Neighbor Democracy Neighbor Democracy

This is a segment of an interview I did for a podcast. I talk with Patrick Farnsworth about the impact directly democratic decision-making in progressive schooling has in an individual’s social development, and the limitations and traumas that come with conventional education as it functions today.

Episode #146 of Last Born In The Wilderness “The Progressive School: Self-Directed Learning, Democracy, & Play w/ Ian Campbell.”

Listen to the full episode: http://bit.ly/LBWcampbell

You can find Last Born In the Wilderness on all podcast streaming platforms. It really is one of the most intriguing and educational podcasts out there.

This is a clip taken from the Last Born In The Wilderness podcast, when host Patrick Farnsworth interviews John Halstead.

Regardless of what you think of capitalism's past record, here is why it can no longer be sustained and why the sooner it is done away with, the better for all of us.

It has been almost four years since the voters of Denton, Texas won- and then lost it all. As the evidence grows that hydraulic fracturing-"fracking"-contributes to environmental and health catastrophes, and as these catastrophes hurtle us towards collapse, I use a tale from my own life to argue for total neighborhood autonomy and direct democracy. With these tools, we can form a bulwark against the offloading of environmental "externalities" onto communities by distanced politicians and corporate executives who have no real stake in them.

To learn more about some of the growing models pointing the way towards stronger communal lives, check out these links:

Rojava (Northern Syria): https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE

Autonomous Zapatista Territories (Southern Mexico): https://youtu.be/Ww46lxIc6-w

Zone À Defendre (Rural France): https://youtu.be/InUtCdDQlCY

Cherán (Mexico): https://youtu.be/SrPBdLiqMb0

The 48 Cantones (Guatemalan forests): https://vimeo.com/82865010

Freetown Christiania (Copenhagen, Denmark): https://youtu.be/0n6zGTx_uQo

Cooperation Jackson (Jackson, Mississippi):
https://cooperationjackson.org/

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (United States): https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/

If you would like to help MAD Relief and Appalachian Medical Solidarity in the wake of Hurricane Florence with supplies, you can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/mutual-aid-relief-supplic

*This is the audio version of a video originally made for Youtube: https://youtu.be/r8i4RAxLB-o*


An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). This is the final excerpt I'll be releasing from this series, but be sure to go back to the original video and watch the call to action at the end.

Where is the forefront of women's struggle for freedom? This question guided the creation of this video.

The Middle East, and the Euphrates region particularly, has a long tradition of women's resistance against patriarchy that is often overlooked in the "Western world". Women were the first to tame plants, bringing on the agricultural revolution, and the advent of many rich cultures in settled society. In the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava), women are reclaiming that legacy and cultural knowledge, telling these washed-over stories, and building a free life, refusing to wait for after the revolution to address their needs.

Not only have the women of Rojava made remarkable strides in the struggle for freedom, I would argue that their movement, articulated through "Jineologî" (the science of women and free life) and their own self-organized structures, represents the most successful and far-reaching mass societal women's movement to date. For those of us struggling against patriarchy around the world today, we have so much to learn from the women of Rojava.

If you've seen previous excerpts from my Communes of Rojava video, feel free to skip to 2:19 to get past the introduction.

I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System: 0:00-2:18

II. Women's Committee: Backbone of the Revolution (the main presentation): 2:19-10:56

*This is the audio version of a video originally made for Youtube: https://youtu.be/d-TT4qAKM4w*

An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). I'll be releasing several other excerpts over the coming days covering each committee of the commune system.

Can students and teachers learn together as equals? Are students capable of directing their own learning without coercion, rewards or punishment? These questions guided the creation of this video.

In the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava), education is one of the most essential pillars of life, and there are a wide-range of places to learn, from more project-based schools to specialized academies to frequent self-organized workshops open to people of all ages on a wide variety of practical subjects in every neighborhood.

The common theme uniting the community educational initiatives in Rojava is a diffusion of hierarchy between staff and students and room for flexibility and self-direction based on the learner's interest. Their seems to be a general self-image amongst the people of Rojava as "life-long learners. Rojava makes an excellent case study for those interested in self-directed learning, especially those of us in the West who often oversimplify or stereotype cultures in the Middle East.

In building any self-directed society, a self-directed education paradigm is absolutely essential. Given the chance to build a society based on autonomy in all aspects in life, the exact opposite of life under Daesh (ISIS) and the state, the people of Rojava have embraced education as a means for preparation towards a free, communal life.

If you've seen previous excerpts from my Communes of Rojava video, feel free to skip to 2:25 to get past the introduction.

I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System: 0:00-2:25

II. Lifelong Learners: The Education Committees (the main presentation): 2:25-8:39

*This is an audio version of a video originally intended for Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Peyoc7-W0lc *

An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). I'll be releasing several other excerpts over the coming days covering each committee of the commune system.

Can an economy be run democratically? That is the question I explore in this video, using the directly democratic cooperatives controlled by the communes in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava) as a case study.

As the global climate crisis heats up, economies under local control but linked together to meet people's needs on a large scale becomes direly necessary. Rojava's municipalized cooperatives lays the groundwork for just that, with its municipalized cooperatives, run through commune assemblies by the workers and the residents most affected by the work of the co-op.

Much of the environmental crisis comes from those having the power to make decisions over communities that they never live in, pushing off environmental damage out of their sight. But a community that controls its economy through direct democracy of all residents is never going to vote to pollute their own neighborhood. It is that kind of economic autonomy that will be necessary to enhance our quality of life and prevent worsening climate catastrophe.

If you've seen previous excerpts from my Communes of Rojava video, feel free to skip to 2:34 to get past the introduction.

I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System: 0:00-2:29

II. Neighbor Economics: Cooperatives in Rojava (the main presentation): 2:34-9:53