[11055] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
FINS
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Public-Access Computer Systems For)
Tue Feb 11 20:33:38 1997
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 15:21:13 -0600 (CST)
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU>
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU>
1 Message; 140 Lines
From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
Subject: The substance of power
FINS: Communicating the Emerging Philosophy of The Information Age
FEDERAL INFORMATION NEWS SYNDICATE
Vol V, Issue No. 3 (144 lines) February 10, 1997
Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is
a thinking reed. The entire universe need not arm itself to
crush him. A vapour, a drop of water suffices to kill him.
But, if the universe were to crush him, man would still be
more noble than that which killed him, because he knows that
he dies and the advantage which the universe has over him; the
universe knows nothing of this.
All our dignity consists, then, in thought. By it we must
elevate ourselves, and not by space and time which we cannot
fill. Let us endeavour, then, to think well; this is the
principle of morality.
Blaise Pascal (1660)
Pensees, sec. VI, The Philosophers, 347
CLOSING THE "VALUES-GAP":
The substance of power
By Vigdor Schreibman
I quoted from Pensees, to inaugurate FINS, Jan 11, 1993.
We return again in this issue to insist that human thought is
not only the principle of morality, but also the substance of
power; whereas chaos, which is the law of the Internet, is the
source of impotence. Which of these forces shall Americans
choose, to advance the character of the Information Age (IA)?
In the first test of this IA-challenge, libertarian action,
fiercely advocated on the Net by Democrats and Republicans
alike to the steady hum of Wired Magazine and Communications
of the ACM, overwhelmingly sustained social chaos and its
product, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-
104, 110 Stat 56). This has paved the way for a new age of
feudalism, and total control, which serve the Robber Barons of
the Information Age [Fins-SR3-47; Fins-NC4-04]. We are witness
to the wicked outcome of social chaos, which must be overcome.
Now getting ready for the second test of the IA-challenge,
in his State of the Union address delivered Feb 4, President
Clinton said, "Our greatest responsibility is to embrace a new
spirit of community for a new century." The Republican party
response offered by Rep. JC Watts (R-OK), stressed that it is
not the power and authority of the federal government, but the
people, all of us, "who decide the real state of the union."
Similarly Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
(CPSR), announced Feb 6th, their conference on, "Community
Space and Cyberspace." Indeed, in a letter published in The
Washington Post, "Free For All" section (no pun intended!)
("Libertarians Love Cooperation," Feb 8, 1997), the Cato
Institute's David Booz, gushes over with the sentiment of
sociability. Other prominent West Coast Net advocates, such
as Jim Warren of GovAccess, and Audrie Krause of Net Action
(formerly with CPSR), announced protests, Jan 27, against the
deplorable telecom reform. All these actions followed right
on the heels of FINS News Column, released Jan 27, discussing
"Internet laws of chaos and democracy" [Fins-NC5-02].
We are delighted to see both major political parties
together with the old libertarian gang, now at work painting
a rosy new image, seemingly shifting out of chaos to, "embrace
a new spirit of community." Responsible citizens must also
ask, however, whether these words meet the IA-challenge?
Looking beyond rosy images, none of those groups are in any
discernable way seeking to overcome the rigged and lopsided
structure of power that plagues America. None would place the
individual and community dialogue at the center of democratic
politics, nor is there a trace of initiative to transform the
National Information Infrastructure, which empowers both the
government and private sectors but largely disregards the not-
for-profit third sector. It is simply not credible in any
sane and reasonable system dedicated to, "a government of the
people, by the people, for the people," for the people to yet
be treated as strangers to the real structures of power.
The problem with American politics is not merely the need
for legislative reforms or purified campaign rules. What must
be addressed is the absence of a structure and method designed
to sustain the sovereign democratic powers of the people.
Stated bluntly, the celebrated political theorist Mary Parker
Follett, wrote earlier this century that, "Representative
government," including party organization, majority rule, with
all their excrescences, "are dead wood" [Fins-PS-03]. Shifting
out of chaos to uncover the wisdom of the people must replace
the current "artificial aristocracy," with a civil society in
which the collective will of the people--is the assured ruler.
There is support for this conclusion under constitutional
and social theory. A deliberative democracy in which citizens
can reason collectively to transform society into a more just
social order is the objective of civic republicanism advanced
by leading constitutional law professors [CR Sunstein, 1993].
Similarly, the desire to develop mutual understanding in
communication that is free from coercion, based on using
reason, is the key to understanding "The Theory of Communica-
tive Action," advanced by Jurgen Habermas (T. McCarthy, trans.
1984), one of German's best-known social theorists.
In practical and immediate terms we learn from Follett that
the nucleus of collective thought arises from the collective
action of a community group. Follett writes, in describing
the impact of group process on democracy that, "there is
always a tendency for the group idea to express the largest
degree of psychic force there is in a group" [Fins-PS-03d].
Psychic power, Follett anticipated, is "the basis of society."
The significance of democratic group process to individual
and social development has been confirmed in state-of-the-art
social systems design [BH Banathy, 1996], generic design
theory [JN Warfield, 1994], management science [RL Ackoff,
1994], and organizational learning [PM Senge, 1990]. One can
see the true genius of Pensees, when collective thought is
recognized, in our time, as the very soul of democratic power.
That profound body of knowledge and experience painstakingly
produced out of 20th-century creativity, has now culminated in
the vision of a 21st-century "people science," formulated by
Christakis [Fins-PS-01]. The long-term goal is to reach for
the ideal: to uncover the wisdom of the people and development
of their democratic powers in terms that are unvanquishable.
That is the IA-challenge of the, "Demosophia Initiative," now
building global support of uncommon character [Fins-PS-02].
============================================================================
JOIN A 21st-CENTURY PROJECT: TO UNCOVER THE COLLECTIVE WISDOM OF THE PEOPLE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GET 24 issues of your own email copy of Fins News Columns + Special Reports
+ Fins Information Age Lib + A people science and dialogue: Now only $12.95.
Subscription by check or money order. For details GET DEMOSOPHIA INITIATIVE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Information News Syndicate, Vigdor Schreibman, Editor & Publisher,
18 - 9th Street NE #206, Washington, DC 20002-6042. Copyright 1997 FINS.
Internet: fins@access.digex.net. Browse Fins Information Age Library at the
inforM system of the University of Maryland HTTP://www.inform.umd.edu/FINS/.
