Multitude Project
= The scope of the Multitude Project is to drive the multitude social movement. In other words, we try to understand how the new technology is changing the power structure in modern societies
URL = https://sites.google.com/site/multitude2008/Home
Description
"The scope of the Multitude Project is to drive the Multitude movement. In other words, we try to understand how the new technology is changing the power structure in modern societies, we build a new vision for a brighter future, and we propose a path towards this future, whereby the potential introduced by the new technology is actualized to the advantage of the multitude.
We believe strongly in the power of the people. The society we live in belongs to us and must be shaped to include the needs of the great majority and to protect the rights of minorities. Change is clearly on the way, in the natural direction of the emancipation of masses, a trend which can be clearly recognized throughout history. Major institutions will be greatly transformed in the near future due to immense pressure mainly induced by rapid technological advancements. Our goal is to predict some of these changes and to inform both sides, the population as well as the ruling class of the potential dangers, hoping to channel the change into a peaceful incremental revolution.
Along with the aforementioned exploratory and speculative activities, we also propose new methods and tools, to help individuals and groups all around the world in their daily struggle against injustice and economical inequality." (http://multitudeproject.blogspot.com/)
Discussion
From the introduction to the Multitude Manifesto:
"The new technology operates very significant social transformations. Its most important effects are the empowerment of the individual and the coordination of masses. It enhances coherence throughout society in knowledge, intentions or goals and actions. It acts as a catalyst which sums forces from an arbitrarily large pool of independent actors, which can form ad hoc collaborative networks that can span the entire globe, being able to amass tremendous amounts of resources, and to carry out extremely complex actions. All this is possible with the help of new affordable and democratic tools for communication, collaboration, coordination and logistics. The new digital technology gives individuals the ability to coordinate their efforts in order to produce value and to exchange it freely among themselves, bypassing established monopolies. It naturally offers more potential to the many that are inclined to share, to collaborate and to experiment, to the detriment of the few still in power.
Multitude is a fast rising and global social movement. It is now a new philosophy, a new culture, a vibrant community, a large network of free peer-to-peer, one-to-many and many-to-many exchanges! As a social phenomena, it is the alignment of peoples' actions according to the belief that the new technology offers very individual powerful tools to build value and to create wealth, bypassing classical institutions of power, monopolistic institutions, pre-established channels. The Multitude movement builds new alternatives for production and distribution of value. It builds new institutions based on free communication, collaboration and coordination, based on openness and sharing, alongside classical hierarchical and monopolistic institutions. It dose NOT directly attack to destroy destroy classical institutions, it builds new ones to compete with them. In that sense, the Multitude movement is a constructive revolution.
A new economy is emerging. Our society is changing. We witness a crucial moment in human history, a step towards a greater democratization of the means of production, a broader redistribution of wealth and more freedom. Classical levers of control are visibly melting in the hands of the elite. A new social equilibrium is starting to take shape.
The Multitude movement clearly manifests itself by the widespread effort to develop various popular and democratic tools that enhance communication, collaboration and coordination, which allow peer-to-peer, one-to-many and many-to-many exchanges of all sorts. It is made evident by the widespread adoption of these tools and by the emergence of very creative and productive large-scale collaborative networks. Examples are: Wikipedia, GNU/Linux, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, Discovery and Innovation Networks, sustainable food production and distribution networks, solar energy, massive, global grassroots cultural and political movements...
This movement will rapidly shift the center of gravity in society from hierarchical institutions to decentralized networks, to the multitude. We can trace the Multitude movement to the beginning of our history. It's main drive is the will of every individual to be free, to decide for his own life, while living in peace with others. The Multitude movement is the endless struggle for freedom and self-determination. It is the perpetual conflict between the multitude and those who, through the means of their time, tried to manipulate the masses for their selfish interests. This conflict has taken many forms but one thing is clear, overall, no one can deny the global and historical pattern of progressive emancipation of the masses. Every time a new technology was introduced that empowered the people, unmistakably we seized the opportunity and we cleared another step towards freedom. This was the case with the printing press, the gunpowder, the thermo-mechanical engine and the electrical power, and today with the digital technology. The Multitude movement is a movement for freedom, but one that is based on the realization of a new potential introduced by a new technology. It is the most deterministic of all social movements, it is a constructive revolution, a natural readjustment of the entire society to a new spectra of possibilities introduced by a new technology and actualized by the masses, by the great majority. The determinism of this movement is insured statistically of the sheer mass of people naturally adopting the new tools that improve their lives and promise them more freedom and self-determination." (http://sites.google.com/site/multitude2008/Home/the-multitude-manifesto)