Mark Stahlman (via RadioMail) on Wed, 18 Jun 1997 21:14:26 +0200 (MET DST) |
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
Re: <nettime> The Digital Economy |
Richard: What "Digital Economy"? You've been drinking Reed Hundt's bathwater again. And, while we're at it, what WIRED magazine? They've changed their editorial line to encompass your position and you didn't even notice. WIRED is eco-friendly, Soros-inclusive and liberation-safe now. What "Neo-liberalism"? As Peter Schwartz makes it very clear in his WIRED cover story, the production and consumption of bits must become incorporated into the way that we measure productivity and economic growth in order to pull off the largest propaganda swindle in economic history. The "digital economy" is, therefore, nothing but a trick to fool us into believing that moving bits around is productive and that consuming "information" (just more mind-numbing" propaganda) makes us wealthier and wiser. Yeah, let's get that fiber-grid real soon. Won't we all be smart and savvy then? Meanwhile, you advocate that people accept their marginal role in the real economy (which will always be firmly based on atoms) and swap gifts with each other like bands of hobos living underneath the train station. As this process intensifies, it may just occur to you that d.i.y. and "community-building" is just the prelude to all out gang-warfare among the "Lost." Disengaging from reality and livin' on the outside is going to get mighty dangerous, buckaroo. And, then you have the temerity to summon creativity as your shield and protector. What "creativity"? Irrational, self-absorbed, masturbatory spectacle making? Hey, let's smoke some pot and run naked in the streets. Beauty requires understanding -- both in the creation and in the appreciation. But, as the left-wing Yin to the old-WIRED's Yang, you have abandoned understanding and embraced irrationality just as they have. Tell us about how your Labour Party just dumped the French demand for jobs creation. Tell us about how nearly all of the architects of the "Information Age" were good Hegel-quoting "social democrats" and how many of them had degrees from LSE. This mess we are in is the result of social-engineering developed largely by nominal leftists, like yourself, fer chrisakes. The "Digital Economy" is a hoax of epic proportions. Why are you perpetuating it? Mark Stahlman New Media Associates New York City newmedia@mcimail.com --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@icf.de and "info nettime" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@icf.de