We are coming into a interval of overlapping crises – #OMN (Open Media Network)

This mess is pushed by local weather breakdown, rising inequality, technological disruption, battle, political instability and the weakening of democratic establishments, these are now not separate issues, they reinforce one another. At the identical time, we’re seeing a suggestions loop of political actions constructed round concern, scapegoating, hierarchy and fantasies of escape. This creates a primary query we have to concentrate on – how will we construct the means to reside by means of these crises collectively, moderately than retreating into particular person survival, authoritarianism or delusions of technological escape?

One of the strongest #blocks operating by means of the present disaster is, what might name, exit tradition. You can see this within the rich #nastyfew who push the mess try to purchase their approach out by means of the nasty fantasy of personal safety, property and know-how. Some feed political actions that think about an escape into an ethnically or culturally purified nation, the laborious proper. Some non secular actions look in direction of one other imagined globe. Some know-how #geekproblem tradition imagines that humanity can escape its materials limits by means of AI, automation, area or digital transcendence.

The globe is damaged, so discover a approach out, a harmful silly social response to the systemic social and ecological disaster. But anyone with any sense can see there isn’t a #stupidindividualism exit from #climatechaos. There isn’t any technological #dotcons platform that enables us to flee social relationships. And there isn’t a bunker giant sufficient to guard a society from the results of destroying the residing methods it relies upon upon. What is required is we have to actively be composting this mainstreaming mess, the choice is to not escape, it’s to concentrate on turning into extra able to being right here.

Then on the left the is an identical fantasy, we romanticism collapse, however it’s not robotically progressive. It is simple to have a look at damaged establishments and assume that their collapse should create a chance for one thing higher. But collapse has no political course of its personal, possibly it could possibly produce mutual support, solidarity and new types of democratic group. More seemingly we get authoritarianism, scapegoating, violence and stronger hierarchies.

The consequence relies upon partly on what individuals and communities are able to do when disaster washes over them. If communities have networks (just like the #OMN), relationships, communication methods, sensible expertise and methods of creating selections collectively (just like the #OGB), disaster can turn out to be a chance to construct one thing new. If they don’t, persons are more likely to fall again on concern and whoever seems to supply easy solutions.

So preparation issues, however preparation is hopeless, if individuals don’t decide up the instruments or when it means turning into a person survivalist. We have to steadiness this commons sense urge, with working collectives to create social relationships and develop methods of taking care of one another. It is now 20 years previous time to maneuver for survivalism to #KISS mutual support, we’d like concentrate on how will we ensure individuals can take care of one another when issues turn out to be tough?

That means higher late than by no means to constructing relationships earlier than the disaster, figuring out who’s round us, figuring out learn how to talk, the place sources are, learn how to arrange. Knowing learn how to disagree with out destroying the group, learn how to make selections, share duty. This is grassroots working democratic resilience from the underside up.

We want grassroots repossess to authoritarian pushing insecurity – discover somebody responsible – the nation towards the foreigner – the bulk towards the minority – the “actual individuals” towards outsiders – the pure towards the contaminated. The laborious proper are pushing belonging by means of this kinda blaming exclusion.

We have to work to steadiness this mess, we’d like one other type of belonging, which means constructing coalitions able to holding distinction with out turning each disagreement into one other energy battle. We have to compost the false selection between native organizing and large-scale networks, we’d like the sturdy native relationships to supply the social basis of our change and problem.

But we additionally want #KISS know-how as instruments, #4opens circulation networks to permit these communities to alternate data, sources and expertise with out surrendering their autonomy. This is among the causes the #Fediverse and #ActivityPub are attention-grabbing. Federation provides us a technical path the place unbiased communities can stay unbiased whereas nonetheless speaking with one another.

This precept can prolong past the present #openweb reboot of the fedivers, copying #dotcons social media. We have to construct initiatives just like the #OMN based mostly on native relationships + open networks = distributed resilience. This is a way more attention-grabbing path than merely constructing one other or replenishing the traditional centralized platforms we at present reside inside. This transfer must be based mostly on know-how that helps social course of moderately than change it with blinded management.

We don’t want an ideal future, loads of political slim considering is trapped between two fantasies. One says, the present establishments will ultimately repair themselves. The different says, the entire thing has to break down earlier than we will construct one thing new. It is harmful to simply accept both of those paths blindly. What we do want is to develop, belief networks, sensible democratic experiments, its effective that none of those are good. They have to work higher than the present mess, to attach individuals and communities, to allow them to step from concern to cooperation.

The present laborious proper is nice at turning insecurity into concern, they feed from concern of migration, cultural change, technological change. Fear of financial collapse, shedding standing and concern of the long run. But the knee jerk reactions cant be to easily inform individuals to not be afraid as individuals have actual causes to really feel insecure. The higher balancing is to construct one thing that provides individuals one thing higher to fall again on than concern. That means changing concern → scapegoating → authoritarianism with disaster → cooperation → solidarity. Not in a utopian sense, however as sensible path.

On the native openweb path that is the query and the larger cause for constructing the #OMN. As we don’t know precisely what the following twenty or forty years will seem like, we do know that the present system is turning into more and more unstable. We know that #climatechaos is accelerating, that #dotcons know-how is concentrating energy. We know that authoritarian politics is rising. And we all know that merely defending the present constructions will not be sufficient.

So moderately than ready for the following disaster to inform us what to do, we begin constructing now. Practical grassroots paths, not as an escape route, one other #closedweb platform as smoke and mirrors for an additional hierarchy ready to take management. A community of individuals and communities that may talk, keep in mind, cooperate, arrange and govern themselves. That is the native #openweb path to compost this mess, that’s the sensible which means of the outdated slogan “one other globe is feasible”.

We don’t have to attend for an additional globe, we will begin constructing the means for it right here.

#OMN #openweb #4opens #Fediverse #ActivityPub #mutualaid #democracy #resilience #KISS