Tag: fashernistas

The mess we need to step away from

#NGO crew are wannabe hierarchical who hide in plain site inside every grassroots movement, they push “common-sense” agenda to “tidy” the mess that is essential to horizontal organisation. If/when the NGO crew take “power” they slowly kill the organisations they “care” for. This has happened to just about every alt org I have been involved in for more than 30 years.

Now this is not black and white as you likely jump to understand, the horizontal people let them do this each time, so the better outcome is to balance this issue, not fight for one to the other in till all is sterile dust. The horizontal crew will stand by, being feed the #stupidindividualism of #mainstreaming culture, in meany cases their tribalism means that small alt groups flower and die without laying seeds in the ground. I have seen this meany times.

Link to type article ****

Conclusion.

* NEVER let the #NGO crew take the hiricical power that they strongly desire, don’t except there “common sense” be mad and bad on this one. I mean be really mad and bad to stop this crap.

* Keep the tribalism of the horizontal crew open to fresh flows, the #4opens helps with this, making people uncomfortable is needed at times.

* DO useful stuff, if people are only talking and not doing they have less voice, repeatedly give people a chance to DO in the end you might have to be quite rood to them about this, this is a normal outcome.

Q. who are the YOU, who are the people doing, who should be mad and bad, how to make people “uncomfortable” in a useful way, how can being rood be constructive?

Why is communication so bad in our media.

* The post-truth people are full of nastiness, as this is their only reaction to challenge/change.

* Our liberals are defensive as their ideas are pushing us to extinction, they tend to join the post-truth crew in reaction to challenge/change.

* The #fashernistas go with the flow of the above, if they even see the change/challenge they react in the same way.

We live in messy times.

A talk goes off topic – what is an #ecryptionist is illustrated.

Q. Grumpy old geeks have a valid point of view http://scripting.com/2021/04/02/145549.html?title=pleadingForStallman
Pleading for Stallman

A. but no TLS.

Q. this is a valid point of view too http://scripting.com/2014/08/08/myBlogDoesntNeedHttps.html
My blog doesn’t need HTTPS

A. It’s a valid point that Google and Amazon have monopolist interests and are trying to enforce them. Nevertheless, TLS is an open standard and the owner of that blog would have many other possibilities implementing it. Not having transport encryption is nowadays highly deprecated for good reasons and I don’t see any valid point in not adopting it. Not saying you have to use Google’s or Amazon’s infrastructure for that.

Q. Good to rethink this view. Have a look at his thinking. This is the difference between closed/open as a world view that #encryptionists blow smoke over to push an agender that does not challenge the #deathcult we all live and breath…

A. Sry, but what? 🤔 Encryption is one of the central tools for a free and open internet, as it enables a much better level of privacy, or in fact even is a hard precondition to it.

Q. if you say so… I have been working for more than 20 years on this and always say clearly that we need 90% open and 10% closed – the #encryptionists are dangerously wrong in their view of 90% closed and 10% open. Its a problem we need to overcome and in no way a solution. Take note you are posting this on mastodon that is 90% open and 10% closed. We are not having this conversation on diaspora (the #encryptionists network) very few people are.

A. 1) What the hack is an “encryptionist”??

2) My friend, all Mastodon instances I know use TLS.

3) What is your definition of “open” and “closed”? Encrypted vs. unencrypted? 🤔 I think YOU should really rethink this kind of definition. A blog for instance can be openly available to everyone and still offer secure transport encryption to protect the privacy of its readers.

4) You are mistaken, almost everyone I met on Mastodon is a huge proponent of encryption. And no, I’m not for 90% encrypted and 10% unencrypted. I am for 100% encrypted.

Q. Nuttiness is good in moderation. You are talking to me on a #openweb project, there are some #closedweb one’s, but they tend to be full of nutters, so can understand why you are here 😉

A. You are calling me nuts? Well, thanks… So please define to me, what “openweb” and “closedweb” have to do with encryption per se.

Q. if you are interested you could start looking here http://hamishcampbell.com/tag/encryptionists/

A. Our current dogmas are a mess… good to take a step away.

Q. Uhm… there is nothing written about why encryption is supposed to be bad… It just uses “encryptionists” as some weird swear word. In general, I don’t really get the text. Sounds very confused to be honest. That being said, I am also against neo-liberalism, individualism and esoterics and for an open web. What this does have to do with encryption remains obscure to me…

And it’s not a dogma. It is a scientific fact, that eavesdropping on well encrypted communication is close to impossible.

A. This is an interesting point:

2) all Mastodon instances I know use TLS.

The dev of mastodon told “white” lies about privacy and security as few #fashernistas would go with a #openweb project that did not pedal this dogma.

#TLS is a fig leaf, everything on the server is in plain text and the admins can read most of what you post and the sysadmin can read and change anything. it’s a trust based #openweb project and works well Because of this building of trust.

Maybe this gives you ideas of what #openweb and #closedweb are about?

“Trust nobody” is the rallying cry of conservatism and an easy-to-understand worship of the #deathcult we need to stop pushing this shit.

It would be an #ecryptionst #geekproblem to call any online project secure in any real senses as the operating steam it runs on for 99.9% of users is insecure and likely backdoored for the state and corporate spy. And even if you are in the 0.1% who run something that just might be secure then the firmware is all  insecure with issues that CANNOT be fixed in contempery devices…

The mind set is the problem am talking about – you can blow smoke over conversations by not looking at the big picture.

This is a way of stepping away from the post-truth would

When truth-telling is simply penalized, it’s a clear sign we’re navigating a post-modern, obfuscating mess. Instead of addressing issues openly, society hides and punishes those who expose inconvenient views, letting problems rot and fester. It’s a reminder that transparency is essential for creating a healthier culture. When truth is composted rather than suppressed, it breaks down unhealthy systems and makes way for healthy growth and accountability.

  Please look at the underlying agenda BEFORE pushing “new” ideas, please.

  • Conservatism/right wing is based on fear and the resulting desire for control.
  • Progressive/left wing is based on cooperation and trust, with the resulting desire for freedom.

Yes, this is muddled by right wing agenda to push their lies. Don’t be a #fashernista on this subject, please.

#Ideology matters, is a useful tool, to judge the shit #fashernistas spew. “It is how reactionary politics works, by appealing to sense of injustice and then, instead of focusing anger on the rightful target (capitalism etc) they create a movement to serve their own class interests, in this case far right libertarianism.”

This is a #KISS way of stepping away from the post-truth would.

We need to compost the barriers to building shared social truths

A conversation

The children of Thatcher and Reagan are limited in their world views – they have been brought up and nurtured in the neo-liberal #deathcult and have limited experience in the nurturing and socialisation of anything else. Academic and book learning are a poor substitute for evolving in a non #deathcult era, so it is no surprise that they find themselves trapped in the circle of #stupidindividualism

In this #deathcult era, individualism is stupid and individualism makes you stupid. This is a degrading circle that no “self-help” or “whoo spiritualism” can help you to escape.

This manifests like dark “social magic” in many areas:

In social movement we have the take-over of #fashernistas who push “alternatives” aside in their “commonsense” self-interest, building careers and grasping at the illusionists of fame and “influence” they are slaves to #mainstreaming

In tech the #geekproblem has pushed emancipation into darkness. The #encryptionists have dominated alt-tech and the #dotcons of the #mainstreaming path, both are born of this world view and the socialisation that keeps it from  sight.

The mainstream is blind in its worship “there is no alternative” for #mainstreaming agendas in this era. Our words and actions are simply spewing shit while the world burns, our ecosystems die and communities implode in manufactured (for profit) infighting #failbook

It’s actually easy to step away from this mess, the issue is: are you brave enough to fall and WILL your community catch you when you do? (both valid worries i’m afraid).

We need hand-holding and most importantly we need alt-social/tech structures in place to build and bind – all human communities are built/bound with/from these structures.

The #OMN and the #4opens are there as shovel for the shit and binding for the community – neither of these have any power but the power you use them with – the steeping and away and dreaming and digging is all down to you and your community.

History’s of #indymedia are full of academic wank

The Problem of Academics Covering Activism, in activism, particularly within grassroots movements like #Indymedia, there is a significant disconnect between academic interpretations and the realities on the ground. This gap is not a matter of perspective but represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the dynamics and operational mechanisms of activist movements.

The disconnect, academics gravitate towards more visible and vocal members of activist circles, the #fashernistas. These are, often passionate and articulate, but are not the ones making the movement’s wheels turn. The core of activism, the real work, is carried out by those who are too busy to engage with academia because they are immersed in the day-to-day efforts of driving change.

The history of the Indymedia project is a case in point. Indymedia was a pioneering effort in the early 2000s to create an open publishing platform for grassroots journalists. Its story is a rich tapestry of collaboration, innovation, and relentless dedication. However, much of the academic writing on Indymedia misses the mark, focusing instead on surface-level narratives. For a deeper understanding of the Indymedia project’s history from someone who was actively involved, you can read my activism stories.

Academia push analyses that are often removed from the practical realities of activism. The theoretical frameworks and methodologies used serve more to fulfil academic desires for publication and recognition than to provide a faithful representation of activist efforts. This creates a body of work that can be described as “wish-fulfilling #fashernista wank,” offering little insight into the actual functioning of movements.

Consequences of this misrepresentation are significant. Historical records, influenced heavily by academic accounts, paint an inaccurate picture of how movements operated and succeeded. This not only distorts the past but also impacts future activists who look to these records for guidance and inspiration. The narratives crafted by academics sideline the contributions of the true workhorses of the movement, leading to a skewed and broken understanding of what is effective in activism.

To bridge this gap, we need academics to engage more deeply with the core activists, those whose hands are dirty from the work of making change happen. This requires a shift from seeking out the most vocal and visible to those who are often unseen but indispensable. Additionally, activists themselves must recognize the importance of documenting their efforts and experiences, ensuring that future narratives reflect the true spirit and mechanics of their movements. The is a project for this #makeinghistory, we do need more authentic dialogue between academics and activists, to build a more accurate and useful body of knowledge that actually honours and reflects the efforts of those driving change.

Q. I wish the hacker culture connection to anarchism was more thorough and consistent. It looks a lot more like privileged fuckery and pet insurrections. It could be that the academic scene wasn’t representative of the movement as a whole

A. I would largely ignore most existing academic history of anachronism and tech as it is extreme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannerism

In my view, a good place to start a project like this would be to look through the #indymedia email archives for an “original” anarchist workflow. I would not take much notice of the “official” history’s of indymedia as they are full of academic wank. The theoretical analysis of the time is all pushing agenders that ripped the project apart and killed it – these are interesting to see this process, but much less useful as exacting history of what actually happened. The who internal process is saved in open email lists now hosted on archive.org no other anarchist project is this well documented.

Best not to add to the activist “mannerism” in our history, it’s very bad all ready, if we are to have hope for “anarchism” fluffy and spiky playing a role in saving a humane/ecological world.

#indymediaback

Think the soil is a little dry past time for some compost, get your spades out.

Thinking on the modern UX for the #indymedia reboot. Tabs are a line at the top of the page – metaphor is not buttons. You are switching sheets of paper. The page is the paper. The top banner is the desk under the paper. It’s an interesting challenge to think through metaphors.
Using buttons you are outside the desk/paper metaphor so it’s a whole different thing, to mix them is not KISS and confusing. You are into early computer metaphors with the buttons – think mainframes. We are a “newspaper” so the tabs and table and paper sheets make a feeling for the project. Always echo back if you can for a project that is based on a solid past.
For new stuff “invention” is good and there will be lots of space and growth for this when the #OMN is up and running…
One thing the fediverse taught us is that copying existing successfully projects is a root out of the #geekproblem that #fashernistas embrace. So this up to a point is the right thing to do for social change. We for the first time put a spin on it by rebooting a radical grassroots social tech project. But behind this is something much more radical. The #OMN lets see if we can plant and nurture a seed. Think the soil is a little dry pastime for some compost, get your spades out.

On outreach of OMN and indymedia reboot

Q. I’m not interested in doing that, as I don’t know what it is you are actually proposing. Apart from using hashtags and talking about #deathcult I don’t actually understand your plan?

What I haven’t heard is a practical way of hosting and distributing alt media.

Visionontv turned into a mess, just as Indymedia did. So what has changed?

A. What happened is a good question. The answer is simple the #Fediverse maybe start here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse

Where we are now https://the-federation.info/ or https://fediverse.network/

From an activist tech prospective. The real opening we have is this was built outside activism outside #encryptionist amenders and for the #openweb and is thus #4opens

Our own tech in activism was ripped apart by the open/closed war, indymedia dies because of this, visionontv never went anywhere because of this. Outside activism this war has also been fought, the closed/encryptionists have been dominant for the last 10 years.

Around 5 years ago a handful of people said fuck this crap we need a spade. They created #openweb tools, and it has exploded from there to be a real UI friendly alternative. This is exactly the same outcome of the World Wide Web did to the silos of the early internet.

Am simply bring this explosion of affective DIY creativity into the ossified and dead depression of activism tech. Obviously, meany nay sayers are going to piss and shit all over this move. Activist tech died for very good ressions. This does not have to be a block, as I say this makes good compost so get your shovel ready and let’s plant some seeds. I hope that not to metaphorical

A simple video on the tech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S57uhCQBEk0 from this it’s clear this #openweb tech works and scales and people like it

What is also clear is that is people are getting seriously unhappy on the #dotcons

YES its going to be a mess of shit and piss and fuckups, that’s activism, and the #encryptionsists pushed “closed” ideas deep into our #fashernistas so it’s a uphill battle.

BUT we do not have a choice to stay in the #dotcons it’s poison and our ecosystem and social syteams are dyeing.

A realistic timeline, a year of dev and small scale roll-outs. During which there will be lots and lots of shit shovelling to stop it becoming a stinking mess that people will not go, nowhere near.

The tech is “easy”ish, it’s the shovelling shit that’s hard, non techs can help with this bit.

Help OMN indymedia reboot
* It easy to keep crossing wires with “media” vs. personal. Media should be open, with clear sources, except when protecting them. Whereas personal data should default to private
* #OMN is not about tech – all code is ideology – the OMN is a social solution to a social problem
* teach people the #4opens and review tools/projects they use/want to use by them.
* on the dev/organising site you can help by asking simple basic questions

A look at the internal mess of the uk indymedia project

The project i like to point to as an example. The indymedia project, an early alt-media network that spread the use of open source software and #4opens organizing around the world at the turn of the century. In the UK the was a #geekproblem vs #openweb fight that became nasty over what we would now understand as “activertypub” the #Fediverse vs more centralized silo approach. In the UK you can see this stress point fought as a proxy war over #RSS​

The #openweb aggregation side were sold a dud by the #fashernistas being swayed by the #geekproblem It was obvious that the project had to change and move away from central servers to a more aggregation model. BUT the movement was torpedoed by an obviously pointless open-source project instead of implementing an existing standards based RSS they created their BETTER, BRIGHTER flavour which was of course incomparable with everyone else.

This is an example of a “better” but obviously pointless open source project and also destructive behaver. The #indymedia project in the UK was ripped apart internally from this same divide in the end. A bad “open source” outcome. You can find similar behaver today in the fediverse if you look.

It’s a interesting thing to look at. Actually you can see 3 active sides in the internal uk #indymedia mess and important to see the outcome that they ALL LOST in the end.

1) #encryptionists (being pushed by the #geekproblem)

2) #fashernistas (being influenced by the #geekproblem)

3) #openweb being sidelined by the rest

1) The first resisted and blocked aggregation and #RSS from privacy and “security” issues.

2) The second is a obviously failed compromise by keeping control of “their” own better, non-comparable RSS format.

3) The last, the one the whole project was based on, were ignored and sidelined.

The #IMC project soon became irrelevant and died.

A message for my #dotcons frends

When people deny the history of reposabilerty then they deny reality and join the “post truth world” of Trump and Boris.

The majority of my #failbook friends are both sad and bad on this subject as they don’t remember the times they argued that the #dotcons were not evil and cat memes were the right thing to do as the world heated up and is now catching fire.

A lot of the more tech minded run workshops on campining on #dotcons as our ones healthy #openweb tools were ripped apart by our home grown #geekproblem

You guys need to get busy with spades to compost the shit you spread around in the digital world. And spreading more shit just makes the alt more smelly and uninviteing.

I put up with years of trolling on this subject. it’s a good time to balance this and for the first time in a while do something useful. At some point you have to support a real grassroots media project.

https://unite.openworlds.info/indymedia

Hope you understand that this is not a #geekproblem project and not pushing #fashernistas agenders and a clear move away from #failbook and the #dotcons in general #OMN

Talking about rebooting openweb media

Its too easey to talk cross purpose about actavisam, media and tech if the is any understaning at all most are talking about the end of indymedia and what came after, am talking about the start of indymedia and what came before. A simple misunderstanding that is surprising hard to bridge. There are now millions of normal non geek people using everyday the tech am surgesting, the UI works fine, the apps are good for a phone experience. What am talking about is already a success… just activists are stuck.

The has been a #block on radical tec for the last 10 years. As most actavisam was in with the #encryptionists which is a 10% project only if they overcome the #geekproblem if they don’t its just a wasteland. No wonder people flocked to the lonely #dotcons. Open/closed is a 90/10% split… not a 10/90% split. This the the difference between the start and end of the indymedia project.

Its a process, as we are on #failbook the #hashtags will not get outside to the #openweb. But they will to a limited extent bypass the algorithm and give you a wider view inside facebook. The power comes from useing them in openweb projects and searches. This gives power to organise alongside and outside the #dotcons

Tagging is at the hart of the bottom up approach the #OMN takes. So think of hashtags use inside the dotcons as a small help and a first big stepaway. Of course if you never take the effort to stepaway then its just a small help and kinda pointless.

The is a pessimism in defeat.

Talking about the possibility of rebooting our own media.

Lets rearly focus, when most people talk about our own media. They mostly talk about the closed/bureaucratic indymedia. When i talk about the open/serendipity indymedia. Lets be positive and try and bridge these views.

The #hashtags are a part of the open process. You can see the whole working of the network, ie its open not closed.

Yes i understand the desire for closed, i see this desire destroy left and right. Yes closed is obviously the way to destroy society and the natural environment. Yes closed is better, not.

Its a simple story.

Idea to escape the media manipulation that puts Trump and Johnson into power and will keep doing this as its the business models of #dotcons and #tredtionalmedia Were are the tools to organize. Am asking a simple question and giving a simple sulution #DIY with as strong a protection against #fashernistas cooption and #geekproblem irrelevance.

The name Open media network (#OMN) as its name implies is about building and holding bridges across the ghettos.

Please ignore all the crap that will be flying about and do something simple and positive.

A bit of history: Do you remember the early open process #indymedia before it died as closed and bureaucratic. It was not a ghetto and helped to shape #traditionalmedia narrative. If leftwing/anarchists history teaches anything usefull power is all about organization self or top down… what tools do we have to organize if the answer is non then we have no power just bubbles… kinda what today tells us. Learn the wrong thing and the next 5 years are lost.

Well that did not go well, were next?

Negative or Positive

Do we have the power and will to choice?

#OMN is a needed first step if you have power and will to overcome your digital addictions.

More ideas? We have 5 years of empty political space, filling this time with negative will be a waste. Who is up for building posative DIY, increasing the commons were we have the power to do this outside the electoral mainstream.

Have you taken a caring step to the #openweb have you stayed in the #dotcons to offer a helping hand to others? The answer to these questions likely sits uneasily with you, it does with meany.

Take the time to outreach your friends onto #openweb media projects is a basic step. https://campaign.openworlds.info if you try this one then you should take the time and effort to find 20 new to you people to follow otherwise it will not work. There are NO addiction algorithms on the #openweb projects so will only work if you make it work. Gather the people like you outside the #dotcons is a good first step.

If the election is a disaster over the next few days this is directly connected to your use of the #dotcons as your media source. This with the billionaire #traditionalmedia is pushing social control of the #deathcult over us all.

You have had plenty of time and opportunity to reboot the #openweb as your source of news. That you have not lifted a finger to do this is your own responsibility.

Of course maybe it will not be a disaster, as it clearly should not be. Cross fingers and get out into the streets to knock doors.

Take the step today #OMN

This election is human being vs the mashine, Labour supporters knocking doors vs dark targeted negatively adverts on Facebook.

The labour spending, much less than the tories is positive, in the light. The majority of tory spending, much more, is in the dark targeted by algorithm to swing the marginal, to push the darkness.

The problem we face for a progresive future is that the #dotcons that dominate our media were built to push dark agenders. its a built into their business models, the #deathcult is strong oneline

It’s well past time to step away from this mess #OMN

Capitalism is now visibly a #deathcult its basic stuff

Reminder: Climate Change Was No Accident

As far back as 1982, fossil fuel executives knew they were trading a few…

Q. I notice you have used the #deathcult hashtag a few times recently on posts about capitalism, neo-liberalism and green consumerism, so I thought I would look it up. Wikipedia says that Death Cult may refer to an early name for the British rock band The Cult or a compilation album featuring all the songs from Death Cult. Under “See also” it links to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (also known as the Southern Death Cult), and to Southern Death Cult as yet another name for the band. Finally it says it is used as a synonym for the term “destructive cult”.

Destructive cults are described in the Wikipedia entry for Cult as “groups whose members have, through deliberate action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other people”. John Gordon Clark cited totalitarian systems of governance and an emphasis on money making as characteristics of a destructive cult.

A. good research, am trying to get #XR beyond liberalism were #deathcult solutions are discussed with out a thought. A step.

Q. Hamish just loves a hashtag! Once he gets his hands on one he uses it until it falls apart.
A. The idea is to spread um so that they join the mainstream discussion and then becomes the mainstream. Simple idea, very hard for #stupidindividualism #fashernistas to actually do anything so simple. Much like #stepaway from the #dotcons is simple #OMN One can but keep trying, while sailing away on a lifeboat #boatingeurope

Q. I am beginning to suspect you are getting money each time you mention one of these 😉

A. Sadly not, though when I recommend stuff on my blog I anyway put an affiliate link, more outa curiosity to see if it works than any income. Think the is a little money in a paypal account which I have lost the PW and can’t reset die to old phone number 😉

A. #hashtags click on um, search the web with um, use them to create conversations across the #dotcons and out onto the #openweb it’s a little stepaway that is easy to do. It’s a shame about #stupidindividualism #fashionistas that they can’t be a part of this #stepaway its basic stuff.

A. Of course neoliberal Capitalism was always a #deathcult just now with #XR it’s kinda ok to say this. A good example to give people is the Irish potato famine, as we are likely to repeat this soon with climate change hitting industrial agriculture. We really don’t want to be in the dogmatic neoliberal world when this hits as were then, lots of death and despair to go around.

From the #dotcons

“Thrown into the mix are the US Evangelical Christians who are waiting for Armageddon, the End Times, and the Second coming of Christ, and who welcome climate change catastrophe as a confirmation of their twisted beliefs.

The only time – to my knowledge – that I was ever unfriended on Facebook was by an Evangelical Christian Zionist, now living in the USA, who was offended by my posts showing The Israeli military bombing the hell out of civilians in Gaza. It confused me at the time, but I only recently found out that Jews returning to Israel is also a ‘sign’ of the approaching End Times for those Christian Fundamentalists.

It really is a death cult. US Republicanism, especially in its Christian Fundamentalist form, is a death cult of the most dangerous kind, and is without doubt the greatest obstacle to the continued existence of life on Planet Earth.”

A question for fashionistas is drinking piss healthy?

A. Start a outreach stepaway from the #dotcons project and watch the old crap crubbale when you glance back. Be a part of a soughted #fashernistas movement to create social change #OMN

Q. You have been saying this over and over for the last few years and railing against the mysterious #fashernistas. And what plan did you announce this week? To start your own YouTube channel! “Physician heal thyself” seems an appropriate comment …

A. Nothing wrong in having one foot in a each camp, have been saying this for years. “Stepaway” is the strategy to try and medate the moralistic shaming that is not constructive. Am still talking about seedboxs for #peertube and the #geekproblem that stops this obviously needed, being a priority http://visionon.tv works as a video host but we have no distributed way to store the seed files… so not an option. Thus the youtube channel for #boatingeurope Of course would need one even if #peertube had seedbox’s to keep one foot in the #dotcons to offer a helping hand to people who won’t to septaway. Good to think these things through.

Ps. Am gently takeing the piss by calling it a #fashernista movement, but if you look at people’s consumption of #mainstreammedia it looks very much like people like drinking piss so maybe its not a joke?

Now that is a “shaming” thought…