The Whole Earth Catalogue.

[Kai]

Apparently this was Steve Job's greatest inspiration.

Now, you can read the whole of all the issues online, so I've paged through a bit of the first one. What's surprising to me is that the purpose sounds very discordian; irreverant, anti-authoritarian, and geared towards self discovery.

We are as gods and might as well get used to it. So far, remotely done power and glory--as via government, big business, formal education, church--has succeeded to the point where gross obscure actual gains. In response to this dilemma and to these gains a realm of intimate, personal power is developing--power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested. Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG.

I'd love to hear some opinions about this, especially from Cramulus. It reminds me of Angel Tech (in some ways), probably because it came from that generation of the 1960s and was steeped in that culture.

[Don Coyote]

My mom still has one of those.

BIG FUCKING CATALOG!!!!!

[Cramulus]

Just flipping through this, it seems like the sort of thing I'd love to have on my coffee table.

McLuhan, Buckminster Fuller, Organic Gardening... I'm having a hard time deciding whether the Whole Earth Catalog was ahead of its time, or it just seems that way because it's suggesting ideas that we still need.

I like how honest the copy is. In one of the book reviews I just skimmed, the writer suggests that if you can read it with an open mind, you'll get a lot of good ideas from it. But if you read it looking to nitpick, you'll get lost in the tiny flaws and errors and miss the overall point. Which is a really odd way to sell a book!

But then again... they're not selling books, are they? They're pointing you at things to research on your own. The forward even mentions that some publishers don't want to be associated with the Catalog. So this really isn't a commercial catalog, it's focused on "selling" good ideas. That really is quite refreshing.

Over the last few days, I've been thinking about The Great Solution we're all hoping for, and what it could possibly look like. In the Occupy thread, I was talking about how the individual can put pressure on these gigantic conglomerates. And the key, I think, is in becoming the market for responsible commerce.

Getting down to brass tacks - if what's wrong with the 21st century is that our primary relationship to our society (as individuals) is not one of citizenship but consumerism, then hell, I hate to say it, but maybe that's where we need to start.

We need to express a real demand for green industry, responsible commerce, global awareness. We need to raise awareness about the machine behind the curtain and help people vote with their dollars for what kind of world they want to live in.

The Whole Earth Catalog seems to be pointing in the right direction. It suggests that the correct way to encourage pro-social ideas is to pay for them. If tons of people suddenly start buying books on organic gardening, then the market will respond to that desire with appropriate products.

I can dig it, Kai!

[Juana]

Oooh, thanks Kai! I'm really liking what I'm seeing!

[Kai]

Just flipping through this, it seems like the sort of thing I'd love to have on my coffee table.

McLuhan, Buckminster Fuller, Organic Gardening... I'm having a hard time deciding whether the Whole Earth Catalog was ahead of its time, or it just seems that way because it's suggesting ideas that we still need.

I like how honest the copy is. In one of the book reviews I just skimmed, the writer suggests that if you can read it with an open mind, you'll get a lot of good ideas from it. But if you read it looking to nitpick, you'll get lost in the tiny flaws and errors and miss the overall point. Which is a really odd way to sell a book!

But then again... they're not selling books, are they? They're pointing you at things to research on your own. The forward even mentions that some publishers don't want to be associated with the Catalog. So this really isn't a commercial catalog, it's focused on "selling" good ideas. That really is quite refreshing.

Over the last few days, I've been thinking about The Great Solution we're all hoping for, and what it could possibly look like. In the Occupy thread, I was talking about how the individual can put pressure on these gigantic conglomerates. And the key, I think, is in becoming the market for responsible commerce.

Getting down to brass tacks - if what's wrong with the 21st century is that our primary relationship to our society (as individuals) is not one of citizenship but consumerism, then hell, I hate to say it, but maybe that's where we need to start.

We need to express a real demand for green industry, responsible commerce, global awareness. We need to raise awareness about the machine behind the curtain and help people vote with their dollars for what kind of world they want to live in.

The Whole Earth Catalog seems to be pointing in the right direction. It suggests that the correct way to encourage pro-social ideas is to pay for them. If tons of people suddenly start buying books on organic gardening, then the market will respond to that desire with appropriate products.

I can dig it, Kai!

Thanks Cram, I love your insight.

[Bruno]

A friend of mine who is pretty much a bona-fide hippy just started using the internet about 5 years ago.

He once showed me an old WHC he had and told me "This was our internet".

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh, man, I used to love those things when I was a kid!

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

My mom still has one of those.

BIG FUCKING CATALOG!!!!!

Son-of-a-hippy....mine too!