Great to read about your concept of cultural symbiogenesis, Richard! Funny how ideas seem to crop up in multiple places at the same time - we just finished a book on "MycoFi" about mycelial economics, with this reference to symbiogenesis as well:
"Endosymbiotic Finance:
Imagine a future where the economic power of an organization comes from its own internalized energy, rather than having to rely on outside sources of extractive finance. In the same way that cells absorbed the power-generating capabilities of mitochondria, MycoFi proposes endosymbiotic finance as the process by which organizations internalize the capacity to produce and store their own economic power, rather than having to submit to the high costs of external finance provided by banks. This capability for endogenous credit issuance enables organizations to have tighter feedback loops between their evolving needs for capital and their ability to issue vouchers backed by their own productive capacity. This process of organizational symbiogenesis will see DAOs and other myco-organizations continue to “absorb” the useful functions of finance, steadily reducing the power asymmetries that have allowed external finance to become the proverbial “tail that wags the dog” of the real economy."
Your story is so inspiring. Keep up the great work!
I really appreciate your comment Jeff and so happy to hear about our parallel track. You are right, that there seem to be multiple threads of global movements that also have local community initiatives, that may be ready to build bridges across them to work for common purpose.
I would love to continue the dialogue. In community work, everything is about sequence of building popular support.
I see my role as providing a unifying worldview and concrete action plan that starts with building networks of trust around shared community needs like local food, energy, water, arts and culture, neighborhoods, etc. Economic models will always come about in parallel and as we pave the road connecting the good already happening.
Thanks for being such a light in this emergent field of action.
Hey Samantha, the book is currently going to print for it's initial release at an upcoming conference, but I believe there are plans for a second print and digital versions of the book.
In the meantime, I wrote this article as a paper submission on a similar topic:
I listened to this chapter as I walked along the edge of a huge construction project that is transforming an urban canyon into high density housing.
So many of your experiences resonate with my own. You help me find some magic moments during my walk in the San Diego sun. I found yellow flowers blooming out of the trash kicked down the hillside.
I felt the root structures of an old fig tree as I stood on the stump. I glanced up to see a 1000 Teslas waiting to be delivered.
Thank you for helping me find this vein of experience in the sea of mundane concrete.
Great to read about your concept of cultural symbiogenesis, Richard! Funny how ideas seem to crop up in multiple places at the same time - we just finished a book on "MycoFi" about mycelial economics, with this reference to symbiogenesis as well:
"Endosymbiotic Finance:
Imagine a future where the economic power of an organization comes from its own internalized energy, rather than having to rely on outside sources of extractive finance. In the same way that cells absorbed the power-generating capabilities of mitochondria, MycoFi proposes endosymbiotic finance as the process by which organizations internalize the capacity to produce and store their own economic power, rather than having to submit to the high costs of external finance provided by banks. This capability for endogenous credit issuance enables organizations to have tighter feedback loops between their evolving needs for capital and their ability to issue vouchers backed by their own productive capacity. This process of organizational symbiogenesis will see DAOs and other myco-organizations continue to “absorb” the useful functions of finance, steadily reducing the power asymmetries that have allowed external finance to become the proverbial “tail that wags the dog” of the real economy."
Your story is so inspiring. Keep up the great work!
I really appreciate your comment Jeff and so happy to hear about our parallel track. You are right, that there seem to be multiple threads of global movements that also have local community initiatives, that may be ready to build bridges across them to work for common purpose.
I would love to continue the dialogue. In community work, everything is about sequence of building popular support.
I see my role as providing a unifying worldview and concrete action plan that starts with building networks of trust around shared community needs like local food, energy, water, arts and culture, neighborhoods, etc. Economic models will always come about in parallel and as we pave the road connecting the good already happening.
Thanks for being such a light in this emergent field of action.
Wow Jeff, 'endosymbiotic finance' absolutely intrigues me. Is your book on 'MycoFi' currently available to read?
Hey Samantha, the book is currently going to print for it's initial release at an upcoming conference, but I believe there are plans for a second print and digital versions of the book.
In the meantime, I wrote this article as a paper submission on a similar topic:
https://allthingsdecent.substack.com/p/mycoeconomics-and-permaculture-currencies
Congratulations!
Great! Thanks for the link, I'll take a look shortly
Richard,
I listened to this chapter as I walked along the edge of a huge construction project that is transforming an urban canyon into high density housing.
So many of your experiences resonate with my own. You help me find some magic moments during my walk in the San Diego sun. I found yellow flowers blooming out of the trash kicked down the hillside.
I felt the root structures of an old fig tree as I stood on the stump. I glanced up to see a 1000 Teslas waiting to be delivered.
Thank you for helping me find this vein of experience in the sea of mundane concrete.
Keep singing!
Wow that is great to her Dennis! Thank you for sharing your experience.