The open source philosophy has evolved from its roots in software into an enabler of resilient communities. Open Source Ecology (OSE) fuses capital and labor by using minimalist open source designs and scrap metal to implement a framework for relatively self-sustaining communities based on the construction set shown below.
OSE is emerging as a powerful trend as more people opt out of the corporatist economy by choice or through necessity tending to a way of life tending towards:
1.) Individual liberty
2.) Resource-based monetary system
3.) Decentralized autonomy
4.) Direct capitalism as opposed to state-managed Keynesian/Marxist/Neoliberal economies
5.) Local- and regional-level resilience
Watch this video for a 40-minute overview of the OSE Economy in the box and the concept of miniaturizing civilization.
In a practical application example of OSE, you'd build a tractor from scratch by downloading the modular, open source design, rather than use a credit line from a multi-national finance company to purchase a tracker with thousands of individually sourced and specialized components. Or how about a hole puncher?
Open Source Metal Hole Puncher - Prototype I from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
There’s of course a tension between the open source philosophy and capitalism, though I argue that most “capitalists” that are threatened by open source aren’t capitalists, but rather statists disguised as capitalists. Sharing for the common good seems to have some collectivist underpinnings, so let’s take a closer look. Is it really the small scale direct capitalist working in a true free market or the state-sponsored, multi-national monopolist who is threatened?
The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a lobby group broadly representing the RIAA, MPAA and others, has requested that the U.S. government put countries including Indonesia, Brazil and India on the “Special 301 watchlist.” Special 301 is a report that concerns the “adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights” around the globe. Being put on the associated watchlist effectively puts those countries on a shortlist of governments considered “enemies of capitalism” who aren’t doing enough to protect intellectual property abroad. The reason the IIPA is so concerned about the aforementioned countries? They apparently have the audacity to either use or advocate the use of open-source software either in government departments or in state-owned businesses.
So what would John Galt think of the free distribution of ideas? The notion that open source jives with direct capitalism requires that you not mistake money, defined as a store of wealth, as the only form wealth for exchange in a voluntary trade agreement. In open source, the consideration is that any derived works that are publicly distributed must also be made available under the same terms. Money may not be exchanged, but the creator may see that submitting a design is still within his own selfish interest to take advantage of future enhancements and so voluntarily enter an agreement that does not threaten his personal property or wealth. Under those terms, even Ayn Rand would be OK with it.
In any event, I’ll keep watching these OSE pioneers closely. They have a bold vision and are clearly rolling up their sleeves and getting to work building something new rather than wasting time poking jabs at a failed system.
