of the #deathcult for what it is: a dire mistake that urgently needs correction to move away from the false idol of economic “efficiency”.
We need to rebalance for survival, to prioritize social and environmental sustainability rather than only blinded consumption to push mere economic “gain”. The last four decades of economic efficiency have destroyed the balance necessary for a stable and healthy society. If we continue down this path, we will face complete social disintegration and ecological disaster in the next 20 years.
Our current social structures are riddled with status games and toxic individualism, direct outcomes of the clective worship of the #deathcult. We need to move away from these destructive patterns if we want to live in a civil society in the coming years. This means rejecting “common sense” paths tainted with this worship and embracing collective, community-driven approaches. “Let us not flatter ourselves on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory, nature takes its revenge on us.” – Friedrich Engels
We are in a mess, as highlighted by fluffy movements like #XR (Extinction Rebellion). On the positive path we need is planting grassroots media and alternative narratives, without this it is a real challenging to escape this mess. The #OMN offers a path forward, but it requires us to rethink our values and priorities fundamentally. We need to focus on this shift of power away from the #geekproblem and the #dotcons to the grassroots producers of media, culture and meaning. To foster a commons-based #openweb, economic, and social ecosystem.
This positive shift in power dynamics is a step in nurturing a #KISS more sustainable and equitable path. The wisdom from Engels reminds us that our actions have consequences. The environmental and social crises we face are nature’s “revenge” for our hubris and neglect. It’s time to change course and prioritize balance, sustainability, and collective well-being over short-term economic “gains” for the few. The time for change is now.
In today’s #mainstreaming political mess, the issue of #climatechange is sometimes seen as a matter of differing opinions. However, we need to be honest to recognize that climate denial, particularly among #mainstreaming people, is not a simple case of holding an alternative viewpoint; it’s a deliberate spread of misinformation.
The Reality of Climate Change we can see every day, it is a fact, supported by a consensus within the scientific community: rising global temperatures, melting ice caps, increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, and shifting ecosystems all show the severe impact of human activities on our planet. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (#IPCC) have repeatedly confirmed these findings.
The motives behind climate denial, despite the scientific consensus, is to push falsehoods. Why? Financial Interests: Climate deniers are financially tied to industries that would be negatively impacted by stringent environmental regulations, such as the fossil fuel industry. These industries stand to lose billions if policies are enacted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Political Gain: Politicians deny climate change to align with their party’s stance, which is influenced by powerful lobbies. By doing so, they secure campaign contributions and political support. Ideological Reasons: Denying climate change is part of an ideological battle pushed by our blinded worship of the #deathcult that this “common sense” is blocking the needed intervention and regulation. Yes, the reality of climate change would require some of us to endorse policies we fundamentally oppose, it would bring into question the last 40 years of our worship, we might have to wait for some people to die out, for their blocking to end.
The consequences of denial, labelling climate denial as just another opinion trivializes the consequences it has on public policy and global well-being. The spread of misinformation leads to: Delayed Action where policy measures to combat climate change are postponed, worsening the impact and increasing the cost of mitigation efforts. Public Confusion, where people are misled about the severity of the issue, which undermines efforts to build the consensus for collective action. Global Harm of climate change are not confined by borders. Decisions made by deniers in the rich countries, have ramifications for ecosystems and communities worldwide.
Calling out the liars, is a first step, to make visible, what is a deliberate and harmful lie. The stakes are too high to treat it as a difference of opinion. Effective climate mediation requires a foundation built on truth and scientific integrity. We need to strongly push back and make accountable people and organizations who spread these lies, particularly those in positions of power. This involves, demanding #4opens transparency of politicians and public figures, a simple step is disclosing financial ties to industries that influence their stance on climate issues.
Climate change is the defining issue of our era, and addressing it requires a commitment to truth and action, both grassroots and mainstreaming. Climate deniers are not holding a different opinion; they are actively obstructing progress, by lying. We need to walk a truthful path, act on this, by starting to implement the actions and policies needed to protect, our society, environment and our planet.
In the mess of today’s #dotcons news media, social media platforms have become the primary arenas for public discourse and political engagement. However, the political leanings of these platforms significantly influence the nature of the discussions that takes place. Here’s an overview of the political ground on which some of the major social media platforms stand:
X (Twitter): Far-right Threads (Facebook/Instagram): Corporate right Nostor: Libertarian right Mastodon: Center-liberal
Despite the variety of platforms available, there is an absence of genuinely left-wing social media. This lack needs to be acknowledged, especially when trying to find support for projects like the #OMN (Open Media Network). The prevailing political inclinations of these paths are influenced by our worshipping the #deathcult, a useful hashtag describing the pervasive and invisible influence of #neoliberalism in our society. This influence leads most people to act in counterproductive ways without conscious thought, as part of the common sense path of maintaining the status quo and resisting change or challenge we need.
This unspoken political problem is a part of the issue, what is more important is basically we also need to understand the data paradigm, to navigate out of this entrenched system. We need to recognize the underlying structure of our socio-economic systems are fundamentally driven by data. Consider the following, please:
Capitalism: Essentially data. Money: A form of data. Society: Comprised of stories, which are data. Your Device: A data conduit. This Text: Data.
Without any left wing media, we give “them” and the data and metadata. We don’t have much access to data and, more importantly, metadata? Scenarios:
Open Data: Accessible to everyone, Metadata: Fully available to the public.
Closed Data: Restricted to the individual, Metadata: Controlled predominantly by corporations and governments.
Hybrid Data: Available to hosting corporations, governments, and paying companies. Limited to friends for personal data sharing. Metadata: Owned by corporations and utilized by governments.
The flow of these scenarios helps to mediate the sustainability of computer networks during the ongoing #climatechaos disaster. The path we take will shape the next 50 years of social and political change, it is important to think and act on this to find a path of more equitable distribution of data access.
Given the political biases of existing social media platforms and the overarching influence of data control, there is an urgent need for developing genuinely left-wing social media spaces. These platforms need to prioritize #4opens data access and metadata transparency to grow a more democratic and inclusive path through the next years of mess.
Supporting projects like the #OMN, which adhere to openness and community-driven governance, paves the way for such change. By challenging the #mainstreaming narratives and advocating for grassroots solutions, we work towards a path where data and metadata are democratized, ensuring that technology serves the public good rather than reinforcing existing #deathcult power structures.
In conclusion, we need to use the #4opens as a tool to evaluate the platforms we use and advocate for alternatives that align with values of openness, equity, and sustainability. By doing so, we can begin to dismantle the #deathcult and build a digital path to a ecosystem that supports #KISS social justice and collective progress.
In the activism of the #openweb hashtag story, they can serve as tools to share complex ideas with social movements. On this site, I use a hashtag story to highlight both the positive and negative aspects of our current socio-political and technological paths. Here’s a guide to what some of these hashtags mean:
#deathcult: The pervasive influence of #neoliberalism, which operates invisibly in our minds, dictating aspects of society without us realizing it. Example: “The corporate-driven decisions affecting climate policies are a clear manifestation of the deathcult mindset.”
#dotcons: This highlights how we have been deceived into enriching a #nastyfew through the use of digital platforms and technologies. It’s a product of the #deathcult. Example: “Major social media platforms are the epitome of dotcons, prioritizing profit and control over people’s well-being.”
#stupidindividualism: This represents the peak of current social trends where extreme individualism overrides collective well-being to our detriment. Example: “The resistance to community-based solutions for climate change is rooted in stupidindividualism.”
#fashernistas: Flotsam influenced by fleeting trends and currents. In the #dotcons era, this refers to a large directionless majority. Example: “Influencers today are fashernistas, swayed by whatever is trending rather than contributing meaningful change.”
#4opens: A horizontal approach to technological development. Example: “Projects adhering to the 4opens principles build transparency and collaboration.”
#openweb: Refers to the decentralized digital network that revolutionized communication 30 years ago but is now pushed under by people’s use of the #dotcons. Example: “We must reclaim the openweb to preserve the internet’s native path of free and open communication.”
#OMN: An #openweb project that has been in development for the last 20 years, based on the #4opens. Example: “The OMN initiative is a beacon of hope for creating a more democratic digital path.”
#stepaway: A safe method to break free from the addiction to #dotcons while maintaining connections with friends, one step at a time. Example: “By taking a stepaway, we can gradually reduce our reliance on exploitative digital platforms.”
These hashtags are real perspective and a positive path in our digital and social choices. The negative hashtags (#deathcult, #dotcons, #stupidindividualism, and #fashernistas) point out the pitfalls and dangers we face, while the positive hashtags (#4opens, #openweb, #OMN, and #stepaway) offer pathways to more sustainable and community-oriented tech and social solutions. By using and linking these stories, we build better, for real and meaningful change.
Centrism is the #mainstreaming path meany people take, as it is seen as a rational and moderate stance, that presents itself as a balance of reasonableness in the mess of the polarized world. A closer examination reveals that this “moderate” ideology has extremist implications, particularly in its support of economic inequality and environmental degradation. In the era of #climatechaos and social break down, we need to see the extremist position it is.
The economic extremism of #centrism, at its core supports the status quo, includes the worship of the #deathcult, “common sense” #neoliberalism, with the widespread existence of billionaires and super billionaires. This extreme concentration of wealth among a tiny fraction of the population has far-reaching consequences for economic inequality. The wealth is not only a passive accumulation; it actively siphons resources from the broader populace. The immense financial power translates into influence over political processes, economic policies, and social norms, that creates the current cycle where the rich get richer, and the rest struggle to keep up.
Centrism’s reluctance to challenge this dynamic effectively endorses it. By advocating for incremental change and compromise, and actively opposing more radical reforms. The centrism stance is, not neutral, it is complicit in the current mess that “benefits” the nasty few, wealthy at the expense of the majority. This passive acceptance of economic inequality is easy to see as the extremism it is, as defacto supports of structures that are fundamentally unjust and unsustainable.
Environmental inaction and the climate crisis: centrism’s approach to environmental issues is deeply problematic. In the face of a rapidly escalating #climatechaos, centrists advocate for moderate, incremental measures. While these steps may seem reasonable, they are woefully inadequate given the scale and urgency of the problem. The scientific consensus is clear: drastic and immediate action is necessary to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
By endorsing minimal and gradual responses, centrism effectively delays meaningful action. This not only fails to address the environmental crisis but also exacerbates it. The longer significant action is postponed, the more severe the consequences will be for the planet and future generations. In this, centrism’s support for the status quo is not a neutral position but a deeply destructive one. It aligns with a form of nihilism, where the impending environmental catastrophe is met with complacency and inaction.
The nihilistic push of centrism, with the failed path of addressing pressing economic and environmental issues, reflects a broader nihilistic path. Nihilism, the belief that life lacks meaning or purpose, is characterized by apathy and inaction. When centrism advocates for minimal changes in the face of profound challenges, it embraces this nihilistic outlook, a resignation to the current state of affairs, despite its clear inadequacies. This nihilism is particularly evident in centrism’s response to social issues. While centrists acknowledge problems such as poverty, inequality, and climate change, their proposed solutions lack the urgency and scope needed to effect real change. By prioritizing stability and gradualism over justice and sustainability, centrism contributes to a sense of hopelessness and futility.
With the need for radical change, it is clear that centrism is not the moderate or rational stance it purports to be. Its support for the status quo, in both economic and environmental terms, reveals a deeply flawed ideology. To address the urgent challenges facing society, we must move beyond centrism and embrace more radical approaches that prioritize a different “common sense”. What we call this is up in the air but, economic reforms such as wealth redistribution, progressive taxation, and corporate regulation are necessary to tackle inequality. Similarly, bold environmental policies, including a rapid transition to renewable energy, stringent emissions targets, and conservation efforts, are essential to combat the #climatecrisis. These measures may seem radical, but they are proportionate responses to the severity of the problems we face.
The extremist ideology of #centrism, with its innate reluctance to challenge the status quo, pushes injustice and exacerbates the #climatecrisis. We are far down this deeply destructive path, that is increasingly simple nihilism. Ideas please to try to mediate this all to common crap and prat’ish behaver please.
The path through technology, society, and environmental crises is a challenge that most people find difficult to find, let alone walk. This is why I have been building “sign posts” in a #hashtag story for the last 20 years, hashtags such as #geekproblem, #KISS, #4opens, and #deathcult etc. These are metaphors that highlight our technological thinking and represent issues and philosophies that make visible the paths of technological advancements and social cohesion. By using these “signs” and path, people can better understand the need to move from individualistic and technocentric working to collective and sustainable social practices.
The #geekproblem has the tendency of technologists and enthusiasts to focus excessively on technical solutions, neglecting the social and human aspects of these paths. Technologists struggle to comprehend the simplicity of #KISS path to overcome the tunnel vision where technical fixes are panaceas, side lining the importance of social dynamics and community engagement. The #4opens framework—open data, open source, open standards, and open process—offers a counterbalance by providing a structure that promotes transparency and collaboration. However, this does not inherently solve issues; it simply creates a space for people to engage and address problems collectively.
A significant barrier to overcoming the #geekproblem and embracing more holistic approaches is the pervasive culture of #deathcult worship. This is a metaphorical for the last 40 years of #neoliberalism, a term that describes the idolization of technological progress and capitalist efficiency at the expense of environmental sustainability and social well-being. Many people and groups, consciously or unconsciously, worship this path, prioritizing short-term gains and #fashionista “marvels” over sustainability and human connections.
The worship of this #deathcult is destructive because it undermines broader societal issues, it pushes the culture of #stupidindividualism with blinded competition, making it challenging to discuss and address anything outside the #mainstreaming agenda. This focus diverts attention from the collective action needed for #KISS tackling complex problems like #climatechaos and resulting social break down.
In this metaphor, composting represents the process of breaking down and re-evaluating our technological and social practices. It requires a willingness to let go of dysfunctional and harmful paradigms and to create fertile ground for new seeds or sustainable and humane approaches. This fertile soil, enriched by lessons learned and experiences gained, can nurture the sprigs of humanity through the on rushing era of #climatechaos.
To move beyond this destructive worship and technocentric mindset, we need to recognize and reject the blinded pushing of technology and efficiency as easy goals. This involves a critical examination of our values and the systems we support, using the #4opens to composting the piles of #techshit accumulated over the past decade’s symbolizes a necessary shift from merely accumulating technological advancements to reflecting on their impact and repurposing them for good.
Balance Individualism: Embrace collective action and community engagement. Recognize that social problems cannot be solved by technical solutions alone.
Promote the #4opens: Encourage transparency, collaboration, and openness in all endeavours. Use these principles to create spaces where people can engage and address issues together.
Critique the #Deathcult: Actively challenge the idolization of blinded technological progress and capitalist efficiency. Advocate for sustainable and socially responsible practices.
Compost and Rebuild: Reflect on past practices, learn from mistakes, and repurpose technology to support long-term sustainability and human well-being.
Nurture Humanity: Focus on building strong, resilient communities that can withstand and adapt to the challenges of the #climatechaos era.
The journey to overcoming the #geekproblem and moving away from #deathcult worship is needed, it’s past the time to pick up your shovels and make compost on this.
In the current #sociopolitical landscape, building comradeship and solidarity is needed more than ever. However, the structures of capital and cultural norms are #blocking this path, promoting division and individualism that makes us all more “stupid”. How can we foster a community where #KISS class consciousness thrives?
This solidarity and comradeship are meaningful resistance against #deathcult capitalist structures. A first step is bridging vertical and horizontal structures in a healthy ongoing fluffy/spiky debate. This helps move past the current fragility of class consciousness, to strengthen this path we need to examine how the “petit bourgeoisie” and cultural industries deflect and pre-empt discussions about class.
Exclusion and division pushes the tendency to condemn and abuse, to mediate this mess is to create a culture where disagreement occur without exclusion. Addressing class does not mean downgrading the importance of many other issues like race and gender, all struggles are interconnected.
To make this work, it is important to critique the “stupid” path of individualism, the focus on individual behaviour over structural critique undermines collective action. Let’s clearly look at the ideology of individualism propagated by the ruling class and its impact on solidarity. A structural critique is the path to challenge capitalist ideologies, to take this path we need to mediate the tendency to individualize and privatize issues. How do we shift the focus from individual behaviour to structural analysis in public discourse and activism?
Revitalizing class consciousness is a way to push back fear and insecurity spread by the #deathcult. It should be easy to see that capital has subdued organized labour and co-opt the discourse of the left. Thus, the need for a renewed focus on class consciousness and mediating the left path, out of being mired in moralizing individualism and devoid of class analysis, which serves capital’s interests rather than challenging it. To do this, we need to move past the pursuit of #fashionista “bourgeois” recognition and its limitations.
The #dotcons social media is enemy terrain, a trap set by communicative capitalism. Yes, we maybe can strategically use and abuse this mess to move people back to the #openweb which is the “native” path. Remember, the goal is not to simply be an “activist”, we need tools from our own community to grow and use like the #OMN, to aid in the growth and transformation of the working class and on the ground organizing. This is the difference between performative activism and genuine class struggle.
Please, let’s shift the balance of focus from individualism to collective action and solidarity. Let’s stop our prat ish behaver on this. https://opencollective.com/open-media-network
The climate crisis demands urgent and radical action, yet #neoliberalism, with its dogmatic focus on markets and deregulation, falls well short of this. History tells us that activism is the path to take for the systemic changes necessary to save us from environmental and social degradation we face.
The Inertia of the #deathcult refers to this entrenched ideology which prioritizes economic growth and individual freedom over environmental and social issues. This ideology pushes the #stupidindividualism that corporations are using to exploit and destroy the environment. We need to shift this balance. Currently, the balance is tipped far to the right, with no end to environmental and social harm. To save our planet and our communities, we need to push the balance to the left. This means prioritizing sustainability, community well-being, and ecological health to balance the last 40 years on the path of pushing of profit and deregulation.
There is a long history of tools for activism, to achieve this shift, we need to reboot these effective tools and frameworks. Here are some key projects and movements that can help:
#KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Simplicity in Solutions: Focus on straightforward, easily implementable solutions that have a broad grassroots impact. This principle ensures that our actions are accessible and understandable in use.
#PGA hallmarks are a basic-established ethical path for affective grassroots movements, #nothingnew is the key hashtag for why take this path.
#OMN (Open Media Network) Decentralized Information Sharing: By creating and supporting open media networks, we can push the free flow of information and awareness about social and environmental issues. This fosters balance and a more informed and engaged public.
#4opens is a key tool in judging and guiding the tools we use: Open Data, Open Source, Open Standards, Open Processes.
#OGB (Open Governance Body) Participatory Governance: Establish open governance bodies that include a diverse range of stakeholders, ensuring movement away from the current worshipping of the #deathcult (neoliberalism) by building grassroots working federated decisions about the social and environment paths are made democratically and transparently.
#makeinghistory is a way of remembering this simple path and find the tools that have worked that we need to make work agen.
Conclusion, #Neoliberalism’s reliance on market solutions is insufficient to tackle the climate crisis. We need a paradigm shift that emphasizes collective responsibility and action. By using tools like #KISS, #OMN, #4opens, and #OGB, we can empower grassroots communities of action that we need to change and challenge, ensure transparency, and promote sustainable paths. Activism, guided by these principles, is essential for pushing the balance towards ecological stability we urgently need.
A river that needs crossing political and tech – On the political side, there is arrogance and ignorance, on the geek side there is naivety and over complexity. All code is ideology solidified into action – most contemporary code is capitalism, this is hardly a surprise if you think about this for a moment. Yes you can try and act on any ideology on top of this code, but the outcome and assumptions are preprogramed… cant find any good links on this…
As a useful path, we need to look at technology from the social prospective to have any hope of the needed change and challenge. With this view, on one hand, it’s interesting to look at how data and metadata serve as the social glue binding society together. And on the other, how our contemporary #deathcult worship—championing separation and anonymization through privacy and security efforts coded by the #geekproblem—undermines this needed social cohesion.
If you are a part of this #geekproblem then it is worth taking a step back to consider how our current coding practices shaped by society and liberalism affect both society and ecology in this blind worship. This “common sense” dogmatic path leads us toward corporate “socialism”, which is the path to fascism, where the laws and norms are tailored to benefit a select few at the top of the shit pile we live in. Consequently, this data and metadata privatization, pushes us down the path to a disturbing shift towards “National Socialism” that then becomes the #mainstreaming.
The #KISS path to address this #geekproblem is to #stepaway from this cycle and code outside the confines of #mainstreaming liberalism without going down the fascism path.
To achieve meaningful change, we must examine technology from a social perspective. On one hand, data and metadata act as the social glue binding society. On the other, our obsession with privacy and security—driven by the #geekproblem—undermines this cohesion.
If you’re part of the #geekproblem, consider how our coding practices, influenced by liberalism, affect society and ecology. This “common sense” liberalism leads to corporate “socialism,” benefiting a select few and paving the way to fascism, with laws favouring the rich. Privatizing data and metadata pushes us towards a disturbing shift to “National Socialism” #mainstreaming.
The #KISS approach to this issue is to step away from this cycle, coding outside mainstream liberalism without veering towards fascism.
The CEO of a large oil company made a statement about climate change, suggesting that consumers are to blame for the slow progress in addressing the issue. According to him, the companies have the technology to produce lower-carbon fuels, but consumers are unwilling to pay the premium for these greener alternatives. He argued that consumer choices, driven by price sensitivity, are hindering the adoption of cleaner energy solutions. Criticizing activists and society at large, claiming that their exclusion of the fossil fuel industry from the climate change dialogue is counterproductive. He believes that the industry has the potential to contribute significantly to climate solutions, but is being sidelined by activist-driven narratives.
In this market logic perspective, in the principles of the free market, corporations innovate and consumers drive demand, it’s up to consumers to “vote with their dollars” and choose sustainable products, thereby incentivizing companies to invest in and produce greener options.
However, this viewpoint has sparked a backlash and if you think about it as the problem of our current “common sense”, it is useful to look at this logic as akin to a drug lord blaming society for drug problems, highlighting the evil in the shifting responsibility from producers to consumers. The argument assumes that consumer choices alone is the driving force for systemic change, ignoring the influence and responsibility of corporations (capitalism) in driving fossil fuel dependency. Remember that a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions can be traced to a handful of companies. A 2017 study revealed that just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988. This highlights the disproportionate impact that corporations have on the environment, underscoring the need for systemic change rather than the #fashernista pushed ideas of individual consumer “choice”.
Shifting the blame onto consumers, is diverting responsibility for climate change and the disasters’ role that fossil fuel companies play in this mess. This #mainstreaming narrative misleads by pushing that meaningful climate action is unattainable without consumer-driven solutions, a dangerous assertion in the social and environmental mess we face.
The #traditionalmedia portrays oil companies as rational actors operating within the bounds of market logic, while the activists are depicted as radical outliers. This agenda reinforces the status quo and diminishes the urgency of the need for change and challenge. In the political arena, climate change takes a backseat to concerns like the economy and healthcare. Even as climate awareness grows, it remains challenging to prioritize it in main streaming political discourse and policymaking.
This on the surface is simply “common sense” but lifting the lid, and you find a darker and conspiratorial story about the ascent of #neoliberalism and its pervasive influence. Neoliberalism, that this #CEO is speaking, is about advocating for the primacy of free markets, deregulation, and globalization, is deeply ingrained in modern political and economic thought. Originating from the ideas of thinkers such as Friedrich Hayek, this neoliberalism path has undergone a transformation and expansion, and now profoundly shaping policies and ideologies across the globe.
The term “neoliberal” was coined in 1938 and gained prominence with the publication of Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom in 1944. Hayek’s argument that individual self-interest is the only safeguard against tyranny found a receptive audience among the ultra-rich, who were portrayed as heroic figures resisting governmental overreach. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) influence extended to the US, where he established the Atlas Network, an umbrella organization that encompasses over 450 think tanks, including groups like the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. These organizations, many of which operate as charities, do not disclose their donors, allowing them to exert opaque influence on shaping policy and public opinion.
Over the next three decades, a network of academics, journalists, and business people emerged, refining and promoting the ideology. Wealthy individuals and corporations funded lobby groups that presented themselves as impartial research institutes, further embedding neoliberal principles into the political mainstream. While initially having little impact on the social democratic postwar consensus, these ideas later inspired conservative political leaders like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who lead, neoliberalism’s major breakthrough in the 1970s, during the economic turmoil caused by the oil crisis and the decline of Keynesianism. Governments, seeking new economic models, turned to neoliberal solutions. As Milton Friedman, a prominent neoliberal economist, noted, “when the time came, we were ready … and we could step right in.” The resulting policies of tax cuts, weakening of trade unions, privatization and outsourcing of public services, and widespread market deregulation lead directly to the mess we are in today.
We are feeling the consequences of 40 years of the neoliberal era in the growing extreme economic disparities. In the United States, the wealthiest 1% own a third of the nation’s wealth. This shift to neoliberalism failed to deliver on its promise of robust economic growth, over the past 40 years, global growth has been slower compared to the postwar period. Instead, we have seen the rise of oligarchs who have reshaped capitalism to serve their interests, through mechanisms like offshore tax havens and political influence. Despite failure, the ideology remains a dominant force in shaping contemporary political and economic paths.
Over the next 20 years, the oil and gas push the impact of #climatechaos that will kill millions of people and displace billions. The rise of this #deathcult illustrates the profound impact that a coordinated network of ideologically driven institutions and individuals can have on global policy and economic systems. We should learn from this, activists and grassroots movements are needed to push for more aggressive climate action, aspesherly when their efforts are met with resistance and dismissal. This resistance balances the fossil fuel industry’s substantial influence on politics and media. Fossil fuel, alongside most major corporations, spend millions on lobbying and advertising to protect their interests. The climate crisis demands urgent and radical action, to balance this pushing of mess, while individual choices play a small role, placing the burden solely on this as the oil CEO does is adding to the mess and a distraction from the path we need to take.
A lot of our public discourse has reached the stage where it might be worth thinking about it as a mental health issue, and that after the “common sense” worshipping of the #deathcult for 40 years, this becomes escalating hard to mediate. This post is about a summing up of this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/foss/comments/1e5vhif/crisis_of_governance_in_foss_medieval_politics/ on Reddit where I posted the text of one of a blog posts on #FOSS and the need to move away from medieval governance.
The is very little if any constructive dialogue, instead we have #blocking, simply ignoring, participants selectively address certain points while neglecting others. This creates an incomplete dialogue and fails to engage with the actual scope of the argument. Example: If someone ignores the historical context and current challenges within FOSS governance structures, they miss why the proposed changes are necessary. Belittling involves dismissing or undermining arguments or concerns, which shuts down dialogue and discourage participation. Example: Dismissing the discussion of governance in FOSS as “unreadable” or “spammy” without engaging with the substance or argument. Nitpicking, focusing on minor details and errors rather than engaging with the main points, derails the conversation and prevent meaningful discussion. Example: focusing on correcting typos or minor factual errors without addressing the argument for the need for governance changes in FOSS projects. StrawMan, misrepresenting the argument to make it easier to attack, distorts the discussion and leads to unproductive debate. Example: Suggesting that advocating for more structured governance in FOSS is equivalent to demanding strict corporate-like control, which misrepresents the argument for more democratic and community-driven governance.
Reasons for these messy behaviours: Ideological differences, people have strong beliefs about what is “common sense” and react defensively to suggestions that change/challenge any of this existing, mostly blinded belief. This misunderstanding then feeds the growth of the lack of understanding of the historical context and the specifics of the proposed changes that then feedbacks misinformed critiques, end up building resistance to change. Yes, change is uncomfortable, and people resist it by dismissing or undermining new paths, ideas please? The style of communication can be off-putting and confusing for in and out groups, leading to reactions that focus on form rather than addressing any substance is a small problem.
Why this matters? There is a crisis of governance in #FOSS, Aristocratic hierarchies and monarchical leadership pushes the concentration of power among a few maintainers and leaders, this lowers community building and buy in. Medieval governance structures are medieval political systems, it’s obviously unfit for the modern world, let’s look at why we have this mess – with #neoliberal, individualism and its failures, #stupidindividualism breeds the focus on individualism, which undermines collaboration and community-driven efforts in FOSS. This fixation with market-driven development rather than community needs result on one hand in less innovative and user-friendly software, and on the other in #dotcons control and exploitation. Feeding the #techchurn and #geekproblem insular and exclusionary culture.
Addressing issues like this of ignoring, belittling, nitpicking, and straw man arguments that push back productive dialogue. What are the solutions to this current path, maybe, democratizing decision-making, the path of transparent and inclusive governance models like the #OGB to build community-concentric approaches, like #indymediaback and #makeinghistory. To make this work, let’s try shifting to focus on to community needs to balance the individuals ambition and market demands. Cultivate an inclusive culture that values diverse perspectives and considers different social, cultural, and economic paths.
The #stupidindividualism of the Silicon Valley’s ideology, around tech-driven libertarianism and as our chattering classes say “hyper-individualism”, is spreading social mess and #techshit, we need shovels to compost. It’s now clear that these anti #mainstreaming ‘solutions’ create more problems than they attempt to solve, particularly in terms of social breakdown and environmental damage. The utopian nightmares of tech billionaires collapse under the weight of on rushing real-world challenges. This should make visible to more of us the #geekproblem, the limits of technocratic fixes. The lies under the once-promised technological mediated future of freedom and innovation has been shown to be control and chaos, this should make it obvious that we need to take different paths away from the Silicon Valley’s delusion.
A podcast from of our weak liberals on the subject of #AIhttps://flex.acast.com/audio.guim.co.uk/2024/07/15-61610-gnl.sci.20240715.eb.ai_climate.mp3 a #mainstreaming view of the mess we are making on this path. The big issue is not the actual “nature” of AI, though that is not without issues. What I am covering here is that #AI is reinforcing existing power structures and socioeconomic realities, #neoliberal ideology and historical bias. This is driven by the goals of enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and maximizing profits by increased surveillance, this in itself should raise ethical concerns about privacy and freedoms, that the #geekproblem so often justifies under the guise of security.
We need to think about this: AI systems trained on data from the past 40 years are inherently biased by the socio-political context of that period, perpetuating what are now outdated and obsolete beliefs. This historical bias locks in narrow ideological paths, particularly those associated with #neoliberalism and our 40 years worshipping at this #deathcult. This is not only a problem with AI, its a wider issue, we continue to prioritize economic growth over social and environmental paths, with the resent election victory in the UK, the Labour Party’s is pushing the normal #mainstreaming established during the #Thatcher era, in this we see past ideologies continue to shape current #mainstreaming political paths, the tech simply reinforces this.
It’s hard to know what path to take with this mess. Ethical frameworks like the #4opens and regulatory oversight to guide the responsible use of AI might help. By addressing the current mess and challenges, we might be able to work towards an AI path that reflects diverse perspectives and serves a more common good rather than reinforcing narrow #deathcult litany and hard right ideological paths this grows, which is the current default path. Recognizing and addressing the challenges in AI development is the first step towards the change we need to challenge, us, to compost this social mess and heaps of #techshit we have created, that shapes us.
