| Douglas Rushkoff on Fri, 10 Dec 1999 20:15:40 +0100 (CET) |
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| <nettime> Gary Chapman, brilliant on WTO |
>Monday, December 6, 1999 > >DIGITAL NATION > >A Classic Clash of Values in Seattle > >By Gary Chapman > >Copyright 1999, The Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved. > >The protests and riots in Seattle last week during the World Trade >Organization summit jolted many Americans. Photo images of black-clad and >helmeted police lobbing tear gas at rioters in the center of an American >city clashed with the rosy nostrums of economic prosperity endlessly >repeated by our political and business leaders. > >Aren't we all supposed to be celebrating affluence, peace and technology >at the end of the millennium? The protesters showed us that not everyone >is quite so content. > >The regrettable violence and vandalism perpetrated by a handful of those >in the streets obscured the real issues the peaceful protesters sought to >raise. And the news media has in large part been of little help in >clarifying what's at stake. > >Pundits mused over their surprise that any Americans cared about the WTO >and its agenda, or had even heard about the world trade body. They >shouldn't have been surprised, but most elite opinion-makers in the U.S. >don't go to union hall meetings, church basement gatherings or the living >room discussions of concerned citizens. > >A myth rampant in the press is that the WTO's business is about obscure >and arcane details of world trade, a boring subject usually reserved for >economists, government ministers and academics. > >But in fact, the protesters are astonishingly sophisticated in their >understanding of the most important issues facing the world's population. >This sophistication has come, almost miraculously, not from academic >research or ivory tower contemplation but from street-level experience and >democratic discussions across this country. > >The "new economy" of digital information technologies is caught up in the >controversy surrounding the WTO, obviously. In fact, there is, by now, no >other economy than the global system being reshaped by computers and the >Internet. That's part of the problem the peaceful protesters were talking >about. > >For partisan advocates of the new digital economy, there is a utopian >promise unfolding around the world. The Internet promotes, they say, an >unprecedented level playing field that can be exploited by people with >intelligence and skill, without regard to economic background, race, >religion, ethnicity, geographic location or gender. This leads to a new >meritocracy based on individual value and contribution, a historic >improvement over previous ways of acquiring status and wealth such as >title, birth or inheritance. > >The efficiencies fostered in the economy by new forms of production, >global integration, the "friction free" character of e-commerce and other >techniques will lead to cheaper goods, falling prices, a greater >distribution of wealth and a corresponding decline in the desperation that >has produced wars and other conflicts in the past. This is the optimistic >picture painted in a book released a few weeks ago, "The Long Boom," by >Peter Schwartz, Peter Leyden and Joel Hyatt (Perseus Books), which argues >that the digital economy will escape the boom-and-bust cycles of >industrial production. > >Most important, say the "comp-utopians," the Internet and personal >computers free individuals from being simply tools of government, >corporations or other large institutions. The Internet fosters freedom of >thought and expression, individual confidence in forging personal >autonomy, and the economic means to live an individualized life free of >coerced conformity. > >For all these reasons, they say, the information age is the dawn of a new >era in human potential. And anyone presenting obstacles to this new >potential -- such as trade unions, foot-dragging politicians, Luddites and >other doubters -- need to be, and will be, swept away. > >The comp-utopians, say their critics, are blind to the realities of >contemporary economic relations and the true nature of the digital >revolution. > >The critics, including the protesters in Seattle, point out that the "new >economy" is demonstrably worsening inequality, threatening to develop a >surveillance society, inexorably expanding the power of large corporations >and crushing all forms of cultural diversity and authenticity. Instead of >the utopia of individual freedom, they say, we're seeing a >"Disney-fication" of the world, a radical transformation of the Internet >from a medium of communications to something that looks like the worst >shopping mall, and a bland, corporate entertainment culture that >anesthetizes people into debased, insatiable consumerism. > >Furthermore, say the critics, the foundational premise of the WTO and >other advocates of globalization is unending economic growth and >consumption, with the single and unchallengeable model of the United >States as the paradigm that should be emulated around the world. This >points to environmental suicide. It's unthinkable that the billions of >people we expect to greet in the next century should all be encouraged to >strive for the American dream of a suburban house, a car and everything >that Wal-Mart or Sears sells. Under that model, the human race would >devour the Earth very rapidly, as we seem to be doing already. > >The prospect that every person on Earth should be turned into a clone of >the average American middle-class consumer is terrifying and abhorrent to >many people who treasure the diversity of human culture, which is rapidly >eroding. > >When the promises of abundance and the easy consumer life are combined >with the realities of environmental constraints and deepening income >inequality, the critics say, we are setting ourselves up for huge future >conflicts, not sustainable world peace. > >One op-ed columnist began a piece last week with the question and answer: >"Is there anything more ridiculous in the news today than the protests >against the World Trade Organization in Seattle? I doubt it." > >The question should have been, "Is there anything more serious in the news >today than the protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle?" >I doubt it. What happened in Seattle was the most important confrontation >of values we've seen in a long time, and one that will last well into the >next millennium. > >Gary Chapman is director of the 21st Century Project at the University of >Texas at Austin. He can be reached at gary.chapman@mail.utexas.edu. --MS_Mac_OE_3027572402_4790365_MIME_Part Content-type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Gary Chapman, brilliant on WTO</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR=3D"#FFFFFF"> <TT><BR> >Monday, December 6, 1999<BR> ><BR> >DIGITAL NATION<BR> ><BR> >A Classic Clash of Values in Seattle<BR> ><BR> >By Gary Chapman<BR> ><BR> >Copyright 1999, The Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved.<BR> ><BR> >The protests and riots in Seattle last week during the World Trade<BR> >Organization summit jolted many Americans. Photo images of black-clad a= nd<BR> >helmeted police lobbing tear gas at rioters in the center of an America= n<BR> >city clashed with the rosy nostrums of economic prosperity endlessly<BR= > >repeated by our political and business leaders.<BR> ><BR> >Aren't we all supposed to be celebrating affluence, peace and technolog= y<BR> >at the end of the millennium? The protesters showed us that not everyon= e<BR> >is quite so content.<BR> ><BR> >The regrettable violence and vandalism perpetrated by a handful of thos= e<BR> >in the streets obscured the real issues the peaceful protesters sought = to<BR> >raise. And the news media has in large part been of little help in<BR> >clarifying what's at stake.<BR> ><BR> >Pundits mused over their surprise that any Americans cared about the WT= O<BR> >and its agenda, or had even heard about the world trade body. The= y<BR> >shouldn't have been surprised, but most elite opinion-makers in the U.S= .<BR> >don't go to union hall meetings, church basement gatherings or the livi= ng<BR> >room discussions of concerned citizens.<BR> ><BR> >A myth rampant in the press is that the WTO's business is about obscure= <BR> >and arcane details of world trade, a boring subject usually reserved fo= r<BR> >economists, government ministers and academics.<BR> ><BR> >But in fact, the protesters are astonishingly sophisticated in their<BR= > >understanding of the most important issues facing the world's populatio= n.<BR> >This sophistication has come, almost miraculously, not from academic<BR= > >research or ivory tower contemplation but from street-level experience = and<BR> >democratic discussions across this country.<BR> ><BR> >The "new economy" of digital information technologies is caug= ht up in the<BR> >controversy surrounding the WTO, obviously. In fact, there is, by now, = no<BR> >other economy than the global system being reshaped by computers and th= e<BR> >Internet. That's part of the problem the peaceful protesters were talki= ng<BR> >about.<BR> ><BR> >For partisan advocates of the new digital economy, there is a utopian<B= R> >promise unfolding around the world. The Internet promotes, they say, an= <BR> >unprecedented level playing field that can be exploited by people with<= BR> >intelligence and skill, without regard to economic background, race,<BR= > >religion, ethnicity, geographic location or gender. This leads to a new= <BR> >meritocracy based on individual value and contribution, a historic<BR> >improvement over previous ways of acquiring status and wealth such as<B= R> >title, birth or inheritance.<BR> ><BR> >The efficiencies fostered in the economy by new forms of production,<BR= > >global integration, the "friction free" character of e-commer= ce and other<BR> >techniques will lead to cheaper goods, falling prices, a greater<BR> >distribution of wealth and a corresponding decline in the desperation t= hat<BR> >has produced wars and other conflicts in the past. This is the op= timistic<BR> >picture painted in a book released a few weeks ago, "The Long Boom= ," by<BR> >Peter Schwartz, Peter Leyden and Joel Hyatt (Perseus Books), which argu= es<BR> >that the digital economy will escape the boom-and-bust cycles of<BR> >industrial production.<BR> ><BR> >Most important, say the "comp-utopians," the Internet and per= sonal<BR> >computers free individuals from being simply tools of government,<BR> >corporations or other large institutions. The Internet fosters freedom = of<BR> >thought and expression, individual confidence in forging personal<BR> >autonomy, and the economic means to live an individualized life free of= <BR> >coerced conformity.<BR> ><BR> >For all these reasons, they say, the information age is the dawn of a n= ew<BR> >era in human potential. And anyone presenting obstacles to this new<BR> >potential -- such as trade unions, foot-dragging politicians, Luddites = and<BR> >other doubters -- need to be, and will be, swept away.<BR> ><BR> >The comp-utopians, say their critics, are blind to the realities of<BR> >contemporary economic relations and the true nature of the digital<BR> >revolution.<BR> ><BR> >The critics, including the protesters in Seattle, point out that the &q= uot;new<BR> >economy" is demonstrably worsening inequality, threatening to deve= lop a<BR> >surveillance society, inexorably expanding the power of large corporati= ons<BR> >and crushing all forms of cultural diversity and authenticity. Instead = of<BR> >the utopia of individual freedom, they say, we're seeing a<BR> >"Disney-fication" of the world, a radical transformation of t= he Internet<BR> >from a medium of communications to something that looks like the worst<= BR> >shopping mall, and a bland, corporate entertainment culture that<BR> >anesthetizes people into debased, insatiable consumerism.<BR> ><BR> >Furthermore, say the critics, the foundational premise of the WTO and<B= R> >other advocates of globalization is unending economic growth and<BR> >consumption, with the single and unchallengeable model of the United<BR= > >States as the paradigm that should be emulated around the world. This<B= R> >points to environmental suicide. It's unthinkable that the billions of<= BR> >people we expect to greet in the next century should all be encouraged = to<BR> >strive for the American dream of a suburban house, a car and everything= <BR> >that Wal-Mart or Sears sells. Under that model, the human race would<BR= > >devour the Earth very rapidly, as we seem to be doing already.<BR> ><BR> >The prospect that every person on Earth should be turned into a clone o= f<BR> >the average American middle-class consumer is terrifying and abhorrent = to<BR> >many people who treasure the diversity of human culture, which is rapid= ly<BR> >eroding.<BR> ><BR> >When the promises of abundance and the easy consumer life are combined<= BR> >with the realities of environmental constraints and deepening income<BR= > >inequality, the critics say, we are setting ourselves up for huge futur= e<BR> >conflicts, not sustainable world peace.<BR> ><BR> >One op-ed columnist began a piece last week with the question and answe= r:<BR> >"Is there anything more ridiculous in the news today than the prot= ests<BR> >against the World Trade Organization in Seattle? I doubt it."<BR> ><BR> >The question should have been, "Is there anything more serious in = the news<BR> >today than the protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle= ?"<BR> >I doubt it. What happened in Seattle was the most important confrontati= on<BR> >of values we've seen in a long time, and one that will last well into t= he<BR> >next millennium.<BR> ><BR> >Gary Chapman is director of the 21st Century Project at the University = of<BR> >Texas at Austin. He can be reached at <FONT COLOR=3D"#0000FF"><U>gary.cha= pman@mail.utexas.edu.</U></FONT></TT> </BODY> </HTML> --MS_Mac_OE_3027572402_4790365_MIME_Part-- # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net