[OSGeo-Discuss] [xbbn] How Do We Reboot a Spirit of Cooperation & Collaboration? A Little Help, Please!

[Miles Fidelman]

Well, that's the problem - folks are organizing around political 
matters, to rally, to protest - but not to act.

Seems to me we need something more like the green committees that 
cropped up after Earth Day - and proceeded to start cleaning up rivers, 
launch recycling problems.  Perhaps a coalition of organizations - like 
the ways VOADs organize service organizations to respond to disasters, 
or United Ways help Habitat for Humanity put together housing builds - 
or Live Aid & Farm Aid.  Hence the notion of a "Civic Internet" that 
brings lots of different folks together to collaborate.

In a sense, the way the Internet Flag Day focused the attention of lots 
of different groups, and types of groups, on getting everthing ready for 
the cutover.

In a sense, the challenge seems to be one of how do we get back to 
working together, to mutual benefit - rather than every individual & 
organization trying to be the one ring to rule them all.

A lot of us lived through the Internet  - from Licklider's original memo 
to today's hive of minds.  We found a way to work together to wire the 
world.  What can we learn from the process? How can we rekindle the 
spirit of collaboration?

Miles

Franklin, Dan wrote:
>
> There is a lot of organizing happening.
>
> Are you aware of "50501" - the big rallies at the capitals of all 50 
> states? Or the work of reconstituted Indivisible chapters (a new one 
> just formed for Melrose and Wakefield)? These chapters meet in person 
> or on Zoom to plan out protests and mass calls to Congress. The many 
> guides to protesting, and discussions of what matters? The rally on 
> Valentine's Day on the Boston Common?
>
> Or the fact that the Capital switchboards are getting so many calls 
> that they're overloaded?
>
> People are acting and organizing. Find your local Indivisible chapter, 
> or start one if there isn't one already.
>
> Dan Franklin
>
> On 2/9/25 12:36, Miles Fidelman wrote:
>>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> /Turning and turning in the widening gyre /
>>
>> /Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/
>>
>> /Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,/
>>
>> /The best lack all conviction, while the worst /
>>
>> /Are full of passionate intensity./ ... Yeats
>>
>> It strikes me that we - We The People, Americans, Humanity - need an 
>> Attitude Adjustment.We need to relearn how to think & work together 
>> for mutual support & benefit. My best efforts have been to little 
>> effect.  I'd welcome some suggestions, some support, some 
>> participation.Herding cats is one thing, but one can only tilt at 
>> windmills for so long.
>>
>> We've networked ourselves together.  6 Billion of us have the power 
>> to be anywhere & everywhere, all at once.  To think & work together 
>> on a global scale.  To think globally focus our resources to act 
>> locally.  So what do we do?  We share cat pictures, watch porn, flood 
>> the world with spam, and troll each other with political polemics.  
>> We've become the Borg, we're living in the Matrix, and 3-D Printing 
>> Westworld around us.  Our planet is dying, our infrastructure is 
>> crumbling, monsters rise from the id of our collective consciousness, 
>> and we hand the nuclear codes to a "Reality" TV star, with a penchant 
>> for firing people & stirring up WWE style mayhem.
>>
>> Is there some way back to /Life Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness, E 
>> Pluribus Unum, Truth/ /Justice & the American Way? /Or forward to 
>> /Prosperity & Long Life/ in /Infinite Diversity in/ /Infinite 
>> Combination, Being All that We Can Be, Being Excellent to Each Other 
>> & Partying / /On? /
>>
>> ----
>>
>> At least some of us, here, were involved w/ FreeNets and the early 
>> days of /Community Memory,/ bulletin boards, FidoNet, community 
>> networks - attempts to build an /American Public Telecommunications 
>> Network/ of FreeNets, and an /Association for Community Media/ for 
>> cable access channels.  All of that was lost when FaceBook & Social 
>> Media & NextDoor & local websites hosted by big ate the world.
>>
>> My work at the /Center for Civic Networking -/ and now with 
>> /Civic.Net/ and /ThisOldNeighborhood.Net /- is an attempt to recreate 
>> a network of public spaces on the Internet - an Internet or Syndicate 
>> of Neighborhood Networks & Civic Forums - but there are not a lot of 
>> Neighborhood Networks or Civic Forums to integrate.
>>
>> It seems like folks don't /want/ to talk with each other anymore.  
>> The polarizers, and propagandists, and market segmentationists have 
>> done their work all too well.  People don't come to town meeting or 
>> condo meetings.  Everyone wants to be a rockstar and a solopreneur, 
>> rather than part of a team, or a community.  Folks flock to the 
>> latest personality or fad, a virtual event with a politician or media 
>> personality - but actually sit down to think and work together, to 
>> mutual benefit - not so much. Folks will march for this cause or 
>> that, work for politicians, buy snake-oil.  Some will go to Cons and 
>> LARPs, and build a city in the dessert at Burning Man;  some will 
>> show up for Hackathons, Service Days, /Habitat-for-Humanity/ Builds, 
>> rush off to map crises or jump into fires, but collaborate - think & 
>> plan & work together for mutual support & benefit - not so much.  
>> We're oh so much better at shouting slogans at each other - than at 
>> looking for ways we can work together to mutual benefit.
>>
>> ----
>>
>> I've been doing my damndest to recruit volunteers to organize local 
>> /civic networks/ and /community forums/- to use platforms they 
>> already have to bring people together (the way WBUR in Boston has 
>> organized /CitySpace/ as a venue for events & programs that bring 
>> people together. Or the Whole Earth Catalog & the WELL, back in the 
>> day. Or what /MainVest /tried to do as a crowdsourcing vehicle for 
>> main street businesses - until their bank failed).
>>
>> I haven't been getting a lot of traction. I've got a bunch of 
>> followers on /LinkedIn, /a bunch of (mostly non-paying) subscribers 
>> to my blogs - but practically /nobody speaks up /- either to talk 
>> about what they're doing and seeking collaboration for, or even to 
>> ask folks to join with them to work on local pressing common 
>> problems.  And all the media types who HAVE large audiences, are 
>> moving to Substack, spouting the same-old same-old, and inviting 
>> people to attend their lectures, webinars, have coffee with them, 
>> send them money - but offering nothing to help people work with each 
>> other.  All talk, no action.
>>
>> ---
>>
>> It seems like the old line is true - you can lead folks to water, but 
>> you can't make them drink.
>>
>> Whatever happened to the /Spirit of America?/  What will it take to 
>> wake people up?  To motivate people to respond to a clear & present 
>> danger the way they did following the first /Earth Day? /
>>
>> Please... Speak up.  With serious suggestions & proposals.  Save the 
>> pontification for other threads.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Miles
>>
>> -- 
>> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
>> In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra
>>
>> Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
>> Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
>> In our lab, theory and practice are combined:
>> nothing works and no one knows why.  ... unknown
>> -- 
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-- 
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra

Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In our lab, theory and practice are combined:
nothing works and no one knows why.  ... unknown

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