Twitter is the most interesting tool to share information, communicate, work together, start a movement (civil rights), ask for help (humanitarian crisis), disclose, spread, draw attention to priority issues. Twitter is fast, agile, flexible, permeable to change, with no obstacles as ads :) Is this the reason for not being profitable? Well, in today economic and financial system, ads are part of the game, but many users are trying to find a constructive and innovative way of making it sustainable. We live in a materialistic world that only values things. And yet, we see valuable human resources (new strategies, creative communities) being shared in this beautiful net. Every day, hour, minute, second. Twitter is the most democratic interaction on internet. You don't need to have thousands of followers to get the attention of someone who has. You belong to a great community: its users across the planet. #WeareTwitter and #BuyTwitter are trying to avoid losing this innovative tool to big companies that will make it profitable in the monetized and financial system. If users lose it, Twitter will no longer be Twitter as we know it.
This week the film is a King Vidor, Our Daily Bread. American pioneers began as communities in which people helped one another. The Great Depression led them to repeat the same experience of the pioneers. Smart solutions to put bread on the table. The government took the initiative of the New Deal to replace the informal organizations fearing to lose control and power. Somewhere along the way american people were taught to hate and fear the same cooperation culture that has allowed their parents to survive and thrive. Was it because politicians put names on social organizations? Suddenly democracy is socialism or worse, communism? Twentieth century is based on communities, connection and cooperation. Our Daily Bread is another example of cultural innovation in cinema.
This is the perfect time to remember that we are a big community. We are humans, a species that is able of creativity and humour but also destruction and wars. What really matters is the fundamental choice we make, not our beliefs, our life style, our culture, our location. That's why I don't use words as "religion" or "spirituality", I prefer "expanded consciousness" or just "consciouness" (António Damásio). We share ideas, experiences, techniques. We laugh together. We even sing together. We build bridges, public spaces, new projects everyday. We try to find new ways of improving quality of life everywhere. We know that we do have the science and the technologies to do it, and we know that it means to protect the planet and other species. We have that responsability.
Examples of cultural changes from creative communities:
1. International Solidarity Network Conference in Seattle: "... picket, fight, and win, ... a new model of worker and tenant organizing that has begun to emerge in recent years in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere. Solidarity networks are volunteer mutual support groups that organize around specific cases using collective, direct action tactics. Decisions within the group are made on a directly democratic basis at weekly meetings, with no elected officers. There are no specialized professional organizers, and groups don’t have any regular funding sources outside of small individual donations..."
2.Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15M of americans' personal debt: " ... By purchasing the debt at knockdown prices the group has managed to free $14,734,569.87 of personal debt, mainly medical debt, spending only $400,000. ... The group is able to buy debt so cheaply due to the nature of the "secondary debt market". If individuals consistently fail to pay bills from credit cards, loans, or medical insurance the bank or lender that issued the funds will eventually cut its losses by selling that debt to a third party. These sales occur for a fraction of the debt’s true values – typically for five cents on the dollar – and debt-buying companies then attempt to recoup the debt from the individual debtor and thus make a profit. ..."
These initiaves remind me of Frank Capra's movies:
This is "an exercise in musical cooperation. Cooperation emerges when the behavior of each individual depends on the decisions of the rest of the group: it´s a game where, from the start, you need to adjust to the actions of others." 21 Balançoires (21 Swings) "is a giant collective instrument that stimulates ownership of the new space, bringing together people of all ages and backgrounds, and creating a place for playing and hanging out in the middle of the city center." (Daily tous les jours and Luc-Alain Giraldeau).
2.
Reverse Times Square: "Over 2.000 people move backwards through Times Square, making it look like time is going in reverse to unsuspecting tourists and New Yorkers. Participants met in Bryant Park to receive instructions and synchronize their watches before heading over to Times Square and blending in with the crowd. At exactly 3:15 PM, participants bagan moving backwards for exactly five minutes." (Improv everywhere) We can put it this way: children are creative each and every single day, enjoy being surprised, puzzled, everything is a game to play, it's how they learn. We can practice collaboration: in amusing and meaningful group exercises (1.) and in new opportunities to enjoy being surprised and change our perspective (2.).
