[hackerspaces] Please explain this to me

[Edward L Platt]

+1 On Far's take.  Also suggested reading: "From Counterculture to
Cyberculture" by Fred Turner.

Although I agree the idea of a hackerspace is apolitical, all actions have
a political meaning, even when unintentional.  The important thing to keep
in mind when building any community is that ignoring existing
class/gender/race disparities makes as much of a statement as addressing
them.

For the interested, I have more thoughts on the subject here:
http://elplatt.com/hackerspaces-and-inclusion

Happy hacking,
-Ed


On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 9:09 AM, Phil Squid <phillip at squidfoo.com> wrote:

> Thanks Far. This sound so much better than what is on the website. I want
> to educate people and get them to join a space. Not scare them away.
>
> I'm speaking to the states high school industrial arts teachers. I want
> them to get excited and join a space. Not tell their kids to stay away.
>
> Protecting the historical facts are important but we need to also consider
> how we phrase it. I think what Far wrote is a better way to tell the story
> than the page on the site.
>
> Phil
>
> On Jul 25, 2013, at 7:48 PM, Far McKon <farmckon at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Phil,
> > Sorry my fellow hackers are too busy inside-joking at each other.
> >
> > Here is my take on things, hopefully it it a good mix of mostly-factual
> > and mostly-readable.  Many (70% I'd guess?) of people involved in the
> > 2007-ish wave of establishing new Hackerspaces (only 8 to 10 of them) in
> > the US came to it though a few venues, and an event 'Hackers on a Plane'
> > to visit CCC in germany.   Those venues (and CCC)  have ties to
> > libertarianism, older school hippies, and human empowerment. For example:
> >
> > - 2600 Magazine
> > - Open Source movement
> >  - DefCon
> > - Euro (esp, German CCC) Hackerspace Scene.
> > - Misc. university related DIY clubs.
> >
> >
> > While there have been DIY clubs across the us with many focuses,
> > including engineering, the thread of calling themselves 'hackerspace'
> > (a) and being proactive in inviting the outside world (b), being a
> > nonprofit (c) and trying to pay for things by membership (d) tend to all
> > come through that group of people, and propagated as symbiotic memes.
> >
> > The Open Source, 2600, or the Euro. all have roots that go back to the
> > 1970's, and into the counter culture.  Many of the ideals of technology
> > empowering the masses (not just companies), of 'anyone can be an expert'
> > , and of 'share because you can, not because you must'  originated in
> > that area, and carried through to form the a,b,c,d type of memes above.
> >
> > So in short, the roots of the roots of the hackerspace scene were mostly
> > hippies.  If you look at the 'Whole/Organic' Foods movement, CSA have
> > similar roots-of-roots were hippies' thread.
> >
> > I would suggest reading "Barefoot into Cyperspace" for an even better
> > overview of things.
> >
> > Now back to your regular self-referential inside jokes, starrrring the
> > faaaaaaameous  *** Things Noisebrige Seinfeld Says*** !!!!1111eleventy
> >
> >
> > hack on;
> > - Far McKon
> >
> >
> > On 7/23/13 6:34 PM, Phil Broussard wrote:
> >> I'm not trying to start an argument or insult anyone. I'm honestly
> >> having a very difficult time connecting the dots.
> >>
> >> Phil
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
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-- 
Edward L. Platt
http://elplatt.com
http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
http://i3detroit.com
@EdwardLPlatt <http://twitter.com/EdwardLPlatt>
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