hydrarchist writes

"Let's think about something else just for a little and not war, the propaganda, the pulverization of ethics, the despair..... Think of the new, the hopeful.... think about Free and Open Source Software and whether washing machines can be produced on a similar model, and whether it even matters."

The Two Economies

Graham Seaman

Or: Why the washing machine question is the wrong question

Introduction

Within capitalism, material goods are typically made:


o by people working for a wage


o for others who own the means of production


o in order to create profit


o by selling the product

The co-ordination between producers is indirect, through the market,
using money as a signalling mechanism.

Production of free software and other free goods can be contrasted
point by point with this list; non-material goods can be produced by
people:


o working because they chose to


o using their own means of production


o in order to create something useful or pleasurable


o which anyone can use

The co-ordination between producers is direct, mediated only by
technology.

jim writes:

"Bush's Dream, America's Nightmare"

Jamal Mecklai



Having lived in -- and loved -- America for fifteen years, I have often found myself a lonely apologist as people everywhere made fun of America's shallow culture and shockingly thin knowledge levels, and were angered by its arrogant (and often violent) posturing in world affairs. Of course, since America was the worlds biggest market, since it had the best universities and made the best movies, most of the criticism was easy to deflect, since everybody -- or almost everybody -- also had a vested interest in the American dream.



The Bush government's immoral and illegal assault on Iraq this week has tormented me, more even that the attack on the World Trade Centers, since it has compelled me to confront the fact that a country I love(d) could pillage and rape in this manner.