 |
 |
 |
|
It's even bigger than it appears A thread worth following is Andre Hedrick On Hard Drive Copy Protection, in Slashdot. It's got some funny stuff, but there's an unfunny reason why it matters: the Big Boys still have a lot of power, and it's not where you might think. Read on. Industry's Last Stand: the Bush Administration Tom Matrullo found a piece credited to the liberal economist John Kenneth Galbraith, apparently en route to publication somewhere, and posted it here. If it's not thought-provoking, even to the many (including me) who tend to disagree with it, the situation is (as Dave would say) even worse than it appears. Here's how it begins: With the events of late in the year 2000, the United States left behind constitutional republicanism, and turned to a different form of government. It is not, however, a new form. It is, rather, a transplant, highly familiar from a different arena of advanced capitalism. This is corporate democracy. It is a system whereby a Board of Directors--read Supreme Court -- selects the Chief Executive Officer. It stings. It's also about something that stinks. Let's admit it: no matter what your politics or partisan leanings, what happened in Florida (where Tom lives) truly stinks, and will continue to stink for at least four years. The Bush Administration may be legal and the result of The Rule of Law; but it isn't legitimate. The full consent of the governed was not obtained. Or if it was obtained, it was at least partly by way of an entertainment project — a story for its own sake — staged by The Media, which have their own legitimacy problems. We need to talk more about this. Galbraith's suggestions are interesting and creative. The Web should be a much better Commons than it has thus far proven to be. We should take an interest in sites like Quorum.org, which provides a place to hash this stuff out. The way I see it, the democratic system is in no less deperate need of reform than the patent system. Let's fix it. The telltale art Chris Locke's latest column in Publish is about letting your employees tell your company's stories. e-Nads Chris' latest EGR is out, too. Don't think you'll see this in the average magazine, which is why we have The Web. Warnings: the text contains the word FUCK (with caps) and the e-neologism "e-colonialism." Makes you laugh and think. And, sooner or later, dance in the streets. Gotta put the kid to bed...
|
