(2008-11-06) Rushkoff Renaissance Open Democracy

Douglas Rushkoff gave a talk on Open Source Democracy as the new Renaissance - similar to 2008-07-15-RushkoffPersonalDemocracyNextRenaissance.

• still rewriting Corporatism (done last year, keeps obsoleting) - this became LifeInc

• 1st book Cyberia cancelled bc publisher thought Internet would be passe in a year

• Internet has just been a tool for business creation and growth

• does today (11/05/2008) change anything?

  • Generation X arrival

    • Barack Obama our first president

    • Matt Groenig, Ren And Stimpy, etc.

    • had bad rep but was actually more engaged than previous

    • just rejected BoBo legacy, and Advertising stimulus

    • Advertising just skipped them and went on to Generation Y

    • Generation X hero: Kurt Cobain

      • tried to make popular music but without being pop star

      • failed: got made into star by his label

    • Doug sad/glad not to be Malcolm Gladwell

  • media breakthroughs

    • beware Technological Determinism

    • but new media can be strong Metaphor for concurrent Culture change

  • Credit Crisis 2008 is just other-shoe of DotCom Bubble Burst

    • too much capital, not enough to do with it(?)

    • we're not comfortable letting Econom Ic value get created at the edge

    • established business: Economics Of Scarcity

    • Internet: Economics Of Abundance

      • this is more natural, but we haven't done it for 400yrs

• last 400 years

  • Renaissance

    • we think of it as saving us from Dark Ages

    • really just a deal

      • dying Aristocra Cy

      • growing/enriching MerchantClass/Bourgeois

      • both afraid of new entrants

      • solution: Chartered Corporation

        • granted Monopoly

    • late Middle Ages was good time

      • women in England tallest until 1970s

      • Life Expectancy still bad because of disease

      • small towns had wealth

        • built cathedrals with their own funding

        • they had local Currency

          • backed by agriculture output

          • lost value over time: inventory cost, wastage, etc

            • therefore high velocity

            • excess went into cathedrals as Tourism attraction

    • long-distance Currency needed by corporations for international trade

      • kings made local currency illegal

    • American Revolution really driven by trade rules

      • we weren't allowed to make clothes with the cotton we grew

• end-days (Collapse) of Hyper Capitalism

  • more Money driven by investment/speculation than real business

    • hmm GDP stats?

  • DotCom was really companies created as investment targets

  • PayPal was going to be free

    • blocked by ____?

  • ran out of people to loan money to

    • George W Bush Ownership Society

    • end of Glass Steagall

    • kill consumer Bankruptcy protection

      • corporations still have it

• Barack Obama

  • campaign very decentralized

  • what about his governing?

    • impossible

      • see June Rushkoff article Beyond Brand Obama

      • central government can't/shouldn't do that

    • but we can do that

      • Obama needs to kill the regulations that make roadblocks

      • we need to find needs to take care of

        • Real World direct Collective Action: not websites where people can take care of needs

        • ComfortDollars LETS link

          • organic restaurant raising money for new location

            • give him $100, get $120 ComfortDollars to spend in restaurant

          • Hastings On Hudson

        • Japan ElderCareDollars