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Re: [News] [OT] A Capitalist Environment for Linux to Thrive in

__/ [ BearItAll ] on Monday 04 September 2006 10:42 \__

> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> 
>> __/ [ BearItAll ] on Monday 04 September 2006 09:17 \__
>> 
>>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>> 
>>>> __/ [ Handover Phist ] on Sunday 03 September 2006 17:09 \__
>>>> 
>>>>> Roy Schestowitz :
>>>>>> Other Economies are Possible!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Organizing toward an economy of cooperation and solidarity
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>>>>| Can thousands of diverse, locally-rooted, grassroots economic
>>>>>>| projects form the basis for a viable democratic alternative to
>>>>>>| capitalism? It might seem unlikely that a motley array of initiatives
>>>>>>| such as worker, consumer, and housing cooperatives, community
>>>>>>| currencies, urban gardens, fair trade organizations, intentional
>>>>>>| communities, and neighborhood self-help associations could hold a
>>>>>>| candle to the pervasive and seemingly all-powerful capitalist
>>>>>>| economy. These "islands of alternatives in a capitalist sea" are
>>>>>>| often small in scale, low in resources, and sparsely networked. They
>>>>>>| are rarely able to connect with each other, much less to link their
>>>>>>| work with larger, coherent structural visions of an alternative
>>>>>>| economy.
>>>>>> `----
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/0706emiller.html
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This article is from the July/August 2006 issue of Dollars & Sense
>>>>>> magazine.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I dont think we need an alternative to capitalism. I'm both a Linux
>>>>> user and a capitalist myself. When I create a system for someone using
>>>>> FOSS, I fully expect to get paid for my time and expertise. And paid
>>>>> well, thank you.
>>>>> 
>>>> But have a look at the article. It supports capitalism but objects to
>>>> things which we have come to know as, e.g. Walmart the benemoth. It
>>>> talks about working collabortively in smaller, distributed networks.
>>>> That's just the way Linux operates.
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> This seems to be one of those anti-success things. Walmart is big because
>>> it's successfull. People must like shopping there or they wouldn't have
>>> an income.
>> 
>> Ask an American why they like Walmart. There are several factors and among
>> them:
>> 
>> * Walmart saves legwork because it has everything (integration).
>> 
> 
> Just like Tescos then, I shop there because I don't like shopping, load the
> trolly with food, TVs, phones, insurance, get cash, pay TV licence... It's
> ages since I've been into my local town center and I don't miss it a bit.
> 
> I just wish Tescos would open a barber shop then I never have to visit
> another shop for anything, but I suspect that hair clippings and food
> doesn't really work in the same building.


*LMOA* I like that idea.

Bear in mind that a software company(/ies) is already attempting to take over
TV, media and hardware (e.g. XBox). But I won't be getting me (sic) haircut
from Microsoft any time soon. Don't trust 'em with a sharp pair of
scissors...


>> * Walmart is inexpensive (read: cheap, owing to repetition, reuse)
>> 
> 
> There are only so many eadible things in the world. Why pay more for a
> carrot when bacause of the size and profit of Tescos they can transport and
> package them better, or at least, insist on that from their supplier. So
> you get a cheaper carrot that isn't bruised or damaged. I'd say that was a
> good thing.


I am no exception. However, I am worried (explanation to follow).


>> Both advantages are obtained through size, which makes a cyclic trap.
> 
> Yes, the size and profit of the company make them better able to spend on
> service rather than simply stocking shelves with the typical and the
> ordinary.
> 
> I like the fact that I can go into a major super market and get normal
> daily food as well as the special and unusual.
> 
>> How,
>> for example, can small rivals gain acceptance? Investments are one
>> options, but it is rarely available to startups in technology, let alone
>> to non-profit-making 'crusades'.
> 
> The corner shops had many many years of domination. They could have
> improved service, they could have improved prices. But as with most other
> businesses, they wanted to squeeze every penny they could out of the
> shopper for as little effort in return as they could manage. They took
> advantage of  their possition in no different a way than the big
> supermarkets make use of theirs. Chatty Micky who ran your paper shop could
> put 5p on a pack of fags because he knew you would have to travel ten miles
> to the next corner shop, and busses don't run down there on a Sunday.
> 
> I wont morn the loss of the corner shop, I also don't mind at all that my
> shopping is dictated by the top three or four supermarkets. So long as I
> get the food that I want and the service is nice and quick.


These things get me worried sometimes. People concede windows for creativity
and self-expression. Society loses character in the same way that TV ruins a
social culture and inter-person engagements.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of exploitation in society as the middle class
vanishes. It leaves us, even as programmers or sysadmins, in the hands of
managers ('upper class'), whose company is so vast that it lacks personality
and rarely seeks advice or involvement from the people down below (even
folks like you and me). Look at the secrecy and scarace points of contacts
when it comes to Google and Microsoft, for example. They seem like
untouhcable giants on a throne. And, at the end of the day, that's just the
developed world, isolated from like 80% of the world's population.

It is no secret that less developed nations are becoming bitter and resort to
most miserable actions, out of desparation. I think that a tiered society of
peons and kings is a safe route to nuclear holocausts. For that, I adore
MIT's efforts to bridge the gap between "us" and "them", by bringing Open
technology with Open content. Openness harbours equality and introduces
opportunities.

Best wishes,

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz      |    Useless fact: sheep outnumber people in NZ
http://Schestowitz.com  |  GNU is Not UNIX  |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
roy      pts/4                         Mon Sep  4 09:16 - 09:17  (00:01)    
      http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine

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