User:Vagrant

The Jist

consumer society is fundamentally unsustainable- resources such as forests and fossil fuels are consumed far faster than they are replenished. without extreme change, society as we know it will collapse.

Computers are destructive, nasty devices which pollute the ecological environment with chemicals, heavy metals and radiation. most people exposed to computers end up with a lot of social and mental pollution as a result. the manufacture of computers and other electronic devices requires immense resources, yet are often considered obsolete after 2-3 years of use. this is the epitome of consumer culture.

the historical Luddites, resisters of the first sweatshop factories, saw the destruction that industrial society was about to bring and resisted it tooth, claw and nail. it was not a mindless fear of technology that motivated them, but a desire to preserve a humane way of life.

i consider myself a modern-day luddite- working to rebuild communities that have been the casualty of modern-day consumerism, and to act in solidarilty with those communities that have not yet been destroyed.

Free Software is a mindset of community-driven gift culture, which seems like a powerful way to build tools needed for communities to achieve their goals. i work with free software exclusively, and develop some of my own for all to share. free software seems to me as one of the most successful radical movements in the world, and it's growing.

so i work to reduce computer consumption by developing and exploring technologies that extend the usefulness of older computers... i live by a certain pragmatic luddism.