As a student I got in the habit of always having a notebook, whether unlined paper filled with drawings or lined paper for journaling and taking notes in class. I have continued the habit and amassed a collection. I like the kaleidoscopic and fragmentary collection of thoughts, quotes, and works in progress. Some pieces of this I collected to articulate what I could say is true. This scroll of headings and statements explores the challenge of a true statement. Continue reading ⇒
Doing social media without a marketing department, this strategy describes how to connect with people and build a community of shared purpose. The work depends upon growing awareness of your cause, educating people about why it is important, and gaining their commitment. Social media will be an outlet for news and information about your organization, but more importantly it becomes a tool to maintain relationships within a dynamic field of progressive organizations and individuals. Continue reading ⇒
Many here will already be familiar with government websites but we’ll look specifically at the ways people connect with decision-makers in three countries: Iceland, Spain, and Taiwan. They all use software for public engagement. In each country, a government official upon election and from within the administration catalyzed its use. This journey through the development of digital tools for democracy will give us an idea how participatory political processes might be introduced to local and state governments in the US. Continue reading ⇒
In The Anatomy of Inequality, author Per Molander describes one of the ways conservatives defend the status quo, a tactic called knowledge skepticism. By saying we can’t know a thing for certain, over the years conservatism has attempted to undermine egalitarian theories from advancing an alternative to the status quo. In human history, the status quo has been conditions of great inequality—an exception being the period after World War II to the 70s and on to present day in the Nordic countries. Continue reading ⇒
From the audience, listening to Sanders, it sounded like harangue. This is completely different, the opposite of the inspirational tone delivered by Obama, and it was different in another way. Sanders, in an early televised debate, lauded Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. This is the real difference between the candidates: Sanders didn’t present an amorphous hope, an idealized change, he pointed directly at social policy that works, that’s currently in place in other countries, social programs where the citizens have placed a significant portion of their income to public rather than private consumption. Continue reading ⇒
Reading Jón Gnarr, How I Became the Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World, I found that a platform for citizens to inform each other and vote on issues had been implemented in Reykjavík beginning in October 2011. He has a chapter called “The World is Getting Better and Better” where he talks about the online platform Betri Reykjavík for citizens to find all the information about plans and projects for city districts and “read the ideas, opinions, and suggestions of others, discuss the proposed concept, present your own ideas, and then vote for or against.” Continue reading ⇒
The stories in our culture reinforce the power structure of society. And western culture has become so globally dominant that it’s big enough to contain any story of rebellion against authority (emphasis on contain) without itself being threatened. Anyone want to buy an Occupy T-shirt? Even protest can be commercialized. Continue reading ⇒
The dollar needs no introduction, but complementary currencies have different forms and uses. Though diverse, they all exist to facilitate exchange within a community. In times of high unemployment when spending money is scarce, a complementary currency can match the unmet needs with the unused resources of a local government. Continue reading ⇒
A group of authors meet together as would musicians and tell each other stories. They decide to collaborate on a writing project and figure that something like a Google Doc would work. One of the writers is also a programmer and she has an idea to write some code for a wiki-novel. Continue reading ⇒
Over tens of thousands of years, the tools to create symbols and texts have affected our expression. People make marks, patterns, intricate patterns woven of meaning. These social objects are shared points of reference. And their form affects how concepts can be communicated. How clear, how fast, how deep. Continue reading ⇒
After seeing a digital model of Portland at the studio of nc3d during their Design Week open house, I asked if they considered how to finance an interactive online version of the city. One of their employees said yeah, they’d considered having a zone where people could explore for free and then it'd cost to go further into the city. I asked if they'd sell ads in the model (as that's the basic financial model of the web). Then I quickly launched into a description of a Common Ownership Self-Assessed Tax. Continue reading ⇒