Matthew Schutte

I’ve been obsessed with changing the basic structure of the internet for the past 8 years.

The lengthy path that led me to that conviction is outlined in another blog post, so I’ll skip that here, but suffice it to say that I’m thoroughly convinced that the architecture of the internet needs to evolve and that this evolution can create a world where communities are much more effective at self-regulation and thus at navigating the threats and opportunities that we are faced with.

At the beginning of 2013, I started a meetup group called Build the Collaborative Internet (or BtCI) … Continue reading

“You live in the most privileged nation on Earth.  You are the most privileged citizens of that privileged nation; You can use your enormous privilege and opportunity to seek purely private pleasure and gain. But history will judge you, and, as the years pass, you will ultimately judge yourself, on the extent to which you have used your gifts to enrich the lives of your fellow man.  In your hands, not with presidents or leaders, is the future of your world and the fulfillment of the best qualities of your own spirit.”

– Robert F. Kennedy

This pretty much sums up my own personal sense of duty to make an impact. I have been so incredibly, undeservedly fortunate throughout my life. To squander all of that opportunity without using my gifts to make this planet and its people a bit better off, would feel, in some sense, tragic.

At the same time, I’ve learned the hard way that … Continue reading

14 years ago, my friend Dan Price, a.k.a. The Hobo Artist, took a trip across America… on a tricycle.

Dan pedaled 3 1/2 months across 4500 miles of American countryside from Oregon to San Diego and then all the way across to Key West.

Dan is committed to living a “simple life,” has documented his experiences with
… Continue reading

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m passionate about improving the collaborative capacity of large groups of people.  More specifically, I’ve spent over 15 years searching for better structures to help our global society better regulate itself.

This search has driven me to look away from traditional political structures and to focus more on information technology and related processes.

However, though my work “gets geeky” in the computer sense, the underlying philosophical concepts that drive it mirror those of traditional liberal political theory.

Continue reading