Who would have thought that it would take all the way till 2020 for mutual-aid to be actually utilized on a large sale, despite that fact Peter Kropotkin came up with the concept over a century ago. But of course, mutual-aid as it’s currently utilized within the already existing social system. There’s also a lot of media spotlight on the “off the grid” lifestyle. Yes, this does rebuke the existing social system, but is is done so on an individual/family basis with no connection with others doing the same thing. Isn’t it about time we combine those ideas together? Instead of just getting “off” the grid and nothing else, why don’t we create our own grid to get “on”? That’s why I propose an RBE “grid” for people to get “on” to by initiating the RBE model on a microscopic/household level. As it grows, it can than be expanded to other households in the community within a mutual-aid framework.
I see no other way in getting an RBE implemented. This year is the 10th anniversary of when the 3rd film came out and not only has the technology described in the film not been utilized, the exact opposite has happened. Instead of the using 3D printing technology to build housing in abundance, the US has been in a housing/affordability crisis because the building of homes has far under-paced demand.
Obviously, there will be a lot of debate as to how this “grid” could get started up and how effective it could be. Sorry if I sound like a cynical bastard here, but I’d say this idea is a hell of a lot more constructive than having all of us vegetate on social media forever. Regardless, this idea still warrants discussion.
You do indeed sound a bit too cynical. Many of the things in Zeitgeist Moving Forward are becoming more of a reality. But I suppose this highly depends on where you live. In Amsterdam for example there are huge 3D printing projects. Recently a steel bridge was build by industrial 3D printers.
And then there are the many sustainable home projects, circular economy goals, renewable energie projects, self driving cars, more and more automation, etc. nl is even planning a central resource database to keep track of demand, waste and usage of resources.
It’s still not enough. And it’s a race against time (climate change/biodiversity loss). But there is some positive progress made here and there. It’s important to highlight that in combination with what still needs improvement. Otherwise people might give up.
I’ll admit it’s nice to know there are countries out there that abundance based technology like 3D printers is being utilized on an industrial scale. But that hasn’t happened in the US and we all have to admit that it never will happen on it’s own. Instead, the opposite has happened: the more technology advances to produce things in abundance for all, the more fake scarcity is enforced on us to inflate the cost of living to barely affordable levels. California is the worst example of this.
It’s the same thing with jobs as well. Instead of technology advancing to the increase technological unemployment, “bullshit jobs” are added to the system that are completely pointless and useless.
There’s no “conspiracy” for any of this to happen. It’s just the market-monetary system going through enormous lengths to preserve itself. There’s no need to conspire to suppress abundance giving technology when it can just plain not get utilized. Why suppress something when it can simply be ignored?