Talk Proposal: Climate Change and Open Source Ecology

I am visiting San Francisco with my partner for a vacation before my work with OSE begins. I submitted this proposal to Tech Workers Coalition (TWC) Learning Club (https://sites.google.com/view/tech-workers-coalition/learning-club?authuser=0) because they could be a good audience for contributing to Open Source Ecology.

Talk Title

Building Power with Open Source Ecology amid Abrupt Climate Change

Relevance to TWC

Climate change is happening much faster than mainstream scientists admit openly, but the evidence is in: temperature changes of up to 10°C will occur in our lifetimes and likely within the next 10 years. What does that mean for workers and how can technology save us and how can it not?

Studying these basic facts gives us insight into how we can connect the struggle in the tech industry that advances capitalism, which in turn, produces climate change. A study of Open Source Ecology, an open-source hardware project, provides an example of how technology can resist both capitalism and climate change at the same time.

Readings

Abrupt Climate Change

• Arctic sea ice could disappear altogether in 2018 (7min) (http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/heat-storm.html)
• Rise of more than 10°C (18°F) could take place by 2021 (7min) (http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/heat-storm.html)
• The Arctic is the newest emerging market for nations including China (5min) (http://www.atimes.com/article/chinas-new-arctic-policy-defensive-not-offensive/)
• Indigenous demands for environmental human rights (2min) (https://www.iwgia.org/en/news/3246-indigenous-land-key-sustainable-development)
• 4 Schools of Thought to Avert Climate Change (7min) (http://climateandcapitalism.com/2013/12/16/green-capitalism-cant-work/)
• A life-saving technology (1min) (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2017/02/11/how-to-keep-cool-without-costing-the-earth)

Open Source Ecology

• Open Source Ecology TED Talk (3min) (https://www.ted.com/talks/marcin_jakubowski)
• Open Building Institute (3min) (https://www.openbuildinginstitute.org/)
• Roadmap (1 min) (https://d2w9rnfcy7mm78.cloudfront.net/2382677/original_f27c87d889b64c5fc563f96d82710479.png)
• State of Completion (1 min) (https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/GVCS_State_of_Completion)
• Product Ecologies (5 min) (https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Product_Ecologies)
• Post Scarcity (1 min) (https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Post_Scarcity)

Extra Reading

• Why Climate Adaptation is Necessary (1.5 hr) (http://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf)
• Review of Recent Paper I (7.5m) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dpEHWY0mRw)
• Review of Recent Paper II (7.5m) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsm6hB2tyz8)
• Guy McPherson (3-5 hr) (https://guymcpherson.com/climate-chaos/climate-change-summary-and-update/)
• 8 Forms of Capital (1 hr) (http://www.appleseedpermaculture.com/8-forms-of-capital/)

Discussion Questions

1. How do mainstream climate scientists in 2018 differ compared with arctic climate scientists or those who predict near-term temperature rise?

2. Why about the ideology of capitalism may prevent serious societal action to prevent or adapt to climate change?

3. What is an example of an action that resists climate change, uplifts indigenous sovereignty, and fights for worker dignity?

4. How does the way that Open Source Ecology builds power compare with electoral campaigns, issue-based campaigns, and other organizing tactics?

Note to TWC

Note to organizers: I am visiting SF for a week from Aug 16-23. I run a group called Rad Chinese (http://radchinese.com/latest-podcasts/) and our discussion get-togethers are similar to your Learning Club. Would love to hold space for a meeting while I'm in town even though it's short notice, as I just booked my SF flight yesterday. Cheers!

p.s. In any case, would love to meet and chat even if this isn't possible. Just thought this would be fun.