Subject: I need a little feedback From: "tractor" <donkey@apex.net> Organization: OzoneFarm Date: Mon, 30 Jul 01 03:20:32 Message-ID: <MOD$010729.32362@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
Hello.
I am new here, but I am keenly interested in your newsgroup and the topic.
Please bear with me while I introduce myself and state my purpose.
My chosen profession is to implement new ways of doing things especially
involving groups and individuals who are trying to define and live within
the socio-economic context of community. I trust that posting a message of
this sort here on rec.gardens.ecosystems is appropriate, and I wish to
capture your attention on what, to me, is a vital subject for all concerned
citizens, particularly those engaged in 'cyberspace' activities.
My usual residence within cyberspace revolves around community-minded forums
such as alt.community.intentional and http://www.planetdrum.org and those
types of endeavors. I use the term endeavor quite literally, because this
is a profession for me and I take it seriously.
My purpose is to promote dialog within the responsible element of cyberspace
and this group most certainly qualifies itself in that regard. It is rare
to find such a well organized and moderated group in the realm of cyberspace
and I must admit that I am relieved and encouraged to see this level of
structure and refined focus in a newsgroup.
Here is my Intent:
The Idea of Community and collaborative effort as I see it may well prove to
be the key to economic stability in the decade to come. Venues such as
organic gardening and sustainable agricultural models based in community and
directed toward ecological goals are the focal points of the 'community of
communities' that is forming within society as we speak. 'A community In
Cyberspace' is the title of an e-Book that I and a few colleagues are
creating. The e-Book is an attempt to accurately describe the aggregate
community that exists in various forms in the realm, or real dimension known
as cyberspace.
Newsgroups within Use Net, discussion forums, on-line symposiums, Web Rings
and other communicative forms are consistently and deliberately turning
toward a 'new' social paradigm. The thoughts being expressed are:
1) the need for intentional community
2) the practical application of sustainable technologies
3) an increased consciousness of social justice
4) the development of viable alternatives to current corporate structures
5) the concept of revolution as it relates to business and lifestyle
I was personally and deeply influenced by the writings of R. Buckminster
Fuller and E. F. Shumaker along with other figures in the latter part of the
last century. As a technologist, I've matured past the 'radical' stage and
I live a quiet family life now, thanks to time and circumstance. I am still
quite concerned for the state of economics and the abuses of commercial and
industrial forces at work in the world today. I find a few more people each
day who share these concerns and are actively pursuing the alternatives.
The profit motive seems to me a most destructive element to the Earth itself
and its inhabitants. A respect for the ecosystem and a paradigm of social
justice are key components in my mind of an educational aspect which needs
to be fostered. The use of the Internet for this purpose appears to be a
step in that direction. My efforts are currently aimed at connecting with
the service motive that is embodied within the collective mind and the
general conscience of the citizenry of the cyber-connected community.
The definition of community in general, the identification of collaboration
over the wires and the underlying intent of cyber connected workgroups are
the subjects of the e-book's Part I: An Existing Community. I have elected
to base a large portion of the book on actual statements made by the members
of actual communities and not my own conjecture or interpretation.
Part II of the book is Titled 'The Prime Directive'. What I hope to do is
to discover the true intent of community through active discussion and
public discourse. My charge is to faithfully and objectively distill this
documentation into a freely distributed guide for the conscientious
community at large. The work could become a resource for decision makers
and those who set public policy. Even if that lofty goal is not reached,
our collective efforts should at the least be an interesting vehicle for
dialog.
I will now mention that Part III is titled 'The Generic e-Community Model'
and is not quite so relevant here at least in its current form. As a system
analyst having a little experience with community-building, I recognize that
infrastructure is a crucial design element. The practical implementation of
resolution as a design choice requires extensive visualization. The Model
is meant to become an easily entreated presentation of the architecture of a
better system. The computer science community has supplied us with a visual
language call the Unified Modeling Language. It is this language that will
be used to depict the abstract constructs within the proposed Generic
e-Community Model.
What does any of this have to do with organic gardening? I'm not exactly
sure. My reasons for posting here are intuitive. I think that there are
people in this forum that subscribe to the philosophy that spawned the term
'ecosystem'. I have provided a context for intentional community and
infrastructural change that I hope is practical. I am extremely dependant
on the community of communities to express their needs to each other. My
wish is to be one of many objective agents of the process.
My vision is not original by any means nor will I lay personal claim to any
positive results coming from this effort. The electronic book which I have
merely started is designed to be a work-in-progress for at least a decade.
As a group dedicated to sustainable agrarian practices, other communities
are looking to you for answers and advise. I, for one, would like to know
more about soil chemistry, root structure, the process of organic
decomposition, compatibility of diverse crops, the nutrient requirements of
various plants, bioregional relationships between plants and animals,
organic pest control and on and on. I hope to include your knowledge base
as a key component in the model.
I am following the course materials and find them to be very enlightening.
The FAQ and the linked materials is a wonderful resource and an obvious
example of collaborative success. I will be directing others to your site
if that's OK and I would like to include referenced quotes if I may. I am a
firm believer in full acknowledgement and careful bibliographical reference.
I consider myself to be a responsible 'netizen' though at times I get a
little carried away (as is evidenced by the length of this post).
I invite you to participate in my (our) effort which finds expression at http://www.ozonefarm.org and I eagerly await your comments and suggestions
and would be happy to answer any questions you may have.