The brazillian city of Curitiba is a model of innovation. They have pioneered many solutions that at first glance seem almost too simple to work, but which have nevertheless helped create a city with a high standard of living and a high level of environmental consciousness. An example:
Curitiba's citizens separate their trash into … Continue Reading ››
Category Archives: Politics
Democracy and how we govern
Slow city
A kaospilot student told me about the slow city movement. As soon as I heard the term "slow city" I knew what it meant, and my first thought was "I wanna live there".
Of course, my second thought was "Naaah, what I really want is to live in a slow neighbourhood in a … Continue Reading ››
Of course, my second thought was "Naaah, what I really want is to live in a slow neighbourhood in a … Continue Reading ››
Open Space political party
On the open space mailing list, Harrison Owen wrote about some of the initiatives taken by the Dean campaign, and that got me writing. You see, I've been toying for a while with the idea of "the open space political party". The idea alone sounds kinda interesting, huh?
The way I see it, the … Continue Reading ››
The way I see it, the … Continue Reading ››
Quote
The radical, committed to human liberation, does not become the prisoner of a "circle of certainty" within which reality is also imprisoned. On the contrary, the more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can better transform it. This individual is … Continue Reading ››
Self-organizing political campaign
Howard Deans presidential campaign is different, and I certainly hope it's an indication of how things will be done in the future. Wally Bock sums it up here. It turns out that the real difference between Dean and everybody else is that he treats his supporters like a giant, self-organizing staff of experts. The … Continue Reading ››
Quote
So anyone who claims that I am a dreamer who expects to transform hell into heaven is wrong. I have few illusions. But I feel a responsibility to work towards the things I consider good and right. I don't know whether I'll be able to change certain things for the better, or not at all. … Continue Reading ››
Politics and the internet
The future of politics is currently being shaped by the Howard Dean presidential campaign in the US: The results of self-organizing are not only more people, but more ideas about how to do local politics. The idea of sending 30,000 letters to Iowa at the last Dean Meetup came from the grassroots, and that has … Continue Reading ››
Acts of hope
One of my new friends, Filiz from Turkey, sent me a link to a very interesting article on activism. The main point that the article makes is that activism is for the long term. You can't expect immediate results that clearly follow from your actions. You need to look at long term results,
Also, you're … Continue Reading ››
Synergic rule
I found a very interesting article by Timothy Wilken about synergic wealth and synergic rule. It examines the idea, that we would all be much wealthier if we pooled our resources instead of fighting over them. I can certainly agree to that.
Then it goes on to explore synergic rule or synocracy. This … Continue Reading ››
Then it goes on to explore synergic rule or synocracy. This … Continue Reading ››
Participative democracy in Porto Alegro
In the Brazillian city of Porto Alegro, every single citizen is allowed to contribute to deciding the city's budget. There's articles on it here and here.
The decision process includes two huge annual assemblies and myriads of smaller special interest meetings - which sounds a little like Open Space. One of … Continue Reading ››
The decision process includes two huge annual assemblies and myriads of smaller special interest meetings - which sounds a little like Open Space. One of … Continue Reading ››