The little online Mont Order society appears to have convened near the end of October with the intention to codify some principles. At the end of that conference, there were 7 simple points put together to represent the agenda of the Mont Order society today. What were they?

For those who don’t know what the Mont Order is, here are the basics. The Mont Order is a simple, elegant idea. It is an informal “society” of several similar online brands, authors and blogs who partner together to develop their combined audience. Most of them will have (I assume) never met in the real world. The aim of the group seems to be to have as much influence over world opinion as possible, mainly using the tools of the Internet. Membership is voluntary and free. The only condition placed on members previously was about accepting aid and gifts from the Mont Order society, rather than actually contributing any. Now, they’ll also have to accept the 7 points of the Mont Order’s new program.

The video below, uploaded thanks to the futurist Wave Chronicle channel, sums up the Mont Order society’s new 7 points. It was made out of authentic audio clips from the actual conference, to express the agenda of the Mont Order. I highly recommend the video, which is a tribute to what kind of excellent media resources appear exclusively at the Wave Chronicle website and its channels.

Reflecting on what was talked about, and the principles that were declared at the conference by a broad spectrum of different people with their own online brands, I think the Mont Order society is on track to be a better group. I had been somewhat unhappy with the direction the group had taken in becoming more and more like an “organisation” rather than a leaderless network of individuals. After reading them again, I think the points resulting from the conference suggest the group is scaling back some ambitions. Its future is in the capricious hands of the internet, and depends on how well the Mont Order society will comprehend that dark sea. I wish it was more broken up and in the hands of more personalities, but I think it’s heading towards that shapeless state for the future.

All the energy now seems to be going towards helping advance a number of excellent bloggers and their own individual franchises, e.g. prolific op-ed writer Steve Topple, rather than asking anyone to “join” anything. After all, the Mont Order society was never officially any kind of recognised organisation or entity, nor could it ever hope to be one. More like an obscure metaphor, or a tradition, as the Mont Order society was described when it became part of the WAVE coalition.

As I’ve argued before, organisations are basically obsolete. Many organisations today are just lone people. It’s in coalitions that real mobilisation takes place, and such mobilisation relates to no particular organisation but a body of similar people and organisations. If the Mont Order society is on that track, it is going to thrive on the Internet.

I particularly liked the Mont Order’s Point 2, the longer point, which emphasises the Mont Order’s view of the modernity of technology. It stated,

“The Order accepts positive and popular globalism based on the inevitable trajectories of technology to unite disparate people across borders. Our own identity is closely tied to events in the world, mainly involving technology, as the internet enabled this group to exist. We see how technology is escaping its creators’ designs and we celebrate this trend, which has also empowered us. However, we oppose with absolute conviction the neoconservative and neoliberal views of some major tech corporations including Google.”

To me, that really seems like a unique principle, and one that all Internet activists ought to support. It speaks to the organising power of the Internet, and puts forward the idea of a group based less on high ideals than harsh realist understandings of what is happening to global society and modern states today.

The other six principles are also agreeable, and apparently shared by all the members, but they are quite typical of most “anti-imperialist” and dissident groups in the West. That celebration of online statelessness and technological progress separates the Mont Order society members from many other ideologies and groups, making it a distinct tradition to be part of. For it to have a set of principles, agreed among all its members through an open discussion, can only be a good thing.

After these values were declared, I think everyone on the Internet can all on say deep down we are part of the Mont Order. It speaks to historical inevitability. Today, it is only a question of whether we have accepted the fact of participation yet.