Re: <nettime> A Movement Without Demands?

[Newmedia@aol.com]

Gregory:
 
> Tangentially, I am very interested in parallel systems. I think credit 
> unions, > for instance, can be parallel. Community sponsored 
> agriculture is parallel. Brian, it seems like the underlying  message 
> is, more than education, what we are really ripe for now is the 
> development of small scale but interconnected parallel projects. 
> alternative systems in every facet of our lives. 
 
That's exactly what is happening -- roughly 25% of the US population now  
has "one-foot" outside the "mainstream" economy and it is heading towards 50% 
 with *one-foot* out and 25% with BOTH feet out.
 
For some this will look like the 60's back-to-the-land sort of  
"communal-ism" but, as we all know, most people can't stand that sort of
"sharing" for long.
 
The must enduring version of that sort of "collectivism" is probably  
Mormon-derived POLYGAMY.  Even with the strong ideological/eschatological  
beliefs, few are really interested in that sort of living.
 
The "communal" unit throughout history is the FAMILY, which shares within  
but is still based on *private* property relative to the rest of the world.
 
This sort of SMALL is BEAUTIFUL social movement is already widespread and  
is significantly enhanced by the Internet -- as I suspect you have already  
detected in your students.
 
The historic movement that captured much of this was called DISTRIBUTISM  
and you might enjoy researching some more about its approach.
 
Mark Stahlman
Brooklyn NY


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