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In order to understand the complex world emerging around us, it is necessary to have a grasp of the ecological concept of "carrying capacity." This post explains this crucial concept without letting the mathematics distract us from the important points.

Title: The Five Commons - An invitation to 21st Century wealth-generating ecologies
Authors: Paul B. Hartzog, Sam Rose, Richard C. Adler
Web: The Forward Foundation http://www.forwardfound.org
License: Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike
Ref: FF-2010-4-19

Introduction

 

The Five Commons constitutes an evolving vision of the emerging 21st Century economy. Each of the five commons represents a key area in which transition is apparent.

 

The Forward Foundation hopes that by sharing this vision, people will find clues and insights into new ways of structuring human activity and sustainable living.

 

The Five Commons ( http://forwardfound.org/blog/?q=five-commons )

Two future forces, one mostly social, one mostly technological, are intersecting to transform how goods, services, and experiences—the “stuff” of our world—will be designed, manufactured, and distributed over the next decade. An emerging do-it-yourself culture of “makers” is boldly voiding warranties to tweak, hack, and customize the products they buy. And what they can’t purchase, they build from scratch. Meanwhile, flexible manufacturing technologies on the horizon will change fabrication from massive and centralized to lightweight and ad hoc. These trends sit atop a platform of grassroots economics—new market structures developing online that embody a shift from stores and sales to communities and connections.

Download PDF:
"Future of Making" Map [SR-1154] http://www.iftf.org/system/files/deliverables/SR-1154+TH+2008+Maker+Map....

IFTF Post:
http://iftf.org/node/1766

The long tail is famously good news for two classes of people; a few lucky aggregators, such as Amazon and Netflix, and 6 billion consumers. Of those two, I think consumers earn the greater reward from the wealth hidden in infinite niches.

Kevin Kelly -- 1,000 True Fans