Peer Review An occasional journal from the p2p foundation The P2P Foundation studies the impact of Peer to Peer technology and thought on society. Blog:http://p2pfoundation.netWiki: http://bit.ly/p2pwiki Welcome to the Future, Welcome to Now... Emer ge nce of P2P Ci vi li za ti on an d Poli ti cal Economy By Michel Bauwens @mbauwens Our current politic al economy is based on a fundamental mistake. It is based on the assumption that natural resources are unlimited, and that it is an endless sink. This false assumption creates artificial scarcity for potentiall y abu ndant cu lt ural re so ur ces. This combi nation of quasi- abund ance and quasi-scarci ty destroys the biosphere and hampers the expansion of social innovation and a free culture. In a P2P-basedsociety, this situation is reversed: the limits of natural re sources are reco gniz ed , an d th e ab un da nc e of immate rial resour ces become s the core operating pri nciple . ... Tod ay, the Internet offe rs a remarkable socia l dy namic comp le te ly ba se d on vol unt ary pa rtic ipa tion in the cre ati on of common goo ds ma de un iv ersa ll y avai la bl e to all .... Peer pr od uc ti on, govern ance and pro pe rt y are more producti ve economically, politically, and in terms of distribution, tha n the ir gov ernmental and for -pr ofit counte rpa rts , because they filter out all the less productive forms of motivation and cooperation, and retain only passionate production and intrinsic motivation. The Peer to Peer Manifesto: The Emergence of the Peer to Peer Civilization and Political Economy: ONE: Our current world system is marked by a profoundly counterproductive logic of social organization: a. it is based on a false concept of abundance in the limited material world; it has created a system based on infinite growth, within the confines of finite resources. b. it is based on a false concept of scarcity in the infinite immaterial world; instead of allowing continuous experimental social innovation, it purposely erects legal and technical barriers to disallow free cooperation through copyright, patents, etc… TWO: Therefore, the number one priority for a sustainable civilization is overturning these principles into their opposite: a. we need to base our physical economy on a recognition of of natural resources being finite, and achieve a sustainable steady-state economy. b. we need to facilitate free and creative cooperation and lower the barriers to such exchange by reforming the copyright and other r estrictive regimes. THREE: Hierarchy, markets, and even democracy are means to allocate scarce resources through authority, pricing, and negotiation; they are not necessary in the realm of the creation and free exchange of immaterial value, which will be marked by bottom-up forms of peer governance. FOUR: Markets, as means to manage scarce physical resources, are but one of the means to achieve such allocation, and need to be divorced from the idea of capitalism, which is a system of infinite growth. FIVE + Read the rest of manifesto online at: http://bit.ly/p2pmanifesto
Peer Review An occasional journal from the p2p foundation
The P2P Foundation studies the
impact of Peer to Peer technologyand thought on society.
Blog: http://p2pfoundation.net
Wiki: http://bit.ly/p2pwiki
Welcome to the Future,Welcome to Now...Emergence of P2P Civilization and PoliticalEconomyBy Michel Bauwens @mbauwens
Our current political economy is based on a
fundamental mistake. It is based on the assumption thatnatural resources are unlimited, and that it is an endlesssink. This false assumption creates artificial scarcity for
potentially abundant cultural resources. This
combination of quasi-abundance and quasi-scarcitydestroys the biosphere and hampers the expansion of
social innovation and a free culture. In a P2P-based society, this situation is reversed: the limits of natural
resources are recognized, and the abundance of
immaterial resources becomes the core operatingprinciple. ... Today, the Internet offers a remarkable
social dynamic completely based on voluntaryparticipation in the creation of common goods made
universally available to all.... Peer production,
governance and property are more productiveeconomically, politically, and in terms of distribution,
than their governmental and for-profit counterparts,because they filter out all the less productive forms of
motivation and cooperation, and retain only passionate
production and intrinsic motivation.
The Peer to Peer Manifesto: The Emergence of the Peer to Peer Civilization and Political Economy:ONE: Our current world system is marked by a profoundly counterproductive logic of social organization:
a. it is based on a false concept of abundance in the limited material world; it has created a system based oninfinite growth, within the confines of finite resources.
b. it is based on a false concept of scarcity in the infinite immaterial world; instead of allowing continuousexperimental social innovation, it purposely erects legal and technical barriers to disallow free cooperation
through copyright, patents, etc…
TWO: Therefore, the number one priority for a sustainable civilization is overturning these principles into their
opposite:
a. we need to base our physical economy on a recognition of of natural resources being finite, and achieve asustainable steady-state economy.
b. we need to facilitate free and creative cooperation and lower the barriers to such exchange by reforming
the copyright and other restrictive regimes.
THREE: Hierarchy, markets, and even democracy are means to allocate scarce resources through authority,
pricing, and negotiation; they are not necessary in the realm of the creation and free exchange of immaterial value,which will be marked by bottom-up forms of peer governance.
FOUR: Markets, as means to manage scarce physical resources, are but one of the means to achieve such
allocation, and need to be divorced from the idea of capitalism, which is a system of infinite growth.
FIVE + Read the rest of manifesto online at: http://bit.ly/p2pmanifesto
Reading List... Here's a few recommendations for books to read to find out more about the ideas of p2p:
Viral Spiral: How the Commoners Built a Digital Republic of Their Own by David BollierDavid’s book is an indispensable recount of the re-emergence of the Commons as a theme, but also as amovement and its already concrete realisations. For our ‘book of the week’ treatment, we will choose
from the last concluding chapter, where David tries to tease out the political conclusions from hisinvestigations. One of those is that David sees the emergence of a new 'fourth type' of citizenship. A
longer description is here: http://bit.ly/5aWosh
Wiki Government. How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, andCitizens More Powerful by Beth NoveckBeth writes; “What does collaborative democracy look like in practice? Under a collaborative strategy,
the bureaucrat establishes the process, then frames and asks the questions that will get targetedinformation from bridge users (the truck driver, the commuter), from an engineer, and from the
informed enthusiast. The public can contribute evidence and data to help inform specific decisions,analyze data once gathered, and share in the work of editing, drafting, and implementing policies.”
Much more from the author here: http://bit.ly/5aWosh
How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Communityby Janelle Orsi & Emily DoskowThis is an extremely practical handbook for people who want to organize or join sharing networks intheir lives. This is how lawyer-authors Janelle Orsi and Emily Doskow explain their motivation: “Some
people worry that sharing will end in the loss of friendly relationships if something goes wrong. Webelieve that the process of working through the potential problems in advance, and communicating
openly about concerns when they arise, actually strengthens bonds between friends, neighbours, and
fellow sharers of all kinds.” See: http://bit.ly/645VFe
The End of Money and the Future of Civilization by Thomas GrecoThomas Greco, who came to visit the p2p foundation's Michel Bauwens twice in Thailand, has written
his fourth book, the culmination of a life of research dedicated to the nature of money, and how we can
achieve a fairer exchange system. To read an email interview with the author see: http://bit.ly/75cnuO
For more books see the p2p foundation bookshop at: http://bit.ly/p2pbooks
From the P2p Foundation Blog..http://p2pfoundation.net
A Collection of Citations on Open,
free, participatory, and commons-oriented learning approaches - http://
bit.ly/6OhCDu
The next finance: sociallyresponsible trading networks andtheir alternative trading systems -
http://bit.ly/6hELWa
Measuring p2p Networks (Hint; It’s
not easy!) - http://bit.ly/6PazGQ
IP counterproductive for science andinnovation - http://bit.ly/7euSqq
Other resources:P2P Foundation video archive:http://bit.ly/p2pvideoP2P Discussion Social Network:
http://p2pfoundation.ning.com
People are the cornerstone on p2p
ideas!
"You never change things by fightingthe existing reality. To change
something, build a new model that
makes the existing model obsolete" -Buckminster Fuller
Peer Review Issue 0.1 – Please copyand share!
Essay: The Political Economyof Peer Production
Not since Marx identified the
manufacturing plants of Manchester
as the blueprint for the new capitalistsociety has there been a deeper
transformation of the fundamentals
of our social life. As political,economic, and social systems
transform themselves into distributednetworks, a new human dynamic is
emerging: peer to peer (P2P). As P2Pgives rise to the emergence of a third
mode of production, a third mode of
governance, and a third mode ofproperty, it is poised to overhaul our
political economy in unprecedentedways. This essay aims to develop a
conceptual framework ('P2P theory')capable of explaining these newsocial processes....
