The Democracy Project
by David Graeber · first published 2012
73% recommend27% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A first-person account of Graeber's role in the Occupy movement and his ideas on horizontal organizing. It offers anarchist and alternative perspectives on democracy and organization.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A bold rethinking of the most powerful political idea in the world—democracy—and the story of how radical democracy can yet transform America. Democracy has been the American religion since before the Revolution—from New England town halls to the multicultural democracy of Atlantic pirate ships. But can our current political system, one that seems responsive only to the wealthiest among us and leaves most Americans feeling disengaged, voiceless, and disenfranchised, really be called democratic? And if the tools of our democracy are not working to solve the rising crises we face, how can we—ave
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…"anarchist"), and the US system co-opted it and rebranded itself as a democracy. Because people naturally would like to govern their lives, rather than political and wealthy elites. I recommend Graeber's _The Democracy Project_ for more on this; he's an anthropologist who helped found Occupy, and popularized the 99% slogan.
on “Inverted totalitarianism” ↗…majority rule — the wealthy minority. (Obviously they didn't mean African Americans and women.) Later politicians coopted the term "democracy", as marketing. One source to learn more is Graeber's "The Democracy Project". (http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/democracy-what-is-it-good-...) Pushing a button every few years for your new corporate-sponsored king isn't meaningful democratic participation.
on “TTIP explained: The secretive US-EU treaty that undermines democracy” ↗…at, and demotivated by, the justifying. Sorry, I should have book marked it. -- Finally listening to Graeber's Utopia of Rules. It's kinda blowing my mind. Like a firestorm in my head. Graeber's The Democracy Project has even more radical, useful explanations. His distinction between "rational" (following the rules) and "reasonable" (doing what's right, fair) gives voice to something that's been plaguing me for decades.…
on “I've walked away from software development” ↗…are added faster than best practices can percolate. To do list item: Maybe Everett's Diffusion of Innovations talks about this. I've been getting a lot out of David Graeber's books, most recently The Democracy Project and Utopia of Rules. They're the first description of workplace democracy (collaboration, empowerment) which matches my own experiences. Back then, I was just kinda winging it (eg "What would Drucker…
on “The Toyota Production System (2013)” ↗I recommend Debt the first 5000 years as well as The Democracy Project. Both of which were absolutely fascinating to me. Solidarity forever and rest in power Graeber.
on “David Graeber’s Possible Worlds” ↗…of the Crisis. 2. There is a wide variety of ways for humans to organise. Nobody is forcing the default capitalist bureaucracy on you, so be creative: Graeber, Bullshit Jobs & Dawn of Everything & The Democracy Project. 3. How people are motivated: Pink, Drive. 4. How to create a high-trust, less authoritarian, open, collaborative environment within a traditional hierarchy: Marquet, Leadership is Language. 5. Communication:…
on “How I operated as a Staff engineer at Heroku (2020)” ↗Congratulations, you're an anarchist! (or at least an autonomist of some sort...) You may really, really enjoy David Graeber's recent book, 'the Democracy Project.'
on “The NSA Can't Tell the Difference Between an American and a Foreigner” ↗Read David Graeber's "The Democracy Project." The parent mentions it, but it does specifically talk about this kind of organizing and why OWS used it.
on ““Weird Paranoia” at Valve, Says Former Employee” ↗…when this requires you to be in antagonism with others. Many of us are obviously concerned about the threats to their species, but there's powerful antagonistic forces. Take Graeber's recent book "The Democracy Project". It's quite an entertaining first-person view on what that entails. (http://gawker.com/5994421/a-discussion-with-anarchist-activi...) In contrast, elite-led environmental efforts often fall for the…
on “They're Taking Over - jellyfish bloom and the future of the ocean.” ↗…not at all on the others; and at last a downright equal division of every thing be demanded, and voted." This is the "tyranny of democracy" they feared, an Orwellian notion. I recommend Graeber's "The Democracy Project". He was one of the many Occupy founders, and is every bit as "American" as any of these government guys.
on “Mozilla under fire: Inside the 9-day reign of fallen CEO Brendan Eich” ↗I don't necessarily ascribe to direct democracy ideas, but if you want to learn about why some people think it's a good idea, check out "The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement" by David Graeber. It chronicles his experiences in the Occupy Wall Street movement and expounds upon the value of direct democracy.
on “Cicada: A Distributed Direct Democracy and Decentralized Application Platform” ↗…can't vouch for how accessible his ideas are. I'm very primed to hear what Graeber has to say. Chomsky, McLuhan, Postman, etc. And every book about policy work (organizing, lobbying) that I can find. The Democracy Project might be his best primer on his theory of social change. First part is the back story on Occupy Wall Street. The second part is the Anarchist critique of classical Liberals (today's Democrats and Republicans…
on “The Incoming Currency War” ↗…it was certainly never destroyed! And there was no one in particular who would necessarily trade it for something specific, so it was not an IOU. The book sounds great, and I loved his other book The Democracy Project. I will have to check it out. But just because debt came first, and fiat currencies have always been based on debt, does not mean that all currencies have to be or have been.
on “A quick reminder why Bitcoin was created in the first place” ↗…Here are three books: * Anarchy Works: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-ana... * Post-Scarcity Anarchism: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/murray-bookchin-post... * The Democracy Project: https://b-ok.cc/md5/1BD930F7B17488F2F5BD28BE2AE4584C
on “Finnish basic income pilot improved wellbeing, study finds” ↗…was actually one reason why it did so well, relatively. To be clear: I'm not sure I agree with his viewpoints or his perspective on the Occupy movement. That said, I can still strongly recommend "The Democracy Project" as an interesting and completely different view of not only the occupy movement, but on Democracy and society as well. I've read a number of his books and articles and I like how they make me question…
on “The $9B Witness: JPMorgan Chase's Worst Nightmare” ↗