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If the
Internet is good for one thing, it's making corporations dance
around like they're standing on hot coals. Ever since the
average citizen of the world could slap up a homepage and criticize
any corporation they want to, things have never been the same.
With the advent
of MP3s, the recent re-broadcasting of network TV shows over the
Net by iCrave, and the Linux
groundswell cum tsunami, the coals have just gotten hotter. Pity
the poor lawyers that are battling the brush fires and forest fires
all over the web as corporations try (vainly I feel) to protect
their work. Take a look at the
The notion
of controlling everything that we produce or pay to have produced
seems a bit quaint. Why not share the wealth? Why not produce things
and place them on the market without any price tags? See something
you like? Take it. No charge, no hassle. Just pick it up and go.
We'd all still
work, though. We've got to produce these objects that are free,
right? We've got to keep the system that produces these objects,
right? This way we still work and find some fulfillment through
work but are freed from the chains of always trying to find a way
to get more and more.
Of course,
the need to accumulate is just another extension of the primitive
need to prove power over others through material things. That's
an entirely other story, though.
To make the
sharing system work, we'd have to abolish money. No need to buy,
not need for money, get it?
Already I can
hear people tearing this argument apart. How will people "get ahead"?
How will people lord over others their prestige, power and money?
What will motivate people to work?
The logical
response to the first two questions is that they won't do these
things anymore. Terrible as it sounds to pretty much anyone on the
planet, I think we can do without these things. Why not simply enjoy
the life you have instead of running after something like a BMW
to fulfill a perceived need? As for motivation, people already have
motivation to pursue hobbies and interests. Why not just do what
interests you the most full time? You're happy, you're work is better
because you love to do it and society enjoys the fruit of your labours.
The Internet,
I believe, is just one small cog in the machine that will drive
humanity from a consumer/acquisition culture to a more open, sharing
community. Some examples are already visible in collaborative software
projects, the sharing of music, and even the essays and articles
that you see here on *spark-online. Information on the web is traded
freely for the goal of greater good.
I don't harbour
any illusions that this will occur overnight. Massive changes in
the human psyche must take place first. I do believe that it will
happen, though.
Welcome
to the 21st century. Evolve and join the party.
Copyright
© 2000 Stephen Van Esch. All Rights
Reserved
Stephen Van
Esch is a writer and instructional designer living near Toronto,
Canada. He is the owner and CEO of the Text
Pound.
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