@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

Brendanjones

@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org

A good life for all within planetary boundaries.

PM/PO/UX-er. 🇳🇱 and 🇦🇺. Avid cyclist and frisbee player. Stubborn optimist.

Mainly here to talk about:
#Sustainability #SystemsThinking #PostGrowth #Degrowth #Climate #ClimateChange #Energy #Renewables #Ecology #EcologicalEconomics #UBS #Coops #Biodiversity #PlanetaryBoundaries #UX #UXDesign #PO #Netherlands #Utrecht

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

cheeaun, to design
@cheeaun@mastodon.social avatar

Had a quick thought, did a quick mock. Feels like using the word "address" seems better as it implies that there's a "place" where the account handle is located. Just like "email address", this could be "social address" maybe?

Side context: https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2024/02/mastodon-for-android-update/

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@partizan @cheeaun Noooo ‘Fediverse’ doesn’t mean anything to anyone who doesn’t already know what it is. Using ‘social address’ gives a clue to what this is.

linos, (edited ) to random German
@linos@graz.social avatar

When indicating on a website that you can follow via ActivityPub/the Fediverse, I think we should converge on a common icon.

Problem: Until the software evolves, people might use multiple fediverse platforms at the same time to cover all their needs, e.g. PeerTube and Mastodon.

Fediverse icon: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Fediverse_logo_proposal.svg

ActivityPub icon: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ActivityPub-logo-symbol.svg

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@linos @fediversereport This does not sound like a good idea to me unless you can have a common identity across the whole Fediverse, and that is not currently the case.

So if I had separate accounts for Peertube and Mastodon you’d use the same icon for both links? I don’t understand why you’d want that.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@hisham_hm @rscottjones @linos @fediversereport What Hisham said. The point is to tell someone, if they click the link, what platform the account they will be following is on.

Take your idea to the extreme - imagine every social platform is federated. Then every single platform will have the same icon. What would even be the point of having icons?

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@hisham_hm @rscottjones @linos @fediversereport Now, I can imagine a compromise might be useful: put a little fediverse badge on the icons of platforms that are federated.

Then people know which platforms are federated and which aren’t, which will become more and more useful as more platforms join the fediverse and nobody can remember which are federated and which aren’t.

That has the benefit of ‘advertising’ federation.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@rscottjones @hisham_hm @linos @fediversereport

Okay, I thought about this some more, here's what I'd expect:

Follow this feed/account from [any federated platform]: Fediverse icon.
Follow me on [platform]: platform icon (with federated badge).
Share to [platform]: platform icon.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@rscottjones @hisham_hm @linos @fediversereport good point. The situations are not quite the same, however, at least for sms and email.

No matter what client you use, sms and email are basically the same. But not all fediverse platforms support all types of content, and some support and display some content better than others (eg viewing images on MAstodon vs Pixelfed).

So yes, technically you can follow federated content from anywhere, but in reality, for best results you might not want to.

Brendanjones, to nuclear
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

"Australia’s biggest smelter to launch massive wind and solar tender, says nuclear too costly"

When Rio Tinto are going all-in on renewables and saying nuclear is too expensive, are people still going to keep saying that we need nuclear?

https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-biggest-smelter-to-launch-massive-wind-and-solar-tender-says-nuclear-too-costly/

Brendanjones, to random
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

Wowsers. @terzibus here basically saying 'there's a problem but it's politically hard to fix so we won't fix it' is certainly an ... er ... interesting dismissal.

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/degrowth-movement-is-politically-impractical-by-alessio-terzi-2024-03

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

Huh, this guy syndicates (pun on his website name very much intended). This article has been republished in at least 8 publications that I can find:

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@deshipu @terzibus it really is tiresome, isn't it?

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@noam @deshipu Yes, absolutely. But to throw out the entirety of degrowth just because solutions to it are hard is ridiculous, it's putting your head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away.

I suspect the author has a superficial understanding of the process side of degrowth without actually understanding the critique side of it. What I mean by the process and critique parts of it: https://fosstodon.org/@Brendanjones/112087277455885780

Brendanjones, (edited ) to random
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

Turns out the only thing that certain Marxists hate more than is the idea that Marx was the original degrowther.

Jacobin publishing degrowth hit pieces is nothing new, but Kohei Sotei's vision of degrowth communism obviously riles them up so much that Leigh Philips and Matt Huber felt the need to get together and co-author an article.

The hate is palpable, and amusing: https://jacobin.com/2024/03/kohei-saito-degrowth-communism-environment-marxism

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

The history of Jacobin's degrowth-bashing: https://fosstodon.org/@Brendanjones/112015701817614974

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

For the record, I couldn't give two figs if Marx was pro-degrowth or not. It has zero bearing on how we approach today's environmental, political and social problems.

I just find a certain schadenfreude in anti-degrowth Marxists having their idol adopted as the patron saint of the thing they hate. Thanks for the entertainment, Saito.

Ivor, to random
@Ivor@mstdn.social avatar

I want to find out more about degrowth and how it applies to ordinary people, so looking to follow people who have some knowledge of the subject.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@Ivor Have you gone down the posts on the hashtag feed? Lots of good people posting in there. You’ll find a bunch more in my follows, as well, if you’re prepared to wade through the list.

Adam_Cadmon1, to random
@Adam_Cadmon1@mastodon.online avatar

Everything is becoming subscription based and it's really grinding my gears. You can't pay for something just once anymore; you have to pay for it over and over again.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jik @Adam_Cadmon1 Oh man, I have this with my Philips shaver. The plastic guard heads have a little piece that breaks off, meaning they no longer grip onto the blade. You can buy replacements, but I think they’re €15 for the set. They can’t cost Philips more than 50c to make, they’re each a single piece of plastic. Absolute price gouging.

I found 3D printer designs for the plastic pieces, but I need to find a 3D printer …

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@Adam_Cadmon1 @jik Hmm. I suspect economy of scale says that it's less environmentally damaging to create plastic parts in bulk.

But I'd sure like to see laws that part schematics must be open-sourced so that they can be printed at home or at least at the local, community-run print shop.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou Can you expand on number 3? Distributing resources and/or capital for investment is the part of economic democracy for which I've never quite seen a good solution.

I've read Schweickart, Dahl, Olin Wright and Hahnel and none of their proposed systems are that great IMHO.

@memes

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou
A different thread: why only worker co-ops, and not also other sorts of co-ops?

I do wonder if, in order to encourage innovation, it's a good idea to allow non-coops in limited forms.

For example (and feel free to adjust these numbers), you can start a business and employ people but as soon as you pass €1 million revenue or 5 employees (whichever is first) then it has to become a co-op.

The existence of UBI, UBS and an economy that's majority co-ops should limit exploitation.

@memes

Brendanjones, (edited ) to books
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

I've been meaning to read Tim Jackson's books for many years but never got around to it.

Does anybody have opinions on which to read, if I were to choose just one?

The choice is between Prosperity Without Growth (2009) and Post Growth: Life After Capitalism (2021).

I am well read on and in general so don't need an intro. I'm more interested in visions of post growth systems than critique of growth.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou Do you mean Jackson’s works or everything else I’ve read? I haven’t read Jackson’s books yet so can’t talk about him, but I suspect not. Much like the other works I’ve read they’re probably talking about reducing environmental pressures in the aggregate. Some degrowth books definitely give specific examples of reducing, for example, deforestation, which in turn means more habitat for wild animals. So in that way yes, it’s discussed.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou Environmental pressure is the core philosophical concern of , along with human wellbeing.

So, degrowth is both a critique and a process.

The critique is of economies that cause and are dependent on continuous (GDP) growth (eg capitalism), and the fact that growth requires resources and energy, the extraction, processing, use and waste of which is tightly linked to environmental pressure. (1/2)

jlou, to Economics

Property and Contract in : The Case for Economic Democracy by David Ellerman

This book makes 2 arguments.

  1. The employment contract is the core of the rather than private property
  2. The employment contract is invalid because it violates to in the firm. All firms should be structured as worker for economic justice

https://www.ellerman.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Ellerman-Property-and-Contract-Book.pdf

@bookstodon

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou Don't think I agree with employment being the core identifier of capitalism. I mean, it's in the name - capitalism. Removing the labour contract disrupts private control of capital, but that doesn't mean employment is central. Tightly linked, yes, but not central.

That said, I'm not sure the direction of the relationship between employment and capital matters so much, because we're arriving at the same conclusion - private capital has to be disrupted.

@Radical_EgoCom

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou I'd never heard of Ellerman until today. Righto, another Economic Democracy thesis to wade into! Very curious how he approaches allocation of investment between firms.

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou Do you know the name of the other book?

Brendanjones,
@Brendanjones@fosstodon.org avatar

@jlou Okay that’s interesting, because that’s really not a Marxist approach to ED given extractive profit is possible.

The reason I’m wary of it (and we’re getting into degrowth here) is that it’s a growth dependent function - the company is required to grow to provide shareholder returns and/or to pay off any interest on a loan.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • rosin
  • thenastyranch
  • mdbf
  • DreamBathrooms
  • everett
  • magazineikmin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • Youngstown
  • cisconetworking
  • ethstaker
  • slotface
  • ngwrru68w68
  • kavyap
  • provamag3
  • cubers
  • InstantRegret
  • Durango
  • osvaldo12
  • modclub
  • tester
  • Leos
  • khanakhh
  • normalnudes
  • tacticalgear
  • megavids
  • anitta
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •