An old (but young) friend of ours, Jared Duval, has just published a new book that will be of interest to people trying to figure out how to organize in this internet age.  “Next Generation Democracy: What the Open-Source Revolution Means for Power” ably describes some of the work we’ve all done at 350.org in the past few years, as well as other experiments.

It’s good reading for a season when we’ve all suffered some political setbacks—it reminds us that the tide of history runs strong enough to overcome many obstacles. Here’s Jared from his blog, http://nextgendemocracy.com

"Many of the assumptions that led to a clear division between citizens and elected officials no longer hold true. Compared to the late 1700’s we now have incredibly high literacy rates and access to education. And with the great invention of the 20th century – the Internet – we also now have near instant and increasingly widespread access to information and communications costs are nearing zero. Altogether, the prohibitive factors that once prevented citizens from effectively playing a more direct role in government problem solving efforts are disappearing."

It can’t happen a moment too soon!