We can’t keep repeating the same #TechShit over and over again. #TechCurn is a dead end. The #OMN is the only positive path I know forward.
#Mainstreaming#fashernistas are dangerously consumptive. Our alt #fashernistas are utterly pointless. We need to disrupt social norms and make #4opens fashionable to salvage any value from these people and pull them out of their vacuous existence.
From a grassroot #DIY#tech perspective, we are witnessing a problematic trend among many of our #openweb#fashionistas. Their impact is negligible, but the space they occupy stifles genuine progress. To combat this, we need to address the overwhelming #techshit and curb the ongoing #techchurn. The Problem, the centrist #mainstreaming approach is failing us, and the persistence of these misguided efforts is disheartening. We need to find a practical path forward, moving beyond pity and hate to actionable solutions. We need to open up this path. The Solution: Embrace the #4opens
The #4opens—open source, open data, open standards, and open processes—provide a foundational framework for building sustainable and effective projects. By prioritizing these principles, we can cultivate a thriving “native” ecosystem.
Action Plan * Education and Awareness: Promote understanding of the #4opens and their importance. This can be achieved through workshops, online tutorials, and community discussions. * Community Building: Foster a community of like-minded people committed to the #openweb, create paths for collaboration. * Project Audits: Regularly evaluate projects to “judge” they adhere to the #4opens. Offer support and guidance for those struggling to meet these basic standards. * Highlight Success Stories: Showcase projects that exemplify the #4opens. Use these as case studies to inspire and guide others. * Address Tech Churn: Identify and mitigate the causes of #techchurn. This involves simplifying tools, improving documentation, and mentorship to grow contributors. * Challenge #Fashionista Trends: Actively push back against the unthinking pursuit of new trends that do not align with #KISS#openweb values. Advocate for stability and sustainability rather than novelty. * Policy Advocacy: Work towards policies that support the culture of the #openweb at organizational and governmental levels. This includes promoting open licensing, funding open projects, and ensuring access to open standards.
Moving Forward, we need to gather to reclaim the space occupied by ineffective projects and redirect it towards meaningful initiatives. By committing to the #4opens and fostering a supportive community, we can overcome the current challenges and build a more resilient and humanistic path. It won’t be simple to overcome the inertia of the #mainstreaming to create lasting, positive change in the #openweb path. Are you ready to push to make this happen? Let’s work together to navigate this “common sense” mess and find a useful path forward, please.
The path of #fascism is blighted by ignorance and the rejection of deeper meaning in life. Fascist leaders and their followers push overconfidence and assertive ignorance, using baseless claims to hold dominance and control. They push false displays of good qualities, such as exaggerated patriotism or faux moral superiority, rather than any real ability and experience.
Fascist ideologies exploit the frustrations and insecurities of “lost” people, by offering them a sense of belonging and purpose based on false premises of identifying and vilifying scapegoats (immigrants, minorities, political opponents), fascist movements create and feed on this dysfunctional sense of unity and purpose.
The #mainstreming focus on superficial success, materialism, and immediate gratification lead to a rejection of deeper, more meaningful pursuits in life. This lack of cultural reflection and philosophical engagement makes it easier for fascist ideologies to take root, as they offer simplistic, emotionally appealing paths that answer base human paths.
#stupidindividualism is a seed for fascism, as it thrives in environments where people are isolated from broader perspectives and realities, so can reinforce narrow provincial mindsets. Without exposure to diverse cultures and ideas, people develop prejudiced views and simplistic solutions to complex problems.
Recognizing and Fighting Fascism is #KISS to progressives:
To move away from fascism, as a first step, people and communities need to acknowledge and confront the “stupid, pathetic, frustrated side” of themselves. This means taking social responsibility for our prejudices, ignorance, and superficial values. In this, education has a path to play to build critical thinking, cultural awareness, and the ability to reflect. But more immediate, is the need to encouraging engagement with activism, social movements, art, philosophy, and history which helps people to develop a more “real” understanding of the world and their place in it, and most importantly a real ability to change it.
Promoting dialogue between groups is a way to share understandings and reduce isolation and prejudice, this helps to support initiatives that build strong, #4opens communities where people feel valued and heard. Fascism is rooted in ignorance, superficial values, and the exploitation of frustration and prejudice. By acknowledging this we open up space for education, cultural engagement, and critical thinking where our activism holds the path to foster inclusive communities, we can, and need to, push back at the rise of fascist ideologies.
You, personally, are not going to defeat fascism. But that doesn’t mean you do nothing. Find ways to organise, figure out where you can push and pull. There’s always something you can do, but you have to do it—not just hold a positive opinion of it being done.
The #deathcult thrives on static control—hoarding, fences, borders, walled gardens, and hierarchies. The #openweb, radical media, and grassroots organising all work differently: they live in flows, decentralisation, and trust.
It’s past time to stop trying to own the river and start learning how to navigate it.
The internal struggles within the left progressives need #KISS paths that take into account the shadow of the #deathcult we all live in and the broader ideological battles against entrenched systems and the far right. The first step is the entrenched “Common Sense” that feeds division
Entrenched “Common Sense” Liberal Ideology: Many of our well-meaning liberals hold a belief in the current system’s capacity to reform itself, despite clear evidence of systemic failures. This “common sense” approach is #blocking the necessary radical changes. It supports a status quo that resists meaningful change and keeps us from the path we need to take.
Internal Division on the Left, Fluffy vs Spiky: The “fluffy” left emphasizes kindness and inclusivity to attract people to social change, while the “spiky” left pushes for a much more confrontational stance against power structures. We need to balance this infighting, as both approaches are needed to balance change challenge, but the continuing excessive internal conflict over which method is superior weakens any movement.
Strategic Approaches:
Promote a clear message that acknowledges the systemic failures and the need for substantial change. Focus on common goals and shared values.
Balancing Fluffy and Spiky Tactics and Strategic Flexibility: Recognize that different situations require different approaches. Sometimes a softer, more inclusive approach is needed, while other times, direct confrontation is necessary. Open the space for different groups within the left to play to their strengths without undermining each other. Create paths where both fluffy and spiky tactics coexist and complement each other.
Develop Shared Platforms and Communication Channels like the #OMN where diverse voices can communicate, collaborate, and coordinate actions without falling into divisive arguments. Clear Messaging: Use #KISS, consistent messaging that highlights the urgency of systemic change and the inadequacies of the current system.
Highlight Success Stories of both fluffy and spiky tactics to show effectiveness and the importance of balance. Organize Joint Actions, events, protests, and campaigns that involve both inclusive and confrontational elements. Ensure these actions are coordinated, not just to build division.
Shared Goals: Focus on actions that address common wider goals, such as #climatechange, economic inequality, and basic justice, to foster solidarity. Use the #OGB governance to create accountability and establish norms and traditions for trust within the movement to try and minimize recurring infighting.
Conflict Resolution is hard, fostering divers paths helps to mediate this, avoid implement burocratic conflict resolution strategies is important.
Use hashtags and #openweb native culture to organize, communicate, and amplify the movement’s messages. Hashtags like #KISS, #openweb, and #4opens help create a divers narrative.
Education is key, run online and offline campaigns that explain the necessity of both fluffy and spiky tactics, aiming to outreach and mobilize the broad community.
Space for your point here…
Have fun, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution” is #KISS get to it.
In conclusion, walking a path that actually works for progressive ends is not easy on the left, effectiveness requires acknowledging the systemic failures many liberals overlook and balancing inclusive and confrontational tactics. By focusing on shared goals, promoting clear #KISS messaging, and leveraging #openweb technology, the left can push back on the status quo and the far right. This is a first step view of a bigger issue.
The last 40 years of social and environmental mismanagement have brought us the onrushing disaster of #climatechaos and social break down. This situation highlights a troubling reality about society. On one side, we have the powerful and fundamental evil hard right anti #mainstreaming entities responsible for the harm. On the other side, there’s a small movement of left anti manstreaming activists pushing for urgent and necessary change. Caught in the middle are the mainstreaming majority, the “common sense” liberals, who by default align with the #mainstreaming evil forces that side with the hard right to resist this push for needed change. This alignment is a #blocking obstacle to addressing the root causes of our environmental and social crisis.
What I’ve been doing through the #OMN (Open Media Network) the last 20 years is to support the left and targeting these middle-ground liberals, aiming to grow their perspective and support towards meaningful change. It’s notable that #XR (Extinction Rebellion) has also taken the fluffy side of this approach in recent years. Currently, liberals represent a #blocking force. Overcoming their resistance is essential to addressing the challenges posed by dogmatic power and achieving the transformative change our we and the wider ecological planet so desperately needs.
It’s a desperate time for people have to work past their prat’ish “common sense” to compost this mess.
On this blog, I am looking at the path of change challenge, with a focus on tech and activism leading to revolution. What meany people still do not understand is that this is the positive path to take. Though, as has been pointed out, “the issue is that time is running out for this path before global climate collapse — one bad feedback trigger cascading into the next. Ocean circulation and weather disturbances, massive forest fires and famine, ocean acidification, phytoplankton death, oxygen depletion. The stuff of disaster movies.”
In a world hurtling towards environmental catastrophe, for some people the spectre of revolution can be seen as pointless. The harsh reality is that the clock is ticking, and our time and focus to avert the most devastating impacts of climate change is fading, we do need to act, and we need tools to act with #OMN. The real nightmare begins with one feedback loop after another: Ocean Circulation Disruptions: Changes in ocean currents drastically alter global climate systems, leading to unprecedented weather disturbances. Massive Forest Fires: Temperatures rise, forest fires become more frequent and intense, releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide and further accelerating global warming. Famine: Altered weather patterns and prolonged droughts could devastate agriculture, leading to widespread food shortages and famine. Ocean Acidification: Increased CO2 levels lead to more acidic oceans, endangering marine life, especially those with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons. Phytoplankton Death: The death of these tiny but vital organisms would disrupt the marine food chain and significantly reduce oxygen production. Oxygen Depletion: With less oxygen being produced by phytoplankton, we face a future where breathable air is no longer guaranteed.
Without urgent change, we will likely survive this, but at what cost? Think Mad Max rather than liberal norms, there might be a billion survivors, but they won’t be happy people. Struggling to live in a world drastically different and much harsher than the one we know today. Necessities like food, water, and clean air become scarce, with societal structures collapsed under the pressure of survival. The thought of living through such a scenario is scary.
So on a positive note, this is a wake-up call for the urgent need for social change and immediate action to mediate climate change, we need to shift our focus from merely surviving to thriving by fostering resilience and sustainability, fundamentally shifting away from the current mess. We need tools to use to bring about this change #OMN
It should be obverse to most of us that we are past the stage for pushing only sustainable practices in daily life, from reducing waste to supporting eco-friendly businesses. The is likely still some effect from, policy changes and raising awareness to educate others about the dangers of climate collapse so they can take direct action now to build communities. One thing which will have some affect is building resilience by invest time and effect in community projects to help mediate the social paths through the impacts of climate change.
The fight against climate change is not only about preventing disaster; it’s about creating a path through the mess. We can still take action, as catastrophe unfolds. Understanding paths that actually matter, helps. You can support one path here https://opencollective.com/open-media-network
The Looming of Human Extinction: We Need A Call to Action
Why Human Extinction is Almost Certain, human survival is based on maintaining global temperatures within a certain threshold. Staying under 5°C of additional global warming to avoid catastrophic consequences. Peer-reviewed research says that the pace at which temperatures are rising has been underestimated due to greenhouse gas emissions driven by the current mess. We are now on a trajectory towards 7-13°C of additional heating, far exceeding the critical threshold of 5°C.
The Evidence is in the underestimation of Temperature Rise. Multiple peer-reviewed studies highlight that the rate of temperature increase has been significantly underestimated. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate models have not fully accounted for feedback loops and other accelerating factors.
Current emissions’ trajectory, despite crap international agreements and pledges, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to skyrocket. Coming over the next ten years are feedback loops, permafrost thawing, ice melt, and oceanic methane release. These feedback loops are not linear; they amplify the effects of greenhouse gas, leading to faster and more severe #climatechaos.
The consequence of 7-13°C Heating is simply ecosystem collapse, disrupting food chains and natural services. Human health and livelihoods are affected by heatwaves, severe weather events, and sea-level rise which will displace millions. Agricultural productivity will plummet, leading to widespread food shortages and famine, combined with increased disease transmission due to changing climates and habitat ranges for vectors.
Social and Political Unrest, resource scarcity will push conflicts and migration crises. Political instability and societal breakdowns will become more frequent as communities struggle to adapt. Why Transformation is Inevitable, leading to revolutionary change. The impending collapse of societal structures under environmental pressures necessitates revolutionary change. Transformation is not just desirable, but essential to steer the course towards any future.
Guiding the Transformation is a role for our grassroots movements, activism and community-driven initiatives that are crucial. The Open Media Network (#OMN) and other decentralized platforms provide tools for organizing and disseminating information for action. This can drive technological and social innovation, shifting investment to renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and resilient infrastructure. This will need social innovations, such as new governance models exemplified by the Open Governance Body (#OGB), which offers adaptive and participatory solutions.
More #mainstreaming policy and accountability has a role in holding our greedy classes and policymakers accountable for climate actions and emissions. International cooperation and enforcement of stringent climate policies needs to be prioritized.
Call to Action, human extinction due to #climatechaos is not a distant possibility but an imminent threat. We must act to mediate in any way we can the worst outcomes and guide on a progressive path the inevitable transformation. Join grassroots movements, support technological and social innovations, and demand accountability from those who cling to power. Together, we try to steer the course of history towards survival and flourishing rather than extinction.
What works in the rise of social justice movements and grassroots mobilization. Movements start at the local level, driven by people and groups who are directly affected by social injustices and are motivated to bring about change. For technology to be of use to build these out wider, we need to foster the importance of open and decentralized platforms, such as the #openweb and the #fediverse, to allow for free and serendipitous communication. This enables activists to organize, share information, and mobilize support without the bindings of corporate and governmental control. An example project is the #OMN and #indymediaback
Historical context and memory need core, documenting and preserving the history of social justice movements to be vital. The role of historical memory in inspiring to educate future generations of activists. By understanding past struggles, working practices and victories and defeats, current movements learn lessons and build on previous efforts. An example for this is the #makeinghistory project.
Resistance to co-optation, with many activist groups, facing the risk of being co-opted by funding sources, which leads to a shift in their agendas and working culture. Maintaining independence and staying true to their mission is essential for the sustained rise of movements. This is a hard path in the current mess, but it has been done before, so can be done again. As a small step, you can support this project here https://opencollective.com/open-media-network
A balanced approach to activism, needs active spiky/fluffy debut that combines direct action with strategic planning and advocacy. We need to be pragmatic in activism to addresses immediate needs while also working towards long-term change and challenge.
The relationship between movements and capitalist paths is fundamentally antagonistic. Capitalism is a system that disregards historical and social factors “Capitalism disregards the history of socio-economic material conditions, #classwar, #ecocide, debt, slavery, violence, and oppression.” Capitalism as inherently unjust and at odds with #KISS social justice path.
We should likely try socialism (and anarchism) as an alternative to capitalist paths “socio-economic path where the production (factories, mines, machinery, tools, raw materials, land, buildings, means of transport, etc.) are owned and controlled by the public.” As paths to create balanced distribution of wealth and power.
The capitalist system is self-destructive “We all now know the system we live under is destroying itself. So, what comes next? Fascism or revolution?” Radical change is necessary and inevitable. The individualistic approach promoted by #neoliberal ideologies reinforce capitalist structures. The #stupidIndividualism it has created shapes the #deathcult “common sense” we share with each other.
The importance of grassroots activism and social movements in challenging capitalist mess. We need #KISS paths such as the potential of hashtags and #openweb to create connections between people, build voices and actions, to mobilize communities for the needed change as necessary counterforces to capitalist #mainstreaming.
Our everyday, often dogmatic “common sense” in capitalism disregards the history of socio-economic material conditions, #classwar, #ecocide, debt, slavery, violence, and oppression. In this we are currently blinded by the myth that there is no alternative to the current crap and broken system, this willfull blindness blinds us and obscures the brutal realities on the edge of our “privileged” western lives. The narrative is one of inevitability, the market logic pushing us down the path of extinction is natural and unchangeable. So it becomes obverse that we need to change this “common sense”, how do we do this?
To understand why capitalism cannot be reformed into an ethical system, we need to delve into its history. Capitalism always thrives on exploitation and inequality, the wealth of the few is built on the backs of the many, over the last 40 years, after the decades of hard moving away from 20th century social democracy this has accelerated into view.
Class War: The division between the working class and the ruling class has always been stark, with the latter using their power to maintain and increase their wealth at the expense of the former. This struggle is not just economic, but also a political and social battle, deeply embedded in the fabric of our societies.
#Ecocide: Capitalism’s dogmatic pursuit of “profit” leads to environmental degradation, that grows at on an unprecedented scale with the pushing of #climatechaos. The logic of endless growth is incompatible with the finite resources of our planet. This drive for the illusion of total control leads to a legacy of destruction that we are now have to begin to reckon with.
Debt and Slavery: The modern economy is built on a foundation of debt, trapping people and nations in cycles of dependence and exploitation. This mirrors the historical use of slavery, where human lives were commodified and controlled to serve the interests of capital. While the forms of exploitation have changed, the underlying power dynamics remain the same. From colonial conquests to modern-day policing, violence is a tool of the capitalist system to suppress dissent and build control.
The liberal attempts to reform capitalism have failed because the system’s core is fundamentally unethical. Reforms serve to placate dissent without addressing the root inequality and exploitation. This band-aid approach leaves the structural issues intact, allowing them to fester and re-emerge in new forms we see today.
Economic Inequality: while making lives meaningful for meany people, wealth redistribution measures, such as progressive taxation or social welfare programs, do little to challenge the accumulation of capital by the worst people. When the cycle of boom and crash comes round, these measures are rolled back and undermined, highlighting the difficulty of enacting lasting change within the capitalist path.
Environmental Initiatives: Green capitalism, focus on sustainable business practices and eco-friendly products, fails to address the systemic drivers of environmental degradation. It results in greenwashing, where the appearance of sustainability masks ongoing ecological harm. It’s not working and is not going to work.
Social Reforms: While social justice movements have achieved victories, they face fierce resistance and are limited by the capitalist context in which they operate. True social change requires a fundamental shift in the distribution of power and resources #KISS
We are at a juncture, the choice is simple: continue down the path of capitalist “common sense” with its smoke and mirrors and building crises, or embark on a journey towards a different, equitable, and sustainable future. This shift requires collective action, imagination, and the courage to change and challenge entrenched holders of power. The revolutionary calls for a new global movement established outside the collapsing system, ready, willing, and able to build examples of this alternative, so people have options to move away from the current blinded “common sense”. In this change, we don’t actually have a choice.
Hashtags are ubiquitous online, at best they categorize content to find and join conversations on topics. The problem with current #fashernista hashtag usage is they reinforce individualism over collective action. This is an issue of #neoliberal “common sense” and the domination of #dotcons, prioritizing profit rather than change and challenge.
Serendipity is about the occurrence of events by chance, this provides a beneficially fresh perspective on hashtag use. By implementing hashtags in a way that fosters unexpected connections and discoveries, it transforms how they function as social tools. Yes, misspelled hashtags result in fragmented conversations, making it difficult for people to engage in coherent discussions. However, embracing these variations also leads to a more inclusive and dynamic categorization system. By allowing for misspelled hashtags to be recognized and grouped with their counterparts, we create a more robust and forgiving serendipity path.
In a federated system like the #Fediverse, and what is envisioned for the Open Media Network (#OMN), there is a tension between universal truths and messy, subjective truths. A federated path values diversity and decentralization, allowing for meany perspectives to coexist. This aligns with the concept of serendipity, where the focus is on connections and discoveries rather than rigid categorization.
The OMN address these issues by implementing word grouping flows, where different spellings or variations of hashtags can be grouped together to build cohesive category flows. This approach makes misspelled hashtags functional, thus addressing some of the fragmentation caused by individualistic usage. But the OMN project faces significant challenges in securing funding and overcoming internal and external obstacles. The difficulty in obtaining #FOSS funding highlights the broader issue of support for projects that prioritize open, decentralized, and community-focused approaches.
The use of hashtags is a progressive and critical perspective on technology and society. Think about neoliberalism (#deathcult) and consumer capitalism (#fashernista), promoting the ideals of the open web (#openweb) against the for-profit internet (#closedweb#dotcons). The interlocking hashtags tells a story that advocates, transparency, collaboration, and sharing in open-source development (#4opens).
Example Meanings:
#deathcult: Neoliberalism and its detrimental social and ecological impacts.
#fashernista: The trivialization of serious issues through consumerism and fashion.
#openweb: The original ideals of the World Wide Web.
#closedweb: The pre- and post-open web internet dominated by for-profit motives.
#4opens: Principles of transparency, collaboration, and sharing in open-source development.
#geekproblem: The cultural issues within the tech community, a strong tendency towards control and determinism.
#techshit and #techchurn: The negative consequences of constant new technological projects that fail to address any social issues.
#nothingnew: The question of whether new projects are needed or if existing ones should be improved.
#OMN and #indymediaback: Rebooting the altmedia projects on the open web.
#OGB: Open governance and the power of community decision-making.
For hashtags to be effective tools for social change, we need to shift the balence from individualistic to collectivist. This requires tech systems that accommodate human error and diversity of expression, while maintaining coherence and building community. The #OMN project is a promising approach by grouping variations of hashtags, but it faces significant challenges in implementation and support.
Let’s embrace a serendipitous view of hashtag to enrich conversations in the era of the #deathcult.
#Hashtags have potential to be used for social change. They create connections between people, amplify voices, and mobilize communities. When used effectively, they transform individual expressions into collective movements. However, the current culture presents significant challenges to this.
Today we are shaped by #stupidindividualism, on this path hashtags become acts of individual expression rather than collective tools for change. This individualistic approach hides the potential for constructive use. Instead of fostering solidarity and shared purpose, hashtags become fragmented and lose any meaning and thus impact.
Tech silos like Facebook (#failbook) and generally the dominant digital corporations (#dotcons) exacerbate this problem. Their business models and design promote individualism over community, a culture obsessed with profit and control at the expense of human values—creates a landscape where meaningful social change is impossible to achieve.
The Need for Collective Action
For #hashtags to regain their function as tools for social change, there needs to be a shift from individualism to collectivism. This requires:
Shared Understanding: Developing a common understanding of the issues and the role hashtags can play in addressing them.
Community Building: Using hashtags to build and strengthen communities rather than just expressing individual opinions.
Strategic Use: Deploying hashtags strategically to mobilize action, raise awareness, and create pressure for change.
Platform Accountability: Holding digital platforms accountable with the #4opens
Movements like Extinction Rebellion (#XR), though well on the #fluffy side, can play a role in this transformation. By emphasizing collective action and the power of grassroots mobilization, they could seed hashtags to build a global community, a common cause.
Conclusion, Hashtags have potential to be used for grassroots social change, but this potential is blocked by our #mainstreaming of individualism, which is pushed by our continuing use of the #dotcons. To harness the power of hashtags, there needs to be a shift towards native #openweb tools and a more collective agenda, community building, and strategic use. Movements like #XR could be a part of this path, as could projects like #OMN#indymediaback and #OGB
The science is irrefutable: our civilization is on the brink of imminent, violent collapse due to environmental degradation and #climatechaos. Yet, the political establishment and #mainstreaming media is dominated by those who profit from this collapse, ensuring that the public remains, unfocused, uninformed and distracted by inanity and bile. This toxic combination creates a mental health time-bomb, which will itself feed the crisis we face.
The Illusion of Economic Subsidization
In the UK, a truth goes unspoken: the richest do not subsidize the poorest, it is the poorest who subsidize the richest. The profit amassed by the wealthiest comes from the labour, unpaid wages, and rent extracted from the working class. These profits are sheltered from taxation, perpetuating a system of inequality and exploitation. This #KISS reality is kept hidden to maintain the status quo and protect the nastiest people who push themselves to the top of our ancient vertical “commons”.
There is a #ClimateMajority—most people are aware that we are in trouble. However, awareness alone is insufficient. This majority needs to be active to mobilized systemic change. The linkage between economic growth and degrading overconsumption is clear: you cannot have one without the other. This overconsumption pushes us down a dark path, where our children will have to fight to survive. How can we make the need for action #mainstreaming ?
The Disconnect: GDP vs. Sustainability
Politicians and journalists discuss GDP and the economy, yet they avoid the unspoken issue at hand. Our worshipping of this #deathcult our current economic model is fundamentally incompatible with the living systems we rely on for survival. Prioritizes short-term economic growth over long-term sustainability, driving us towards ecological and thus social collapse. The implications are dire: our economy, as it stands, is on track to destroy the very foundations of our shared lives.
The Path Forward: Systemic Change and Accountability
To avert this catastrophe, we need to be radical in rethink priorities to create systemic change. Some examples involve:
Economic Restructuring: Shift from an economy focused on capitalistic growth to one that prioritizes more socialistic, sustainability and equitable basic resource distribution.
Corporate Accountability: Ensure that corporations pay their taxes and are held accountable for their environmental and social destruction.
Media Reform: Support grassroots #DIY journalism that prioritizes truth and accountability over corporate interests and media agenda lies.
Political Activism: Build real alternatives on one hand and on the other mobilize the #ClimateMajority to demand bold action to replace our political leaders.
Conclusion
The science is clear: we are on the brink of collapse. The political and media is designed to distract and misinform, protecting the interests of the wealthy. It is up to all of us to break this cycle. We need to push the spiky fluffy debate to build alternatives like the #OMN, push the #ClimateMajority to demand systemic change, and replace (and jail some of) our bankrupt leaders. Our survival, and that of future generations, depends on this #KISS path.
Let us not sink into this mental health time-bomb, which will only itself feed the crisis, let’s not be passive observers of our own demise. Let’s fight, It’s past time to face the simple truths to give us power to take action.
Let’s look at capitalism through the lens of #dotcons (a term that plays on “dot-coms” with a critical twist).
Commercialization of the Internet: Capitalism drives the commercialization of the #openweb and internet, where profit motives override basic humanist considerations such as community, autonomy, privacy and basic democratic values. The term “#dotcons” is a critique of how the internet has been taken by commercial interests, turning it into a marketplace to push aside its “native” public good.
Exploitation of people: Digital platforms exploit users’ data and metadata and attention for profit. Companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon collect vast amounts of personal data to sell targeted advertising and shape public behaver.
Monopolization and Centralization: Tends to create monopolies or oligopolies, as the most evil companies buy out competitors and dominate markets. Today, a few large companies control significant portions of the market, stifling competition and ending innovation.
Surveillance Capitalism: The #fahernistas term Surveillance Capitalism coined by Shoshana Zuboff describes an economic system centred around the commodification of personal data to use to manipulate behaviour and generate profits, reinforcing capitalist dynamics.
Erasing the Public: The logic erodes the public sphere by pushing profitable content over informative or educational material. Algorithms designed to maximize engagement promote sensationalist and emotionally charged content, contributing to misinformation and polarization. This diminishing of the commons is a detrimental path of capitalism on digital discourse.
Short-termism and Innovation Stagnation: In pursuit of immediate profits, capitalist enterprises prioritize short-term gains over humanistic paths, long-term innovation and ecological sustainability. A focus on quick, lucrative projects rather than any groundbreaking or socially beneficial innovations.
Digital Divide: This exacerbate inequalities, including the digital divide. Access to technology and the internet is dictated by market forces, leaving disadvantaged communities behind.
“Capitalism is the logic of the #dotcons” shows how these paths have shaped the #openweb into a landscape to prioritize profit over public good, leading to the current mess of exploitation, centralization, surveillance, and inequality.
We have made a mess of the #openweb, we can’t keep being “prats about this” please, let’s try something different #OMN
I have come to think that care for people requires a high degree of resistance to the culture around us, simply because that culture is dedicated to values that have no concern for people. A tension in society: the disconnect between cultural values and genuine care for people. Actually caring for people requires a strong resistance to prevailing cultural norms that prioritize profit, “efficiency”, and superficial success over human well-being. This resistance is needed to overcome the last 40 years of #postmodern, #neoliberalism that undermines basic humanism.
The Mess
Profit Over People: Our current worship of the #deathcult within capitalist societies, prioritizes profit driven consumerism above all else. Companies and institutions exploit labour, cut costs at the expense of safety and well-being, and focus on short-term gains rather than any long-term sustainability, or even basic survival.
Superficial Success Metrics: Societal success is measured by wealth, status, and material possessions, rather than by well-being, happiness, community health or basic ecological function. This leads to widespread neglect of where value actually lie.
Individualism Over Community: Our dominating “common sense” culture emphasize individual achievement and self-reliance, at the expense of communal support and cooperation. This erodes social bonds and leave individuals isolated and unsupported.
Resistance
Ethical Imperative: Caring for people is an ethical obligation that at best makes us challenge and resist cultural norms that dehumanize or exploit people. It involves advocating for fairness, justice, compassion, and prioritizes a living environment.
Mental and Emotional Health: The pressures of conforming to the #deathcult culture which values productivity and success over well-being leads to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and burnout. Joining together to resist these pressures is essential for maintaining mental and emotional health.
Social and Environmental Justice: Resistance is necessary to address systemic inequalities and injustices that are pushed by the dominant culture. To stop the degradation of our ecology, both human and inhuman.
Making Resistance Happen
Advocacy and Activism: Engaging in #NGO advocacy and #spiky activism to promote and push policies and practices that build human well-being over profit. This includes strong ecological policies, supporting labour rights, affordable healthcare, sustainability, and education etc.
Community Building: Fostering real, supportive communities of mutual aid, solidarity, and collective well-being. This involves creating open non-commercial spaces where people can come together, share resources, and support one another.
Alternative Value Systems: Promoting and practising alternative systems that emphasize care, empathy, and interdependence. This can be through #spiky#DIY activism culture, like squatting, protest camps or more lifestyle #fluffy choices, such as minimalism or voluntary simplicity, and through supporting businesses and organizations that prioritize ethical practices in the #dotcons.
Personal Practices: This is a harder path to make meaningful of implementing personal practices that resist cultural pressures, such as mindfulness, self-care, and setting boundaries to protect one’s mental and emotional health. This path can be a problem, as it in part feeds the #stupidindividualism that feeds the very problems in the first place. Encouraging others to do the same can, maybe, help create a ripple effect of resistance and care.
What should you do?
Caring for people in a culture that disregards human well-being requires a conscious and active resistance to dominant values. By advocating for social justice, building supportive #DIY communities, promoting alternative value systems like the #OMN, and maybe practising personal care, we can create a more compassionate, sustainable society. This resistance is not only a needed path, but also a moral imperative. What are you doing today?
