From: hank@well.sf.ca.us (Hank Roberts)
Newsgroups: alt.co-evolution,rec.mag
Subject: Whole Earth Review "Manifesto" (comments welcome)
Date: 26 Aug 92 05:40:15 GMT
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link


The Whole Earth Review Manifesto
WER #74, Spring 1992
 
If you pick up Whole Earth Review without knowing what Whole Earth 
Review is about, you'll probably be surprised.  Yes, we do regularly 
publish articles about ecology.  But that's only part of the mix.  It isn't 
easy to pin us down by looking over the table of contents. 
 
Twenty years ago, Stewart Brand's statement of purpose for the Whole 
Earth Catalog was:
 
"We are as gods and might as well get good at it.  So far remotely done 
power and glory -- as via government, big business, formal education, 
church -- has succeeded to the point where gross defects obscure actual 
gains.   In response to this dilemma and to these gains, a realm of 
intimate, personal power is developing -- the power of individuals to 
conduct their own education, find their own inspiration, shape their own 
environment, and share the adventure with whoever is interested.  
Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the Whole Earth 
Catalog."
 
We still believe that. But we're a different team and it's a different 
world.  We think we can be more precise about "tools that aid this 
process."  So the Whole Earth Review staff has thought and talked and 
composed this statement of purpose.  We're eager to hear what you 
think of it.
 
-o- WE ARE DEDICATED TO DEMYSTIFICATION, TO SELF-TEACHING, AND 
TO ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES.  THUS OUR 
MOTTO: "ACCESS TO TOOLS AND IDEAS." 
 
Tools in the Whole Earth sense include hammers, books, and computer 
conferencing systems.  Our readers are a community of tool-users who 
share information with one another.  The ideas we make accessible have 
not often been found in university courses, but are becoming recognized 
as part of what you need to know to be truly educated.  Our readers 
contribute to the editorial content as well, with both reviews and 
articles.
 
-o- WE RECOMMEND RATHER THAN ATTACK.
 
Our magazine is an evaluation and access device.  It can help you 
discover what is worth getting and how to get it.  We're here to point, 
not to sell.  We have no financial obligation or connection to any of the 
suppliers reviewed.  We only review stuff we think is great.  Why waste 
your time with anything else?
 
-o- WE CHANGE WITH THE TIMES THAT WE HELP CHANGE.
 
Our publications are a call to, and support for, individual action.  The 
first Whole Earth Catalogs were aimed at the so-called counter-culture, 
the back-to-the-land folks who were attempting to live as much as 
possible outside the system.  As we hoped, many of the attributes of the 
counterculture movement became mainstream, especially ecological 
issues and related concern with energy efficiency.  Our publications 
have been influential.  But we don't spend much time thinking about 
the same things we thought about in the sixties, and neither do our 
readers.  This magazine and our catalogs progressed from being part of 
a social movement to being a trusted reference like a good encyclopedia. 
 
-o- WE UPDATE OURSELVES CONTINUALLY.
 
By not accepting display advertising, we have extraordinary editorial 
freedom to publish anything we think our readers need to know.  
Conventional magazines exist and profit because they can deliver 
readers to advertisers; subscriptions are a much less important source 
of income.  Most magazines fish for readers and feed them to adver-
tisers.  We fish for information and feed it to readers, who sustain us 
with their subscriptions.  For readers, this means unobstructed and 
challenging editorial material and unbiased reviews.
 
-o- WE'RE NOT A "POLITICAL" MAGAZINE.
 
We are committed to providing political tools and new ways of thinking 
about politics, but we are not a forum for partisan politics. 
 
-o- WE ARE DELIBERATELY ECLECTIC.
 
Our content is addressed to many communities of readers who lead 
different kinds of lives, and who may disagree with one another about 
many things.  We provide tools for environmental activists; we give 
technology-watchers and tinkerers a window on tomorrow's scientific 
trends.  Our readers are men and women, young and old, urban and 
rural, from all around the world.  They like to have their worldviews 
expanded and their assumptions challenged.  They don't mind taking 
the time to read, to think, and to discuss new ideas.  We offer tools for 
generalists.
 
--The Staff of Whole Earth Review
 
Copyright Whole Earth Review 1992.  Permission granted to redistribute
electronically.
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