8 May
2018
8 May
'18
4:14 p.m.
This is so awesome, Benny. I'll add it to the notes and see how we can incorporate
this idea/approach, and yes, maybe do so in a more concise way although the context was
helpful for me to understand what you were getting at.
May 8, 2018 2:39 PM, "Benny Lichtner" wrote:
I'm back in town, but unfortunately can't make the meeting this eve, which is
especially disappointing because it sounds especially awesome.
I added a few notes to the Draft Principles on the meeting minutes.
I also drafted an "Engage with history" principle. I didn't add it to the
minutes since it's pretty long, but I'll paste it below. Maybe a shorter version
would be appropriate? I wonder what people think.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
--Benny
----
* Engage with history
** Actively seek out the histories you depend on, are a part of, and contribute to. Some
histories will inspire pride, and others will try to invoke shame, guilt, and pain.
Consider these histories at personal, group, and institutional levels of abstraction.
** Personal
*** You have a unique history (maybe several) that determine who you are, what your
perspective is, what you care about, what your priorities are, etc. Rather than trying to
minimize, ignore, or elide the historical narratives you are a part of, feel empowered to
engage with those histories if you so choose.
*** In other words: you are not a replaceable tool suddenly birthed from the aether with
the sole purpose of building (in this case) a people’s open network (as many for-profit
institutions might have you believe, in the name of efficiency). You are a historical and
contemporary being, and you have influenced and been influenced by various social and
economic forces. Some of these forces can be usefully identified with common stereotypes
(like race, class, gender, etc.), and others cannot yet be identified, perhaps for lack of
language.
** Group
*** Just like you, the sudomesh group has a history and identity that has shaped its
artifacts and operations for several years. It has habits, likes and dislikes, modes of
working that come easy and others that come less easy. The history of the group is largely
the result of the past and present decisions made by its members and the communities with
which the group has worked.
** Institutional
*** Sudomesh/People’s Open Network engages with several institutions/technologies that
have extremely long and causally important histories. We meet in the Omni Commons, a
re-purposed building, on colonized land in Oakland, California. We organize ourselves to
connect and empower local communities with computer networking technology closely related
to the internet. We (historically) coordinate our efforts on a volunteer basis,
co-operatively and democratically.
On Fri, May 4, 2018 at 2:41 PM, wrote:
I forgot to mention that this Tuesday will be a special meeting!
We're going to talk about what principles and values we want to embody as a project.
The below are *draft principles* that I thought could be hacked on as a group:
* Collaboration over competition
** Be a team player. We're on the same team and want to achieve the same things.
* People/communities over technology
** Regarding how and what technologies we use, we should carefully weigh how its use
reflects our values as a community.
** Paying attention to the way people actually use technology is more important than
chasing cutting edge tools or methods.
* Experiment and iterate
** Improvise. Iterate. Ask questions. Give ourselves permission to not know and to make
mistakes. Find freedom in uncertainty.
If you have ideas on principles that we think are important for us to uphold, please add
them to the meeting minutes. I've added a few ideas, many of them lifted from other
principles such as the International Co-operative Alliance's 7 Principles for
Cooperatives.
If you would like to remotely join the discussion via Zoom, please let me know by Tuesday
morning and I'll set that up.
M
May 4, 2018 10:25 AM, mai(a)peoplesopen.net (mailto:mai@peoplesopen.net) wrote:
Hey there,
This is your weekly reminder to add any topics you'd like to be discussed at the
People's Open Network meeting on Tue 8 May 2018, 7:30 - 9:00 PM PT.
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