Hi everybody it's Sam at Mixed Up Craft thank you for watching my tutorial today I'm really excited to share this absolutely stunning very pretty gift bag or gift box or storage box it's entirely up to you how you want to do this it's using some dies from the new car baking magic collection and again that will all be shared below and I'll show you it in a moment but I the main focus is this window and all the stamps and dies are from the collection as well but I just as soon as I saw the window I thought I needed to make some kind of little house you know I love to make these kind of things I have a whole playlist of buildings and you know you could use this kind of style on any of those really that I've shared there but few of you recognize like the roof effect that's kind of my go-to I really like this style and look at the side here it's lovely you've got this trellis you've got the little milk churn you've got the planter and then I've got like a tree coming down that's the look you've got the little hanging basket these do actually they're real shutters as well so they do close but because I've got the window basket there or what's it called your flowers window flowers and then those there it does kind of stop me folding it flat but you can if you want to and then you've got all these lovely you know stamps and dies here and then on the top I've just stuck a big bow and I've used some bunting which is also part of the collection but I've just fastened mine with a velcro dot I did originally go to do a ribbon with the holes but then I thought no I'm going to do solid candles you can see you've got lots of room inside now this one is a sample and I got so attached to it I thought I'm going to make myself another one so before this one gets posted I thought I'd do this tutorial and make one for myself too I think I'm going to keep some of my ribbon scraps because I do like to keep I don't like to throw you know things that aren't quite big enough to maybe make a bow but their great is like little just decorations on things so I think I'm going to keep them in here but I'm also going to extend the side so I'm going to give you the measurements for this exact one because some of you you know might want to either this size will work really well for you and I'll put them in my blog but I'm also going to do today's one's going to be four inches wide rather than three that's all that's changing and I think the height will be slightly different but you'll still get this same look but of course you don't have to have the handles at all you can just have it as a really pretty box and I just think it's gorgeous so yeah let me show you how to make it okay so these are the dyes that I've used here so I've kind of used a bit of a mix so I've used these sprigs here to create the kind of tree branches which are these big ones here okay so pick that one up there you can kind of see a bit better and then I've used this one here I've used the trellis the milk churn the little kind of vase there the basket and then lots of these little sprigs the you know the planter these little ones here the grass just to build up the scene this is the window one okay it's really nice the beautiful day window die sets that's it is the province collection that's what I was trying to think of earlier you've got all these little sprigs and more grass there but you can also this die here allows you to actually put it over the actual window part and you can open that as well so you can have the shutters and the window open but I've just done the shutters and then this is a birdcaid one which was there for some reason but that's also there but you may well have already seen that if not there will be you know tutorials coming with that no doubt so I've gone ahead and already done the roof so you'll need two of these pieces which I'll give you in a moment if you want to make this same one click on this playlist here and it will show you how to make it I don't want to have to do you know that again in a video when I've already done it before so just head over there but alternatively you can add some you know roof looking paper you know you can get all your kind of wood grain papers and things like that you could certainly put something like that on there and I keep saying it but do head over to mixed up crafters facebook group if you haven't because lots of people have made these kind of buildings that I've shared and they you know they've used papers and stuff to create their roof effect and they look really good so and these are all the bits and pieces and that's the time consuming part but that's the best part for me and that's all the detail the actual box itself is very very easy to do so if you want to do the one that I've just shared there you're going to need two pieces of nine and a quarter by 12 inch card stock and you want to score along the nine and a quarter side you want to score it five and three quarters and eight and three quarters and then along the 12 inch side you want to score at three and ten and then you'll want two pieces of six and a half by four for the roof and you will score along the four inch side at three quarters okay so that's the measurements there I will write them down and you can revert to that if you want to do that thinner three inch width but today I'm going to do mine in four because this is going to be more of a storage piece and again if you do want it to be storage I'm only putting ribbons in mine so it's very lightweight but if you are going to put something heavier because this would be great to put a nice mug in so you might want to use it for like a mother's day you know gift bag if you have got heavier things I would say just line your base maybe with a piece of grayboard or just some thicker cardstock layer up a little bit okay so you're going to want two pieces of cardstock that's 10 and a quarter by 12 along the 10 and a quarter side you want to score at five and three quarters and nine and three quarters the reason I've done it that's slightly you know some of you might think well why didn't you just score at six it's because I'm using that window and I didn't want that bigger kind of gap either side so you know lots of you out there that know how to make your boxes you can you know and I know lots of you will you can make this you know any size you want but that's why you know I do these things sometimes it depends on the dies that I'm using and then along the 12 inch side you want to score at four and 11 okay so do that on both pieces and then for the roof I think this is the same size as what I've mentioned for the other one anyway so I would have already said this but you want two pieces that are four by six and a half yeah it's the same and along the four you want to score at three quarters of an inch do that twice I've just rounded off the corners there with my corner rounder and then I've only done this on one because that's all you're going to see you know the back is the back if you do want to do it on both if you are giving it as a gift to someone then I would say do both but these are one inch circles I've just punched and I punched 50 okay so you'll need 50 for each side and like I said head to that video and you'll be able to see exactly how to do it it's very very easy you just trim off any excess on the side so you get that really cool effect okie dokie so let me just get rid of the scoreboard so with the two pieces that you have of this you just want to fold and burnish all of the scorelines and then you just want to cut up so you want the half inch tab on the right hand side okay and you're just going to cut up the first scoreline to the first scoreline there and then the next scoreline again just cut up like so remove that one completely and then just take a wedge off of that one okay and then I'm just going to grab my other scissors and then I'm just going to take a little wedge off of that one and then if you go along this top piece now if you cut down the other scorelines again to the first scoreline that's so and then remove that little piece altogether take a little wedge off of there just tidy that one up a little bit so and then I'm also just going to remove the scoreline from this piece here just to tidy it up I'll just get rid of all of that okay so that's what you will have and you will need both the same all right so that's two pieces I don't think I've scored no I didn't burnish those scorelines there there we go okay next we need to attach these so I'm going to grab my glue and along one of the tabs here I'm just going to run some glue and then I'm going to pop this one over the top and just focus on that base scoreline down here and then just make sure the rest all lines up okay and then flip it over fold in one side folding the other piece with this tab and again just add some glue and then just stick stick that one underneath again hold that all in place okay and then this will be the top which will all make sense in a moment so this is the base so I'm going to decide you know what one you want to be the front or the back and they're going to put down this one first of all I'm going to add some glue onto the back of this side piece here fold that one in and then again add some glue fold that one in and then finally add some glue on this one and that one over and then I'm just going to grab my ruler and just go in there and just spread out all that glue and this is where you can now cut a piece of cardstock if you might want to cut something so I would say if it's a gray board go a little bit shorter you want to maybe do three and seven eighths of an inch by five and five eighths maybe cover it with some pattern paper or something and you can sit that inside I'm using the collage so again it will strengthen that and that will just give you a nice sturdier base if you are going to put you know a nice gift in there like I said a nice mug heavy candles you know some drink maybe then you know that will then help hold that all together but now I think that's all looking really good although it looks like it's going off slightly but my measurements are all spot on and it's fine when I lay it that way I think it's my mat like I said I have tried to flatten it a little bit but okay so now that's that so next so the side pieces are just going to go in like that they don't really do much that's it because you're going to attach your your roof to this but it does keep the shape and I would say you know just put some tissue paper over the top of whatever it is that's going inside but for me it's a storage piece I'm not too worried but this is now going to attach onto this it's going to act as a hinge okay so what I would say is that it's up to you how much you want overhanging okay so I'm going to have about half an inch overhanging not including the scalloped edge it's just that cardstock about half an inch you see there goes focusing now okay that's what I'm going to stick so you want to add some glue to this piece here do you want at a time because you're once you've stuck one down you can use that as a guide for the other one and what I would also say is if you are going to put handles on it put both of them together now flat mark where you want your holes to go and hole punch it now before you put it together but like I said I'm not going to do that today I'm just going to put a Velcro piece and dot there and then seal it so this is the front so I'm going to bring this up and you want to make sure you've got even you know amount overhanging each side and then I'm just going to kind of make sure it's nice and straight if you would rather draw a line you know half an inch up here straight along and use that as your guide then you can do but I'm just going to turn it up like this and I can see there that is nice and straight okay so that's what you want to kind of be working towards and then you can just kind of bring it up and just really stick all that down and then if you grab your other one again just pop some glue on here and then with this one I would line it up with this one first of all and then bring it down so you can make sure it's all straight so you know your overhangs the same on each side I need to bring that along this way a little bit yeah so just make sure it's straight you can you know lay it down like that and with your ruler you can measure from the bottom down so it's saying six and a half and then here oh it's a little bit higher so I do need to just pull that down just a little bit so yeah straighten it bang on six and a half and that there is bang on six and a half I could probably just go down a smidge and I've got about half an inch overhanging there as well okay so use a liquid glue because it gives you that wiggle room and the clouds great because it does give you a bit of time and then yep it will dry extremely hard but now that lines up perfectly there once I add the velcro dot and we've got a really cool roof okay so play around with how like I said how much you want to overhang you may want to shrink yours down you might want quite a cute little cottage you know but because I'm using this window that's why I've gone with those sizes and that proportion so I'm going to use my velcro dot now because it will just keep everything square and easier to decorate so I'm just using these ones here and this is the 15 16 mil so I'm going to pop one in the center there and then again line up one of the ends first of all and then that and then just squeeze it in the middle and now if you want to use velcro dot you can and if you want to use magnets you can do but these are so strong and they're not too bulky you can see there cool right now it's down to decorating so that is it it's really easy to do with the window kept it in the die for the minix it will make sense as to why because I'm going to do holographic on mine because you know it's my favorite cardstock so I've gone ahead and die cut one in white okay just straightforward white cardstock and that one's done then I've also gone and cut a piece of cardstock that is two by three and a quarter that's if you're using this die but the whole process you can do on any dies you've got I've then gone and die cut it in the mirrored cardstock but I've kept it in the die because what I'm going to do is I'm going to add glue to the back of this okay because I want to add like a you know you know when you sometimes if you're walking past a house and the sun's shining on it you actually can't see in the house you know there's just the glare from the window from the glass and that's the kind of look I was trying to recreate is that you know kind of mirrored look because that's what it looks like sometimes you just see yourself back in the glass so that's why I use the silver on the other one and then I'm going to use the holographic on this but you could also use a dark gray or black because again if you you know I'm just looking out the window now and actually when I look across other houses it's just black so but you might find black a bit too harsh you could then go for like a gray or as I've done on other samples and things I've used yellow you know just because it just looks pretty so it's entirely up to you but I've just covered all of those pieces so now I can push this out and all the pieces will stay attached which is what I want I don't want to lose that detail okay and now all I need to do is stick that one over the top and it will give me that window look looks really cool really like this one but I'm going to use my other glue just because it's got a fine nib and I wouldn't usually use I'm just thinking actually I think I'm going to no because this is this is sticking fine but I would also say maybe if you don't want to use a liquid glue on mirrored card use a very thin red tape you can see here this would fit perfectly along the frame and just along there and stick it that way but I am just going to add a thin amount just along the side just to tack it in place and then I just need to line up this piece right over the top like so I'm not going to fiddle with that too much more now I'm just going to leave it like that but I think it looks really really cool okay then what I've gone and done is I've die cut four of the shutters okay you can see how they're going to work and like I said they really do work they've done little score lines here for you to create that opening and closing looked them but what I do want to do is with these ones here I've done it just to give it strength but also so that when you do open them you see the nice kind of shutter detail because that's how it will be but if you did want to close them up the back side isn't you know it's not that great but if you just cut the hinges off of one piece and stick it over that one you can see now it will open and close and you'll have that pattern on both sides so I'm just going to stick this down okay and then we're using this die here you just want to fold over on the score lines so I'm going to do that one and then that one so you will have little hinges and then I'm just going to add a little bit of glue onto the very end ones and I'm just going to lay this down and this piece will line up perfectly with this piece don't ignore like the the windowsill there it's just the actual main frame that you want to line up and just stick that behind you can see there it lines up with the bottom of the actual window frame it's that one and then again the same with this one that dry a little bit more but you can see how cool does the shutters look now so while that's drying this one here creates your little flower box and you just again you want to follow the score lines on the the die and you'll be able to make all of those out again if you have this one you should have folds there and there and there and there okay and then on the bottom you should have two to form the base so you do only have a smaller area to glue but it's enough because to get it into its shape because then you're going to glue you know or add glue to everything else to attach it to you know whatever it is you're sticking it on to I'm going to do one at a time so you just want to kind of just square it off there and just stick that little corner down so you can see how it's forming the little flower box there on the front or window window box window flower box what's it actually called I think that's what it is so I'm just going to grab I need something to be able to kind of put a little there we go so just put my bone folder in there just so I can apply a bit of pressure just to actually stick that down so now you can see the corner on that one and then that one there I can just again just make sure you keep it at a nice right angle like so and then what we do is wear glue on that and that will attach itself there looks really cute so now so then I've got these trellis pieces I've done two just because I liked two on top of each other it's just to add a tiny little bit of dimension and you know completely optional but I did like it so I'm just going to run some glue all the way down there this dries clear so I'm not too worried I'm not doing every bit I'm just going to do actually I'll do one strip through the middle there and then I'm just going to sit that one right over the top just give just gives it a little bit of strength really so now I'm going to stick the window down just get that all in place and then everything else I'm going to put on high speed and just yeah decorate it and we're done finish it with a nice bow and it's going to look lovely so I'm going to use some glue here I'm just covering all of the center there I'm not I mean if you do want to stick the shutters what I have done another I'm on another sample for a card is I put some foam on here so that they were still kind of lifted away from the card but I'm keeping these completely open so again you kind of want to it's up to you where you're positioning it but I'm going to go about there looks nice and straight I've got equal amount you know showing on each side there you know just use your ruler just making sure so you're looking at two and three eighths two and three eighths push up a little bit there we go I think that looks lovely and then you can close it right up like so just need to square it off a little bit once you kind of get it in place like so and it opens up a bit cute I love it there we go and then that one there I mean well did I do it under the other side I don't remember sticking yeah I think I did actually so I'm going to I'm just going to add so you want to actually put this on first as well before you stick that down let's just come undone there for some reason yeah so I'm just going to peel that off again because I've used that Kalao I've still got some time so I'm going to just add a little bit of glue onto the back there and there and stick that in there you only want it to come down to line up with the actual windowsill like so so it's lined up with this piece here so you want the shutter to still be able to close all right again that's if you want it to you know work that way I'm just going to put a little bit more of this on it's still quite tacky but just to make sure so yeah if you are using again this die you you might find it easier to actually put the flower planter on first fit right next I'm going to stick all of this down so I'm going to follow the design on this one here because I do really like that I love that I've got my groupings I've realized I haven't done one of them so you'll see that in the photos I just need to stamp and color one separately I've stucks the bunting along there I'll pull out a bow but yeah it won't take me long to do at all I've got a nice little orange gingham bow on the top there I just thought it looked super cute and you've got the bunting I will do the hanging basket but also what I've done on this one here if you look there you'll see that they're kind of folded down completely optional but because I wanted to hang the hanging basket I just thought they looked yeah quite cool just kind of bent over on the you know the end of the card underneath and you get to kind of appreciate the the detail a bit more you see just by folding it down and then you can attach things quite easily onto there if you want to also I didn't show the stamp set that I actually used and that's this one here so you can see like this one here like the herbs I guess is that one there's the hanging basket and then all these ones are here there's the planter which is around the side and then the smaller plant pots which I've used here and then the rest of die cups but you've also got like the ivy you've got again some more ivy trim so you could stamp that onto the house because you could certainly stamp onto this say it's white before you fold it and put it all together so um you got one there as well you could stamp and then have the hanging basket from there so you know there's lots of um you know ways to to change it up but I just I love it so now you can see the difference in size so that's the three inch wide and that's the four but the the measurements for this one will be in my blog and also if you do want to have the handles these are just what have I got here um five eighths of an inch by the length of a four which is about 11 and three quarters okay but again you can have them obviously you know however you want them but um I put them in that position because originally I did have holes there but then I changed it so it's again that's all up to you fabric handles are really nice as well but I think they are adorable so I'm going to fill that up with some my scrap ribbon pieces and just enjoy it because I just think it's really really cute and then this one here you will no doubt see on social media over on craft stash and on Hachanda when they launch the collection so um or it should already have been out now but anyway um there there it is so I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial I've thoroughly enjoyed making this one I just think it is super cute I want to go and I want my craft room to be in there that'd be really nice so anyway thank you for watching and I'll be back again soon with another tutorial bye


Good morning everybody. Thanks for inviting me Indeed I'd love to speak with you today about the question How we can change the actual the operating system of businesses and the economy Because somehow, you know, you you probably also sometimes have this feeling, you know We hear we hear about climate crisis. We hear about global Corporations that are so powerful that even states can't really regulate them. They evade their taxes They go to Cayman Islands with some of the feelings, you know, we need more rules We need to somehow get these Psychopathic companies into cages and make sure they you know, they don't behave bad And I would like to ask the question is that actually this this approach that we've taken as a global regulatory society Is that actually the right approach? Can we tame animals that are actually like in their DNA? Built to do something that we don't want. Is it actually possible and to to build more and more regulatory cages around these companies or do we actually maybe Have to ask a question whether it's possible to change the DNA of the company itself to change the operating System of the company the core of the company and what is the core of the company? What's the core of capitalism itself? It's ownership. It's private ownership and so that's what I would love to talk with you about and To start with that I have to make a confession. I Am a capitalist myself. I'm an owner. I Started my first business when I was 16 when all my friends had girlfriends. I fell in love with my company and You know, it's it's so it's I Think there are many owners amongst you.  Not not nobody, but you there's a clear definition Who is responsible and that's what I love so much to be honest of private ownership and I don't want to abolish it And it's kind of very strong identification. However, it also became clear to me and I think it's it's very very clear today There's a problem and we we definitely have a problem at the moment and the question is, you know What how can we how can we change it without? Without throwing away also the benefits of ownership and for me It really became apparent what the problem with ownership is when I Visited the hospital of my father. My father managed a hospital for for many years And it was always, you know, I came there as a young As a young child very often And I really enjoyed it there very warm atmosphere very nice, you know, very kind employees The patients were very very nice organic food. It's very good until one day and I Wondered what happened and the thing was the the hospital was sold once twice eventually three times to a big public stock market company and Each investor had to pay a higher price for the hospital like paying a higher price for the houses that you buy And so each time a higher price and what happened They each time they increase the pressure on my father and the hospital to increase to increase the profits in Order to pay back the high price they paid So they forced my father to outsource the kitchen to a low quality provider They forced him to fire half of the doctors and to cut and they cut the time allowed to spend with patients so Suddenly you had unhappy employees unhappy patients and this hospital was part of a big a big global gigantic corporation that manages 70,000 hospital beds over all over the globe and and Decisions were now taken 2000 kilometers away in Paris in a headquarter by people who have literally never been to the hospital They don't know what is needed there, you know, they they don't know what it means when they order from 2000 kilometers away to cut for example and to know when they order doctors to spend no more than five minutes for a first conversation with patients You know these guys in Paris they They just know one thing they have to produce better numbers Otherwise, they are fired and what and I I try to find out who these guys are and I try to meet them because it really drove Me crazy when I was young what happened there with the hospital and what drove me even more crazy I met them and you know what they're good people. They have They have organic food in their fridge, you know, it's not They're not that they don't try to ruin the world They are driven by others by anonymous shareholders by anonymous stock markets or to be more precise by algorithms and high frequency trading computers that we have That we have in the meantime Invented that do 99% of the stock market trading today and that sell and that sell Ownership in nanoseconds and so these people Cannot feel responsible for the company like a parent They control the company But they're not connected to it, you know, these people are they are not real owners I would say I would I would actually claim the kind of stock market economy that we have today abolishes The real ownership. It's not owning and it you cannot you know, I cannot say they are owning it They're just controlling it. So actually what we've done there is is Abolishing ownership itself and all the benefits and now the interesting thing is if you go and you know I wasn't satisfied with these guys who said well, you know, I'm sorry. We have to do that Otherwise we're fire and I cannot pay Pay for the rent I Said okay, but who's who is who's doing that to you? Well, you know markets funds, etc. And who is in the who's investor in the funds and then you can ask and ask And and in the end you maybe you come to a fund manager who says well I have to invest only this way otherwise I'm fired and then you and then you ask yourself who who are all the investors and the interesting thing is Here that's the graphic that I found where investment capital on the stock market lives It's 87 percent of all the money on the stock markets is and that's a scandal It's really a scandal. That's you and me That's all of us. That's pension funds and insurance companies. It's not the rich. It's not the super rich Yes, they also have 4% on the stock markets, but it is us Western half rich You know, we're also compared on the global level We are also all Belonging to the richest 10% of the world and we are the ones that own the companies We have created a system that takes our money and uses is it against us That's the scandal and you know when when When I when I realized this this this really the scales from a fail fell from my eyes and realized you can Ownership somehow has has a double face, you know ownership The legal invention this cultural technology that we as humanity invented 2000 years ago ownership ownership can create really strong responsibility, but at the same time It can destroy responsibility It can create something which I would call absentee ownership or maybe you it's not even worth to call it ownership Maybe it's just absentee control That's it's the same technology that that someone creates this responsible and destroys it And so for me really the question was For my company, but also in general, how can we? Heal the idea of ownership of of of responsibility of empowerment and The good news is there are a lot of very interesting Companies out there that have found ways to heal ownership and one of the guys who found a way is actually this guy It's Ernst Abbe he was the co-owner of Zeiss Zeiss is a big German company 70,000 employees and He lived 130 years ago They invented the microscope and today, you know no Smartphone or tablet could be produced without Zeiss laser and optic technologies. So it's yeah their world market leader in their field and This guy he was a professor and he invented a microscope and he was actually also co-owner He had all reasons to say well, this is my company, you know, and it's my success Without my invention the company wouldn't be that successful. But he said actually, you know, is this actually my success? It somehow feels wrong, you know, yes, I invented the microscope But there were generations of other researchers and scientists before me who have built a lot of Research on which I could build up and then do this this invention that was a breakthrough breakthrough for Zeiss and also all the employees in this society did That actually built this company and I the law gives me the absolute right to own everything to take everything But is that actually right? No, he said that doesn't feel right Somehow I need other ownership structure I need to make sure that the company is is Somehow self-owned or owned by the ones that actually active then so what he Back then chose as a and it was an innovative thing He didn't know how to how to decomodify his company he didn't know how to to Make the company or structured in a way that it wouldn't get absentee owners but real Identifying stewards who felt stewardship for the company. He didn't know that there were no legal forms for this But the good thing was because he was an inventor. He also invented something there He used the legal form of a foundation and to native the entire company to this foundation that was the first foundation on company in Germany and was enormously successful survived several political system the systems and if you ask the employees there and I visited them a lot They're saying well, you know, it's our company. We know We're working here not for the private pocket of somebody else But actually for the purpose of the company and we know the assets of the company are locked they cannot be taken out the company is decomodified and and We know the control of the company the steering wheel is always with people who identify with the company with with Stewards now I did a little research on whether there are other companies around in the world that are similarly structured And I found quite a lot and one is probably known here in the UK. It's John Lewis You also have Mozilla Firefox and you have many others their big automotive suppliers like Bosch and Mahler They're structured like this and all in a very different way You obviously, you know John Lewis more under the term employee ownership and that's true and at the same time It's different than usual employee ownership because all of these companies are In their DNA in their structure They are making sure that two principles are really met and I walk you through these principles One is self-governance So they're making sure the majority of the steering wheel or the majority of the voting rights Sorry, the steering wheel of the company is in hands of people who are connected to the company who are active in there maybe This doesn't mean like you know in the case of John Lewis. That means all 70,000 people or employees and our partners In other cases, it's not all the employees But it's very clear you can only be connected to the steering wheel of the company to the governance If you are connected to the company you cannot sell it like like a pair of shoes as you can with stock market companies So that's the one principle that they all Adhere to and the second principle is what I would call the purpose principle or more technically an asset lock They're all locking the assets and saying Yes, there will be some profits distributed maybe you know to investors or employees But the wealth of the company itself the assets cannot be privatized. They're locked They are there for the purpose of the company. Why because Well, the company itself Exists only for a purpose to create certain value for the society It's not an instrument anymore for Accent the owners who use it as an instrument to generate more wealth No, the company itself is as a group of people working together for a purpose And obviously that means that we that the owners are not wealth owners But steward owners stewards who are studying the company and so also in the case of John Lewis You know that if you are not working there anymore You have to give back Your your voting rights because only those that are active the stewards actually holding it in the asset lock make sure The stewards cannot just you know one day decide well, actually, let's just sell the company like You know that happens a lot with employee-owned companies in in the US That in the US, you know every year a lot of employee companies are Generated but the number of total employee-owned companies in the US is not growing Why because every year the same number of employee-owned companies are sold again because one generation of employees says well We don't feel as stewards anymore. We're not stewards. We're wealth owner Let's just sell this stuff and we become all millionaires great, you know So that's that that's what happens when you just when you just try to realize the first principle self-governance just give it to everybody without the second principle deco modification of the company if you don't use If you don't deco modify if you don't put an asset lock in place You're just replacing the I would say, you know an absentee owner driven capitalism with a capitalism That's driven by a herd of employees who see the company as an instrument to generate more profit for themselves So that's why these two principles are so important and that's what I would propose and what we propose to Name steward ownership because you are steward or Colin Meyer from Oxford He says it's it's trustee ownership because you're a trustee. Maybe that's in the UK a better word for that now Is it actually? Well, what is trustee ownership? It's I would say it's breaking with With two old counter technologies that we have that usually Decide who governs the company like the typical cultural technology This that decides who who gets the company is of course money, you know If you have seven billion on your account at the moment, it's very cheap to buy the Deutsche Bank They're they're quite cheap on the stock markets You can buy the majority and you can do whatever you want with it You can create a green bank out of it because the control is it's Biable by the high spirit very easy cultural technology how to allocate Ownership and how to allocate power. So it's a power and allocation mechanism that we have in in capitalism Money equals power very simple and the other mechanism is also known to all of us Of course, it's inheritance, you know, if you are happy enough to be born as a son or daughter of An entrepreneur. Well, you can just then blood is the other one or as Warren Buffett puts it The lottery of sperms decides who is actually Getting the power now steward ownership is breaking with both of these principles and both principles might have a certain Justification and there are definitely companies then that can work or that can that are successful also with the other Principles so the principle of blood is of course the family-owned companies family-owned companies are Have used the allocation mechanism of genetic Genetic relation or blood to ensure That always the next owner is selected and the other ones are of course the companies that are bought and sold and with steward ownership We replace this cultural technology actually With ability value alignment as well and with involvement in the company So it's just a new principle that replaces blood and money and I have to tell you I studied in New York and I studied these kinds of companies and my professors Said well, I mean, you know, it's very nice that you are studying this romantic European ideas But this cannot work, you know, this this cannot work. Why very easy very easy because what are you doing? You are decapling what always needs to be together in capitalism. You're decapling money and power You are saying there are people who are steering a company who are not at the same time Holding the wealth of the company. Why should somebody wake up get up in the morning and Work for a company if he or she is not doing that for his own wealth All these like Bosch for example, which is structured like this these guys from Bosch will you know You'll see they die very fast and You'll see that the funny thing is the reality proves them wrong because as you know the average The average lifespan of an S&P 500 company is 17 years and Bosch is 130 years and in 130 years history they had how many CEOs seven and If you look at and the good thing is in Denmark we have more than thousand companies that are steward-owned because they have a better law and We have very nice studies on them For example this one that shows, you know, this the red line is a normal owned company The blue line is foundation owned or steward-owned companies here You see the firm edge in the survival probability and you see after 40 years The steward-owned companies have a six times higher survival probability. Why? Because the steering wheel is in hands of people who are not interested in the shantung profits They cannot extract the wealth for themselves. They're steward-owners, you know They're interested in the mission of the company itself. Otherwise, they would go away. That's a good selection mechanisms You know only if you're intrinsically motivated you will stay because that's the only motor that still drives you so that's and there are many other nice studies which I cannot cite today because it's it's too much employees stay longer and Also managers stay longer there and they get more money and whatever and very important Divorce rates is lower if you work in this company So if you if you want a long-term marriage, you know work in a student on companies, that would be my advice Now I see my time is almost up. So unfortunately, I cannot go into details how you can do that today and Also without setting up very complicated foundations because we I Wanted to do this of course myself and the the problematic thing is all our legal forms like, you know the limited company They were invented 130 years 150 years ago In is in an environment where people started companies in order to get rich very simple And if you now want a steward-owned company and you use this legal form it somehow Makes you wealth owner if you want it or not and by the way also with a co-op You can the co-op doesn't have an asset lock But you can change the co-op the limited company and others with a very simple hack and maybe you allow me to quickly At least give you a glimpse into the hack and the rest I will tell in the workshop I'll give later and what I did with my company is I said okay, you know I created a share class which I call the steward chairs. They have 99% of the voting rights They control control the entire company, but they do not have dividend rights They do not have the right to extract assets from the company and I said to my employees on my colleagues Well, you know, this is how we promise that the company is actually steward-owned and now in order to make sure that We as stewards owners cannot just wake up one morning and say well actually you know the company is so much Worth we want to sell it We are we want to Commodify the company again. We said okay We need a hack We need somehow a way to promise to the entire world that this company will be a steward-owned company And we cannot just you know one day change the charter again and make it a normal company And that's why we said okay We need we just write these Principles of steward ownership into the charter and we say these principles can only be changed with a hundred percent majority and 1% we give into a foundation We started a foundation for that purpose foundation that has not that has just one goal to veto any attempt To decouple to commodify the company again so in the charter of the foundation that's the that's the goal and now this foundation has dozens of veto rights all Of the world also in the UK by the way, we have companies that are using this model in the US and Netherlands and Germany and Finland and So on and all these companies who sent representatives to the board of the foundation So in the end what this is is nothing then we call it a layer in our own jurisdiction It's our semi-state Because the state doesn't offer a legal form of steward ownership yet We create our own one and we are all citizens of the purpose foundation state and if really something changes Like blockchain will rule the world and we don't need a little legal forms anymore We can govern in the in the government in the governance of the foundation the entrepreneurs And in consensus can change it by the way investors can also invest in these companies how that is done You can see in the workshop or These are example companies. We cannot go through this so purpose What I wanted to say is here you can download a book of hundred twenty hundred twenty pages for free Around steward ownership how to do it with your own company how to take investment in what kind of tools of investment are still possible How do you convince a VC to invest in such a company and that? What other examples of companies are there? What kind of other models besides what we call the golden share model what kind of other models trust model? Or purpose trust model foundation models and other models are out there. That's all in the book You can download it for free. I have three printed copies with me first come first serve and And otherwise, maybe I can just tell you that it is What really makes me positive is that there are so many entrepreneurs out there That are saying we start a company not in order to get rich primarily, but to change the world With purpose we started to help these companies. We built an infrastructure for student companies We we do a lot of like non-profit work to like write these books We have this golden share service or video share service We do a lot of consulting and we have raised to investment funds that manage in total 50 million Euro and Which is only and primarily invested in steward owned businesses Startups and also larger companies that are saying we want to become steward owned But one of our investors blocking it. Can you buy him out or can we somehow manage something there? That's what we can do with our funds, but also in the startup sector. We are helping a lot of very interesting startups and And when we're and Yeah, and that the events that we're running now are that's just why I'm so positive about it now You know, we started in event in in Germany and Berlin we said why our self-owned companies needed to unpack the economy and We thought maybe 90 people were registered and we had 1,200 people registering and we just did it again and again and now the next one is end of November and after five days It was we had already 1,500 people registered for the event so we see there is a there's a big need or a big movement for that and and it's so inspiring to see when these entrepreneurs who could earn Millions by just selling their companies And I deciding no I'm not doing this like you know an entrepreneur with big search engine in Germany 10 million users that search engine that plant plant trees Ecosia he could sell it for hundred million He said no I make it suit on with the golden chair model and the moment he did it You know, you can look into the eyes of all the stakeholders of the employees What that makes if a person who could every single second? put a signature Below a treaty and then they would he would have hundred million on a bank account If such a person says I'll not I'll do I put one signature Below a treaty that will forever prevent me to do that again This company is cell phones not my private asset anymore that has such a magical force because suddenly we all know We're actually working for a purpose It's not just the Apple recruiting video saying come here change the world and we know we're actually working for shareholders No here We're actually working for a purpose and in a world in which 80 percent every year again and again in the Gallup Poles are saying 80 percent of people we we either we we work only nine to nine to Five without emotional attachment or we have internally quit already 80 percent You know so many people that get ill I would say because we live in an economy because they spend most time of their lives In an economy without emotional attachment without purpose That's I think a clear signal where we see okay if we change that if we can change if we can really bring Purpose into the lives of all these people then We can actually change society have a healthier society and also an economy that runs on a different operating system Thank you very much


Or, you have requested that I explain a little about my journey in the yoga of Serabindan the mother. So, this yoga started in Spain, not in India. I was part of a group that we are trying to practice yoga in the west for many years. There have been plenty of people that have entered in contact with the yoga. Normally it is hatha yoga and then I was going to an school that was in my city, Pamplona. It is in the north of Spain, in the Pyrenees, in Nevalé, a very cold place. Then we were a group of people interested in starting to practice hatha yoga. That was the main idea. I was going there by medical prescriptions because they were telling me it will be very interesting for you to practice yoga. But I have had all my life a very strong inclination to the philosophy. Then I started to study the philosophy behind the hatha yoga, why these practices, what they want to achieve. Then I realized very soon that there were a number of schools with very different orientations in practice. Then I started to look for books connected with yoga that could explain to me a number of things. Then in my past I was involved in politics for 15 years. I was part of the revolutionary movement in my country that wanted to put down the dictatorship of the general Franco. At that time he was alive, was fastest dictatorship and then I started fighting against that situation. Then there were moments during that fights of a lot of stress, nerves, it was difficult to keep that fighting going on and for that reason the doctors told me it will be good that you start to do this practice. They will help you to keep your mind calm and they will help you to calm yourself and all these things. So one friend that was with me in all these underground movements at the beginning in Spain and then we were fighting in the open with big strikes and we were organizing plenty of things against the dictatorship. One friend of mine gave me a book that was published in Spain at that time. It was in the year 1985. And in this book there was a faqir in the presentation with the legs up. But in the back part they were explaining this is a book that is writing by Esero Vindo. Esero Vindo was revolutionary, was in jail, was, wow, I connected immediately with this and I was thinking, well if somebody can explain to me very well but the young guys is probably this person. So I enter in the book, I started to study and was a big surprise for me in a number of things. I was attracted by the writing of Esero Vindo, his thinking was very remarkable thinker, was very original for me at many levels. Many of the things that he was explaining was having a big impact in me. But at that time I was completely attached. I was young and I have been for a number of years completely attached. So the first conflict with Esero Vindo is when he was explaining where was the base for all his experiences and from where they came in. He was starting to speak of Raman, was starting to speak of the spirit and I was in full revolt against these ideas. And I remember that after all the working and doing plenty of political activities I was going home and I was in the bed I was taking the book and reading. Then I have to recognise that at that time even I was thinking sometimes when I was reading some of these pages I take the book and I thrown by the window that was open because it was for me a very big contradiction to find this kind of expressions the references to the divine and I was for me it was like step back again in something that I was experimenting when I was a child I was educated as a Christian, Catholic Christian and I have some negative experiences always with the charts with all these ideas and for me it was like to step back at the beginning. But little by little I entered in the book more and well that book was called in Spanish guía del yoga integral that was a selection of letters of a heroine and only with that book it was a I have an enormous impression on me it was shocking me and at a certain moment I realised I was like cheating me because I was not accepting things one part of my personality but others part have accepted fully I discovered this in one moment and well then at that time also I was thinking if I enter in this all my life will change and I was even in the revolutionary movement I was well established I have my friends I have all my references we are connected with that and I knew that if I enter here I will have to change entirely my life and I was not really also for that so this movement took time for some months finally I finished the book convinced that the poetry I have been describing was Honest experiences of him and was opening a new world for me so with a group of people in that school we started to read the books and to have discussions we were a small group of five, six persons in that group I have an encounter with a person that is my wife today and then we become closer and we started to live a new life together and very focused in the yoga so I was starting to to have a growing interest for all the philosophy of esero and everything I started to look for more books then we discover supreme and then we in some magazines in Spain there was a special issue dedicated towards communities in the world and then in one of them appeared Auroville when we read the article about Auroville then we saw for the first time the photograph of the galaxy I remember this impression when I saw the photograph I thought but it was not even thinking was something coming out of me telling this city is at the same level than the philosophy of esero it was a very strange impression so at that moment when we discovered this article those three or four pages describing Auroville we decided that we will come to visit India and visit Auroville because one thing are the magazines they can tell you very beautiful things sometimes but the reality many times is very different so we decided ok let's go and let's see by ourselves what is Auroville so this we did the first trip in 1988 the first trip I did alone because Anandi was not in conditions for coming in that year was having the mother very sick and died when I was in India so she decided to stay there and then I came and I contacted Auroville was a surprise because in the 88 Auroville was very little developed and Matemander was one person working with the hammer I was here in one and everything was like that so the impression was shocking for me because I was expecting that the city will be more more developed at that time and then at that time also they were discussing that it was the possibility that the government of India will recognize the Auroville Foundation Act still was not approved but they were discussing because they were concerned about the situation at that time and that it was very difficult and they didn't have any kind of recognition and they were concerned and all this and that probably the government will do that at that time also there was only one Spanish person in Auroville that was called Saranam passed away some years ago only one then I contacted her and I requested of course all kind of papers, documents to give me all that you can she was working at that time in the laboratory of evolution and then she gave me a big chunk of papers and with these papers in the suitcase I came back to Spain and then I told to Anandi everything and then we decided to come back the next year together so we came back and then we contacted again Saranam and everyone that we could at that time Anandi was faster than me and she told me well I think that this place is made for us and maybe we should think about the possibility of coming forward to Auroville she took the decision very fast I was still with many doubts mental doubts and many things at that level the decision was taken by both we will we will prepare we are coming to Auroville we realize that Auroville was not in conditions to give us anything at that time because it was very limited and very in that whatever we could do we should do it with our own means so for a number of years we were involved in saving money and to have the possibility to come to Auroville and well to stay for one year at least and to cover all our expenses and all this this was made possible only in the year 1995 then we came we started to work as a new commerce and then we started to work in Matrimandir we work as a masons in the staircase putting these pieces of marble and it was a very delicate work we have no idea of working as masons but ok we learned and then we started there and it was a very beautiful experience for us to work in Matrimandir for almost one year and to experiment the Matrimandir in death was the first step in Auroville and I am very grateful for that experience and then at the end of the year we started to think what will be our field of activity in Auroville we started to think ok we are going to remain here so in which area which group which will be the best then at that time we have a contact with the person close to us this person we were doing duties in the Matrimandir in the afternoon in the ramp at that time the Matrimandir was not finished and then we were doing the duties there sometimes they treat together this person that was helping us to be introduced in Auroville and both of us one afternoon we received the visit of a journalist that was looking for this person and then came from the ramp until the entrance and then asked for this person and then they have an interview and then this person started to speak against Roger Anger against the galaxy, against everything we were quite shocked for hearing all this and then the interview finished the journalist was asking what is your opinion about Roger because at that time if he will settle in Auroville or not and what will happen with all the plans of Roger and then this person told look the basis that Roger goes away he has nothing to do now in Auroville this dream of the big galaxy city and all this it was in the past now we have a small community and we are not interested in doing this also we feel that he was not here during the number of years and we are not interested in this person coming back for us was a big shock because we were reading we came I will not say well prepared but we came prepared we have written a number of things and then the galaxy well we were having by the way the photo of the galaxy we were having in the chimney the galaxy photo for us was always a reference for us Auroville was that and then to have even this presence in all our normal life was important so for us this experience was shocking painful so we were not aware that many things were underground in Auroville at that time and then we started to realize little by little so we decided that we will go to Auroville future and then we will speak with the people there we speak with Luigi we knew Luigi and then we asked him what is happening in Auroville we are hearing this the other day happened this and we were completely shocked Luigi was the person that was central person in Auroville's future the office of Roger and was helping Roger in the first years to come back to settle in Auroville and to develop of course the city and then she told us that look there are many people that want the city they have developed the green areas of Auroville was a small community I don't know how many people were at that time little and some of the green belters didn't want the city because they were thinking that the thing was finished now we don't have the international dimension that Auroville have in the times of mother all the sources of money has been possibilities of growing have been finished now we have to develop whatever by our own means and then they were very practical and then these big dreams were not in their mind the same was happening with the architects the majority of the architects at that time 95 were against Roger listen we contact for example anupama I think in those years and she was telling us the same many majority of the architects don't believe that the realization of the galaxy is possible and also we don't want a dream that doesn't belong to the 90s it's in the 60s so after these conversations we decided that when we will finish or work in matrimony the first year we will start to work in our own future both of us because for us both the galaxy both an integral part of the vision of the mother and to mutilate that part will means to mutilate a very important aspect of the vision of the mother so our own future at that time was a very small office there were only 3 persons working there and Roger was going back and coming to our own was always because most of his creativity was prepared when he was outside he was in Cal and then who could prepare plans for the future and then when he was coming he and Jacqueline his wife were coming with a number of plans that they were preparing in France and then they were showing us the new plans so in our own future we spent 10 years and then my wife was organizing the administrative part and I was involved in the development at that time we started with a small group that was the building applications to build permissions and then Roger was checking the plans and was telling yes or not then the next step was also to participate in the development group because at that time we were discussing the possibility of having a proper development group in Auroville and the relation with Roger it was conflictive because some of the people some of the members of the development group at that time were thinking that the galaxy was not possible and it was a big vision that was not possible to realize now in Auroville so we started in any case with the development group and working in our own future looking to those years respectively many times we have spoken that these years even with all the difficulties because when we enter in this office some of the people some of the friends that we were making in Auroville and a number of people that we knew some of them even stopped to say hello to us and all these things they were creating a space of we don't want to recognize you you are in the wrong place but are you doing wrong so it was difficult for us until certain extent and then we started to work and we started to in that position to become even stronger and stronger ourselves and then we were lucky and then we started to prepare some projects and those projects were followed because a moment in Auroville future some years ago very interesting was the possibility of doing some big plans and then was the moment that we realize what is called today the the town hall the town hall is not the proper town hall it was a building for development but ok as we put all the services together at that time everything was very expressed in Auroville all the working groups the financial service was in Kulapallayam the other group was in kids in very bad conditions so our dream was if we could put all the working groups together in a building and imagine we need to go to the financial service and then we go one floor down and everything is there we don't need to take the motorbike and go to I don't know where so that was our dream and this was realized the funds we did a very big project with the European Commission Asia Arts and our group was reinforced with more people and then we did the town hall we did a number of big activities in Auroville at many levels we reinforced the services of Auroville with a number of helps that we receive at that time it was a very interesting moment and then we remember those years as the golden years for us the presence of Royer was very intense we have many fights at that moment with the community at many levels many people were refusing whatever plans Royer could bring we started our own house in a line of force and again big controversy in many people signature campaign with 100 people again within the first line of force we built a very small part as a research we were attacked from many sides so it was very difficult in spite of everything the presence of Royer but he was bringing the connection with the original vision of the mother I think Royer was transformed for all the years that he spent with the mother was transformed at many levels and it was very interesting to be with him frankly so those years also were very conflictive because within that time we have the big fight of the matrimandir how to finish the matrimandir and then we were in the first line defending Royer defending that the matrimandir will finish according with the ideas of Royer and nobody else and we have like the situation today one year of general meetings and assemblies and discussions to the governing board speaking with the government and coming back at that time we have the presence also in Aroville that's very important the presence of Kiritwai was the chairman of the Aroville foundation was made the chairman and then Kiritwai was another big personality I have known only two big personalities of Aroville I have been for 27 or 28 years I don't know two big personalities that were above the normal Arovilleian standards one was Kirit was above clearly and the other was Royer and in those discussions the attitudes the vision of Kirit was we have to help Royer to finish the matrimandir this was the vision that he took in the middle of all these controversies also and was very important for Aroville because with the weight of the chairman of the foundation and all these things Kiritwai had many people that were were smiling him were in contact with him for many years and then the opinion of Royer was very important and I think that this was a decisive decision to finish the matrimandir according to the vision of Royer ok, so it was finished and all of us we were very happy with this the next episode the next chapter is that then we started to discuss the possibility of making a master plan in Aroville because we didn't have the basic documents for the city and all these so we started to prepare the master plan curiously enough in the year of my new comer period when all these stories started and I was receiving messages from all sides then I wanted to discover what was the opinion of the mother and all these with respect to the city and so finally I went to the archives and then in the archives was the general Tebari that was very kind with me and he told me ok all the things that are here you can come, you can study you can examine and then between the papers I discovered what was called the first master plan and in Aroville future they were telling me well we have a first master plan that Roger made for the mother directly in the 70s or 67 sorry he made this what has been lost we don't have in the office and then I discovered this document in the archives and then I remember that when we started to discuss the master plan and I told them well these document is in the archives I will do a photocopy and I will read to all of you and this happened and was the first document that was taken as a base for preparing the master plan later on so the master plan was another difficult exercise was two three years of discussions and all kind of things finally we sense the community was ok after two three years the main groups of Aroville were telling through all these laborious and difficult process ok we agreed with this draft of the master plan we agreed you have our approval at that time even was not voting in Aroville now is very much infasiom but I have to say in those years I remember very well that we were telling we should not enter in the trap of democracy we should go discuss at that time was quite relevant the concept of consensues we should try to find what is beyond the democracy system and voting and separations and then some people win some people lost and the democracy also has been criticized and then I think at that level we were closer to the original vision let's see we can find something that go beyond the normal systems of democracy in the western country we have had for two thousand years with the Greeks so something beyond that and then all the groups at that moment they started to give support to this and I remember that in one moment we have a meeting the most difficult part was the green belters but the green belters will say they will oppose they will and then through a number of people that were intermediaries between the green belters and the oil future office and all this finally they say ok we are also in agreement with this let's prepare the paper and then we will present to the governing board and to the government of India that moment I remember for me was a moment of release of hope I was thinking well now again of this number of years I think was in 99 when the first master plan was approved so all the difficulties of the past will disappear will be a moment in which all of us we agree with this document we will work together we can go fast towards the future and then again the galaxy will be manifested wow very happy all of us it was received like this unfortunately after the approval because also there were some presions from outside at that moment was not an exercise made without presions external presions were coming to Auroville at that time with the lands what is today the I don't remember the name botanical garden was taken by a person that was playing with the lands and doing business typical and they after they sell the land to us with big benefits for them and everybody was feeling this that the presion the surrounding presion of Auroville was coming to Auroville we were acting fast we will lose even the lands so was and that was we can say the facts that influence very much for us to do this exercise also of the master plan well after the approval of the master plan we were interiorizing the concept that also this can be very important because the two two conflictive aspects who are societies today the green aspect environment and the wilderness the people that we want to develop we can find a common ground a common vision everyone can put the best to integrate the two perspective in only one plan this was the entire idea the entire concept so was we were full of hope for the future soon enough we started to discover that the green beltes were planting trees in areas that were designated and they knew very well for construction and they were planting trees the middle in the ground for example then I was part of the development group at that time and then was the secretary of the group so we call the people of the green belt I remember Glen came and we told him well you are planting the trees out of the areas delimited for for you so this can bring problems in the future when we need to cut it is going to be again so please remain in your areas and not go beyond that well the answer of Glen and we have the records this was that oh look in the future when the development come we don't know if it will come we don't know but at that moment we will cut the trees no problem we will have timber right and at that time we were having discussions in the development group that maybe even will be good to plant all the big areas all the residential zone was without trees in many areas the villagers around this they don't see very positively that the lands remain there for years and years without any kind of activity without any kind of things so the idea was present that maybe we should plant everything after we cut and then we could use all this wood for construction for doing plenty of things in there that was the discussion and then we developed this that after some years in the development group that was a lie a conscious lie this I discovered last year in the 2021 and then okay we say okay let's see we will go at this level and please in the future don't create problems with this fine so they started to plant everywhere and they planted intercity practically over all areas that they knew that could be utilising in the future I think that they planted even more and with good species that after will be very difficult to cut and all these histories at that time we were trusting we didn't want you see one of the always the critic to our oil future the galaxy was that we were very rigid that you are dogmatic you are rigid you are all kind of things so at that time we were we have some members I have to say in the in the oil future at that time that were a little good inclined to okay let's avoid conflicts we have a lot so let's work together okay we trust in the good will when the time comes these people will react well and then yeah it's like to give something a trust in them we will do but have to be done in our will also always everybody is telling that without good will we will not go very far so okay let's be goody goody and then let's approve this even if we don't agree completely but let's try that they will do the necessary when the times come so after all this when the master plan was approved the matrimandir was almost finished I remember one meeting with Royer visiting the matrimandir the area and all this still many things even today are not completely realized according with the plans of Royer and he told us well I think that my work is over, finished I have finished everything we were looking to him with surprise still there are plenty of things that can be done even in the matrimandir there are many details and many and he started to say no no I think my time is over I think I have done in plans everything that has to be done and then I will be more relaxed and this relax if I remember well the times because it's a little confused after one or two years Royer pass away I think that Royer was like sometimes come to my mind these mayes of runners that they are running and then they see that the meta is there to arrive and then with the last forces with a lot of efforts they arrive and they fall when they have crossed the target something like that and then well Royer pass away and then it was a very question big mark what will happen in the future Royer was a force and was a decisive force in some moments in the life of Royer in those years for example I remember when we started with this big project of Asia arts and then Hitler's ok let's start with with the administrative area in the center let's start the project all this was oriented to start with something that the galaxy is central all the administrative area in front of the matrimandid in all these things then at that time was a moment after Royer pass away was a moment of confusion also many people in Aroville saw the opportunity to to change the people that were supporting Royer for many years and then after some episodes and then another group of people came new new planning offices came new people and we then came people that they never supported the galaxy they never supported the main ideas there was a group of architects that never accepted this even I have seen them in videos speaking oh we love the galaxy we love this aspect the other aspect and at the end you remove all these aspects and you don't have a galaxy so it's very clear they sensed the opportunity they came and then they started to do all kind of nonsense at the same time the main ideas that I encountered 27 years ago were like seeds that were planted in the soil of Aroville trees out of place ideas of what to do with the future ideas against cities against galaxies against all kind of things were planted when today we are speaking of these problems and some people say no it's the secretary that has come in the middle of the peace of Aroville and the well working of the groups has created a big disarmony I was watching the other day a video of a call journalist speaking on those terms my experience is not that at all the problems were here for many years from the beginning of Aroville happening here in the form of seed and after many years last year in 2021 I attended a meeting that we were called by a number of people that were going to present big plans for Aroville and in those presentations we criticized the crown and they told we are not going to follow this we want to go in another way and was very well prepared even we told these people congratulations you have made beautiful presentations but the ideas were not so beautiful and then they were putting in question at the end even the master plan because those ideas if you remove the central element of the galaxy that is the crown then you don't have a galaxy you have a number of buildings without any form and without anything I remember also that in one meeting was enough for me I saw everything even years in the future what was going to come and I was completely clear what is organized today because we were speaking we will do a number of assemblies one by one and at the end of these assemblies the community will decide what are we going to do with the city so it was clear crystal clear and I thought well we are going to enter in another chapter of Aroville and we were not so many frankly partisans of the galaxy and continue with the original vision and then they were telling the times have changed and then we have to adapt to the new times and these plans are outdated and then we should enter in another in which the environment will be the king environment now today in the 21st century is the main problem so we should attend this and forget all what ideas of the city and all this I had to I was remembering now for example messages that Roger was passing to us in Aroville's future and to the architects I remember a talk of him explaining that the 20th century was the century of the division between the cities and the environment the Corbusier was a fantastic man all the cities designed for the traffic and all pymans everywhere and some trees here and there but very few that was the model and then Roger was telling us in the 21st century have to come with an integration of the two aspects together the green have to come to the city and the city has to be in the green both have to be well integrated intelligently connected both and to enjoy both aspects and then the galaxy reflects all these aspects everybody knows 60% are green areas and then the city will be there in the middle of the green so then after this presentation we realize of the gravity of the situation and then a number of people that we were concerned with all these four years we started to come together and we created a group that was called universal township and we started to have meetings some Sundays and discussing this and what the other party was going to bring to Aroville and the proposals that they were preparing and we started to react against this I have to say in the moment that they call all of us the organizers and presented these plans for the community at that time there was no governing board was an absence the governing board has finished by the way the current scene that was the chairman of the previous governing board before going out one of the messages that left more many things many there are a number of things to be more precise out of order he was inviting to the next group to do a full investigation he have created some group to start to analyze because he was receiving many many critics of Aroville denouncing a number of aspects that were not clear in Aroville he have received a number and then he pass the message to the other the last decision that they taking the last meeting was I requested that Aroville should do a full investigation I support this idea well in the middle of all these situations the new governing board came and then the secretary came the secretary for some months were discussing with everyone studying Aroville I know that she study all and also the governing board she study everything we were coming from the working groups to have meetings with her I remember very well in one garden of the matrimandir that was called harmony a garden of harmony and he was telling all of us please come and then we were discussing all the topics of Aroville freely in front of her always he come with a notebook and was taking out of everything when the first meeting of the governing board happened and we could read the analysis that they were doing of Aroville that was very critic about Aroville they were telling well Aroville has been paralyzed for a number of years practically is not developing well and then they were entering in all kind of description, critiques and proposals so then one of the critiques that they were doing I think was that they were in support of the originals ideas of matrimandir they didn't want to change that the galaxies outdated and all this they wanted to support all this and then madan jayanti even took one of the big pending developments of Aroville that was the ground and for a number of reasons there was a high tension cable that we could not put on the ground for six years and then sit all again visit all the ground we should go walking all the ground one some day and then we went curiously enough the situation of Aroville was my first time that I could visit the ground completely because in some areas you could not enter the green belters were putting fencing they were putting all kind of things and you cannot come here that was the message I never went was with madan jayanti that for the first time I could walk in all the ground and see everything all the different landscapes all the difficulties all planted all the trees wow so in my opinion the role of this governing board and the secretary has not been that they have created a big mess here and everything was here before everything they played the role of catalyst they were the catalyst they warmed everything with the decisions that they took and then we can say the other part of the community that for years and years has been negating these central aspects of the original vision of Aroville in my opinion they felt strongly that this was going to be a very valuable danger for them and their plans and then they reacted super strongly and then they enter in a dynamic of full confrontation I will say with the governing board and the plans that they are bringing to Aroville I believe also I brought some articles at the beginning of all these stories bringing the best opportunity that they have seen in Aroville in all those years the best we are ready even to invest 1,000 crores we will help you you are in difficulties we support the vision we will help you to manifest the original vision and they are doing and they are doing this so we are now in this difficult chapter a new chapter in the history of Aroville for some people will be new for me it's only the continuation of what I have been living in Aroville from the 1995 nothing new only the expression of this is taking bigger dimensions but everything was here everything all the conflicts were here and only we were in need of a catalyst to burn and to explode and to put everything so I have many friends in Aroville many of them are Spanish the group of Spanish when we came for Aroville was only once and today we are more than 50 and I have had a number of discussions with some of them for many of them all this is new they were living in a relative peace because also the last governing board was not very active in promoting things in Aroville and we are living always all the decisions to be taken by the community and many people were taken as granted this community and this freedom that we have had and all the decisions are taken here but if you analyze the Aroville foundation act is telling very clearly in this act there are powers and functions functions are with the residence assembly they have the function to organize the activities of Aroville but this they will is an advisory body the residence assembly and the working groups of Aroville we are a number of groups we are advisory and then when we took a decision we will pass to the executive power and the executive power is the governing board and then they will decide and this has created another big story in Aroville because many of them always in any society at the end you have myths created not real thinking myths dreams in Aroville is very strong they call the factory of rumors and then the factory of rumors are telling the assembly have all the powers is at the same level than the governing board or the international advisory council we are facing this kind of rumors today is false if you read the act we have the possibility to request to the governing board like this and then they will decide and if we are in good terms within then maybe we can take many things but the attitude of a number of Arovilleans confronting this governing board I think cut many possibilities even of good collaboration and it's going to be a growing confrontation today and then I am clearly on the side of the governing board at this moment clearly and then in these two camps I see that one camp is going free they want to go in the direction of having only in Aroville an environmental project can be the dim forest or can be whatever and then it will be needed a very small number of communities forget the city forget many things this will be another project the project of the mother was to create a city of 50,000 that is not so big and then to have the most advanced experiences in yoga in the city in the city was an instrument absolutely necessary to do this kind of work overall in yoga and here I don't see any reference of yoga when they speak of yoga they speak in very negative terms very derogatory terms we are catalogue and I have received a number of critiques you are a religious person you are dogmatic you are because I am defending the things that from the beginning were in Aroville so ok I accept this kind of critiques it's impossible not to listen to this I am a partisan of the original vision I don't think that we have to renounce that at all if this community decide in the future to go freely without the references of the mother this will be one community more between all the hundreds of communities that were created in the sixties and all of them have gone to the hell all of them and this will be one more so the danger for me without having a very strong position with the mother we will go nowhere we will be annihilated in the future this cold community it will dissolve this community need a team need a very clear target the only thing that can give this kind of cohesion internal cohesion is the mother is the yoga of Aso Arabian than the mother without that we go nowhere ok we are in the middle of this salad and and then even my presence in the working committee that were criticized by many of my friends they were telling you are completely wrong what you are doing is just the opposite of what we need to do now I am absolutely convinced I have no doubt that I have to be in this place I have to defend the original vision of the mother I am there and whatever happen I don't care that is my urinate not completed still some chapters new chapters will come and I have try to narrate a little from the beginning 95 to now today 2022 there is I hope I am seen this as a new opportunity to reset our will this is my inner conviction is a reset and the mother is utilizing the government board the secretary and the secretary is a wonderful instrument to reset and any reset even in the computers is complicated there is one part of information and there are all kind of histories if we take this analogy it is going to be painful it is going to be destructive it is going to be full of conflicts very conflictual time for our will and I think that we were in need of a shaking in our will in this community needed to be shake absolutely convinced and it is coming in this form and I am very grateful for the moments even in spite of all the difficulties my life in our will has been difficult all time by the decision that I was taking well I continue taking the same decisions as in 1995 when I enter in our future I will continue defending the same values, the same targets the same objectives in whatever happen to me is fine


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Nope, there's no twist here. I'm talking about literal neoliberal capitalists letting corporations like Google and TikTok rule our debates. Conservatives yell about freedom of speech, but we all know they just would like the freedom to be bigots while burning books and banning education. But in order to criticize them and show their political heritage, we have to call followers of Benito Mussolini fashionistas in order to evade the algorithm. Fashionistas, you get it? Like when I got a TikTok video instantly banned for using the popular nickname of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany. This isn't acceptable. Freedom of speech is too important to be left to corporations or government. Platforms of speech needs to be controlled by us all. I for one will call a spade a spade and refuse to say not see instead of not.