Re: <nettime> 6th century hactivist

[Nmherman@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/21/99 7:52:44 AM Central Standard Time, 
geneva@iscweb.com writes:

> It's fascinating to consider 
>  that these early decisions, so biblical, are the seeds of our 
>  modern law. The biblical connection makes sense in a society 
>  dominated by the Church; not only is it a source of reference 
>  for values, those values have the ultimate authority. 

I agree very much with this observation.  Although there is a fair degree
of separation of church and state in the U.S. (the decision by the Kansas
public schools not to teach evolution as a scientific fact
notwithstanding), religion remains for the most part an issue of personal
belief.  The essential character of monotheism as the preeminent principle
of media control since the onset of text-based culture is almost
completely overlooked.  Instead of evaluating the process by which
gnostics were eradicated by the early church fathers, American society
prefers to encourage a superficial ethos of umbrella spiritualism.  Hence
GW Bush's switch from booze to religion, Disney's pantheon of minor
angels, et cetera. 

The genesis of monotheism as the central marketing concept by which the
West has defined the economy of thought, media, and authority is both
obvious and taboo.  The barriers to this line of inquiry only partially
derive from a communal respect for the spiritual beliefs of others. 
Monotheism, as can be seen quite easily in the development of colonialism
and of the corporate structure, has a long history of permutation and
influence beyond the place of worship.  There are nearly endless
complications at this stage of any project intending to map the formation,
and unfortunately the corporate influence extends quite completely into
the highly privatized realms of universities and museums.  Personal
uncertainty and institutional logic thus combine to render the
administrative mission of monotheism per se obscure.  Its roots and
branches are simply too pervasive to be easily identified; they comprise
the structures themselves of observation and creativity. 


>  Nowadays, in a society architected by powerful corporations 
>  and justified by economists as "wealth-maximizing," we award 
>  the calf to whoever promises to generate the most utility, paternity 
>  notwithstanding. 

The problems that accompany a growth-dependent global economy are the
largest that have ever faced humans.  The definition of wealth, and the
subsequent definition of the externality (a cost not taken into
acknowledged by the market), is the only means by which growth is shaped.
Without greater media activity by non-corporate elements, advertising and
habit will define wealth: in other words, the kind of material world we
wish to create. 

Maybe the breakup of Microsoft bodes well for diversity in the tech
economy but Viacom still owns the interface for billions of people.  I
hope that digital technology will help to break up the centralized media
system we now have but they said the same thing about the printing press. 
Concepts of media, and not merely infrastructure, must evolve
simultaneously with any effort to dissent from the corporate definition of
wealth. 

>I'm interested in the american v. euro
>  take on that particularly as it pertains to the larger issue of
>  "wealth maximizing." 

As an American I have to say that the media content my all too powerful
country brings to the rest of the world has to be one of our worst
achievements.  Its effects are at least as insidious as those of our
economic practices, and they go hand in hand.  The only way I can see to
rein in the ugly tendencies of corporate growth is to bring the US media
system to account, and that kind of grandiose abstraction is like the
weather channel to a big majority of my fellow citizens.  There's a mood
of impossibility regarding these questions that perhaps other countries
can help us dispel. 


Max Herman The Genius 2000 Project www.geocities.com/~genius-2000


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