playground for autonomous mediation and self-organisation
Manifesto
H.U.M.L.A.
* Hausmania * Universal * Mediahacktive * Laboratory of * Antagonism
H.U.M.L.A. is a political and cultural laboratory aimed at promoting freedom of politics, activism, press, software and all people. We provide resources such as computers with free software and free internet access, info, books, meeting space, creative impulse and panzercoffee. The H.U.M.L.A. collective organizes through flat structures and decentralized networks, reclaiming the right to manifest social change through self-organization outside of political institutions.
H.U.M.L.A. recognizes a diversity of tactics and approaches to acheiving social change, from passive resistance to confrontational, non-violent direct action.
H.U.M.L.A. endorses PGA’s Hallmarks:
What are the intentions of Humla
1) offering a space for meetings, discussions, lectures of different communities we have affinity with (adbusters, vreng , Fellesaksjonen mot Fattigdom, CIRCA - The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, indymedia people, hackers). Also, being a permanent workshop space for activsts to meet and share inspirations ,read media on the net, discuss and plan about actions, work together in the wider sense.
2) promoting awareness in the digital field,offering a space where you can use internet for free, learn about open source operating systems, gain knowledge about internet security, use indymedia.no,help people who want to build, repair and understand their computer,teach people how to make a webpage or a publishing system and spread their information and point of view,having a permanent workbench for assembling computers and experiment with them , servicing activists groups in the digital field (organizing the net distribution in Hausmania, providing some machines to other social spaces, helping in setting up nets in other social spaces), train activists in sensible and cautious use of computers, aid them in getting a decent digital life and help them to selfhelp.
Humla defines itself, between the other things, as a Hacklab; that is, in very simple words, a laboratory to promote the developing of hacking skills. To understand what we mean with the term hacking you can check this webpage: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html
Humla’s activists have developed a suspicious and deeply criticizing relationship to Microsoft Windows , as it is not open for users or programmers to learn , study, implement, and it is not free. It is clear that the use of such operating systems in a public space would be an advertisement for Microsoft, a massive american corporation whose political intentions and commercial strategies are very often directed at the establishment of a commercial and cultural monopoly. From the middle of the 90’s Microsoft has very often supported war-oriented politicians and has fired thousands of workers in the United States, preferring to take advantage of the third world work-force, like extremely underpaid and temp-hired professional programmers from India and other poor countries. In Windows the doors to knowledge are intentionally closed to avoid the possibility of the users becoming professionals. Forced passivity and a totalitarian commercial policy makes a tool to learn (your computer) a deeply advertised context with strongly limited functionalities and very little space for your personal growth. We kindly but firmly refuse the use of Microsoft Windows on our public machines,as they have been obtained and configured with GNU/Linux distributions (like Debian GNU/Linux) by free, unconditional love in our activist work, so we consider them liberated machines.
3) spreading indypendent media : books, magazines, media of every kind (videos, music, paraphernalia). Some of the materials are for sale, and they stand on the shelves close to the bar, some other (flyers, posters) are meant to be freely taken from the people visiting , and also freely and independently delivered to our space. No political parties are allowed to leave propaganda in the space, as this is a flat-structured community who refuses hierarchy and authority. Neither is sexist or racist propaganda, since we condemn discrimination and prejudices of any kind.