True Fans

Introduction

True Fans are supporters of the 1000 True Fans - 1000 Global Villages campaign . Here you can read why people have joined the campaign, as a motivation for you to join if you're not already signed up.

True Fans

David Crary, Seattle, USA I have been really searching to find people out there who are actually experimenting with new forms of social organization where it is possible to create advanced culture - that is thriving in abundance and largely autonomous, creating a model for everyone...so kudos to you guys. Keep up the great work!

David Crary, Seattle, USA. Joined July, 2010.

Benjamin Kaplin I'm a mechanical engineering student, and I support the OSE because a completed Open Source Village kit would represent several orders of magnitude of improvement over existing projects to improve living conditions around the globe with technology. I grew up reading Stephenson, and one of the most powerful images in his book Diamond Age is The Seed, a nanotechnology McGuffin that one of the main characters devotes his life to that would take the control of production and self-determination out of the hands of the McCorporations and put it into the hands of revolutionaries and the impoverished. Needless to say, nanotech is still several decades away from that dream, and contributing to the True Fans campaign helps a realistic Seed program without pulling me away from my studies.

Benjamin Kaplin

Paul D. Mamigonian The Open Source Ecology group are making self sufficient living real. Through the Zeitgeist movement and groups like the Open Source Ecology the example is being set that we can come away from the corrupt monetary system. How many times do you hear people say " BUT WHAT CAN WE DO?". There IS SO MUCH THAT can be done and IS BEING DONE. THE TIME IS RIGHT, THE METHODS ARE HERE AND SO IS THE TECHNOLOGY. Please see my site www.livegreenliveclean.org. The Open Source Ecology group are leading the way, and it's up to us all to follow their lead.

Paul D. Mamigonian

Marcin Jakubowski, opensourceecology at gmail dot com, marcin_ose on Skype I started the campaign because I have observed how little of humanity's true potential has been tapped. Everyone slaves their life away to a system that is crumbling at the seams. I believe that we can all reach absolute prosperity and evolve to freedom - by becoming skilled and productive Integrated Humans, and by helping anyone else to do the same. History has shown that this is a general formula for lasting prosperity. As long as we're wise, it should be trivial to get beyond the economics of scarcity. We need to show the world how to build the world's first, replicable, open source Global Village.

Marcin Jakubowski

Jeremy Mason, jeremymaso at gmail dot com I am supporting OSE because I want to someday replicate Factor e Farm and help everyone evolve to freedom.

Jeremy Mason

Scott Akridge As I get older I'm more and more interested in helping people. A couple weeks back I enlisted the help of a friend to help in developing a CEB press when I began doing research and found www.openfarmtech.org with the open source CEB press. I continued looking for more information but kept coming back to this site for more info and learned more about the project and found I wanted to get involved. I started by becoming a member and donating $10 a month with plans to build the CEB press and build a couple structures then make the effort a cooperative. After reading more I've decided to also build a sawmill, assuming I can recruit some help. I think this is a great project and am excited to be a part of it in a small way.

Toby Martin I support OSE because... It's an intelligent and direct effort to address some of the most serious problems we face as individuals and as a society. It's one of the most interesting and creative projects I've ever heard of. I see no reason in principle that it can't improve people's lives. It's actually happening.

Toby Martin

Lucas González, imagina (dot) canarias at gmail dot com Lucas Gonzalez I support OSE because both the model and the elements add some important missing pieces to what I perceive is going on. I think it's important to have local possibilities for water, food and energy everywhere. Not just at the household level but more importantly at the village or more aggregated levels. Even if you end up buying stuff from elsewhere, it's best if that happens by choice, not by necessity. It was not by choice when things were local by default and it's not by choice now that things are global by default. The whole process of open sharing of ideas, processes, know-how is intriguing and, at the very least, extremely fun to watch. (I really wish I had more time to join in myself, but I'm doing things that need doing. So I translate, tell others, and chip in with a little cash, less than what others spend in smoking. My choice.) I'm particularly interested in some items for specific locations. Energy for water in sunny places is a must. Shelter and water collection systems. You name it. Do we really know how far and how fast this can go? I think there's bound to be a catalitic process so that more and more technologies will come out openly, in an exciting incarnation of the Stone Soup story. So I want to help keep the fire going. It really looks like this can be done, should be done, will be done in 2 years. Less than 2 years now. The whole world now has a sense of urgency, I feel. I'd like to see what we can do after this. But the time is ripe for this, now. It's interesting to note how open content gives us a sense of ownership. Many have felt that with software. I want to see that with hardware.

Joseph Zarr, joseph.zarr@gmail.com

Joseph Zarr

I am an anthropologist, a farmer, and a permaculturist by training. I support OSE because, well, let's be frank: This is arguably the coolest project on the planet. I am most attracted to Factor E Farm and OSE because of the overall themes of personal improvement (via daily spiritual and physical discipline - in whatever forms a person deems appropriate), human production, and an intertwined personal and community growth. We must collaboratively market the ownership of our futures.

"For less than the price of one coffee per week, for less than the price of one first class stamp per day, you can help change the world. Subscribe!"

As our resource pool dwindles globally, largely due to corporate theft and errant industrial practices, we will have to produce locally and 'in-source'. With a dwindling petroleum base, our dream of cheap energy will disappear. These are simple facts. We must invest human energies in locally-based solutions. We must ignore our propagandized 'reality' and create a meaningful existence together. With drastically increasing populations (estimated 70 million per year), we must teach ourselves the merits of collaboration, co-housing, and SHARING. My opinion is the era of individualized ownership is archaic and ill-advised. Only by sharing and producing what we actually need, and sharing what we already have (be it skills, books, resources etc.), will we experience the next stage of cultural progress. Hopefully, in the not so distant future our children's hands will not deform due to excessive playing of video games but, rather, they will callous, strengthen and scar due to meaningful labor and a 'hands-on' reality; i.e. literacy, numeracy, production = freedom. The only debts we owe are to ourselves and our community. Let's pay up.

Josef Davies-Coates I'm founder United Diversity and co-founder of The Open Co-op and support this project because of all the many many VERY cool projects I follow, this is perhaps the most inspiring and important. I can't think of a better way I could possibly spend my money.

Josef Davies-Coates

Reto Stauss, reto.stauss(at)gmail.com, rstauss on Skype I am mainly attracted by the momentum this projects develops. And of course because it is not talking but doing. My hope is that inspires my own little project (actually it already did): open source goods produced by small, agile manufactories. Lucas, Joseph, sign your points.

Reto Stauss

Geoff Capper, geoff (at) floodstreetfarmlet.net I am supporting OSE because it is showing us that it is possible to regain control over the complex systems that to an extent have come to rule our lives. We can build our own machinery, we can build our own future, we can be free. The activity at Factor e Farm is truly inspiring, and I hope to use many of the products building up our own small farm, which may hopefully inspire others locally.

Tom Lindsey, thomas.lindsey at gmail dot com I support OSE because I want Factor e Farm to succeed so I can use the tools they are developing, replicate Factor e Farm, and create a future of freedom for myself and loved ones.

Tom Lindsey and Boomer

Edward Miller, embraceunity -at- gmail dot com I became a true fan because I would like to see our civilization become more resilient by using decentralized technological solutions, and to evolve towards a post-scarcity society. I plan to move on site soon to help build a RepRap machine.

Jussi Haverinen, haverinen.jussi at gmail dot com I'm a strong believer in power of free software approach to technology and very interested in transformative technology and it's effect on society. Politically I'm an social ecologist and I do think that the main task that has to be done is to abolish capitalism and the state through direct democracy in the cities and neighbourhoods (confederated together of course). My skills: mostly computer knowledge, relatively good unix admin skills, and some language skills but that's about it. I only have limited knowledge of farming, construction, electronics, handcraft, but I'm willing to learn.

Mark Thomas, factore at thomastechcon dot com My wife and I are serial homesteaders--we built up a goat dairy from scratch in South Africa, a small livestock farm in Appalachia, and are just starting on a lambing operation in Southside Virginia. Politically, I base my ethics on the Nonaggression Axiom and I do think that the main task that has to be done is to abolish democracy and the state through direct capitalism. Apologies to Jussi above! I do my political writing at Distributed Republic and much of my reading at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

David Voeller, carefulwiththat at gmail dot com Open Source Ecology is applying knowledge and skill in the most effective way possible, to create a livable future. The convergence of Permaculture principles and Open Source methodology has been a long time coming. Open Source has shown us that technological advancement need not be encumbered by destructive and wasteful hierarchical control. Permaculture has taught us that a fulfilling and ethical life is not only possible, but realistic in a variety of climates and conditions. Open Source Ecology's work has the possibility to allow many more people to live within their resources; and to drastically increase the quality of life for those already doing so.

David Voeller

Eric Hunting, TheMillennialProject at gmail.com We are on the cusp of a transformation in the nature of our civilization. A fundamental shift in the way just about everything works in our society predicated on the evolution of the processes and technologies by which just about everything in our habitat is made. Emerging digital fabrication technology combined with emerging awareness of the factors of industrial sustainability are not only changing how we make things but who is making them and where. Industrial Age paradigms that have been concentrating industrial, economic, and political power for a century are failing in the face of a progressive shrinking, smartening, and demassifying of the tools of production and communication. Open Source Ecology is on the cutting edge of this transformation, pursuing and cultivating a spectrum of tools, new and old, that can realize a radical new level of sustainable community self-sufficiency with the intent of disseminating these tools globally. The Factor E Farm project is an incubator for a nascent movement with world-sweeping potential.

Eric Hunting

Erik de Bruijn, ose at erikdebruijn.nl We've heard about, or even experienced, the collaborative power of passionate individuals around the world. When they join hands, contributing their energy, freely sharing their ideas and building on them, this mode of production can be highly productive. It may well outperform the traditionally closed 'institutional' mode of production, like Wikipedia is giving us an abundance of knowledge at no cost. OSE attempts, and is actually very successful at extending this notion of knowledge sharing into a way of living. They codify and freely reveal their knowledge into design files and rich instructional material such as video tutorials. Those serve to inspire, but also to practically make this concept replicable and effective.

Erik de Bruijn

A. N. Alias, anon23bf at nyx dot net I support OSE because we need viable alternatives to the military-industrial complex as a foundation for survival in the near future, particularly if predictions about the coming hyperinflationary depression turn out to be well founded.

Olle Jonsson, olle.jonsson at gmail dot com I had seen the impressive LifeTrac project on the web, but when I heard about the RepLab initiative, I was hooked. I'm just a random web developer, but I want to help push toward a generalized, open digital fabrication toolkit. When each hackerspace, lab, and interested individual has access to equipment like that, things get really interesting.

Olle Jonsson

Maureen, baubo at dishmail.net I support factor E open source farm because when the cheap industrial food machine breaks down for lack of diesel fuel and capital, people are going to be shocked, angry and then desperate to learn a new way of living. OSE is not just a theory, a book or a blue print. It’s an open source physical model of a DIY food, energy and shelter producing system. Large-scale industrialization was largely a wrong turn for humanity. By shrinking the scale, localizing throughputs, working smarter and sharing information globally we can create a bright new future – a true renaissance. Factor E farm is breaking trail for us all. I can’t think of a better investment.

Elifarley, elifarley # gmail.com I found out about Open Source Ecology after watching the Zeitgeist Addendum movie. That movie sparkled my curiosity and I started a quest to understand the problems and possible solutions to our society's needs. In this quest, I found out some very exciting ideas, groups and people, like the Transition Towns movement (concerned with peak oil), The Venus Project and RBE Foundation (moneyless, cybernated society), Common Good Bank (alternative currency system), RepRap (self-replicating, open source 3D printer), the P2P Foundation, and the OSE site, to name a few. You may have noticed that all these projects and movements seem to have a common goal, they all seem to propose that we forget all artificial limitations (and scarcity) and we all seek union to improve our lives and sustainability. Without artificial limitations, we all can have much much better lives. That's the message I can hear all these people and movements resounding. I'd say that The Venus Project champions ideas, whereas OSE materializes them, performing concrete actions that will move our world forward. I'm confident that our small contributions to this cause will add up and have a tremendous positive result for everybody. (In Portuguese) Descobri o site da Open Source Ecology depois de assistir ao filme Zeitgeist Addendum. Esse filme despertou minha curiosidade e então comecei uma busca para entender os problemas e as possíveis soluções para a nossa sociedade. Nessa busca, descobri algumas ideias, grupos e pessoas muito interessantes, como o movimento Transition Towns (preocupado com a dependência ao petróleo), o Venus Project e a RBE Foundation (sociedade sem uso do dinheiro, automatizada), Banco do Bem Comum (sistema de moeda alternativa), RepRap (impressora 3D de desenho aberto, auto-replicante), a Fundação P2P, e o site OSE, dentro vários outros. Vocês podem ter notado que todos esses projetos e movimentos parecem ter um objetivo comum, eles parecem propor que esqueçamos todas as limitações artificiais (e escassez) e que todos busquemos união para melhorar nossas vidas e sustentabilidade. Sem limitações artificiais, todos nós podemos viver muito melhor. Essa é a mensagem que eu posso escutar todas essas pessoas e movimentos ressoando. Eu diria que o Venus Project dissemina ideias, enquanto que a OSE as materializa, realizando ações concretas que irão avançar o nosso mundo. Estou confiante que nossas pequenas contribuições a essa causa irão se juntar e terão um resultado tremendamente positivo para todo o mundo.

Elifarley Cruz

Shaun Warkentin What money buys is technology, luxury. What technology and luxury buy are pleasure, physical health, and free time for the intellectual, spiritual, relational, creative pursuits that are the constitutive properties of real wealth (a widening of awareness and knowledge) unavailable within a purely subsistence economy. The equation linking money to wealth must be broken (along with the power structures that encroach upon the agency and freedom of most of humanity and the biosphere). OSE appears to be demonstrating how this might be achieved.

Shaun Warkentin

Aigars Brūvelis, abruvelis at gmail dot com This is it. Linux will fully replace windows and in 50 years Open Source Harware will replace most of the commerce. Get on with it.

Aigars Bruvelis from Latvia/UK

Lucas Harper, lucasjamesharper at yahoo dot com I contribute to OSE because I got tired of all the organizations that claim to be "promoting" sustainability through advocacy and lobbying, which usually merely contributes to the inertia and complexity of our current patently unsustainable society without producing any truly meaningful effect on regular peoples' relation to the economy and planet. We need tangible means and methods to take our lives into our own hands and reduce our reliance on global industrial market structures, not rhetoric and posturing. OSE is one of the few operations that has taken up the task of rebuilding and redesigning material existence to cope with the inevitability of a resource-scarce future. The advancements made at this important project are setting precedents that simply are not being set anywhere else, and I hope to personally be using some of the methods and technologies being developed; from that standpoint, I view my financial contribution as an investment, not a gift. At some point in time those of us who philosophically stand opposed to the dominant paradigms of mass consumerism and ecological exceptionalism must stop talking and starting acting, and OSE is doing just that.

Peter Koeleman I would love to see the Factor e Farm evolve into a self-sufficient, renewable and socially superior society. The technological steps towards freedom that the Factor e Farm project take are very interesting to me because I am an IT specialist. I had a taste of gcode a long while back and work with Linux every day as my primairy OS. The modular hardware design makes this technology easy to comprehend and use, even for non-engineers like myself. The freedom part of this project is what I think will be the most important part of the near future in escaping a corporate ruled society of ever more money spending (=debt building) consumers. The need for economic growth simply isn't sustainable. Those who manufacture and manage their own resources are the only ones who know the real cost of things.

Daniel Slate, danieldavidslate + gmail and the rest This is the real thing, and what you're doing is absolutely necessary. The numerous possibilities that can grow from this...general resilience, a reboot/revision of kibbutzim/moshavim in America or elsewhere, so many other possibilities...building the platform is worth doing. Ideas become real through action. What I see coming out of this work is a way to test out applied philosophies of responsible liberty.

Andrew Cook, apcook816@gmail.com Technology applied with wisdom is like creating a new dance partner in the celebration of life.

Andrew Cook

Adam Mitchell, mitch dot ad at gmail dot com If organizations were measured in terms of relevancy of work, loftiness of their goals and their ability to inspire others, Open Source Ecology --no doubt-- would be at the top of anyone's list. I am proud to support their endeavor, however small, in hopes that together we can build a better world and encourage others to become more Integrated Humans.

Adam Mitchell

Anna Przychodzki I was very excited to discover the work of Open Source Ecology; I had no idea people were doing this. I stopped taking science class in my second year of high school so the technical stuff goes way over my head... what I do understand is the intent of the work and the implications of success. The life I want is out of reach for now... but if I support OSE, maybe I can have it in the future. OSE seems to bring us closer to what I believe are our birth-rights: sustainability, economic freedom and quality of life by way of human ingenuity and cooperation, not competition.

Anna Przychodzki

Nathan Luedtke I think I found out about Factor E Farm through John Robb's blog Global Guerillas, or at least through that general section of the net, which I am interested in and have been following for some time. I have been tracking your project for a little over a year, and was inspired to contribute when i saw that recently you seem to have hit a tipping point and have been making quick progress which probably will require a little more cashflow. In terms of what I would like to see come out of it- exactly what you are doing. All of the positive movements that I see out there- Permaculture, Open Source, Transition, etc etc- all of them are integrated in your program. With OSE/FEF, you have a very scientific/rational approach that I appreciate. Long term, I would love to see OSE ideas spread and populate worldwide, and see the technology package implemented and developed further at other sites, both in the USA and as a more successful "technology transfer" to the third world.