News, Events & Comments

TorontotheBetter recently met in the Kitchener, Ontario market with Matthew Piggott of TorontotheBetter's Kitchener-Waterloo fraternal co-operative enterprise Community Carshare and Tom Slee, author of "What's Yours is Mine:Against the Sharing Economy" (see Friday Jan.27, 2017 book review on this blog) to discuss the opportunities and the dangers of what is now commonly, and misleadingly, called the "sharing economy", that is: materially light and communications heavy enterprises featuring multiple participants.
Predatory, regulation- and accountability- avoiding commercial enterprises like Uber were recognized by all  parties to the conversation as growing threats to community solidarity and there was broad agreement that greater awareness of the social/ethical options available in today's new technologically enabled economic spaces is necessary and possible  through linkages such as the one undertakenhere. That Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada's own technology hub and location of the famously pacifist Mennonite social economy was the site of the conversation represents future hope for a more progressive alignment of the new technology enterprise wave that is transforming economies worldwide. Public presentations on the subject of social economy are planned in the near future to bring these issues directly to a broader local  audience. We seek  partners from communities in Ontario and beyond in this initiative.         

*Tom Slee's book is published in Canada by Toronto publisher BTL [Between the Lines]. For purchase information email postmaster@torontothebetter.net with Slee in the subject line.
*For carsharing in several major cities in southern Ontario see www.communitycarshare.ca.