Community survey:tool to see what other community members think?
Hi Dante,
I think it’s up to you to make a case for ER being ideological or not, I am not so interested in refuting that (although i don’t think a lot of people here claim to know how the society should be organized!). I think the diversity of individual approaches is what makes us unique. Don’t know if you’ve seen this community survey, learning where each of us wants to see Edgeryders going could help answer some of your many questions. As with most things, i don’t think it helps to keep what we want at theory level, including governance systems, unless we’re ready to put in the work to make it happen. Anyway here are my views on the many questions you ask. If they are rhetorical, simply ignore the below 
You ask: Is there anything like “Edgeryders”, or is Edgeryders just a forum ?
Who should answer that? I don’t know. For me it’s a community and I build narratives around it, and the results show me that it’s in fact a community (good, healthy relationships and collaboration around common goals being key). This doesn’t impede you from relating to is as with any other forum.
Example of narrative: “A community of like minded people experimenting with radical solutions to environmental, social, economic, political crises. ER the social enterprise was founded to keep the community going & growing and collaborating, and support community members in their endeavors”
Example of work that proves it: Organising & pulling off a great LOTE3 with no money and all of us volunteering, except 2 Dutch ppl who got funded because of the social enterprise which was fundraising with minimum resources.
You keep refering to an indistinct “we” and an indistinct third person.
“what are the ideologies being pursued?” , “how can we defend ourselves”
If different groups interacting on the Edgeryders forum have opposing ideologies, strategies, goals, and if one group or set of individuals uses a panel of individuals and projects to promote projects with opposing ideologies, how can we defend ourselves from such political recuperation ?
–> so far when there was opposition to something it was solved through arguments (see Eimhin opposing funding from Rockefeller-> more than 1 person wanted to apply for that, so it just happened: https://edgeryders.eu/comment/5832#comment-5832
I remember one of the initial approaches of Edgeryders was to study the youth, and their dynamics:
I also see the potential of a public relations / tokenism ( taking a minority ? ) approach by certain institutions, as to show they are actively adressing certain issues. All this may have contributed to the financing of a small group of organizers.
-> the number of words like “potential”, “certain”, “may have” is making me miss your point entirely, I’m sorry.
what are some of the organizers turning to, to get funding ? How are the people who converge and interact through Edgeryders being used ? Are we becoming the product that is being sold ? By whom ? And for what interests ?
–> who’s we? well it turns out many of us - enterprise founders, members, users etc are chasing funding because we think we can make a living out of being part of Edgeryders community and collaborating. And that’s become clear with the Hire Yourself session at Lote. As for the Edgeryders company selling something without your permission, please refer to the Legals page … hope it helps.