Radically Transparent
by Jason GodeskyDave Pollard is beginning a series with, “Open Source Business, pt. 1,” where he proposes how an OSB probably wouldn’t make its participants rich–but it could make them a living. Jeff Vail often discusses the idea of “open source warfare”–understandably, being an intelligence officer in the U.S.A.F. But he has also sounded the horn of rhizome and open source more generally. Pollard’s ideas dovetail very nicely with this, and speak to the heart of Daniel Quinn’s own plan of “occupational tribes.” Interestingly, Quinn made the same claim: that occupational tribes wouldn’t make a fortune, but they would make a living.
While I don’t hold out much hope for these kinds of developments to actually save the world, they’re very hopeful, nonetheless. I have argued in the past that open source should be seen as part of the New Tribal Revolution. I even made a presentation to that effect at the 2004 Spring IshCon conference in Richmond, IN. I have also lauded the application of open source principles to areas other than programming. That’s exactly what Jeff Vail has been doing with his ideas of rhizome, and now Dave Pollard is offering some great stuff applying to businesses.
The future primitive will not be quite like the past primitive, I think. I’m looking forward to the syncretism of our Afterculture. Considering those possibilities, what the human race will look like after the collapse, excites me and gives me hope. At the same time, it makes the collapse all the more necessary, as it seems unlikely that rhizome and hierarchy will ever be able to share the earth.
