:: democracylab party ::
I ended up scripting this as a solo walk, from my neighborhood (Richmond / Sunnyside) to the Pearl District, taking photos along the way. My goal was the DemocracyLab fundraiser, hosted by a company CFO and board member.
DemocracyLab's new Facebook app, Oregon-focused, made a splash at OS Bridge this year. We were featuring it again here. It back ends into a database at OSU. If enough people use the product, a feedback loop useful to self-governance might start up. Trying this on Facebook in no way precludes other channels. Democracy is robust enough to work multiple angles, fragile enough to need creative and visionary champions to keep it alive.
I needed the long walk to check vitals and think about what's next. There's a funereal atmosphere around Wanderers, fed by the disaster in the Gulf, the looming crises of out-of-control nationalism.
Koski and I have both been posting to Synergeo a lot. We do this as unpaid volunteers, which isn't a boast, it's a scary sign of the times. What are philosophers doing for a living these days? Polyhedra anyone? Perhaps geometrical studies seem too much like fiddling while Rome burns.
Thinking about polyhedra is intrinsic to the rational thought process, would be my response. That probably sounds unwelcoming, like too Apollonian when people are in the mood for "all you can eat" and cheap plastic toys, none of them very challenging or geometrical.
LinZ took off with Trey's bike trailer to seek tomato starts somewhere closer to Forest Grove, beyond the urban growth boundary. Using peak oil unnecessarily is an anathema. "Going to work" should not be an excuse. We self ration.
Birthday planning for youngest daughter... in a mad world. We all seem to be aging rather quickly this year.
