4opens activertypub activitypub AI blocking climatechaos closedweb deathcult diy dotcons encryptionists EU failbook fashernista fashernistas fashionista fashionistas fediverse fluffy FOSS geekproblem indymedia indymediaback KISS mainstreaming makeinghistory Makinghistory Mastodon nastyfew neoliberal neoliberalism NGO NGOs nothingnew OGB OMN openweb Oxford p2p PGA postmodernism spiky stupidindividualism techshit XR **#techchurn** is the endless cycle of adopting new platforms, tools, and technologies – not because they solve any real problems, but because novelty is mistaken for progress. It burns community trust, institutional memory, and activist energy, while leaving the underlying **#nastyfew** power structures untouched. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=techchurn * * * lly manufactured habit of prioritising personal gain and self-interest over collective well-being – a behaviour normalised by forty years of **#neoliberalism** , where people work against their own community and ecological survival while believing they are exercising “freedom”. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=stupidindividualism * * * In the **#OMN** hashtag story, **#spiky** is the confrontational, direct, and uncompromising tendency within radical movements – the willingness to push back against power, name uncomfortable truths, and refuse to sand down political edges for mainstream comfort. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=spiky * * * **#RSS** is the unglamorous but democratic backbone of the **#openweb** – a simple, open standard that allows content to flow without the gatekeeping, algorithmic manipulation, and the data hoarding of the **#dotcons**. * * * **#reboot** is the necessary reset of the **#openweb** – stepping away from the dead ends of **#techshit** and **#dotcons** to rebuild human-centred, trust infrastructure using tools like **#activitypub** and the **#fediverse** , guided by the **#4opens**. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=reboot * * * **#postmodernism** is the cultural current that dissolved shared truth into competing narratives, undermines the foundations needed for collective action – leaving people fragmented, cynical, and unable to build solidarity. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=postmodern * * * In the **#OMN** hashtag story, **#Oxford** is a grounded example of real-world contradiction – where elitist power (**#mainstreaming** , **#NGO** , **#deathcult**) coexists with genuine grassroots community, making it a test bed for grassroots **#openweb** organising and the **#4opens** path. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=Oxford * * * In the **#OMN** hashtag story, **#PGA** (Peoples’ Global Action) represents horizontal, grassroots, anti-capitalist organising – a prefiguration of the **#openweb** , built on direct action and solidarity rather than **#NGO** bureaucracy or **#mainstreaming** compromise. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=PGA * * * In the **#OMN** path, **#p2p** means people-to-people before peer-to-peer – real human relationships and trust as the foundation that decentralised tech should serve, not replace. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=p2p * * * In the **#OMN** view, **#opensource** is not just a licence – it’s a political commitment to transparency, shared ownership, and community control over code, data, and process. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=opensource * * * The **#openweb** is internet infrastructure built on open standards, open-source code, and community control – where users share power – as opposed to the **#dotcons** , with the #closedweb which enclose and monetise the commons. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=openweb * * * **#openprocess** means decisions and governance happen visibly and participatorily – not behind closed doors, so people can see, challenge, and shape outcomes. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=openprocess * * * **#opendata** means data that is freely accessible and shareable – controlled by communities rather than locked inside corporate silos. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=opendata * * * In the **#OMN** path, **#open** means building on the **#4opens** – open code, data, standards, and process as a foundation for technology that serves people, not profit. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=open * * * **#OMN (Open Media Network)** is a grassroots project to build human-centred, trust-based digital infrastructure on the **#openweb** , grounded in the **#4opens** and focused on community control over technology. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=OMN * * * The **#OGB (Open Governance Body)** is a framework for transparent, inclusive decision-making – replacing hidden power structures with accountable, federated, messy collective governance. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=OGB * * * In the **#OMN** story, **#nothingnew** reminds us that cycles of co-option and failure have all happened before – and ignoring this history is how we repeat mistakes. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=nothingnew * * * In the **#OMN** story, **#NGO** refers to professionalised activism that defuses radical politics – replacing grassroots power with managed, funder-friendly “dissent”. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=NGO * * * In the **#OMN** path, **#neoliberalism** is the dominant ideology of markets over people – normalising greed and eroding solidarity into the logic of the **#deathcult**. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=neoliberalism * * * **#makinghistory** is the practice of communities reclaiming storytelling – building open, living archives rather than leaving history to those in power. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=makeinghistory * * * In **#OMN** usage, **#mainstreaming** is how radical ideas get absorbed and neutralised – keeping the language while stripping out real challenge. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=mainstreaming * * * In the **#OMN** path, **#KISS** (“Keep It Simple, Stupid”) is a political stance against the **#geekproblem** – rejecting unnecessary complexity as a form of control. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=KISS * * * **#indymediaback** is a call to rebuild grassroots, community-controlled media as an alternative to both **#dotcons** and hollow **#NGO** media structures. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=indymediaback * * * In the **#OMN** path, a hashtag is not just a label – it’s a node in a shared political vocabulary, building a map of meaning and direction. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=hashtag * * * **#grassroots** means bottom-up organising rooted in real communities – accountable to collective need, not institutions. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=grassroots * * * The **#geekproblem** is the tendency to replace human trust with technical control – embedding narrow values into systems that shape everyone’s lives. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=geekproblem * * * In **#OMN** , **#FOSS** is a political commitment to collective ownership of technology – not just a licensing model. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=FOSS * * * In **#OMN** language, **#fluffy** describes feel-good politics that avoid conflict – prioritising comfort over any real change. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=fluffy * * * **#feudalism** describes the emerging digital structure where platform owners extract value like lords from dependent users. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=feudalism * * * **#fascism** is what happens when the **#deathcult** drops its mask – authoritarian control to defend failing systems. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=fascism * * * On the **#OMN** path, the **#fediverse** is practical **#openweb** infrastructure – decentralised, federated, and not owned by corporations. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=fediverse * * * **#encryptionist** describes the tendency to prioritise technical security over social trust – a core expression of the **#geekproblem**. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=Encryptionist * * * **#dotcons** are corporate platforms built on data extraction and control, presenting themselves as neutral while enclosing the commons. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=dotcon * * * In the **#OMN** story, **#DIY** means reclaiming the ability to build and organise outside institutional control – grounding politics in practice. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=DIY * * * The **#deathcult** is the self-destructive logic of **#neoliberalism** – sacrificing social and ecological survival for short-term fear drivern greed. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=deathcult * * * In the **#OMN** story, **#compost** means breaking down failure and mess into fuel for new growth. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=compost * * * In **#OMN** , **#closedweb** is controlled, extractive digital infrastructure where users have no power. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=closed * * * **#climatechaos** describes the accelerating breakdown driven by the **#deathcult** , beyond manageable “climate change.” https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=climate * * * **#classwar** is the ongoing conflict between the **#nastyfew** and the communities they exploit – often hidden by **#mainstreaming** narratives. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=classwar * * * **#capitalism** is the dominant system turning everything – relationships, nature, culture – into “profit”. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=capitalism * * * In **#OMN** , **#block** is the reflex to shut down challenge – preventing the messy work needed for real change. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=block * * * **#blinded** is being unable or unwilling to see beyond **#mainstreaming** and **#dotcons** logic. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=blinded * * * **#fashernista** describes performative activism that prioritises appearance over substance. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=fashionistas * * * **#dotcons** are the corporate platforms – Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube and their kin – whose business model is built on harvesting user data, manufacturing engagement, and converting human attention and community into profit, while presenting themselves as neutral public spaces. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=dotcon * * * In the **#OMN** hashtag story, **#DIY** means reclaiming the practical capacity to build, organise, and maintain tools and communities outside of corporate and state control – not as a lifestyle choice, but as a political act of grounding radical change in real skills, real trust, and real human relationships rather than outsourcing power to institutions that don’t serve you. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=DIY * * * The **#deathcult** is the **#OMN** metaphor for the self-destructive logic of forty years of **#neoliberalism** – an ideology so committed to short-term profit, individualism, and economic growth that it knowingly sacrifices the ecological and social foundations that human life depends on. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=deathcult * * * In the **#OMN** hashtag story, **#compost** means taking the failures, mistakes, and accumulated mess of past movements and tech projects – rather than discarding or ignoring them – and breaking them down into something that can feed new growth, treating dysfunction and **#blocking** dead ends as raw material for building better rather than as waste to be hidden. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=compost * * * In **#OMN** language, **#closedweb** refers to the controlled digital infrastructure – platforms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter – built on proprietary code, extractive business models, and centralised power, where people have no meaningful control over their data, their communities, or the rules that govern them. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=closed * * * The **#deathcult** of **#neoliberalism** has driven us past the point where “climate change” – with its implication of manageable, orderly shifts – remains any honest description of what we face now. What we actually have is **#climatechaos** : cascading, systemic breakdown of the ecosystems, weather patterns, and social structures that human civilisation depends on, accelerating faster than institutions built on forty years of market logic are capable of, or willing to, address. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=climate * * * **#classwar** is the ongoing and unacknowledged conflict between those who benefit from and actively reproduce the **#deathcult** of **#neoliberalism** – the **#nastyfew** , managing, and credentialed classes – and the communities, workers, and ecosystems they exploit. A conflict that **#mainstreaming** culture works to render invisible, reframing systemic dispossession as individual failure. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=classwar * * * **#capitalism** is the current common sense – the water we swim in – the economic system that systematically converts collective goods, human relationships, and the natural world into private profit, enforcing this logic through every institution and platform we touch, while presenting itself as the only possible reality. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=capitalism * * * In the **#OMN** hashtag story, **#block** refers to the reflexive, unconscious tendency of individuals and communities to shut down unfamiliar and challenging ideas, people, and processes – a defensive gesture rooted in **#stupidindividualism** and **#postmodernism** that prevents the trust-building and messy collective work needed for real **#openweb** organising. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=block * * * **#blinded** refers to being so captured by **#mainstreaming** tech orthodoxy and ideological “common sense” – particularly **#neoliberalism** and **#dotcons** culture – that you no longer see, or refuse to see, the harms those systems cause or any alternative paths that exist outside them. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=blinded * * * **#fashernista** describes a person in progressive or radical spaces who prioritises the appearance and aesthetic of activism – the right look, language, and social positioning – over the unglamorous, difficult work of actually building lasting structural change. https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=fashionistas * * * If you want, the next step is to cluster these into a clean “chapter flow” (roots → mess → behaviours → solutions) so this stops being just a glossary and becomes a narrative tool. These are the foundation tags – the ones everything else grows out of – the overall project: grassroots, trust-based, human-centred media infrastructure #**openweb** – the political/technical terrain we’re trying to reclam #**4opens** – the non-negotiable baseline (open code, data, standards, process)\openprocess – visible, participatory decision-making as default #**grassroots** – bottom-up power, not institutional mediation This cluster is about legitimacy, if it’s not grounded in these, it drifts into #NGO capture or #dotcons logic quickly. This is the “native soil” everything else either grows from or gets rejected by. The Problem Space (what we’re composting), these tags describe the mess we’re in – the stuff we don’t ignore, but break down. #**deathcult** (neoliberalism as destructive common sense) #**neoliberalism** – 40 years of market logic shaping behaviour #**dotcons** – corporate capture of digital space #**closedweb** – controlled, extractive infrastructure #**mainstreaming** – dilution and co-option of radical ideas #**NGO** – managed dissent and professionalised politics #**classwar** – underlying structural conflict This is the compost heap, you don’t fix this directly, you don’t “win” against it head-on. You break it down, reuse what’s useful, and grow alternatives around and through it. The #**geekproblem** Layer (tech distortions) is where things go wrong in implementation. #**geekproblem** – replacing social trust with technical control #**techchurn** – endless pointless rebuilding #**encryptionists** – over-prioritising technical purity over social reality #**KISS** – counterbalance: keep things simple and usable. This cluster is why good ideas fail, not because the ideas are wrong, but because the tools and culture get shaped by people who don’t understand social process. This is where most #openweb projects die. Cultural/Behavioural Patterns (how people act). The human layer – messy, unavoidable, and central. #**stupidindividualism** – learned self-interest over collective good #**postmodernism** – fragmentation of shared meaning #**fluffy** – avoidance of conflict, feel-good paralysis #**spiky** – necessary confrontation and edge #**block** – reflex rejection of challenge #**blinded** – inability to see outside dominant narratives #**fashernista** – prioritising appearance over substance This is the real battlefield, not tech, not policy – behaviour. If you don’t mediate this layer, everything collapses back into dysfunction, no matter how good your structure is. The Alternative Infrastructure (what we build), are the actual tools and practices that make change possible. #**fediverse** – decentralised network as a base layer #**activitypub** – the protocol glue #**RSS** – simple, open distribution backbone #**p2p** – people-to-people first, tech second #**FOSS** / #**opensource** – shared ownership of tools #**opendata** – accessible, non-extractive information These only work if rooted in the first cluster, otherwise they get captured and turned into another layer of the #**closedweb**. Governance & Process (how we hold it together). Where most projects fail – or succeed. #**OGB** – structured, open governance #**openprocess** – again, because it’s that important #**DIY** – practical ownership and responsibility Without this, informal power takes over. You end up with hidden hierarchies, gatekeeping, and eventual burnout. With it, you get messy but functional collective control. Practice & Direction (how we move). #**reboot** – reset and rebuild from working patterns #**indymediaback** – learning from past grassroots media #**makinghistory** – documenting and owning our narratives #**nothingnew** – grounding in historical cycles This cluster stops you repeating mistakes, without it, every new wave thinks it’s inventing something new and walks straight into the same traps. Grounding Example Layer #**Oxford** – real-world test bed of contradictions #**PGA** – historical example of horizontal organising Without grounding, this all drifts into theory, these are example tags anchoring it in lived practice, where things break, and where they can actually work. The Meta Layer (how to use this) #**compost** – break down failure into growth This is the key to the whole thing – Don’t try to “fix” the mess. Don’t try to “win” cleanly, you compost: bad behaviour → learning failed projects → patterns conflict → structure Final point (this matters) is the mistake people make is trying to tidy this into a neat theory, reduce it to messaging, turn it into a fixed ideology. That kills it, this clustering is not about control – it’s about navigation. The mess stays messy, but now people can walk through it without getting lost.If you don’t cluster this stuff, it turns into a wall of noise. The mess is useful. Process is what gives legitimacy08/12/2025hamish campbell The End of the “Peace Dividend” and the Return of History28/04/2026hamish campbell The Crew – Paths to Growth?29/04/2026hamish campbell

The #4Opens The #dotcons can not be fixed. The #fashionistas who keep flocking to new “ethical-ish” ones are a problem, not a solution. The #4opens are a simple way to judge the value of an “alt/grassroots” tech project.