Re: <nettime> The Rise of dot-communism

[ronda@umcc.ais.org (Ronda Hauben)]

"Mitchell Orlowsky" <MOrlowsk@g2x.com> wrote:

>An old Telos aand Lukacs reader (who else has read his *Ontology*) turned
>software executive (ah, the family obligations), I have found a forum for
>my mind. Anyway, I am jumping into the fray not knowing who is reading
>this, but my intellect is crying out for criticism. 

Good to hear you are welcoming some discussion.


>In response to Mark Stahlman's question about the rise of cyber-socialism,
>the answer really is that what we are facing is "friendly fascism." The
>reason is it so friendly is that it purports to be democracy, not unlike
>ancient Greece.  People are *feeling* more and more like they are able to
>influence and participate but their influence and participation is like
>Steve Martin celebrating his name's entrance into the phone book in the
>*Jerk*. So what you have a web site. 

But having a web site isn't the guts of being online.

The online world has been developed through a participatory process that
is democratic. 

While there is an effort to change the nature of the online process by
those trying to commercialize and privatize the Internet, the 30 year
development is one of a democratic achievement. 

And people online have had a way of participating in and influencing what
has been developed online, especially those who have been willing to
participate in online forms like mailing lists, Usenet newsgroups etc. 

Not so long ago commercial activity was limited via an acceptable use
policy, and that was a situation where the growth of the online processes
grew and flourished as people were encouraged to have a public and
educational process online and to contribute to it. 

Government policy is important in determining what will be the future of
this online medium, and what role government needs to play is a question
that needs discussion and then to have a way of being implemented. 

The U.S. government policy of as much private as possible, is a harmful
policy for public development of the Internet. 

The web is relatively recent and is a form of distributed file system,
which is available to all, but not dynamic in the way that the online
discussion and contributions to the online forums have been dynamic. 

The ntia online forum in Nov 1994 which was a model for a government form
where the public was invited to discuss an important public policy issue
and did. 

The forum showed that the online process provides a means for input into
government decisions. How to get government to recognize hear that input
is the next challenge. 

The forum stands as a demonstration that the online participatory nature
of the Internet is such that it makes it possible for the public to
participate in important issues in a means that was in the past
unprecedented. 

(See chapters 11 and 14 of Netizens: 
http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/ ) 

Democracy isn't something that is automatic. 

The Internet makes it possible for there to be participatory forms of an
important new means and it has itself grown up through democratic
processes being developed. 

People have found it is possible to be citizens online, to be netizens, to
participate and have a voice in a new and interesting way in issues being
introduced and discussed. 

Habermas talks about how the public sphere is where people get to
introduce the issues to be discussed, they are not at the mercy of how the
old sectors of society frame the issues. 

That there is an attack on such democracy by those who are not so happy to
have such a participatory process is *not* something that comes as a
surprise. 

The question is what will be the result of the contest is still to be
determined. 

Cheers

Ronda


---------------
See http://www.ais.org/~ronda/new.papers/



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