person:michael albert

  • #Violence Begets Defeat or Too Much Pacifism ? by Michael Albert | ZNet Article
    http://zcommunications.org/violence-begets-defeat-or-too-much-pacifism-by-michael-albert

    What was wrong about the political folks who trashed in Seattle or in our hypothetical first case, above, or in some non violent Occupy events and engagements, was that (1) despite their other genuine and valuable contributions to the events, their judgment was horribly faulty. And (2) they egocentrically thought that their judgment alone was sufficient justification for them to dramatically violate norms accepted by hundreds, thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands of other demonstrators.

    Réflexion sur pacifisme/usage de la violence dans les mouvements sociaux.

    #non-violence #pacifisme

  • Media Vision and Program by Michael Albert | ZNet Article
    http://www.zcommunications.org/contents/181813

    This means good media must not be racist or sexist, which I think everyone here likely understands and tries hard to act on by ensuring that media not have racist and sexist divisions of labor, income differentials, and assumptions - but nor can good media be classist because, if it is, then it will not deal well with issues of class in society.

    But not being classist means good media can’t be profit seeking, as that would lead to it being unable to honestly address matters of private ownership and profit seeking.

    Not being classist means good media can’t sell advertising thereby biasing toward audiences with disposable income and away from content that will diminish attentiveness to ads, much less challenge commercialism.

    Not being classist means good media can’t be organized to empower and enrich a few who occupy elite slots, while disempowering and paying much less to those occupying subordinate slots. Any media that has that old corporate division of labor will not deal well with challenging that type arrangement, or even with noting its existence.

    Good media also cannot have top down decision making, whether by owners or by those who monopolize empowering work. If media has top down decision making, it will not do a good job with issues of power, and particularly self management.

    We don’t have good mainstream media, and we won’t until we have transformed all of society, but we can win changes that move mainstream media in a desirable direction consistent with our long run aims

    #médias

  • Fight Forward by Michael Albert | ZSpace
    http://www.zcommunications.org/fight-forward-by-michael-albert

    A debate over reducing government, cutting spending, or raising taxes has no self evidently positive aspect. More government, more spending, more taxes, all sound bad to working people. In fact, even with context added, most working people fear that larger government will be intrusive and negative. Greater spending will be boondoggles for the rich. And increased taxes will wind up coming from them. And this is indeed what would happen to such a program in the absence of powerful forces able to compel better results. But powerful forces means massive sustained public campaigns that know what they want. And demanding more government, more spending, and more taxes, won’t generate that campaign.

    So how about as a possible focus, having a public campaign for: More Jobs, Less Work, More Pay, More Training, and Less War. It would make sense here in the U.S., I think, but also elsewhere - Greece, Spain, and in fact, pretty much everywhere.

  • #Facebook is Diseased, #ZSocial as Medicine ? by Michael Albert | ZNet Article
    http://www.zcommunications.org/contents/180095

    Of course, not everyone is in position to try to build or even to advocate an alternative to Facebook for the left. But those who are in such a position ought to be doing so, it seems to me. So Z is trying to build “FaceLeft,” ZSocial, not to revere and celebrate Facebook.

    And as users rather than providers, shouldn’t we also be hoping FaceLeft like efforts succeed so that we leftists can use our own institutions for our internal discussions, debates, scheduling, and exploring, and use large commercial institutions only when doing so makes good sense, such as in reaching out to new audiences to bring them, in time, to our non corporate institutions and to reach them with our non corporate information, or such as finding old friends or keeping ties with those who won’t operate other than on Facebook. And even then, shouldn’t we do so only critically, with insight, and without adding to Facebook’s aura as a neutral or even beneficent abettor of justice?

  • #IOPS, une nouvelle organisation internationale pour une société « participaliste » - Humus numericus
    http://blog.nozav.org/post/2011/06/15/Traduction-de-la-d%C3%A9finition-de-l-IOPS

    Cette organisation, baptisée IOPS (International Organization for a Participatory Society) repose pour l’instant sur un texte descriptif initial qui essaie de définir les grandes lignes de ses objectifs et de son fonctionnement. Il s’appuie pour partie sur le concept d’« économie participaliste » élaboré par Michael Albert (pour une description française, voir l’ouvrage Après le capitalisme chez Agone) mais va bien au-delà. Ce texte n’est qu’une ébauche qui sera complétée, affinée, mise à jour au fur et à mesure du processus de création de la nouvelle organisation.

    Nous venons de terminer de traduire ce texte fondateur en français, il a été mis en ligne il y a peu sur la page d’accueil de Znet (menu de gauche, lien Aims - French). Vous trouverez le texte complet ci-dessous.

    #économie_participaliste

  • Z Blogs | #IOPS It Is
    http://www.zcommunications.org/contents/178677

    As per the organization poll promises, we have begun laying groundwork for a new International Organization based on national branches and local chapters.

    Suite à un sondage lancé sur le site Zcommunications, une nouvelle organisation est en train d’être mise en place, qui se veut internationale et tournant autour des idées de société et d’économie participalistes au sens de Michael Albert :

    http://atheles.org/agone/contrefeux/apreslecapitalisme/index.html

    Après le sondage visant à évaluer le soutien que pourrait avoir une telle initiative, des fonds ont été réunis pour mettre en place un système Web de discussion et de coordination, première étape pour la mise en place de l’organisation, baptisée pour le moment « IOPS ».