Free Culture means:
Freedom to:
- Access technology, information, and culture.
- Share ideas and perspective.
- Contribute to the greater spectrum of knowledge.
Freedom from:
- Subjugation, manipulation, and exploitation.
- Harm caused by pollution and destructive environmental practices.
- Taxation without representation.
The following educational resources can serve as a framework to understand aspects of our culture and the intrinsic/perceived freedoms involved.
Online Books:
New Community Networks: Wired for Change by Douglas Schuler
Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig
Free as in Freedom by Richard Stallman
Free Online Courses:
Open Learn: Crossing the boundary – analogue universe, digital worlds
Subject matter selection:
The Free Culture Curriculum requires a broad area of study. The following items explain the necessity of exploring various aspects of our knowledge and technology.
- Digital Communications: Technology is enabling knowledge, emotions, and ideas to be shared on a global scale. It is important to understand the processes and principals which underlie our communications infrastructure.
- Environmental Studies: This is our only Earth. We have the responsibility to protect our Earth for every living being and for the lives to come. We cannot let greed and it’s symptoms such as consumerism, as well as destructive technological and manufacturing processes destroy our environment.
- Journalism: Journalists know the importance of Free Speech, which is a constitutionally protected freedom. The journalistic process is an intergal part of the Free Culture Curriculum.
- Logic and Reason: There are many detractors of efforts which benefit the general public, rather than a narrow minority. These detractors have historically created confusion and fear in an effort to stifle our freedoms. We can use logic and reason to dismantle their towers of rhetoric in order to retain control of our cultural landscape.
- Software Libre: Meaning “software which is free, as in Freedom”. Software Libre has demonstrated the benefit of knowledge sharing and the rapid evolution of our ideas which occurs as a result.
- US Constitution: We must understand the protections provided by the US Constitution (and other international constitutional laws), how these protections can evolve to encompass new technologies, and how to protect our freedoms against tyranny and corporate subjugation.
- Writing: It is important to be able to express one’s ideas accurately. Writing is necessary in almost any career or pursuit.
