Month: February 2017

  • When Platform Coops are Seen, What Goes Unseen?

    If you’re involved with the “cooperative community” on social media, you’ve probably heard a lot about platform cooperatives in recent years. The vision is simple: what if Uber or AirBnb were owned by its users, who could share decision-making responsibility and profits among themselves? Instead of being exploited by platforms, users could and should be…

  • What is “Municipalism”?

    What is “Municipalism”?

    Originally posted at municipalist.org The definition of “municipalism” is still up for grabs. If you Google the word you’ll be given a snippet from Wikipedia about “libertarian municipalism”,  a compelling but very specific utopian political philosophy of Murray Bookchin. Surely “municipalism” can and should mean something more. Over the last fifty years, the percentage of people around the globe living in urban areas has…

  • Cryptocurrency Can Shift the Balance of Power Between Cities, States and Nations

    Cryptocurrency Can Shift the Balance of Power Between Cities, States and Nations

    Originally posted at municipalist.org One of the most powerful tools of a modern nation is its central bank’s ability to create money “out of thin air.” Nations can use this new money to purchase their own nation’s debt in the form of treasury bills, bonds and notes, allowing it to spend more than it earns in taxes and other…

  • Cities Can Prepare for Trump by Establishing Digital Service Organizations and Mobilizing Civic Tech Communities

    Cities Can Prepare for Trump by Establishing Digital Service Organizations and Mobilizing Civic Tech Communities

    Originally posted at municipalist.org Within a few weeks of Trump’s victory, mayors of big “sanctuary cities” throughout America, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles declared that they wouldn’t collaborate with a Trump administration order to deport peaceful, law-abiding resident. Trump is now threatening that he will deny these cities federal funding unless they comply. The amount…