3) The Govmesh Project
I think that if we are going to reform the world, and make it a better place to live in, the way to do it is not with talk about relationships of a political nature which are inevitably dualistic, full of subjects and objects and their relationship to one another; or with programs full of things for other people to do. I think that kind of approach starts it at the end and presumes the end is the beginning. Programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values is right. The social values are right only if the individual values are right. ... The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there. Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value.... (Emphasis in original.) ~ Robert Pirsig
All politics are social, and sociality starts at home. The Govmesh project takes a hyperlocal approach to making the world a better place. Less grassroots agendas than topsoil activism, the project will focus on creating tools that enable individuals to engage local governments with greater ease and efficacy, fostering a cottage democracy of civic activists. Beginning with a rich, yet little known, store of public data, the Govmesh project will offer tens of thousands of pages of information about local municipalities, school and special districts, including services they provide and provision from others. To this initial resource will be added financial information about the same local entities.
Thereafter, drawing on the capabilities of the newly field-tested Tangle engine, the Govmesh pages will be opened to collaborative editing, and augmented by features in support of hyperlocal organizing and translocality knowledge exchange. The Govmesh site will provide tools to civic activists to more transparently, easily and effectively engage with their local municipal, school, and special district governments, and coordinate with others addressing similar issues in their own communities.
Lots of big talk. How will it be done? ⇒