Platform 21: The Repair Manifesto

Creator: Platform 21
Purpose: Stop recycling and start repairing. It’s better for the environment and resource use.

Manifesto

1. Make your products live longer!

Repairing means taking the opportunity to give your product a second life. Don’t ditch it, stitch it! Don’t end it, mend it! Repairing is not anti-consumption. It is anti- needlessly throwing things away.

2. Things should be designed so that they can be repaired.

Product designers: Make your products repairable. Share clear, understandable information about DIY repairs. Consumers: Buy things you know can be repaired, or else find out why they don’t exist. Be critical and inquisitive.

3. Repair is not replacement.

Replacement is throwing away the broken bit. This is NOT the kind of repair that we’re talking about.

4. What doesn’t kill it makes it stronger.

Every time we repair something, we add to its potential, its history, its soul and its
inherent beauty.

5. Repairing is a creative challenge.

Making repairs is good for the imagination. Using new techniques, tools and materials ushers in possibility rather than dead ends.

6. Repair survives fashion.

Repair is not about styling or trends. There are no due-dates for repairable items.

7. To repair is to discover.

As you fix objects, you’ll learn amazing things about how they actually work. Or don’t work.

8. Repair – even in good times!

If you think this manifesto has to do with the recession, forget it. This isn’t about money, it’s about a mentality.

9. Repaired things are unique.

Even fakes become originals when you repair them.

10. Repairing is about independence.

Don’t be a slave to technology – be its master. If it’s broken, fix it and make it better. And if you’re a master, empower others.

11. You can repair anything, even a plastic bag.

But we’d recommend getting a bag that will last longer, and then repairing it if necessary.

Stop Recycling. Start Repairing.

Sources

Source : http://www.platform21.nl/page/4315/en

The Repair Manifesto lands in Melbourne (July 2011)

Related: I Fix It Repair Manifesto

Yvonne Rainer: No Manifesto

Creator: Yvonne Rainer (1965)
Purpose: To revolutionise dance and reduce it to its essential elements.

Manifesto

No to spectacle.
No to virtuosity.
No to transformations and magic and make-believe.
No to the glamour and transcendency of the star image.
No to the heroic.
No to the anti-heroic.
No to trash imagery.
No to involvement of performer or spectator.
No to style.
No to camp.
No to seduction of spectator by the wiles of the performer.
No to eccentricity.
No to moving or being moved.

Sources

The Manifesto : http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_Yvonne_Rainer%27s_NO_Manifesto

Yvonne Rainer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Rainer

Image: http://www.lafilmforum.org/index/Winter_2010/Entries/2010/1/10_Yvonne_Rainer_Retrospective_%28Part_6_of_8%29.html

Thanks to Helen Omand for sharing this manifesto.

Related Manifestos

John F Kennedy: Man on the Moon

Creator: US President John F Kennedy, Speech delivered before a joint session of Congress, May 25, 1961.
Purpose: To secure funding for significant US projects to boost the US economy, support democracy over communism, diminish the threat of nuclear weapons and land a man on the moon.

This opening selection sets the context for wanting to commit to landing a man on the moon.

“…These are extraordinary times. And we face an extraordinary challenge. Our strength as well as our convictions have imposed upon this nation the role of leader in freedom’s cause.
No role in history could be more difficult or more important. We stand for freedom.
That is our conviction for ourselves–that is our only commitment to others. No friend, no neutral and no adversary should think otherwise. We are not against any man–or any nation–or any system–except as it is hostile to freedom. Nor am I here to present a new military doctrine, bearing any one name or aimed at any one area. I am here to promote the freedom doctrine.”

Kennedy then identifies a number of significant programs including:

“…I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

Sources

Original Speech to Congress, full transcript: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Speeches/Special-Message-to-the-Congress-on-Urgent-National-Needs-May-25-1961.aspx

The video at the top of this page is not the original speech. It is an excerpt from JFK’s speech at Rice University.

Full video of the latter speech at Rice University: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouRbkBAOGEw

US Declaration of Independence

Creator: Written in 1774, primarily by Thomas Jefferson.
Purpose: For the US colonies to declare independence from Britain.

Manifesto

The famous sentence in this document is a general statement of human rights.
It also sets the context for the declaration of independence that followed:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and their pursuit of Happiness.

The middle section of the Declaration of Independence lists 27 reasons as to why they are seeking to create their own republic.
They’re directed at King George III, sovereign head of Britain.
They include:

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us.
For imposing taxes on us without our Consent.
In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

And, finally, the declaration…

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

Sources

General: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
Full text: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

Related Manifestos

Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUP_ISA030c

Creator: Martin Luther King, Speech made 28th of August 1963, Lincoln Memorial Washington DC.
Purpose: Call for racial equality and an end to discrimination.

Manifesto

Here’s some key excerpts from his speech:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”
“With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

Sources

General Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream
Full speech transcript: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Complete Speech Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

Comment

MLK’s I Have a Dream speech is, in my view, the best example of a worldview manifesto for two significant reasons.

Firstly, it clearly presents a world the author wants to see – a dream. While it’s stated in the personal ‘I’ it’s very inclusive in its words.

Secondly, it’s so vivid and precise in it’s details. For instance, “to sit down together at a table of brotherhood” is both literal (sit down together) and metaphorical (at a table of brotherhood).

Related Manifestos

Apple: Here’s to the Crazy Ones

Creator: Advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day (1997)
Purpose: Promotional Campaign as a series of television and print commercials.

Manifesto

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Sources

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Different

Comment

For me, this is one of the great manifestos that inspired the view of a Double-Sided Vision.

The strength of ‘Here’s to the Crazy Ones’ is that while it is literally an advertisement for a company, the ad does not sell a specific product.

Instead, Apple pitch a worldview that their users are likely to aspire to. It’s permission to be creative, just a little crazy, and ultimately change the world.

It’s a classic call to arms which is an essential quality of all great manifestos. And while an advertisement calling to its customers, it also has the bigger picture idealism that would inspire, motivate and engage the Apple workforce. That’s a double-sided vision.

I can imagine designer Johnny Ive walking into the then CEO Steve Job’s office with his latest prototype for the new curvy and colourful iMac and having Steve play the ad as the benchmark of success.

He might even ask: Is this crazy enough to change the world?

Related Manifestos

The Manifesto Manifesto

Creator : Geoff McDonald, 2011

Purpose : The Manifesto Project needs a fundamental manifesto that defines the principles of manifestos. And here it is…

The Nine Manifesto Principles

1. Manifestos are primal

Manifestos are the first and most fundamental thing you should create. They’re your foundation stone upon which all other things are built. Create them, share them and plaster them everywhere. More…

2. Manifestos terminate the past

Manifestos draw a line in the sand. They say ‘this ends here. Now!’ And a new context, a new era and a new beginning starts. Do this effectively and your results will accelerate and your old problems will fade away. More…

3. Manifestos create new worlds

Manifestos are bold intentions. They don’t describe things, they declare them into existence. Take a stand, sharpen your purpose and incite the future. More…

4. Manifestos trigger communities

Manifestos die in the dark. They’re public documents intended to rally people to your cause. This unites like-minded souls to birth new communities. More…

5. Manifestos define us

Manifestos create belonging. They shout ‘This is who we are!’ If this calls to you it will become your anthem, badge of honour and new identity. More…

6. Manifestos antagonise others

Manifestos need enemies. When they appeal to everyone they lose all their power. Believers will cross your line in the sand, others will stay behind it. Magnify this difference to multiply your impact. More…

7. Manifestos inspire being

Manifestos generate new meaning. They collect attitudes, align beliefs and provide a consistent worldview. This inspires new ways of being and calls forth new action. More…

8. Manifestos provoke action

Manifestos without action are merely words on a page. Manifestos exist to inspire decisive action, potent results and powerful change. More…

9. Manifestos command presence

Manifestos matter. Whilst thoughts fade and speech can be silenced, manifestos are real. They live in many different physical forms so they can be easily shared. And, this keeps them alive. More…

Sources

Author’s Website: http://geoffmcdonald.com/blog

Comment

The Manifesto Manifesto is intended to provide the meta-manifesto to all others. It was created from studying the patterns of other manifestos and then distilled into nine principles.

Given it’s a set of over-arching principles, they can be applied to almost any situation – corporate, personal, political, environmental…