I don't know how many of you saw this blog, about a letter left by a retiring hedge fund manager, with the delicious title of "Goodbye and F--- You". It is a interesting read in a number of ways. Of particular interest to this community is his suggestion that a worldwide forum, based on the structures used by the Free Software movement, be set up to construct a new system of government. I've included the relevant quote here, but suggest that reading the whole letter might be worthwhile - it certainly made me laugh.
Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man's interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft's near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken.
I suspect that this sort of reference to the ways that the Free Software communities behave and work is going to become more and more common. There are a lot of people out there looking for answers - as the answers they have been used to using no longer fit the questions. Amongst all of the confusion they encounter remarkable products of a completely different model of production and co-operation.
