cyberutopian libertarianism

Tom Lehman TLEHMAN at lor.net
Sun Dec 13 20:51:14 PST 1998


Dear Enzo,

All this electronic stuff is very nice. I myself have worked on projects like maximizing electric power generation while minimizing the use of expensive fuels. My bosses were happy and my union brothers and me were rewarded. There was also a nice little social benefit to this in that we were able to use byproduct gas efficiently rather than see it flared off the stack.

Enzo, the real problem is that although electronics can help control process equipment they do little or nothing to solve basic human problems like safe water, sanitary systems, irrigation, food, shelter, clothing etc. etc. Sure electronics are nice add ons to make process equipment more efficient, but, they are not a substitute for the process equipment itself. This is where steel comes in; steel is one of the materials used to construct the process equipment.

Sincerely, Tom L.

Enzo Michelangeli wrote:


> -----Original Message-----
> From: michael at ecst.csuchico.edu <michael at ecst.csuchico.edu>
> Subject: cyberutopian libertarianism
>
> >Doug Henwood wrote:
> >
> >> Figures. So many of you cybertypes can be so casual about displacement;
> >> you can bounce from job to job, place to place, and survive. Not everyone
> is
> >> so blessed - those forces you dismiss as the "steel lobby" and "textile
> >> lobby" include lots of displaced, downsized, and disposed of workers
> along
> >> with the nationalist union tops and pampered managers.
>
> Oh, listen: what I see in Hong Kong is that everybody survived pretty well
> to a massive two-decades shift from a mass-production economy to nowadays'
> service economy (85% of the GDP, in these days). People learn new skills
> much faster than you believe. And besides, tell me one reason why I should
> be more concerned for the income of relatively well-fed first-world workers
> than for the one of their thirld-world would-be replacements, who earn fifty
> times less.
>
> [Michael]:
> >I respond with a lame telnet account:
> >
> >Yes, until you get to be about 40 and the industry considers you to be so
> >much dead meat.
>
> Hey, I'm 44 and still alive and kicking, thank you very much (despite the
> fact that in Cantonese "44", pronounced "say sap say", sounds like "Death,
> sure death" :-) )
>
> > You have a still immature sector where start ups are still
> > common, unlike the mature sectors, such as steel, coal, textiles,
> > but also media. Little by little, the AOLs and the Microsofts
> > invade this still fertile turf. As that happens, the brave
> > libertarianism common to that sector will dissipate.
>
> I sincerely believe I'll live long enough to see Microsoft's demise, or, at
> least, cutting to size. Not thanks to anti-trust action, but simply because
> they won't be able to move fast enough.
>
> Cheers --
>
> Enzo



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