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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

⁂ Article

STAR WARS: THE SOFT EMPIRE

Let's try some metaphors DRAFT (was looking for a Star Wars meme but find them horribly right-wing, we have made a real mess,,,)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw4JGeUhvSw

Had to use an old video, kinda on subject to the metaphor

A long time ago, in a network not so far away… The internet was once alive with wild diversity. Countless small worlds of the #openweb - linked by fragile trust, shared roots, and messy, beautiful collaboration.

The #FOSS Federation of Commons was rising… […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

⁂ Article

STAR WARS: THE SOFT EMPIRE

Let's try some metaphors DRAFT (was looking for a Star Wars meme but find them horribly right-wing, we have made a real mess,,,)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw4JGeUhvSw

Had to use an old video, kinda on subject to the metaphor

A long time ago, in a network not so far away… The internet was once alive with wild diversity. Countless small worlds of the #openweb - linked by fragile trust, shared roots, and messy, beautiful collaboration.

The #FOSS Federation of Commons was rising… […]

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Kirjaudu sisään Facebookiin

Kirjaudu Facebookiin, niin voit alkaa jakaa ja jutella kavereillesi, perheenjäsenille ja tuntemillesi ihmisille.

AddToAny - Share

Share a URL to any service. AddToAny helps you share to Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, SMS, email and nearly any social media or cloud service. You can share an article, a photo, or a video to mobile messaging apps, social networks, and even to your own private storage.
  • YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

Imperialism - Wikipedia

Colonialism - Wikipedia

Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism - Wikipedia

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

⁂ Article

The algorithm is feeding us fascism – Time to step away

With the spreading of right-wing propaganda on the #dotcons what we're experiencing is a late-stage symptom of the #dotcons algorithm machine. Once it starts feeding this level of right-wing “recommended” propaganda, you can be certain that the average person has been saturated with it for years. That’s how we end up with the cultural rot and polarisation we see now.

The dynamic is simple:

Engagement is the only metric → anger and fear drive more engagement than trust or hope → […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

⁂ Article

The algorithm is feeding us fascism – Time to step away

With the spreading of right-wing propaganda on the #dotcons what we're experiencing is a late-stage symptom of the #dotcons algorithm machine. Once it starts feeding this level of right-wing “recommended” propaganda, you can be certain that the average person has been saturated with it for years. That’s how we end up with the cultural rot and polarisation we see now.

The dynamic is simple:

Engagement is the only metric → anger and fear drive more engagement than trust or hope → […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp last month

⁂ Article

Pushing the #deathcult: “Respect for the rule of law is a must for all EU funding”

The intended consequence of that EU budget framing is to sound like “law, rights, stability” - but the (un)intended (and very real) consequence is to strangle the roots of protest, dissent, and grassroots organising we need to move way from the current mess. Here’s why it’s a problem for protest, which is the foundation of any meaningful liberal democracy path:

Rule of law vs. rule of order: These budget “safeguards” don’t distinguish between authoritarian crackdowns and […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp last month

⁂ Article

Pushing the #deathcult: “Respect for the rule of law is a must for all EU funding”

The intended consequence of that EU budget framing is to sound like “law, rights, stability” - but the (un)intended (and very real) consequence is to strangle the roots of protest, dissent, and grassroots organising we need to move way from the current mess. Here’s why it’s a problem for protest, which is the foundation of any meaningful liberal democracy path:

Rule of law vs. rule of order: These budget “safeguards” don’t distinguish between authoritarian crackdowns and […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

Who are the #nastyfew?

They are the people who always rise to the top when #mainstreaming takes hold. You see them on TV, in parliament, running #NGOs, managing #dotcons tech projects.

On the surface, they don’t always look bad – in fact, they often present as competent, articulate, even charming. But scratch that surface and the pattern is clear: their drive is not shared flourishing, it’s possession and control.

This minority #nastyfew, from a historical view, today’s bourgeoisie. As Marx outlined […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

Who are the #nastyfew?

They are the people who always rise to the top when #mainstreaming takes hold. You see them on TV, in parliament, running #NGOs, managing #dotcons tech projects.

On the surface, they don’t always look bad – in fact, they often present as competent, articulate, even charming. But scratch that surface and the pattern is clear: their drive is not shared flourishing, it’s possession and control.

This minority #nastyfew, from a historical view, today’s bourgeoisie. As Marx outlined […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

Talking About the #geekproblem in Funding

Funding the #openweb is a political act, yet most funding decisions today are framed in technical terms only, dominated by what we call the #geekproblem – a worldview where infrastructure is king, user needs are secondary, and social context is largely ignored.

Let’s unpack this with real-world examples and look at how we keep falling into this trap, and what we could do to climb out. The call-out for funding is phrased in social language, to build privacy-preserving tools, improve the […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

Talking About the #geekproblem in Funding

Funding the #openweb is a political act, yet most funding decisions today are framed in technical terms only, dominated by what we call the #geekproblem – a worldview where infrastructure is king, user needs are secondary, and social context is largely ignored.

Let’s unpack this with real-world examples and look at how we keep falling into this trap, and what we could do to climb out. The call-out for funding is phrased in social language, to build privacy-preserving tools, improve the […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

If we close everything, we are left with the evil – A bad outcome

What should be open? What is okay to be closed?

Let’s begin from a traditional liberal framing: Most social interactions should be OPEN, some private or sensitive interactions may be CLOSED.

This isn’t radical. It’s been a functional principle across free societies. But in our current digital culture, this simple framing is often flipped or ignored. Many developers, activists, and even funders uncritically push for closure, often in the name of privacy, safety and control, without […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

If we close everything, we are left with the evil – A bad outcome

What should be open? What is okay to be closed?

Let’s begin from a traditional liberal framing: Most social interactions should be OPEN, some private or sensitive interactions may be CLOSED.

This isn’t radical. It’s been a functional principle across free societies. But in our current digital culture, this simple framing is often flipped or ignored. Many developers, activists, and even funders uncritically push for closure, often in the name of privacy, safety and control, without […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

Why most #geekproblem software fails: Trust vs. control

Almost all of our #geekproblem software fails because it’s built with a mindset of control.

Control over users.Control over systems.Control over outcomes.

But all good societies, and all durable communities, are based on trust. When we ignore this, we don’t just write bad code, we produce #techshit that nobody uses, that burns out developers, and that confuses users. Then we start over… and call it “innovation.” That’s #techchurn.Control-driven projects: Examples of […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

⁂ Article

Why most #geekproblem software fails: Trust vs. control

Almost all of our #geekproblem software fails because it’s built with a mindset of control.

Control over users.Control over systems.Control over outcomes.

But all good societies, and all durable communities, are based on trust. When we ignore this, we don’t just write bad code, we produce #techshit that nobody uses, that burns out developers, and that confuses users. Then we start over… and call it “innovation.” That’s #techchurn.Control-driven projects: Examples of […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 3 months ago

⁂ Article

Where’s the Resistance to Algorithmic Monopolies?

The big question need to be highlighted: where will pressure for meaningful regulation of #dotcons algorithmic monopolies actually come from?

Right now, it’s hard to see. Lawmakers generally have a poor grasp of the real problems, decades behind on both the tech and its corrosive social consequences. Most legislation we get is either pre-packaged by lobbyists from the #nastyfew controlled platforms causing the harm, or superficial and narrow, #fashionista focus on headline optics like […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 2 years ago

⁂ Article

The problem of fashionistas in activism

The hashtag #fashionistas” typically describes individuals or groups who adopt trends or ideologies in activism, for the sake of appearance or to align themselves with what is currently popular or socially acceptable. In the realm of activism, this phenomenon to often manifests in the behaviour of #NGOs and advocacy organizations who prioritize “chasing the buzzword” over meaningful action.

The problem with “fashionistas” in activism, particularly among NGOs, is the mess they push:

* […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 3 months ago

⁂ Article

Capitalism is a hostage situation -Not an economy

Our current #mainstreaming path of paywalls stacked on paywalls isn’t life, it’s a trap, we need a way out. In our everyday lives, we’ve come to accept the absurd:

You pay to eat food grown on land you don’t own,

Pay to sleep under a roof that someone profits from,

Pay to drink water privatized by corporations,

Pay to breathe, because the air is poisoned by industries that sell you both the problem and the solution.

And if you miss a payment? Game over. That’s not a […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 3 months ago

⁂ Article

Capitalism is a hostage situation -Not an economy

Our current #mainstreaming path of paywalls stacked on paywalls isn’t life, it’s a trap, we need a way out. In our everyday lives, we’ve come to accept the absurd:

You pay to eat food grown on land you don’t own,

Pay to sleep under a roof that someone profits from,

Pay to drink water privatized by corporations,

Pay to breathe, because the air is poisoned by industries that sell you both the problem and the solution.

And if you miss a payment? Game over. That’s not a […]

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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 3 months ago

⁂ Article

Where’s the Resistance to Algorithmic Monopolies?

The big question need to be highlighted: where will pressure for meaningful regulation of #dotcons algorithmic monopolies actually come from?

Right now, it’s hard to see. Lawmakers generally have a poor grasp of the real problems, decades behind on both the tech and its corrosive social consequences. Most legislation we get is either pre-packaged by lobbyists from the #nastyfew controlled platforms causing the harm, or superficial and narrow, #fashionista focus on headline optics like […]

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hamish campbell
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Hamish Campbell
@info@hamishcampbell.com  ·  activity timestamp 3 months ago

⁂ Article

The #mainstreaming is talking about the #deathcult – So why are you still waiting?

It took four decades of sleepwalking through #neoliberalism, cultural decay, ecological collapse, and social atomisation, but at last, the #mainstreaming is starting to talk about the #deathcult we’ve been worshipping.

Case in point: Steve Coogan – yes, Alan Partridge – is now publicly accusing Keir Starmer and Labour of “paving the way for Reform UK,” the rising hard-right threat. Here’s the article. It’s not satire, it’s despair. Coogan’s right, and a few years ago, such a comment from a mainstream celebrity would’ve seemed extreme. Today? It’s just stating the obvious.

The “centre” has collapsed. The “left” has hollowed itself out in fear. And the space where #lifecult politics might live is now overrun with fear, cynicism, and opportunism. This is the #deathcult in action, the system that tells you there is no alternative while everything burns down around you. For 40 years we’ve been taught to accept decay as progress, control as freedom, and despair as maturity.

But here’s the thing, we told you so, for people like me, and many others working on open networks, digital commons, grassroots media, and post-capitalist systems, this isn’t news. We’ve been working and talking about this for decades.

In the world I am in, we’ve already working on alternatives: Decentralised governance via the #OGB. Federated publishing through the #OMN. Ethical tech rooted in the #4opens. And a cultural path that doesn’t rely on selling your soul to #dotcons or begging #NGOs for scraps.

We weren’t trying to be ahead of the curve. We were trying to get people to notice the damn cliff. Now that we’re tumbling over it, suddenly everyone’s surprised. Now the #mainstreaming, which ridiculed or ignored these grassroots, native paths, is whispering our language, but still to often refuses to take the paths we are on.

O this continuing #blocking let’s be blunt: now is the time to stop being prats about this necessary change. No more waiting for the next electoral saviour. No more hiding behind polite inaction. No more pretending that rebranded centrism is going to save us from fascism, it won’t.

If you're reading this, you probably already know the centre won't hold. So what's stopping you?

We don’t need more think pieces, what we need is more people to get their hands dirty, pick up the tools we’ve been building, and start doing the real work. This means, in my area of tech activism:

  • Federating your networks.
  • Hosting your own content.
  • Engaging in horizontal governance.
  • Publishing with principles.
  • Building trust and commons, not brands and silos.

The good news? The framework paths exist, the seed communities exist, the infrastructure, with the #Fediverse is small but growing solid. What’s been lacking is you, your time, your courage, your refusal to keep being a prat, to beome brave anufe to take this diffrent path.

This Isn’t about nostalgia – It’s about now. We’re not dreaming of the past, we’re recovering futures that were lost when the #dotcons, the NGOs, and the #neoliberals buried the #opwnweb’s radical possibilities under a mountain of grift and branding. This isn’t utopianism. it’s simple pragmatism, resilience. It’s how we survive the rise of the new right without defaulting into the arms of the old centre – the ones who made this mess in the first place.

And for the record, if you need reminding: In this tech path, we don’t need another “platform.” We don’t need another fake “community” run by venture capital. We don’t need more loud voices doing nothing. What we need is to take paths back to rooted, open, and federated ways of working.

This is what the #OMN and #4opens have always been about. You can ignore it for another year or two, but you won’t outrun what’s coming, better to start planting now – it’s not too late to grow something real.

The time is now, if you’re waiting for permission, this is it. The people who once called us cranks are now writing op-eds about the collapse we have seen coming for years. The centre is falling, the right is mobilising, the old paths are dead ends.

The future will be built by those who show up now.

We need you, not in six months, not after the next election, now. Stop being a prat, pick up the tools to help build the next world – before the current one burns it all down.

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