(A directory).

I always assumed that, when people dedicated their work, they all first finished the thing and then wrote the dedication. That would mean dedicating (say) a book as a finished object; something concrete that one has put together and can be offered with few reservations.

Belatedly I've come to realize I'm not that kind of person, so I find myself dedicating a draft instead. Writing these lines as I write them now means dedicating a set of ideas first, and my clumsy implementation of these ideas second -- the latter amounting currently to little more than my well meaning but lofty aspirations.

It seems appropriate, then, to dedicate this fuzzy unfinished thing to a loosely defined group instead of a concrete list of individuals.

To my friends!

-- Flancian, mostly written 2019-2020 (with only light editing since).

7 -- Open Letter to the Agora

• a [[project]].
  • #go https://flancia.org
  • [[Flancia]] is my top level project as of [[2024]] and since at least [[2019]].
    • It encompasses many levels and tries to describe a large scale vision.
    • It tries to be [[fully open]], [[transparent]], [[ethical]]. [[good]] and [[fair]],
  • [[Flancia]] is also a fiction of sorts that I've been writing.
    • In [[Flancia]] they used the [[internet]] to build a global [[Commons]], and they put it to good use for the benefit of all of [[humanity]] and our [[friends]] :)
  • In Flancia there is an [[Agora]]!
    • #pull As of the time of writing (2024) the [[Agora of Flancia]] exists digitally. You're likely reading this in it :)
    • (If you are reading this elsewhere, try visiting https://anagora.org/Flancia to load this in an Agora context.)
    • I dream of seeing an Agora with a million [[people]].
      • That is approximately 2500 [[bolos]] in the [[Widmer]] scale.
      • Perhaps in the future :)

--

2017-2023

See the writing in https://flancia.org, in eternal wait of being edited into something more legible :) If I don't get there properly before I die, please feed it all into a well-intentioned AI in the commons and make what you can of it, or otherwise feel free to use it in any way you can.

--

2024

For all I talk about the [[Agora]] as of late, I sometimes feel I don't talk about Flancia enough; it is, after all, to help "build Flancia" that I built an Agora -- meaning mine and [[your Flancia]] more generally -- to help advance all projects that are alike in some particular way: projects that are [[free, fair, alive]] and well meaning, which are for the [[common good]] or for the [[benefit of all sentient beings]].

But in some sense I talk about Flancia a significant chunk of my time, as a lot of what I do has to do with Flancia directly and indirectly. And that is very well as I find it.

I am writing these words in early August. I am finding time to work on the Agora, being either writing, meeting people or coding, and that pleases me. This also manifests in some way through Social.coop. My personal life goes well. I feel like my style of living working on Flancia on my free time is sustainable and enjoyable. I remain committed to the original plan as drafted (however imperfectly/under-edited) in my diaries at https://flancia.org.

I hope to work on the Flancia and the Agora and dedicate myself to others as I can until at least [[2030]] as originally considered, maybe [[2040]] if I live longer, perhaps even until [[2053]] or later if I'm really lucky :)

While I do so, I strive to maintain a sort of custom [[Bodhisattva]] vow.

• a [[poem]].
  • Flancia,
    • o por el bien de los [[seres sentientes]]!
  • Flancia es una épica: la historia de cómo les humanes vencieron a Moloch.
• a [[book]].
  • You're currently reading it.
    • This section is in [[Agora]] Protocol as it is to be meant within the [[Agora of Flancia]]. Feel free to ignore any symbols or words if they distract you. It is fine not to assign them meaning, in particular at first; words should be enough to understand Flancia.
  • Flancia is a book about a [[place]].
    • In [[Flancia]] there is an [[Agora]]. You've found an Agora, so you've somehow found Flancia.
    • In the [[Agora of Flancia]] maps of [[Flancia]] are [[free]].
    • #pull https://flancia.org
• a [[place]].
  • a [[protopia]]
    • It exists, in a way -- it exists in my [[mind]].
  • Perhaps the world after the [[flancian revolution]] or a similar world changing event.
    • The world of the [[flancians]] could be said to be similar to ours, the result of evolution over a material reality that sometimes allows for things to be made better with the application of effort towards the achievement of an [[incremental improvement]].
    • Flancia is, I believe, a place that exists in our hypothetical shared future.
    • You could say Flancia exists in the [[multiverse]].
• a [[project]].
  • [[go]] https://flancia.org
  • I am a [[Flancian]] and this [[Agora]] contains my [[manifesto]].
  • Flancia existed before the Agora but is, I believe, defined in the limit by how the [[Agora]] is put to use towards maximizing [[thriving]] for all [[conscious beings]] via the incremental unlocking of [[public utility]] and the practice of [[altruism]].
  • [[flancia collective]] runs the [[reference agora]].
• a [[set]].
  • of [[people]] and [[things]].
    • (in it there's an [[Agora]].)
  • [[music]]
  • a [[playlist]] https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtG4zc89ZUfH9QoPh2vTP9CgeSK92lEXq
    • [[spotify]] https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5rzXx4oiIVfegouK9DtcdC
    • [[yt]] https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtG4zc89ZUfH9QoPh2vTP9CgeSK92lEXq&feature=share
  • [[gather]] https://gather.town/app/QIOAg71FojwJ7clE/flancia
  • [[chat]] [[flancia discuss]]
• a [[book]].
  • Just kidding. A [[draft]] really.
  • Some possible titles:
    • Flancia, or [[with a little help from my friends]].
    • Flancia, or [[my favourite things]].
    • Flancia, or [[building bridges]].
    • Flancia, or [[an open letter to an open society]].
  • [[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1298701482997538822
  • [[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1298708974364024832
  • [[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1355193365046898689
  • [[flancian]] https://twitter.com/flancian/status/1373677818312278016
• a [[repository]].
  • #pull [[flancia git]]
  • #git https://github.com/flancian/flancia

So, yeah, I want to have that [Agora]. Flancia should have it, you know. It's a fictional place, like I said; this is a work of fiction. You got it? This is all hypothetical.

So MediaWiki could definitely be a serviceable Agora, right? People know how to use it. It's easy to set up; you can do a lot with "just a Wiki" because it's a framework, not only code but also conventions. A lot of things can be modeled with a Wiki. And it's so easy to set up -- I'm a geek. "In the old days, I could have set up a LAMP stack and a Wiki on top of it in 1h" is something that a less concerned with cringeness version of me could have uttered. I'm rusty but it shouldn't take long. And then what, you might say. Then you have an empty wiki that nobody uses.

Exactly! That's the beauty of it. It's there, it exists -- there is an Agora. People could use it -- they might not. But they could. So I posit that it exists as a place, here in the internet, where so much of our lives happen nowadays. We do spend time in other social networks -- a lot of people do, anyway. People could choose to spend their time in this other social network. Do you really need 2h of Facebook and Instagram in your lives?

Can't you do with 1h45m, really? You can't think about other stuff, the things that interest you, start a new hobby of sorts? Spend 15m here. You don't even have to post anything. Just think.

You are an entity that exists and is aware. You can think of anything, any time. You can decide to do stuff, just stuff in this place, whatever you want. The internet is this amazing place; never existed before. Our society will continue to be shaped by it; it must be; it is clearly powerful.

And we could do anything with it, if we put enough time on it.

What should we do next?

Next up: ?.

Plan

• A [[thing]].
  • A plan for an [[agora]] and what we could do with one, leading to what could be a better [[future]].
  • [[pull]] [[agora plan]]
  • [[pull]] [[flancia plan]]