We are the system. We can change. Civic participation and co-creation on the rise.

WE ARE THE SYSTEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq0mRyq8wlE&app=desktop

Birgitta, a poetician and a pirate, shares her view on the future of democracy, in which the people are the motor of politics and progress, not institutions.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir is a poetician for the Pirate Party in the Icelandic parliament. She is a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper, and had the honor to guest edit the January edition 2015 of the New Internationalist titled Democracy in the Digital era. She firmly believes individuals can change the world.

SO THEN WHAT MUST WE DO - THE NEXT SYSTEM PROJECT with Gar Alperovitz

https://youtu.be/72VyldQcNgk

http://youtu.be/P1Ql87-Y620

Author and broadcaster Laura Flanders tackles the tough issues on this refreshingly invigorating news/talk show. In this week's program Flanders talks with Gar Alperovitz, professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland and author of numerous books, the most recent of which is "What then must we do - straight talk about the next American revolution", on the movement for a new economy. With the recurring crises, the notion that we need a different economic system is beginning to gain support outside the traditional left. Alperovitz discusses the current fight-back and preliminary moves toward a democratization of the ownership of capital. teleSUR http://multimedia.telesurtv.net/web/telesur/#!en/video/laura-flanders-show-295441

Money and the Crisis of Civilization (Charles Eisenstein)

Recommended reading on the nature of money and where a new beginning might be found

http://charleseisenstein.net/money-and-the-crisis-of-civilization/

http://charleseisenstein.net/money-a-new-beginning-part-1/

http://charleseisenstein.net/money-a-new-beginning-part-2/

https://fair.coop/faircoin/

Automation, the end of jobs and income

"Since 1982, all inhabitants of right-wing-leaning Alaska have received yearly dividends from the revenues of the oil and gas industry without any obligation whatsoever.

Around the globe, experiments are conducted with alternatives for the existing social security system that has become stuck. People no longer believe in centrally organised long-term planning: change can only be brought about by bottom-up small-scale social experiments. Advocates of redistributing our prosperity and disconnecting work and income are fighting for this. In many places and using many different methods they are experimenting with handing out free money.

Michael Bohmeyer, a young German, has started a crowdfunding campaign for an unconditional basic income. With every 12,000 euros raised, one person gets an income of 1000 euros per month for a year. So far, eight people have been receiving this basic income. There are no obligations other than to submit themselves to research into how this effects their lives. In New York, Michael meets venture investor Albert Wenger who has been thinking about basic income for years. With his company he invested in many internet companies and with these investments he has helped young internet geniuses get well-paid jobs. But Wenger also sees that digitalisation has caused many people to their jobs. Embracing the development toward a basic income, he argues a new perspective on work.

British economist Guy Standing may be one of the greatest advocates of a thorough renewal of the social system. He has conducted basic income experiments in India and Namibia. He sees a growing economic class of flex workers and independent contractors with so little perspective that something needs to be done in order to prevent extensive social unrest. Earlier this year, Guy Standing was in Groningen on invitation by people from MIES (Association for Innovation of Economy and Society). Here, he had a conversation with Matthias Gijsbertsen, the alderman of Social Affairs of the city of Groningen. The alderman was inspired by the idea of a basic income and suggested to offer citizens of Groningen who are on social security the opportunity to earn extra money without lowering social security payments."

DOCUMENTARY "MONEY FOR FREE" (2015)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hlxKZDzXhnM

US Independence Day & The Conflicted Human Condition

"In this video essay, Bill reflects on the origins and lessons of Independence Day. We should remember, he says, that behind this Fourth of July holiday are human beings, like Thomas Jefferson, who were as flawed and conflicted as they were inspired, who espoused great humanistic ideals while behaving with reprehensible racial discrimination. That conflict — between what we know and how we live — is still a struggle in contemporary politics and society."

Read the transcript and/or watch the video here:

http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-difficult-truths-behind-independence-day/

Hydrogen production breakthrough

Burning hydrogen in a fuel-cell vehicle, like the upcoming Toyota Mirai is clean, since the only emission is water, but the process to produce the fuel is not. The process to produce the hydrogen for these vehicles involves an energy-intensive process called “steam reforming” that uses methane gas from fossil sources. There is another way to produce hydrogen, by extracting it from water using electricity, but the process is currently deemed too expensive compared to the traditional methane extraction process.

A group of students at Stanford University have invented a new way to hydrolyze water using iron and nickel, which would make it cheaper and greener to produce hydrogen from water. “This is the first time anyone has used non-precious metal catalysts to split water at a voltage that low,” said Stanford scientist Hongjie Dai. “It’s quite remarkable, because normally you need expensive metals like platinum or iridium.”

The new, low-cost process operates at an 82 percent efficiency and could help hydrogen become a bigger rival to current battery systems. While the process will involve a lot more testing before it ever becomes available for commercial use, it highlights the possible ways that hydrogen could lead to a greener future.

Via CBC News