Empire and Creativity

Why we need a new global Magna Carta. Curiously placed essay (the World Economic Forum's magazine) by two of the global left's most militant figures, Antonio Negri and Micheal Hardt. This piece - mostly hard-headed geopolitics - might seem far removed from play.

But the authors' ambition to bring the poor of the world into our systems of productivity and creativity is shared by The Play Ethic: what's the widest circle of players possible in a world society?

Priorities such as eliminating poverty and absolving the debts of the poorest countries would not be acts of charity, but efforts aimed at realizing the productive potential that exists in the world.

N & H also remind us that "productive potential" needs what I call the "grounds of play", and what Larry Lessig would call an "innovation commons" - ie, structures and resources that we all have access to, in order to generate mass creativity. As they put it:

Another priority would be reversing the processes of privatization and creating common access to necessary productive resources – such as land, seeds, information, and knowledge. Making resources common is necessary for the expansion and renewal of creative and production potentials, from agriculture to internet technologies

Is this foosball in the boardroom? No. Is it implicit in the idea of a play ethic? 'Fraid so.