Ben
Ben Godwin is a freelance graphic and web designer in Austin, Texas. He has been designing for the web and other media since 1999, and is the founder of Ambivert Creative.
He is a synthesist mutualist devoted to promoting cooperation, mutual-aid, community, and self-reliance — toward the goal of moving out from under the state/corporate grid to form a free society within the shell of the old.
By Ben on June 11, 2010
Posted in Communication, Digital, Politics | Tagged audio, commons, copyright, Cory Doctorow, Creative Commons, David Bollier, Internet, interview, NPR, Writers Voice |
Writer’s Voice has released a very interesting pair of interviews about the impact the reemergence of the commons — especially the digital commons — has had on society, commerce, and politics.
Host Francesca Rheannon talks with David Bollier about his latest book, VIRAL SPIRAL. It’s about how the Internet is building a new digital republic. And [...]
By Ben on June 1, 2010
Posted in Featured Posts, Food, Gear, Shelter, Tools, Water | Tagged backpacking, Bob, camping, clothing, fire, hiking, off-grid, sleeping gear, stoves, survival, tents, TEOTWAWKI, water purification, wilderness |
This is another great set of tips from my online buddy, Bob. He is a genuinely self-sufficient soul, living off the grid somewhere on the North American continent.
This time around, Bob discusses the optimal backpacking setup.
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My standard list of backpacking gear has changed very little in the past twenty years.
I favor fairly heavy leather boots [...]
By Ben on May 26, 2010
Posted in Communication, News and Views, Technology | Tagged Bangladesh, bicycle, Gizmodo, InfoLadies, information, Internet, netbook, third world |
Gizmodo’s Kyle VanHemert writes about a simple and brilliant program to bring important information to people who have less access to it — the InfoLadies of Bangladesh:
Many people living in Bangladesh’s impoverished villages haven’t yet been reached by technology. But a determined band of InfoLadies—young women equipped with netbooks, phones, and medical equipment—are delivering technology’s [...]
By Ben on May 21, 2010
Posted in Featured Posts, History, Philosophy, Politics | Tagged agorism, anarchism, corporations, direct action, elitism, eugenics, globalism, incrementalism, Milton Meyer, political activism, politics |
"…The [Nazi] dictatorship, and the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting. It provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway… Most of us did not want to think about fundamental things and never had. There was no need to. Nazism gave us some [...]
By Ben on May 21, 2010
Posted in News and Views, Politics | Tagged agorism, anarchism, BP, C4SS, capitalism, corporations, free market, Kevin Carson, libertarianism, oil spill, Paul Krugman, political activism, Rand Paul, regulation |
Kevin Carson of C4SS has posted an excellent analysis of political/corporate enmeshment, related specifically to the recent Gulf oil spill.
Carson discusses how regulations most often work out to the benefit of the entities they are supposed to regulate, and how such entanglement and backscratching precludes the effectiveness of libertarians working “within the system.”
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Politics as a [...]
By Ben on May 20, 2010
Posted in DIY, Featured Posts, MacGyver, Shelter | Tagged Bob, camping, glue, instructional, makeshift shelter, rope, tarp, teepee, tipi, wilderness |
This is another great how-to from my online buddy, Bob. He is a genuinely self-sufficient soul, living off the grid somewhere on the North American continent.
This time around, Bob breaks down the art and science of building a quick-and-easy teepee (tipi).
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A few days before Christmas I had a sudden hankering for a Teepee. Don’t ask [...]
By Ben on May 17, 2010
Posted in Featured Posts, Politics | Tagged activism, ChipIn, civil disobedience, donate, George Donnelly, legal, support |
We posted an alert that fellow traveler and activist George Donnelly had been kidnapped by state thugs for the “crime” of videotaping state agents as they attempted to intimidate activists who were distributing jury nullification literature.
Fortunately, George has now been released. Unfortunately, he still faces a legal battle. Please go to George’s blog and help [...]
By Ben on May 17, 2010
Posted in Positivity, Relationships, Self-Awareness | Tagged American Indian, children, foster care, Lakotah, legal system, poverty, responsibility, Russell Means, self-affirmation, self-esteem, video |
Russell Means discusses self-affirmation and its importance in retrieving children from state wardship.
Means also talks about the high numbers of American Indian children in foster care, and the plight of the poor in America.
Via the Republic of Lakotah blog.
By Ben on May 13, 2010
Posted in Featured Posts, News and Views, Politics | Tagged action, activism, C4SS, civil disobedience, Fr33 Agents, George Donnelly, jury nullification, politics, prison, state violence, video camera |
JustLive has posted articles written by George Donnelly, and we have now learned that he has been kidnapped by state thugs.
Fr33 Agent contributor, Voluntaryist activist and blogger George Donnelly was mugged and kidnapped by US Marshalls yesterday and is reportedly being held in theFederal Government’s Detention Center in Philadelphia. Please call 215-521-4000 to politely but [...]
By Ben on May 13, 2010
Posted in Philosophy, Politics | Tagged C4SS, definition, Gary Chartier, ideologies, Mike Gogulski, quiz, test |
Center for a Stateless Society (C4SS) has put out a new quiz, meant to serve as a more well-rounded and thorough alternative to many of the other “political quizzes” (such as the Political Compass) that are currently bouncing around the Interwebs.
Mike Gogulski introduces the quiz as follows:
Dear C4SS readers, supporters and friends,
I am very pleased [...]
By Ben on May 11, 2010
Posted in News and Views, Politics | Tagged 420, action, activism, civil disobedience, Free Keene, Free State Project, marijuana, police, protest |
Cannabis Culture tells the tale of pro-pot civil disobedience in Keene, New Hampshire.
The results of these persistent actions are a testament to the idea that ignoring ridiculous laws is far more important and effective than trying to use the political apparatus to change them.
Keene is a quaint little New England town, surrounded by forested hills [...]
By Ben on May 9, 2010
Posted in Philosophy, Self-Awareness | Tagged action, activism, agorism, C4SS, Daniel Worden, equality, personal liberty |
Darian Worden has posted a succinct outline of effective steps anyone can take right now to build liberty in their own lives, and thus to increase the measure of liberty in the world — from the ground up.
Think about what you can do in your personal life to expand freedom – then act on this [...]
