Notices by neil 🍄 (neil@social.coop), page 29

First introduction to the Viable System Model: 'a general model that he believed balanced centralized and decentralized forms of control in organizations'.

I know nothing of the details, but the general overview sounds pretty good so far: 'It offered a balance between centralized and decentralized control that prevented both the tyranny of authoritarianism and the chaos of total freedom.'

A mixture of horizontal autonomy with channels for vertical communication and stabilisation.

@syndikalista @tbeckett @UnconventionalEmma

I think the call to stewardship ('looking after God's creation') has some appeal, Rowan Williams (former Archbishop) was at the start of recent XR stuff for example. Bit anthropocentric but perhaps it falls somewhere in between care (which is apparently too lefty) and dominion (which is apparently what appeals to the right).

@syndikalista @tbeckett @UnconventionalEmma Is that the Diggers maybe? I thought the Chartists were more about suffrage. (Could be either though, I need to learn more about both!)

@syndikalista Is that the Diggers maybe? I thought the Chartists were more about suffrage. (Could be either though, I need to learn more about both!)

I think the call to stewardship ('looking after God's creation') has some appeal, Rowan Williams (former Archbishop) was at the start of recent XR stuff for example. Bit anthropocentric but perhaps it falls somewhere in between care (which is apparently too lefty) and dominion (which is apparently what appeals to the right).

@UnconventionalEmma Ugh the suggested ways to have a broader appeal in that article are awful: "talking about saving the climate as obeying authority, preserving the purity of nature or defending your country". This is like dogwhistle language for fascists and nationalists. There's a grain of truth that a successful environmental movement needs to have a broader base than just XR. But the final paragraph about this coming from a positive radical flank effect makes more sense.

@rolledgoats I don't know but I now feel very sad at the number of times I've faffed around in phpmyadmin doing this sort of thing.

And you can also execute SQL in org babel and get the results back in your current buffer. This could be really really useful for those times when I have to hunt around in the DB to figure out some issue with the data, and I want to keep a journal of how I figured something out.

Oh heck. There is (obviously..) an interactive SQL mode in Emacs. Can't believe I didn't know about this until now and have been fluffing about with the basic mysql shell.

'Computers did not need to reinforce existing management hierarchies and procedures; instead, they could bring about structural transformation within a company and help it form new communications channels, generate and exchange information dynamically. .... [Beer's] focus was not on creating more advanced machines but rather on using existing technologies to develop more advanced systems of organisation.' -- Cybernetic Revolutionaries

I think this is a very good tech policy from Incarcerated Workers (h/t @clayton). Pragmatic but striving to improve. Any other examples of good tech policies?

'We must employ a divest/invest strategy to the technology we use if we are to combat surveillance capitalism and build radical infrastructure that reflects our vision of the world.'

https://incarceratedworkers.org/resources/iwoc-technology-policy

@mike_hales @Matt_Noyes @GuerillaOntologist Indeed! Although one thing I believe Hubzilla did well is 'nomadic identity', so I think you can easily switch to another instance should you ever want to.

@mike_hales @Matt_Noyes @GuerillaOntologist

If you want to avoid hosting setup, and also keep it in the Fediverse, you could try an account on a Hubzilla or Osada instance and try the Wiki feature? (e.g. see the features section here https://medium.com/we-distribute/the-do-everything-system-an-in-depth-review-of-hubzilla-3-0-692204177d4e )

Not sure about theming though. I've definitely seen themed Hubzilla channels, but I don't know how you do it.

The 'sensible course for the manager is not to try to change the system's internal behaviour... but to change its structure - so that its natural systemic behavior becomes different.'

Good advice, Stafford Beer, good advice...

The "sensible course for the manager is not to try to change the system's internal behaviour... but to change its structure - so that its natural systemic behavior becomes different."

Good advice, Stafford Beer, good advice...

@freakazoid Thanks for questioning that - realised I'd heard it and just accepted it. Prompted me to search out this - https://fullfact.org/news/does-government-subsidise-airlines-10-billion/

So... it's complicated. And it's better described as tax breaks (exemptions on VAT and fuel duty) than subsidy.

I feel like the lower carbon option should be made to be the more financially viable.

According to loco2.com I would be saving 145.8 kg of CO2 by taking the train over flying. Average CO2 per year of a Briton seems to be around 10000 kg. So around 1%? Hmm it's all back of the envelope calculations but was kind of hoping for more bang for my buck there. If only rail was subsidised like air travel is.

It costs about twice as much to get the train to Berlin as it does to fly. What is this nonsense.