Us Now - a new mode of production

[PinkoCommie]

Us Now is a documentary film project "about the power of mass collaboration, the government and the Internet The New York Times describes it as a film which "paints a future in which every citizen is connected to the state as easily as to Facebook, choosing policies, questioning politicians, collaborating with neighbours.

The documentary weaves together the perceptions of leading thinkers on the power of the web, with the overriding suggestion that people gain a sense of satisfaction from active participation rather than symbolic representation in decision-making processes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-M6SiLkBms

BTW, this app looks GREAT tho it seems a wee bit buggy vis a vis my linux box - can;t see my text in the box lest I hi-lite it...Still, awesome work, y'all.

[Kid of the Black Hole]

This sounds like utter crap, to be honest

[PinkoCommie]

and in some ways it probably is, but it is also - to my mind - a harbinger of good things that could come. I encourage those less dismissive than you to give it a watch. 60 minutes. Without a bit of political agenda or critique of capital, the folks in this film discuss the social connections via the internet as having the potential to render representative democracy obsolete and at one point say verbatim "a new mode of production."

[blindpig]

Without a bit of political agenda or critique of capital, the folks in this film discuss the social connections via the internet....

Can ya really do that?

[starry messenger]

I'm a big fan of the internet, but it does tend to still be self-selecting by socio-economic status. Until free, easily accessible and fast internet is available all over the globe, it is still only going to be a tool that excludes people who cannot get on. That's what is tricky about saying that things like this don't have a "political agenda", IMO. It creates one by what it *doesn't* say, if that makes sense. I'm sure this is stuff you've thought of too, I'm thinking out loud here.

The events in Egypt recently have shown that there is a lot to be said about groups of people showing up in person en masse to be a pain in the ass. It's a force of nature. Even though the internet fosters an illusion of immediacy, it's still a mediated experience that doesn't quite have the same effect.

[PinkoCommie]

That's what is tricky about saying that things like this don't have a "political agenda", IMO. It creates one by what it *doesn't* say, if that makes sense. I'm sure this is stuff you've thought of too, I'm thinking out loud here....it's still a mediated experience that doesn't quite have the same effect.

Absolutely. However, it is in its nascence that I am interested. These are the very beginnings of what -may- be the way things go one day. And in observing that, I am interested. I'm not making any other claims though. What I mean by observing the absence of a political agenda is that - Other Than the self selection under the current pay to play economic regime - these folks are merely making observations about future possibilities.

Man, I wish I could see what I am typing. This thing seems not to like my Firefox theme or my Ubuntu one. Can't see unless I highlight the text...

[Kid of the Black Hole]

Except these aren't leading thinkers, but lagging thinkers. Their "observations" are simply trite repackagings of conventional booge biases, prejudices, sophistries, and so on. (its WAY deeper than simply who has access to the internet).

And "mode of production" here appears to be entirely an artifact of you appropriating the term to mean something they don't intend it to.

This ain't 2006 and we're not (allowed to be) that dumb anymore

[PinkoCommie]

and simply disagree, as I very often do. You have demonstrated a number of times that you don't even have your arms around the very rudiments of political economy. How can I not then find your biting criticism, if not outright wrong, then highly suspect? I doubt you even watched it. Further you entirely miss my point, and instead dismiss the film and all but jump out there and say I am stupid. It's not appreciated. Not at all.

[runs with scissors]

I finally got a chance to watch it all the way through. What's interesting is how often the people interviewed reveal they don't actually know what will happen as more and more people, of various socioeconomic backgrounds, develop an expectation they'll be heard.

Which seems to be the point. Representative consumer democracy is so comfortable. Every 2 to 4 years we get to bitch that we have no voice. So what happens if we find out we do?

I wish they'd interviewed that one guy a little further. He was trying to think-out the direction of consumers becoming producers. He jumped between "collaborators" and "producers" - found myself wanting to talk to him. :-)

[Kid of the Black Hole]

Hi, Rusty