Debate

Awesome idealism or a naive rehashing of old power structures?

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Published on: 17 November 2011

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‘WE FIRST’: CAN WE REMAKE CAPITALISM?

I know, it all sounds a bit heavy. But what with all the Occupy stuff, this is a very interesting proposition.

We First is the new book by Aussie brand man (and, I’ve found out this week at the WOMMA Summit, thoroughly nice chap) Simon Mainwaring, in which he sets out a vision for sustainable capitalism through ‘contributory consumption.’ Whatever you think of the idea, the video is worth watching for the use of language alone. Tingly.

What do you think? Awesome idealism or a naive rehashing of old power structures? I err towards the former, but then I am a naive idealist and a sucker for wordplay to boot. I’ve just started the book so I’ll let you know how my opinion evolves. Share your thoughts…

 

Discuss

  • http://twitter.com/f_reddi Finn Reddig

    What do I think? I think it’s the only solution if we want the next generations to live in a liveable world. But I think the “We first” idea mainly concerns the societies of the developed countries. If your interested in the rest of the world as well, try “Common wealth” by Jeffrey Sachs and “Dead aid” by Dambisa Moyo. And let me know what you think about “We first”. I haven’t read it yet.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tpapadakis Theoharis Papadakis

    I love ‘saving capitalism from capitalists’ themes. ‘We’ as a powerful social subject, only arises with social media, but these billions of long-tail communicative acts in no way resemble a unified subject. The question is whether this fragmented ‘we’ subject will share the desire for ‘we’ qua environment-humanity and does not disintegrate into various ‘us-now’ micro subjets that only put forth their own short-term social agenda. In short social media gives power and assists in the formation of semi-autonomous, decentralised social subjects that go beyond the marketers inert target group, but the question of what they will do with it is by no means guaranteed by the medium itself.

  • Mikecornwell

    Like you, love most of the language on vid and the pace of it overall – just want to re-edit and reduce graphics fatigue and overkill. What’s the book like? M

    • http://www.mollyflatt.com Molly Flatt

      Yes, the video is a bit of a cliche in terms of web brain-fuckery. The book is inspiring and has some good concrete ideas but also some big holes. Reminds me a lot of Clay Shirky’s Cognitive Surplus on both counts.