why does this matter?

when the focus is on the thoroughly debunked view that "all people" are a certain way, prone to overconsumption and "rational self maximization", you're not only wrong but also impotent. there just isn't much to do. if the problem really is "human nature" then we're cooked and may as well give up.

if we accept instead, as I'm pointing out, that projects with aspirations of egalitarianism and freely shared resources can succeed but *will come under external attack by the forces of capital, the state, and the defenders of hierarchy* we are not only in alignment with history but we are no longer helpless. we have something to defend, something worth fighting for.

in the history of anarchism this defense manifested as militias. I don't know what the equivalent is for foss, the open web, and open computing in general, but we should probably figure that out.