07/23/2008 (Changing times, Politics, The return of the commons)
Whether we live in the best of times or the worst of times (or both), no doubt we do live in both the blessing and curse of exceedingly interesting times. At the “worst of times” end of the scale, we find the “shock doctrine” and the rise of “disaster capitalism” as promulgated by Naomi Klein. [...]
04/28/2008 (Politics, Social commentary, The return of the commons, Web 2.0)
The shouting in and about the Obama and Clinton campaigns continues, but the basic context remains and the quest for the Democratic presidential nomination unfolds within it. All the tactical decisions, the evaluations of those decisions, all the campaign ads, all the surrogates’s advocacy, etc., are subordinate to the larger question of whether a [...]
04/24/2008 (Changing times, The return of the commons, Web 2.0)
Earlier in these posts I’ve noted the rise of the Creative Commons and Open Source software movements as indications of how the understanding of creativity (and ownership of creative works) is changing in a larger context that I call “the return of the commons.”
For the viewpoint of a well-known novelist, Jonathan Lethem (b. 1964) [...]
03/18/2008 (Changing times, Social commentary, The return of the commons)
Back in November I wrote about becoming a senior and some of what that entailed. I wrote too soon.
No I haven’t reversed the aging process, nor have I succumbed to the tranquilizing motto that “60 is the new 40.” Rather I heard Marc Freedman talking about his book Encore: Finding Work that Matters in [...]
02/24/2008 (Changing times, Politics, Social commentary, The return of the commons)
After the Texas debate with Hilary testing a gracious exit from her hopes of the presidency, not to mention the delegate totals and the virtual impossibility of her catching Obama, it’s all over but the counting. I predict that Obama will win the Democratic nomination and then the general election.
What’s happening here? The pundits for [...]
01/21/2008 (Changing times, Politics, The return of the commons)
More than 20 years ago Ronald Reagan shifted the dominant political discourse in America. Today it looks like it may be Obama’s time. His campaign for president continues on a visionary path. Odd it is to see a communitarian vision poised against the backdrop of the every capitalist for himself theater of the past 20 [...]
01/05/2008 (Changing times, Politics, The return of the commons)
After 20 years in the wilderness, political, that is, it’s good to have called an election, even if it’s only the Iowa Democratic caucuses. Obama won. Given the size of his victory and his flourishing rhetorical skills (see the video below) I predict victory for him in New Hampshire.
In regard to the title of this [...]
11/30/2007 (Changing times, The return of the commons)
Google is one of the forces shaping the world. [Something of an understatement.] Putting human faces to Google, in the simplest way, is to name founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (and CEO Eric Schmidt). This October at the Google Zeitgeist Conference, the two founders were interviewed by heavyweight journalist James Fallows. The YouTube video [...]
09/27/2007 (Changing times, The return of the commons)
Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr (aka “The Prince…) told members of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group that they must do much more about climate change. The report of his talk from the San Jose Mercury is reproduced below. Click here for the article at the Merc’s website.
VC John Doerr presses Silicon Valley to fight climate [...]
09/21/2007 (Changing times, The return of the commons)
The Times has killed the subscription based Times Select. It’s columnists and the last 20 years of its archives are now free. Given the Times’s cultural position, this is a mildly historical marker for both Internet journalism and the Creative Commons intellectual property movements.
For the Times’s announcement, click here.
For Dan Gilmor’s commentary on this [...]
08/22/2007 (Politics, The return of the commons)
The post at the link below gives the best succinct explanation of the relationship between lobbyists, politicians and legislative (and administrative) outcomes that I’ve seen. It’s by Larry Lessig of Creative Commons. One quote:
…if there were a way to fund campaigns that wouldn’t create the stain of corruption, we would still need (and want) [...]
06/23/2007 (Changing times, The return of the commons)
I’ve read a fair amount about this, but a good, brief (8 minutes) introduction can be had in the video below, “Prof. Lawrence Lessig Explains Creative Commons Licensing.” Lessig has been the leading speaker and one of the key inventors of the Creative Commons movement that is challenging the current copyright regime.
Don’t be put off [...]
04/19/2007 (Changing times, The return of the commons, Web 2.0)
That we as a society are now aware of our interconnectedness with the environment (the “tipping point” being Al Gore’s Oscar for “An Inconvenient Truth”) goes hand in hand with the rise of video. Young “boomers” raised on television began the environmental movement; “generation next” holds the promise of fulfilling it.
04/01/2007 (Changing times, The return of the commons, Web 2.0)
This is the first post in a new category, “the return of the commons.” What this phrase exactly is intended to mean, I am not yet sure. I use it to point to the global cultural transformation that started with the advent of electronic media (a tip of the cap to Marshall McLuhan) and has [...]