Coincidentally, the New Media department at the University of Maine has been planning to make our lessons more accessible, by adapting some of our courses to a just-in-time knowledge model and putting it all online for free. We’ve been talking about implementing a recommendation interface like The Pool as well.

More about that in the future NMDnet post!

Are you kidding me? I’ve been trying to get a decent job since graduation. Problem: there are none, especially if you are a recent grad without experience. This is the worst economy to graduate into. In fact I know people who are going back to school because they can’t repay their loans or get a job. We are all VERY interested in working. I’ve been rejected for waitressing jobs! I’ve applied to over 200 jobs and counting. I hate being at home. But you know what makes it worse? When people judge me and tell me I’m “uninterested” in working.

Thanks for the energizing feedback from Oakland. It’s inspiring to see the many New Media strategies appear in these new governance models–the many-to-many paradigm, the frustration with hierarchies and their enforcements.

The consensus model has many ancestors, from Quaker meetings, to family meetings, to the Transition Town uses of Open Space (itself indebted to programmers “open source” models of collaboration and trust building), to the consensus governance of many cohousing and ecovillages project, like the one Jon & I belong to that he mentioned above. What has impressed me most about our model is what we do when we disagree.

We have provisions for “standing aside” which means we disagree personally but see some value for the community in the action proposed, so we defer to the community; or there’s a rarely used “block” which means that we disagree personally and on behalf of the community. That means we feel so strongly that unless the community can convince us otherwise, the proposal may be delayed or withdrawn. We do this not to put forth our own agenda but to warn the community when it is taking an action that we feel is so problematic that we take responsibility for preventing the group from moving forward. There are ways to get around a block, but if a respected community member blocks, it’s a good idea to pay attention. In this model the process of developing consensus–so that everyone feels heard, feels committed and feels a part of the vision emerging–is what develops a strong community. The need to communicate with each other helps a stronger vision, and a deeper wisdom emerge. Because well organized groups are smarter than individuals.

Democracy is a living process and must be continually generated and developed, so it’s a privilege to be part of this energy. Thanks for keeping us in the loop about your activity–it energizes all of us!

For more info on these resources.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/occupywallstreet
http://mainecohousing.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux_LFjFeCvg
http://transitionculture.org/2007/01/16/10-first-steps-for-a-transition-town-initiative-5-use-open-space/
http://transitionus.org/
http://transitionus.org/stories/occupy-and-transition-resources-creating-lasting-change

My understanding is that the GA process adapted from OWS in New York City, drew inspiration from the organizers behind the Egyptian and Tunisian movements, who trained with the Bosnian non-violent youth movement that brought down Milosovich. And the Bosnians learned their methods from…? (help me here!) Let direct democracy go viral.

Thanks,

- Betsy Morris
cohost East Bay Cohousing
resident Berkeley Cohousing

I’ve been living in Oakland for a little over a year now. It was kind of funny, there was not much support for the occupy movement in Oakland (myself included) until the police raided the camp on October 25th., They shot flash bangs and tear gas in to crowds putting an Iraq veteran in the hospital in critical condition.

http://www.baycitizen.org/occupy-movement/story/iraq-vet-critically-wounded-occupy/

It was after this that the group grew from a few hundred camping out, to a couple thousand meeting every night. The general assembly, which I think was started with the occupy campers, really gained support after the raids and started to gain some numbers on the 26th.

One of the first proposals passed by the GA is for a general strike of the city, that is going to take place Wednesday. Already the SEIU (largest union in Oakland representing 50,000 workers), Oakland Education Association, Oakland’s Carpenters Local Union have all endorsed the strike.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/30/1031673/-BREAKING:-Largest-Union-in-Oakland-(SEIU)-Reportedly-Joining-OccupyOaklands-General-Strike-on-11-2

So far I’m surprised by the the General Assembly, and its cohesiveness, especially in such a diverse city. I’m also surprised at the amount of support from unions the strike is gaining. There are plans for a group to gather Wednesday and march on banks and the port of Oakland (which is one of the larger shipping ports on the West Coast.) Hopefully everything goes peacefully.

Are you out in Oakland? That photo is pretty amazing.

I’m struck by how similar the consensus process of #occupyOakland you describe is to the Book of Commons for Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage, an owner-developed, owner-financed sustainable housing development Still Water is partnering with, and whose prototype was just named LEED Project of the Year.

It has taken the founding families of Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage four years to get their finances in order and actually break ground (just this month!). Maybe that’s because the cohousers are putting their financial well being on the line…but it’s still impressive how quickly the Occupy movement has developed a governance infrastructure.

I’ve noticed that successful many-to-many communities run really tight meetings. I wish I could say the same for traditional hierarchic organizations!

I genuinely loved this brilliant article. Please continue this awesome work.