Insider
by
charleshughsmith
Executive Summary
- The "half farmer, half X" model
- The "no middleman" model
- The "15% commission" model
- The key features of successful new community models
If you have not yet read The Rise of New Models of Community, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we discussed the potential for new models of collaboration and community enabled by the Web and social media. I proposed a simple metric for differentiating between simulacrum community and the real deal: a community is only a “real community” if the collective actions of its members push the envelope of the material world.
In Part 2, we’ll examine some models that have arisen as people either abandon or are cut out of the Central State/Corporate Consumerism Status Quo and must create new social and economic arrangements to earn a livelihood. This requires structures that enable self-organizing, voluntary communities to endure and grow.
As Zeus noted in Part 1, The new price of entry is production, meaning that parasitic layers of middlemen have no role in these new arrangements. To participate, one must be productive. i.e. create or add value.
As I mentioned earlier, social media doesn’t change a system’s incentives/benefits and costs/disincentives; the Web is a powerful tool for community building, once the incentives for participating far outweigh the costs.
Let’s start our survey with an example from…
Promising Emerging Community Models
PREVIEW by charleshughsmithExecutive Summary
- The "half farmer, half X" model
- The "no middleman" model
- The "15% commission" model
- The key features of successful new community models
If you have not yet read The Rise of New Models of Community, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we discussed the potential for new models of collaboration and community enabled by the Web and social media. I proposed a simple metric for differentiating between simulacrum community and the real deal: a community is only a “real community” if the collective actions of its members push the envelope of the material world.
In Part 2, we’ll examine some models that have arisen as people either abandon or are cut out of the Central State/Corporate Consumerism Status Quo and must create new social and economic arrangements to earn a livelihood. This requires structures that enable self-organizing, voluntary communities to endure and grow.
As Zeus noted in Part 1, The new price of entry is production, meaning that parasitic layers of middlemen have no role in these new arrangements. To participate, one must be productive. i.e. create or add value.
As I mentioned earlier, social media doesn’t change a system’s incentives/benefits and costs/disincentives; the Web is a powerful tool for community building, once the incentives for participating far outweigh the costs.
Let’s start our survey with an example from…
by
Chris Martenson
Executive Summary
- Why the US' antagonistic approach towards Russia is likely to backfire big time, in both the near and long term
- How, by definition, the West has already initiated economic warfare against Russia
- Why things will get very bad in a hurry for the West if Russia reacts by re-directing its energy exports
- And how things could get much worse indeed, for everyone, if this conflict erupts into a military confrontation
If you have not yet read Warning: The Ukraine Is At A Flashpoint, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Poking The Bear
And that finally brings us to Russia, which has a long and complicated history with Ukraine. There are many Russian speaking people in the Ukraine, for whom Russia feels somewhat protective, as perhaps US citizens in Canada or Mexico might expect from the US.
Further, Russia quite rightfully feels that it is being systematically surrounded and cornered by the NATO military structure and they might reasonably ask themselves why and for what purpose(s)? There are probably other ways to look at this, but it's certainly reasonable to think that Russia might feel just the tiniest bit provoked, if not threatened, at the West's obvious efforts to get Ukraine to join up with NATO.
Instead of sitting down with Russia to try and hammer things out, the US resorted almost immediately to a series of sanctions targeted at Russian individuals and companies, as well as the Russian stock and bond markets, with the intention of creating economic and financial hardship that would get Russia to leave Ukraine to the west.
Here are a few of the efforts so far…
How This Situation Can Quickly Get Much Worse
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonExecutive Summary
- Why the US' antagonistic approach towards Russia is likely to backfire big time, in both the near and long term
- How, by definition, the West has already initiated economic warfare against Russia
- Why things will get very bad in a hurry for the West if Russia reacts by re-directing its energy exports
- And how things could get much worse indeed, for everyone, if this conflict erupts into a military confrontation
If you have not yet read Warning: The Ukraine Is At A Flashpoint, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Poking The Bear
And that finally brings us to Russia, which has a long and complicated history with Ukraine. There are many Russian speaking people in the Ukraine, for whom Russia feels somewhat protective, as perhaps US citizens in Canada or Mexico might expect from the US.
Further, Russia quite rightfully feels that it is being systematically surrounded and cornered by the NATO military structure and they might reasonably ask themselves why and for what purpose(s)? There are probably other ways to look at this, but it's certainly reasonable to think that Russia might feel just the tiniest bit provoked, if not threatened, at the West's obvious efforts to get Ukraine to join up with NATO.
Instead of sitting down with Russia to try and hammer things out, the US resorted almost immediately to a series of sanctions targeted at Russian individuals and companies, as well as the Russian stock and bond markets, with the intention of creating economic and financial hardship that would get Russia to leave Ukraine to the west.
Here are a few of the efforts so far…
by
JHK
Executive Summary
- A middle ground approach is best at this stage
- While the Deep State is threatened by its own dysfunction, a collapse will not be pretty for citizens
- How not to volunteer for victimhood
- Where hope lies
If you have not yet read The State of the Deep State, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
On general principle, the sort of odious operations represented by the Deep State, including warrantless police actions, immersive surveillance, and even assassination, ought to be opposed by Americans who care about their country and the ongoing project of remaining civilized. The Deep State’s totalitarian tendencies are self-evident. Therefore, “we the people” are obliged to dismantle it as expeditiously as possible, ideally by voting for electoral candidates who vow to work toward that end, but by resistance if that fails. Political actions might include getting rid of all the redundant “security” agencies piggybacked around the CIA since 9/11; voting the Patriot Act out of existence; and introducing legislation to re-define the “personhood” of corporations and their putative “rights” to “free speech” as defined by flinging money at elections.
However, the electoral process, being subject to the depredations and manipulations of the Deep State, may itself be too much a part of the problem at the present time. Resistance, on the other hand, can beat a fast path into the perilous realm of revolution and sedition, inviting punishment by the Deep State. For the moment then, the preferable action probably lies in the middle ground: political persuasion, speaking out against the Deep State. There is simply not enough of this now, especially among serious people in positions of authority. This, by the way, was exactly what turned the nation against the folly of the Vietnam War.
It begs the question: where are the Bobby Kennedys, Gene McCarthys, and William Fullbrights of our time? Where are the visible people of stature willing to take a stand, to put their careers on the line? Not just…
How To Oppose the Deep State
PREVIEW by JHKExecutive Summary
- A middle ground approach is best at this stage
- While the Deep State is threatened by its own dysfunction, a collapse will not be pretty for citizens
- How not to volunteer for victimhood
- Where hope lies
If you have not yet read The State of the Deep State, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
On general principle, the sort of odious operations represented by the Deep State, including warrantless police actions, immersive surveillance, and even assassination, ought to be opposed by Americans who care about their country and the ongoing project of remaining civilized. The Deep State’s totalitarian tendencies are self-evident. Therefore, “we the people” are obliged to dismantle it as expeditiously as possible, ideally by voting for electoral candidates who vow to work toward that end, but by resistance if that fails. Political actions might include getting rid of all the redundant “security” agencies piggybacked around the CIA since 9/11; voting the Patriot Act out of existence; and introducing legislation to re-define the “personhood” of corporations and their putative “rights” to “free speech” as defined by flinging money at elections.
However, the electoral process, being subject to the depredations and manipulations of the Deep State, may itself be too much a part of the problem at the present time. Resistance, on the other hand, can beat a fast path into the perilous realm of revolution and sedition, inviting punishment by the Deep State. For the moment then, the preferable action probably lies in the middle ground: political persuasion, speaking out against the Deep State. There is simply not enough of this now, especially among serious people in positions of authority. This, by the way, was exactly what turned the nation against the folly of the Vietnam War.
It begs the question: where are the Bobby Kennedys, Gene McCarthys, and William Fullbrights of our time? Where are the visible people of stature willing to take a stand, to put their careers on the line? Not just…
by
Chris Martenson
In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Jim discuss:
- The Dimming of US Legitimacy Abroad
- Americans have a growing fear & distrust of our own foreign policy
- Charity Begins at Home
- Why are we sending $ abroad that is much needed at home?
- Abnormal Times
- We are so far from fundamentals that a correction is guaranteed
- This Weekend's Seminar at Rowe
- Kunstler will be participating
Off the Cuff: Abnormal Times
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonIn this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Jim discuss:
- The Dimming of US Legitimacy Abroad
- Americans have a growing fear & distrust of our own foreign policy
- Charity Begins at Home
- Why are we sending $ abroad that is much needed at home?
- Abnormal Times
- We are so far from fundamentals that a correction is guaranteed
- This Weekend's Seminar at Rowe
- Kunstler will be participating
by
Gregor Macdonald
Executive Summary
- Anemic employment & wages growth depresses the odds of near-term interest rate hikes
- Why energy costs increases are experiencing a lull, keeping inflation lower than many expected
- The demographic arguments for deflation
- Why the US is becoming more vulnerable to a repricing of natural gas — vs oil — in the coming decade
If you have not yet read Part I: When Every Country Wants to Sell, Who Buys?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
The most recent US jobs report was once again a disappointment, despite the headline number of 192,000 jobs created. Over the past two years, the economy has reliably created about 150,000 jobs per month. This has been just enough to keep up with population growth, but alas, not enough to put the long-term unemployed back to work. The concerning data in the report came in the details of the jobs created: as usual–and this has been a trend for several years now–mostly in the lower wage sectors. A few wrap-up tweets from Dan Alpert of Westwood Capital summed up the facts rather nicely:
#BLS OK, here’s the result: 49.21% of all jobs created in March were in the low wage sectors – reverting to situation we saw last year (1/2)
— Dan Alpert (@DanielAlpert) April 4, 2014
#BLS …and, in March, hourly wages FELL…down one penny overall and down 2 cents for production and non-supervisory workers. NOT GOOD.
— Dan Alpert (@DanielAlpert) April 4, 2014
Other notable observations from recent trends in US jobs reports include the fact that job creation in 2013 was no higher than in 2012. Not exactly an encouraging trend for those who would be looking for inflation risk, or strong growth in 2014.
But perhaps worst of all has been the number of workers leaving the workforce. Part of this can be explained, of course, by demographic retirements. It’s no secret that the US has an aging population, and there’s a bulge of retiring workers that will admittedly create some gaps in the labor market over the next decade. But the large numbers of workers exiting the workforce is also explained by discouraged workers, and that unemployment benefits for many have started running out.
What many in the public do not understand, is that workers taking unemployment checks are counted as active seekers of employment. They are added to the composition of the workforce, and when they continue to take unemployment checks but do not find work, they serve to keep the unemployment rate elevated. But when unemployment benefits expire, and workers leave the workforce, the unemployment rate may…
Why Demand Will Become Even More Scarce
PREVIEW by Gregor MacdonaldExecutive Summary
- Anemic employment & wages growth depresses the odds of near-term interest rate hikes
- Why energy costs increases are experiencing a lull, keeping inflation lower than many expected
- The demographic arguments for deflation
- Why the US is becoming more vulnerable to a repricing of natural gas — vs oil — in the coming decade
If you have not yet read Part I: When Every Country Wants to Sell, Who Buys?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
The most recent US jobs report was once again a disappointment, despite the headline number of 192,000 jobs created. Over the past two years, the economy has reliably created about 150,000 jobs per month. This has been just enough to keep up with population growth, but alas, not enough to put the long-term unemployed back to work. The concerning data in the report came in the details of the jobs created: as usual–and this has been a trend for several years now–mostly in the lower wage sectors. A few wrap-up tweets from Dan Alpert of Westwood Capital summed up the facts rather nicely:
#BLS OK, here’s the result: 49.21% of all jobs created in March were in the low wage sectors – reverting to situation we saw last year (1/2)
— Dan Alpert (@DanielAlpert) April 4, 2014
#BLS …and, in March, hourly wages FELL…down one penny overall and down 2 cents for production and non-supervisory workers. NOT GOOD.
— Dan Alpert (@DanielAlpert) April 4, 2014
Other notable observations from recent trends in US jobs reports include the fact that job creation in 2013 was no higher than in 2012. Not exactly an encouraging trend for those who would be looking for inflation risk, or strong growth in 2014.
But perhaps worst of all has been the number of workers leaving the workforce. Part of this can be explained, of course, by demographic retirements. It’s no secret that the US has an aging population, and there’s a bulge of retiring workers that will admittedly create some gaps in the labor market over the next decade. But the large numbers of workers exiting the workforce is also explained by discouraged workers, and that unemployment benefits for many have started running out.
What many in the public do not understand, is that workers taking unemployment checks are counted as active seekers of employment. They are added to the composition of the workforce, and when they continue to take unemployment checks but do not find work, they serve to keep the unemployment rate elevated. But when unemployment benefits expire, and workers leave the workforce, the unemployment rate may…
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