Category: 01 Poverty

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The Library of Utility

01 Agriculture, 01 Poverty, 02 Diplomacy, 02 Infectious Disease, 03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Education, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Energy, 07 Health, 08 Proliferation, 11 Society, 12 Water, Earth Intelligence, History, Threats, Uncategorized
Lucius

“I imagine a library atop a remote mountain that collects the essential information needed to re-learn practical knowledge essential to civilization. This depot, open to anyone who journeys there, is the cultural equivalent of the Svalbard seed bank, a vault on the Arctic Circle that holds frozen seeds of crop plants from around the world. The utilitarian documents in this vault would be the seeds of culture, able to sprout again if needed. It would be the Library of Utility, and it would serve as civilization’s backup.”

Kevin Kelly – Author of   What Technology Wants.

Read the article The Library of Utility on the Blog of the Long Now Foundation.

See Also:

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Civilization-Building

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Conscious, Evolutionary, Integral Activism & Goodness

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Indonesia’s Urban Open Farmville

01 Agriculture, 01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 04 Indonesia, 11 Society, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence
Lucius

Global News Blog

Indonesia's real-life Farmville

Rising food prices are galvanizing Jakarta's urban farming movement.

By Sara Schonhardt, Correspondent / April 22, 2011

Jakarta, Indonesia

• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

Jakarta’s urban gardening scene got started with a simple tweet: “Who wants to start urban farming?” After that first Twitter message in November 2010, the group known as Jakarta Berkebun secured a plot in the city’s north and harvested a crop of morning glories (a common ingredient in many dishes here).

Click on Image to Enlarge

Jakarta lacks green space, but unused land abounds. Jakarta Berkebun aims to transform empty lots that often fill with rubbish into training grounds for urban youths to learn about growing food. For Milly Ratudian, an architect who leads the group, urban farming is a a response to skyrocketing food prices despite the nation’s abundant fertile crop land.

Read full article….

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Reference: APJ Abdul Kalam–Pure Wisdom

01 Poverty, 03 Environmental Degradation, 03 India, 04 Education, 05 Energy, 08 Proliferation, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Articles & Chapters, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics
APJ Abdul Kalam

‘To create better world, it is necessary to alleviate poverty’

Chicago, Apr 24:

Former President, Mr A P J Abdul Kalam today said that to create a better world, it is necessary to alleviate poverty, safeguard drinking water, use clean energy and ensure quality education and values for all.

Mr Kalam, who was honoured at a public reception by the Indo-American Centre (IAC) here, said: “The world is integrally connected through the environment, economy, people and ideas.”

He said that we need an educational value system, and ideas and innovations should not be politically inclined.

On political unrest in the Middle East, Mr Kalam explained how the Egyptian revolution for a change to democracy has spread to the Arab world.

“We need to stop corruption,” he said.

Continue reading “Reference: APJ Abdul Kalam–Pure Wisdom”

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Arabian Revolt & Inequality in the USA

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Analysis, Communities of Practice, Corporations, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, InfoOps (IO), IO Sense-Making, Methods & Process, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Policy, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Reform, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Waste (materials, food, etc)
Chuck Spinney Recommends...

Below are two opinion pieces.

The first is “A revolution against neoliberalism” by Abu Atris, it appeared in Al Jazeera on 24 Feb. The second is “Of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1%” by Joseph Stiglitz.  One is about the Arab Revolt in Egypt and the other is about income inequality in the United States … they raise stunningly similar — and very disturbing — themes when compared to each other.  I urge readers to read each carefully and think about the likenesses and differences between them.

EXHIBIT A

A revolution against neoliberalism?

If rebellion results in a retrenchment of neoliberalism, millions will feel cheated.

‘Abu Atris,’ Aljazeera, 24 February 2011

EXHIBIT B

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%

Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.

By Joseph E. Stiglitz, Vanity Fair, May 2011


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Worth a Look: Homelessness + SMS/txt msg’ing

01 Poverty, Mobile, Technologies

Projects/attempts to get the public's attention to homelessness using text messaging

If you are in Denmark, you can follow the life of a homeless man called Allan via an SMS service. Guerilla Innovation reports.

Other projects involving cell phones, aiming to raise awareness on the plight of the homeless:

— Underheard in New York – Three interns of Bartle Bogle Hegarty in New York decided to pair mobile technology with social justice, as they gave four homeless men cellphones.

— Text a donation via homeless installation in Times Square – The one-day-only installation is part of a fundraising effort for Serving the UnderServed (SUS), an organization that provides housing and other services to the homeless and disabled.

— Video Installation Encourages Homeless Activism In New York City – A homeless man in a video projection asks pedestrians to use their cell phones to send a text message that will help the homeless man get shelter.

— Google offers phone numbers, voicemail to homeless – In 2008, Google made a donation of phone service to Project Homeless Connect, an effort dedicated to providing ordinary services to the very poor.

Comment: Another virtually invisible attempt in New York City is the text message service where sending “txtnyc” (space) “ss” to 368-638 will give you a menu to receive information on emergency services such as free meals, food pantries, shelter, hygiene services, etc for all NYC boroughs (“ss” stands for “street sheets“).  The idea being in conjunction with free phones from say Safelink Wireless (if this is even possible) or donated Tracfones.  Phones pre-installed with a directory of useful numbers to help those who are homeless to gradually climb out of extreme poverty is another idea.

Thanks to the Textually Twitter feed.

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TED video: Anil Gupta on Mapping the Creative Mind of India & the World at Grassroots (G2G)

01 Poverty, Collective Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Gift Intelligence, Peace Intelligence, Videos/Movies/Documentaries

(2009/2010) Anil Gupta is on the hunt for the developing world's unsung inventors — indigenous entrepreneurs whose ingenuity, hidden by poverty, could change many people's lives. He shows how the Honey Bee Network helps them build the connections they need — and gain the recognition they deserve.  See video here.

About Anil Gupta

Anil Gupta created the Honey Bee Network to support grassroots innovators who are rich in knowledge, but not in resources. Full bio and more links

Comment: Anil Gupta's “database” was mentioned in the book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.”
A few interesting pieces mentioned in the video:

  • “Freedom is to look in the mirror & learn.”
  • Curiosity, Creativity, Compassion, Collaboration (CCCC)
  • “Desperation made me an innovator,” and “Even love needs help from technology” (70 yr old man who invented an amphibious bicycle)
  • “With no one to fund my studies, I scaled new heights” (from a man who invented a coconut tree climber)
  • G2G model (Grassroots to Global)
  • Creativity counts, knowledge matters,  innovations transform, incentives inspire..and incentives are not just material, but non-material incentives.

Related:

Design for the Other 90% Exhibit + “Micro-Giving” Global Needs Index to Connect Rich to Poor/Fullfill Global-to-Local Requests