In this episode of Crazy Wisdom, host Stewart Alsop talks with Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation, about the rise of peer-to-peer dynamics, the historical cycles shaping our present, and the struggles and possibilities of building resilient communities in times of crisis. The conversation moves through the evolution of the internet from Napster to Web3, the cultural shifts since 1968, Bauwens’ personal experiences with communes and his 2018 cancellation, and the emerging vision of cosmolocalism and regenerative villages as alternatives to state and market decline. For more on Michel’s work, you can explore his Substack at
4thgenerationcivilization.substack.com and the extensive P2P Foundation Wiki at
wiki.p2pfoundation.net.
Check out this GPT we trained on the conversationTimestamps
00:00 Michel Bauwens explains peer-to-peer as both computer design and social relationship, introducing trans-local association and the idea of an anthropological revolution.
05:00 Discussion of Web1, Web3, encryption, anti-surveillance, cozy web, and dark forest theory, contrasting early internet openness with today’s fragmentation.
10:00 Bauwens shares his 2018 cancellation, deplatforming, and loss of funding after a dispute around Jordan Peterson, reflecting on identity politics and peer-to-peer pluralism.
15:00 The cultural shifts since 1968, the rise of identity movements, macro-historical cycles, and the fourth turning idea of civilizational change are unpacked.
20:00 Memories of 1968 activism, communes, free love, hypergamy, and the collapse of utopian experiments, showing the need for governance and rules in cooperation.
25:00 From communes to neo-Reichian practices, EST seminars, and lessons of human nature, Bauwens contrasts failed free love with lasting models like kibbutzim and Bruderhof.
30:00 Communes that endure rely on transcendence, religious or ideological foundations, and Bauwens points to monasteries as models for resilience in times of decline.
35:00 Cycles of civilization, overuse of nature, class divisions, and the threat of social unrest frame a wider reflection on populism, Eurasian vs Western models, and culture wars.
40:00 Populism in Anglo vs continental Europe, social balance, Christian democracy, and the contrast with market libertarianism in Trump and Milei.
45:00 Bauwens proposes cosmolocalism, regenerative villages, and bioregional alliances supported by Web3 communities like Crypto Commons Alliance and Ethereum Localism.
50:00 Historical lessons from the Roman era, monasteries, feudal alliances, and the importance of reciprocity, pragmatic alliances, and preparing for systemic collapse.
55:00 Localism, post-political collaboration, Ghent urban commons, Web3 experiments like Zuzalu, and Bauwens’ resources: fortcivilizationsubstack.com and wiki.p2pfoundation.net.
Key Insights