I feel similarly, Pieter, when I see a hard-libertarian rhetoric in DIY. There is a risk that people can jump from "I can DIY" to "Let Them Eat DIY"*, and that can allow you to ignore the responsibility that humans have to one another.
I've written on resilience-through-DIY before:
https://www.indiebiotech.com/post/diy-biosynthesis-of-insulin-and-thyroxine-disaster-resilience-and-personal-biotech/
But the idea was never that "we" should not make every effort to bring lifesaving medicines where other people need them. The idea was to offer a Plan B when we as humans fail in our duty to others, and they have no other options.
Now more than ever it should be obvious that a callous attitude to the less fortunate just permits their oppression. I don't support the SJW / "Shame All Rich White Males" meme at all. But I do think we should be comfortable talking about the politics of making. Being able to devote time and an educated hacker mindset into making stuff is not something everyone has the luxury to do, but that's easily forgotten.
* If you didn't get that, look up "Let them eat cake"
Today I wrote a blog about what has been bugging me for a while now. The "DIY" narrative of self-sufficiency and independency is somehow being hijacked by extreme protectionists and nationalists.For example, the DIY antibiotics project (BioStrike) that I've been working on for a long time to bring across the urgency of the antibiotics , can be easily used as an excuse not to invest in antibiotics development. You can "Do It Yourself" right?Have we becoming the advocate of our own antagonist?Here's the full blog: http://waag.org/en/blog/diy-maker-movement-being-hijackedIs anyone on this list confronted with similar situations? In the US you've got Trump, in the EU the Brexit, and with elections in about a month we've got plenty of trouble heading for us over here as well.This whole "[Country X] first" and "Buy [Country X] Made" ideology has too much in common with the "mind your own business" interpretation of "Do It Yourself". I've got the feeling that the pretty DIYBio code-of-ethics is not going to cut it in the big picture. We need to do something.Anyone interested in joining a more explicit statement on the indispensable necessity of collaborations, open attitude and reciprocity in the DIY movement?
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Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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