Brian Holmes on Sun, 24 Jul 2016 13:34:46 +0200 (CEST)


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Re: <nettime> Fwd: Re: Forms of decisionism


Alex, your last posts have been spot on and I am totally fascinated to read more. I agree with you that the broad framework of crisis theory is predictive and above all, it shows that in the wake of past crises, some mix of decisions, inventions, organizational forms, cultural trends and governmental interventions has always come together to form a new pattern, a new phase or period of global society. With Felix were talking about possible stagnation or a continuingly chaotic, entropic phase opening up now, and I would suggest that these two things could at worst coexist: you would see a new pattern emerge _for the oligarchies and their closest supporters_, while the rest would limp on in a continuing decline of the old system.

This leads me to question one of your ideas:

A schumpeterian state that redistributes innovation opportunities in a
democratic, transgender polity where citizens are not disenfranchised
by social exclusion could be a way to go.

Indeed, this was the kind of state we theorized with the old gang at Multitudes, but can it really become egalitarian? That was exactly the Clintonian vision of the 90s (education, education, education) and to some extent it has been realized. Precisely to the extent that such a state is possible under capitalism, I would argue. The innovation society is hypercompetitive, it depends on a social divide between the brightest/most agile and the exploitable others. I guess that's crucial to the whole Schumpeterian framework. An ecopopulism would have to be sustaining rather than hypercompetitive in my view.

But let's hear some more about it!

best, Brian

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