Chapter Thirteen - “Is Another Economy Possible: Green Jobs Fair Trade and Networks”

Here Judy challenges the idea that there is no alternative to capitalism. Now that both Communism and Capitalism have failed in many ways, she is wondering if by looking at some of the economic alternatives that have emerged globally and locally we can develop ideas of what a different kind of economy based on human need and environmental sustainability above profit would look like.

“Nevertheless, it seems to me that the basic value of Open Source is that the best code or programming comes from the free sharing of knowledge rather than the buying and selling of it. While I am aware that the people, mostly men, participating in the open source movement are not consciously anti-capitalist, the basic value of open source is social, not capitalist. Like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, for which thousands of volunteer researchers put untold hours into posting items, or the social-networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, or MySpace, in which millions put their energy into totally voluntary work, we see that the basic human motivator is not greed but rather social connection and sharing with others.

For me, this is incontrovertible evidence that if a sustainable economic system, based on human need, were organized in a democratic and mostly decentralized way, it could produce wealth, provide jobs, and share that wealth much more equitably.”

Related Links:

Relevant Blog Entries:
http://transformingpower.ca/en/category/book-chapters/chapter-thirteen

ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the People of Our America)
http://www.alternativabolivariana.org/

Brightnet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owner_free_filing_system, http://offsystem.sourceforge.net/

Chicago School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_(economics)

Endogenous Development
http://www.compasnet.org/

Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
http://www.ftaa-alca.org/

Green Jobs for All
http://www.greenforall.org/

Hirsch, Jesse
http://jessehirsh.com/

Jenkins, Glenn
http://www.marshfarmoutreach.org.uk/

Jones, Van
www.vanjones.net

Obama, Barack
www.barackobama.com

Open Source Movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org/

Petrini, Carlo
http://www.mindfully.org/Food/2003/Slow-Food-Carlo-Petrini26jul03.htm

Piratbyrån (Pirate’s Bay)
http://thepiratebay.org/

Ripper, Velcrow
http://fiercelove.wordpress.com/

Slow-Food Movement
http://www.slowfood.com/

Third Summit of Heads of State of South America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_South_American_Nations

Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_South_American_Nations

Wainwright, Hilary
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/

Wikinomics (Tapscott)
http://www.wikinomics.com/book/