Re: [ox-en] A 'Sharing' project
- From: David Collins <david hl.afraid.org>
- Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 20:14:06 +0000
On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 08:58:31AM [PHONE NUMBER REMOVED], Stefan Merten wrote:
To put it more theoretically these are all attempts in the
distribution sphere - as opposed to the production sphere where Free
Software / Wikipedia / Open Access / Free Culture takes place. May be
it can be said that they are based on underuse of physical goods. As
such they can not address physical goods which are not underused -
certainly a problem if you want to generalize.
I think I understand your point. The project (if it ever actually
becomes active) will, I suppose, be used largely for final, or
'consumer', goods, and I guess that those capital goods
which are shared will be limited to small tools etc. - whose
significance in the "production sphere" might, in a sense, be trivial.
And the matter of free access to product design information,
(combatting) patents, and so forth, is another issue of course.
I see such attempts as a possible building block for a GPL society.
The main advantage IMHO is that they overcome exchange.
Well, I would be very interested in your thoughts on an idea I have to
extend the scope of the project beyond shareable goods - to incorporate
services, and maybe non-shareable goods as well. I was thinking of then
re-defining the project as a 'Free Co-operative' - or 'Free Co-op'. To
me, the word 'Free' - in this context - would symbolize a number of
things:
(i) the project would aim to provide people with the scope for making
economic decisions without the use of money
(ii) participation should be voluntary
(iii) the project would be only one of a myriad number of attempts at
building a 'free' society
(iv) the project would use FLOSS - Free/Libre/Open-Source Software; in a
society which is increasingly dependant upon advanced technology, access
to information about how this technology actually works - as well as the
scope to modify it for one's own purposes - seems important if people
are to be in control of their own lives
And I am thinking of adopting the word 'Co-operative' - not because I would
advocate that people involved would bend over backwards trying to adhere
to the *legal* definition of a co-operative, or even to the concept of
cooperatives as defined by, for example, the Rochdale principles
(although I broadly agree with most of the principles myself) - but
simply because the project would hopefully foster 'cooperative' - as
opposed to competitive - economic practices.
I have written a brief amount more about the motivation behind the idea
here: http://ie.uk.to/index.php/motivation
--
David Collins GPG id 646C8A43
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