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platform [2018/02/06 11:55]
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-===== The Internet as a Planetary Platform ​=====+**The Internet as a Planetary Platform**
  
 The consensus among historians today that the Internet played an essential part in the 21st Century emergence of vast planetary movements strong enough to overthrow the dying capitalist world-system. But for a long time it was a contested arena and a two-edged sword.The abandoned step-child of the U.S. military network designed to survive atomic attack, it was taken up by university researchers,​ students, hackers and networks of anti-capitalist protesters around the globe. At the same time, governments and corporations began exploiting the technology for political surveillance and commercial exploitation,​ as we shall see below. (See "The Dark Side of the Internet"​ below. MAKE LINK) The consensus among historians today that the Internet played an essential part in the 21st Century emergence of vast planetary movements strong enough to overthrow the dying capitalist world-system. But for a long time it was a contested arena and a two-edged sword.The abandoned step-child of the U.S. military network designed to survive atomic attack, it was taken up by university researchers,​ students, hackers and networks of anti-capitalist protesters around the globe. At the same time, governments and corporations began exploiting the technology for political surveillance and commercial exploitation,​ as we shall see below. (See "The Dark Side of the Internet"​ below. MAKE LINK)
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 3. The Internet’s web-like global network, whose “center” is everywhere and nowhere, was turning out to be a more effective model for the emergence of planetary, democratic and working-class movements than the traditional hub-and-spokes,​ center/​periphery,​ top-down model of centralized parties and “Internationals.” 3. The Internet’s web-like global network, whose “center” is everywhere and nowhere, was turning out to be a more effective model for the emergence of planetary, democratic and working-class movements than the traditional hub-and-spokes,​ center/​periphery,​ top-down model of centralized parties and “Internationals.”
  
-====Networked Democracy====+=====Networked Democracy=====
  
 Today, no one can deny the potential of online networking for revolutionary self-organization. The potential of the Web to enable new types of organization,​ based on the horizontal network model rather than the centralized hub-and-spokes model was less obvious a century ago. At the end of the 20th century, new forms of horizontal organizations began emerging in Latin America, rooted in urban neighborhoods and rural communities,​ in factories and on the land, yet networked nationally and even internationally. Self-organized,​ autonomous groups of peasants and indigenous peoples had been networking since 1992, when the Internet helped bring them together to celebrate 500 years of survival and resistance to colonialism. The symbolism of the woven web, powerful yet delicate, had already been proposed by activist women as an alternative to male-dominated,​ top-down power. ​ Today, no one can deny the potential of online networking for revolutionary self-organization. The potential of the Web to enable new types of organization,​ based on the horizontal network model rather than the centralized hub-and-spokes model was less obvious a century ago. At the end of the 20th century, new forms of horizontal organizations began emerging in Latin America, rooted in urban neighborhoods and rural communities,​ in factories and on the land, yet networked nationally and even internationally. Self-organized,​ autonomous groups of peasants and indigenous peoples had been networking since 1992, when the Internet helped bring them together to celebrate 500 years of survival and resistance to colonialism. The symbolism of the woven web, powerful yet delicate, had already been proposed by activist women as an alternative to male-dominated,​ top-down power. ​
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 Castoriadis’ vision of informed economic planning from below provided a concrete refutation of Nobel economist Friedrich Hayek’s anti-socialist argument that central planning is bound to fail because it cannot possibly assemble the information that is ultimately incorporated in the “marvel” of the price system which “registers the knowledge, the preferences,​ and values of countless people.” Castoriadis’ self-managed society also recalled Engels’ vision of the new world emerging out of the shell of the old – the image adopted in 1905 as the logo of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). What was original in 1958 was Castoriadis’ appropriation of the theories of the socialist-minded mathematician Norbert Weiner, the pioneer of computer science who explored the feedback principle and recognized the emergent quality of cybernetics – a word he coined. ​ By the Millenium, not only cyberneticists but physicists, biologists, mathematicians,​ economists and scientists in other fields are studying and analyzing the emergent phenomena of spontaneous self-organization from below in the context of Chaos/​Complexity/​Emergence Theory. Castoriadis’ vision of informed economic planning from below provided a concrete refutation of Nobel economist Friedrich Hayek’s anti-socialist argument that central planning is bound to fail because it cannot possibly assemble the information that is ultimately incorporated in the “marvel” of the price system which “registers the knowledge, the preferences,​ and values of countless people.” Castoriadis’ self-managed society also recalled Engels’ vision of the new world emerging out of the shell of the old – the image adopted in 1905 as the logo of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). What was original in 1958 was Castoriadis’ appropriation of the theories of the socialist-minded mathematician Norbert Weiner, the pioneer of computer science who explored the feedback principle and recognized the emergent quality of cybernetics – a word he coined. ​ By the Millenium, not only cyberneticists but physicists, biologists, mathematicians,​ economists and scientists in other fields are studying and analyzing the emergent phenomena of spontaneous self-organization from below in the context of Chaos/​Complexity/​Emergence Theory.
  
-====Connectivity,​ Complexity, Emergence====+=====Connectivity,​ Complexity, Emergence=====
  
 Connectivity was the new factor that made actual the age-old dream of humanity rising together in the 21st century. In the late 20th century, sociologists ​ demonstrated that there are only six degrees of separation between each of the then six billion humans on the planet. To be sure, these are weak connections,​ but it turned out that weak connections are the fabric that makes up the strength of complex network structures like the Internet, the physical universe (according to Quantum theory), and the human brain, with its billions of synapses. ​ Connectivity was the new factor that made actual the age-old dream of humanity rising together in the 21st century. In the late 20th century, sociologists ​ demonstrated that there are only six degrees of separation between each of the then six billion humans on the planet. To be sure, these are weak connections,​ but it turned out that weak connections are the fabric that makes up the strength of complex network structures like the Internet, the physical universe (according to Quantum theory), and the human brain, with its billions of synapses. ​
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-==== Communications Technology and Revolution ====+===== Communications Technology and Revolution ​=====
  
  
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 Mass surveillance fed hysteria and conspiracy theories both among leftists and reactionaries like Turkey’s strongman Erdogan. Yet however bleak the prospect of Internet tyranny, the contest over cyberspace long remained undecided. ​ Compared to the massive array of cyber weaponry in the hands of corporations and governments,​ the power of a few thousands cell phones in the hands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong seems puny. But was it? Thanks to an improvised networking App called FireChat, the cell phones enabled the “Umbrella Revolution” protesters to occupy the financial capital of Asia and hold the power Communist China at bay for more than two months. David vs. Goliath? ​ Mass surveillance fed hysteria and conspiracy theories both among leftists and reactionaries like Turkey’s strongman Erdogan. Yet however bleak the prospect of Internet tyranny, the contest over cyberspace long remained undecided. ​ Compared to the massive array of cyber weaponry in the hands of corporations and governments,​ the power of a few thousands cell phones in the hands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong seems puny. But was it? Thanks to an improvised networking App called FireChat, the cell phones enabled the “Umbrella Revolution” protesters to occupy the financial capital of Asia and hold the power Communist China at bay for more than two months. David vs. Goliath? ​
  
-==Government surveillance== ​+====Government surveillance====
  
 Let us begin with the issue of mass surveillance. Whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s revelation of the CIA’s mass collection of telephone records and emails, including those of world leaders like Angela Merkel, finally opened the debate over Civil Liberties and the right of privacy. As U.S. President Obama and the Congress went through the motions of restricting mass surveillance,​ new revelations based on Snowden’s vast trove of government files showed that this surveillance,​ including dirty tricks, was only increasing. Moreover, the US was far from the only country waging cyber war against its citizens and perceived enemies abroad. China in particular had a highly developed surveillance and penetration apparatus. Also Russia. Furthermore,​ criminal elements used the same techniques to steal identities and empty people’s bank accounts. ​ Let us begin with the issue of mass surveillance. Whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s revelation of the CIA’s mass collection of telephone records and emails, including those of world leaders like Angela Merkel, finally opened the debate over Civil Liberties and the right of privacy. As U.S. President Obama and the Congress went through the motions of restricting mass surveillance,​ new revelations based on Snowden’s vast trove of government files showed that this surveillance,​ including dirty tricks, was only increasing. Moreover, the US was far from the only country waging cyber war against its citizens and perceived enemies abroad. China in particular had a highly developed surveillance and penetration apparatus. Also Russia. Furthermore,​ criminal elements used the same techniques to steal identities and empty people’s bank accounts. ​
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 Every day, corporations were connecting the dots about peoples personal behavior – silently scrutinizing clues left behind by their work habits and Internet use. The data compiled and portraits created are incredibly detailed, to the point of being invasive… Hidden algorithms could make (or ruin) reputations,​ decide the destiny of entrepreneurs,​ or even devastate an entire economy. ​ Every day, corporations were connecting the dots about peoples personal behavior – silently scrutinizing clues left behind by their work habits and Internet use. The data compiled and portraits created are incredibly detailed, to the point of being invasive… Hidden algorithms could make (or ruin) reputations,​ decide the destiny of entrepreneurs,​ or even devastate an entire economy. ​
  
-==Culture== ​+====Culture====
  
 Another serious danger was the way the algorithms used by Facebook and other sites ended up feeding users only information which the machine “thinks” they want, thus reinforcing their prejudices and insulating them from unpleasant information (for example about global warming). To be sure, close-mindedness is nothing new: long before the Internet, liberals, conservatives and extremists of the Right and Left generally read only publications they agreed with. The Internet algorithm has a multiplier effect. ​ Another serious danger was the way the algorithms used by Facebook and other sites ended up feeding users only information which the machine “thinks” they want, thus reinforcing their prejudices and insulating them from unpleasant information (for example about global warming). To be sure, close-mindedness is nothing new: long before the Internet, liberals, conservatives and extremists of the Right and Left generally read only publications they agreed with. The Internet algorithm has a multiplier effect. ​
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 Indeed, during the broadcast era, the public could  choose only among various brands of pap (with rare exceptions) beamed down at them by the big networks, NBC, CBS and ABC. The difference with the Internet was that the public now had a vast number of choices, and that users are proactive (for better or for worse) in seeking out information and entertainment on demand. Thus although pornography occupied more sites than any other subject, with violence running a close second, Internauts also have instant access to Shakespeare,​ online university classes, Ted talks, Noam Chomsky, Wikipedia, Marxists.org etc., and all the links they lead to.  Indeed, during the broadcast era, the public could  choose only among various brands of pap (with rare exceptions) beamed down at them by the big networks, NBC, CBS and ABC. The difference with the Internet was that the public now had a vast number of choices, and that users are proactive (for better or for worse) in seeking out information and entertainment on demand. Thus although pornography occupied more sites than any other subject, with violence running a close second, Internauts also have instant access to Shakespeare,​ online university classes, Ted talks, Noam Chomsky, Wikipedia, Marxists.org etc., and all the links they lead to. 
  
-==Isolation== ​+====Isolation====
  
 Another danger posed by the pervasiveness of Internet social media was a decline in sociability with people isolated alone in front of their screens. Increasingly,​ even when friends gathered, their attention was maddeningly focused on their online devices, prioritizing their virtual lives over their actual lives. According to MIT technology and society specialist Sherry Turkle writing in 2013, “technology has become the architect of our intimacies.” In Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other  she argues that “this relentless connection leads to a new solitude.” To be sure, the Internet could isolate people, but it also allowed them to get to know each other, to feel less alone, to access information,​ and eventually to mobilize massively for action. ​ Another danger posed by the pervasiveness of Internet social media was a decline in sociability with people isolated alone in front of their screens. Increasingly,​ even when friends gathered, their attention was maddeningly focused on their online devices, prioritizing their virtual lives over their actual lives. According to MIT technology and society specialist Sherry Turkle writing in 2013, “technology has become the architect of our intimacies.” In Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other  she argues that “this relentless connection leads to a new solitude.” To be sure, the Internet could isolate people, but it also allowed them to get to know each other, to feel less alone, to access information,​ and eventually to mobilize massively for action. ​
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 Facebook “friends” may not have been the real friends whom we can depend on to nurse us when we’re sick, but they were an expression of the universal need of human beings for empathy, attention, sympathy, and admiration, however commercialized and crass Facebook may be. Indeed, according to economist and social theorist Jeremy Rifkin writing in 2010, empathic relations are more fundamental to what constitutes human nature than aggression and competition – as was previously believed. In The Empathic Civilization:​ The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, Rifkin argues that Internet technology represented a “third industrial revolution” that would bring people together on an empathic basis and thus save the world from ecological catastrophe. As we now know, he was prophetic ​ Facebook “friends” may not have been the real friends whom we can depend on to nurse us when we’re sick, but they were an expression of the universal need of human beings for empathy, attention, sympathy, and admiration, however commercialized and crass Facebook may be. Indeed, according to economist and social theorist Jeremy Rifkin writing in 2010, empathic relations are more fundamental to what constitutes human nature than aggression and competition – as was previously believed. In The Empathic Civilization:​ The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, Rifkin argues that Internet technology represented a “third industrial revolution” that would bring people together on an empathic basis and thus save the world from ecological catastrophe. As we now know, he was prophetic ​
  
-==Capitalist takeover of the Internet?==+====Capitalist takeover of the Internet?====
  
 Nonetheless,​ massive data collection, invasion of privacy, mindless content, isolation, stultification of the public, attempts to privatize the Internet and above all its commercialization by mega-corporations were real threats to personal freedom and the democratic ideal. People began to ask the question: Aren’t big business and government taking over the Internet? The answer was not entirely, for the simple reason that the Internet is literally infinite. No one can occupy all that space. As long as everyone has equal access to post a blog or start a Twitter account, Cyberspace remains a level playing field. Low-cost sites like WikiLeaks (and Islamic State recruiting chat rooms!) had proven more influential than the US government’s costly propaganda apparatus and the mainstream media that follow the government “line.” It did not matter how many millions of glittering, seductive commercial sites are out there fishing for our wallets and for our hearts and minds. Open access – the possibility of many-to-many communication – remained the key to Internet democracy. Realizing this power, corporations and governments began a second wave of assaults, this time on the very technological basis of the Internet, on 'net neutrality,'​ platforms and domain names, in an effort to control it. Nonetheless,​ massive data collection, invasion of privacy, mindless content, isolation, stultification of the public, attempts to privatize the Internet and above all its commercialization by mega-corporations were real threats to personal freedom and the democratic ideal. People began to ask the question: Aren’t big business and government taking over the Internet? The answer was not entirely, for the simple reason that the Internet is literally infinite. No one can occupy all that space. As long as everyone has equal access to post a blog or start a Twitter account, Cyberspace remains a level playing field. Low-cost sites like WikiLeaks (and Islamic State recruiting chat rooms!) had proven more influential than the US government’s costly propaganda apparatus and the mainstream media that follow the government “line.” It did not matter how many millions of glittering, seductive commercial sites are out there fishing for our wallets and for our hearts and minds. Open access – the possibility of many-to-many communication – remained the key to Internet democracy. Realizing this power, corporations and governments began a second wave of assaults, this time on the very technological basis of the Internet, on 'net neutrality,'​ platforms and domain names, in an effort to control it.
platform.txt · Last modified: 2018/02/06 12:00 by admin