There’s no way to avoid the reality that strikes will make people upset, but maybe we can do more to avoid them altogether. That suggestion was made by Larry Cornies in great column in Saturday’s London Free Press, arguing we’re overdue to consider the damage caused by strikes and lockouts, time to think more imaginatively about [...]
Tagged as:
deception,
government,
labour,
london transit,
manipulation,
negotiation,
open government,
openness,
politics,
society change,
strikes,
transparency,
unions,
work
Late last night I had a serious lapse of faith in social media — as we all must from time to time. We should have serious doubts questions about this stuff… Which is why I chuckle whenever I read editorials merely pointing out “there are hazards” and digitization “isn’t all good” — as if any [...]
Tagged as:
change,
communication,
community,
criticism,
deliberation,
democracy,
epistemology,
openness,
philosophy,
pragmatism,
social media,
society,
technology,
transparency,
web,
will to believe,
william james
Few people would disagree that as more brands & memes vie for our attention, the simple act of communicating has become an accelerating arms race. We shouldn’t necessarily complain. Not more than a decade ago it would have been impossible for most of us to get any kind of public attention for our products or [...]
Tagged as:
attention,
cultural evolution,
development,
generativity,
history,
learning,
open/conceptual,
politics,
public relations,
public sphere,
social media,
web
I had a great time at last night’s GenNext launch at Museum London (#gennextuw). GenNext is a United Way initiative to get young people (20′s & 30′s) more engaged in philanthropy & volunteering. The speaker was Marc Kielburger, co-founder of Me to We, an impressively accomplished young guy who shared some of his experience working in a [...]
Tagged as:
apathy,
charity,
generations,
institutions,
mark kielberger,
non-profits,
philanthropy,
social change,
social engagement,
volunteering
Brogan says it’s ok to do these so, ok, here’s the best of my posts about London Ontario so far. I noticed when I started putting them together they sort of make a case… but you’ll have to create your own adventure! First, some background criticism on our mostly unconnected city: Should London Exist? Ontario [...]
Tagged as:
cities,
digital media,
london,
london ontario,
london's social media mafia,
open democracy,
podcamp london,
politics,
social media,
web
I wasn’t planning on writing much more about London for the time-being, but it just occurred to me that I should at least recognize the economic strategy recommendations made by the LEDC. I already bloviated on their recent summit — not once but twice – and I’ve written so much on the topic my silence would [...]
Tagged as:
government,
london
Just finished perusing Douglas Rushkoff’s Life Inc: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take it Back. Note the villain is “corporatism,” not simply corporations. Even corporations themselves are victimized; they get tilted into self-destructive acts by decision frameworks that benefit nobody — only roughly satisfying some people’s abstract sense that “the market [...]
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advertising,
capitalism,
consumerism,
corporatism,
culture,
douglas rushkoff,
industrialism,
life,
life inc,
marketing,
money,
society,
sustainability
I’ve been meaning to do one of these Open Yale Courses online for a while. I’d love to watch Robert Shiller’s course in financial markets (I think Shiller is great but I’m undecided how much I can really tolerate hearing about financial markets…) You can also view Paul Bloom’s introduction to psychology. I haven’t looked at many [...]
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ancient greece,
democracy,
greece,
history,
ideas,
learning,
philosophy
[Here's a bit I've got so far prefacing That Project Provisionally Called a Book.] Say Everything, Scott Rosenberg’s book about “how blogging began, where it’s going, and why it matters,” begins on the morning of September 11, 2001. Along with first-hand witnesses in Manhattan, many other people across the US gravitated online to share their thoughts [...]
Tagged as:
9/11,
blogging,
digital media,
social media,
writing
The book project has evolved from the “world-turned-upside-down” concept to a more general, but better-organized, case for blogging — by which I mean any kind of social, citizen-driven media. [Update: Seconds after publishing I realized what a profound understatement that is... I guess I'll just leave it to readers to figure out exactly what it's [...]
Tagged as:
autobibliography,
blogging,
book,
history,
personal,
writing
This is a more positive followup to yesterday’s post, trying to work out what the key idea or shared ethic might be for London’s economy. I’ve already expressed doubts about the “transporation hub” idea here and here. It isn’t a bad idea to beef up London’s transportation capacity as one specific part of a broader plan, but [...]
Tagged as:
capitalism,
cities,
constructive capitalism,
creative capitalism,
culture,
generativity,
humanism,
life,
livability,
new economy,
substance,
sustainability
This might seem like a joke or a bunch of rhetoric but it isn’t. Ok, maybe it’s somewhat extremely rhetorical — but no less serious: What exactly is supposed to come out of this economic summit on Thursday anyways? On Saturday I read a passing mention of it in the subhead to some comments by Chris Bentley, [...]
Tagged as:
discourse,
economic summit,
ledc,
london economic development corporation,
london ontario,
london's economy,
open democracy,
public sphere,
social media,
web
