roundtable: FINS VOL. 2, ISSUE NO. 6

roundtable: FINS VOL. 2, ISSUE NO. 6

FINS VOL. 2, ISSUE NO. 6

Vigdor Schreibman - FINS (fins@access.digex.net)
Mon, 14 Mar 1994 10:04:00 -0500 (EST) 

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 10:04:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
Subject: FINS VOL. 2, ISSUE NO. 6
To: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
Message-Id: <Pine.3.89.9403141006.A20502-0100000@access2.digex.net>

----------------Original Message Posted in Multiple Lists----------------- 
------------------------Republication Authorized-------------------------- 
    
     
                  READ THIS ISSUE OF FINS TO CONSIDER:      
                                                             
                *   Rendering the Body of the Citizenry Superfluous
                                          
                *   Marshalling the Political and Civic Armor of Democracy
    
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FINS: Communicating the Emerging Philosophy of The Information Age       
FEDERAL INFORMATION NEWS SYNDICATE                    
Vol II, Issue No. 6 (130 lines)                              March 14, 1994
 
 
CLOSING THE "VALUES-GAP": 
A New Fight For Democracy in Cyberspace
By Vigdor Schreibman 

	Once we spoke of democracy and all power derived from the consent of the
governed, a long time ago, and our ideas inspired the whole of civilization.
But the illusions of democracy were unmasked in the first half of this
century, as Hanna Arendt explained in her classic work on, "The Origins of
Totalitarianism" (1950).  The teaching of Arendt is that strong totalitarian
temptations emerge when masses of people are continuously rendered
superfluous by thinking of our world in utilitarian terms.  It is a matter
of common sense, I think, that reflection upon what history has forewarned
about such radical evil events should be a part of our paramount reality.

	The Information Age will admittedly change our civilization totally.
The structure that is contemplated for its realization has been defined in
utilitarian terms governed by the morality of the marketplace that disregards
public goods that are the lifeblood of democracy.  A surprise effort is now
being made in the U.S. Senate to liberate the applications of information
technology from market forces, by a substitute amendment to S.4 introduced
Mar 7, 1994 [Compare 140 CONG. REC. S2366, 2379, sec. 102(a)(2)(B) and
102(d), with S2380, 2394, sec. 102(a)(2)(B) and 102(g) (daily ed. Mar. 7,
1994)].  Republicans seek to defeat such Governmental "industrial policy."
They demand governance by the marketplace imposed by a filibuster led by Sen.
John C. Danforth (R-MO).  The core of this problem lies in the fact that the
oceanic transformation now in progress is without meaningful public
participation or legitimate public consent, rendering the body of the
citizenry superfluous and leading to a prognosis of an appalling outcome.

	Congress has been put on notice of the problems that are about to erupt
out of this situation, based on a report issued by the Office of Technology
Assessment, "Making Government Work" (Sept 1993). Supporting testimony was
presented by Fred B. Wood, OTA, Project Director at a hearing of the Senate
Subcommittee on Regulation and Government Information, Dec 2, 1993.  In his
testimony, and a subsequent phone interview with FINS, Wood stated that "we
are at a crossroads, beyond the point of no return," in which "a volcano is
going to go off and 25-foot waves are going to crash onto the shore." This
is the probable result, Wood stated, of the "inequities" that are built into
the structure of the emerging technological transformation, "in terms of
expected changes in the structure of political power."  Between the poles of
democracy and totalitarianism we have been moving in the wrong direction. 

	It is a stunning irony that the very same source of human motivation
that spawned the totalitarian movement earlier this century, is also the
basis for the promise of the best possible response to the existing situation
in the United States today.  Ernest Becker, the late Pulitzer Prize social
theorist has observed that, "Man transcends death by finding meaning for his
life. . . .   What man really fears is not so much extinction, but extinction
with insignificance."  In prewar Germany, Arendt writes, the front generation
was "completely absorbed by their desire to see the ruin of the whole world
of fake security, fake culture, and fake life."  To them, however, "violence,
power, cruelty, were the supreme capacities of men who had definitely lost
their place in the universe and were much too proud to long for a power that
would safely bring them back and reintegrate then into the world."  In
contemporary America, masses of people are being driven into superfluous
existence but the power remains very much ours to reintegrate ourselves back
into the world by participating, in the most profound sense, in shaping the
course our society will take.  Thus, out of a continuing superfluous
existence in both cases, the quest for significance in totalitarian Germany,
Arendt teaches, turned to the holocaust, while the quest for significance in
America, we know, can still turn to genuine democratic resurgence. 

	And so it has.  Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC), Chairman of the
Senate Commerce Committee, is leading the present struggle "to form a more
perfect union" and overcome "the worst abuses of market forces." On the
floor of the U.S. Senate last Monday, Hollings traced the historical
reasons from the Colonial period to the present, why "the people's
representatives in Washington" have the right and responsibility to
determine industrial policy in particular cases, like the applications of
information technology and the National Research and Education Network
Program (Network Program).  Hollings soared with elegance: "This is the
one gift we have given free man the world around, democratic self-rule."
[140 CONG. REC. S2400-2402 (daily ed.  Mar. 7, 1994) (statement of Sen.
Hollings)].  The Senate remains stymied on that measure by a filibuster,
but the fight is not over. 
 
	Those who will lead the public interest challenge are also marshalling
their civic armor to provide clear focus on alternatives for the future of
the Information Age (e.g., a value-directed Network Program) so that citizens
may be informed of the best means to sustain the true spirit of cyberspace.
A general background report on this subject of particular merit was issued
last year by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR),
"Serving the Community: A Public-Interest Vision of the National Information
Infrastructure" (Nov 1993).  [Fins-II-11].  On April 23 - 24, 1994, CPSR will
hold a symposium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge,
MA.  The event will be dedicated to public interest issues related to the
National Information Infrastructure (NII).  <contact: Coralee Whitcomb
(617)356-4309 cwhitcom@bentley.edu>  The keynote speaker will be Benjamin
Barber author of "Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age." 
On October 14 -16, 1994, the Center for Art Research in Boston will sponsor
a National Symposium on Proposed Arts and Humanities Policies for the
National Information Infrastructure. It will be held at the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, MA.  <contact: Jay Jaroslav (617)451-8030
jaroslav@artdata.win.net>  The symposium will bring together individuals from
many disciplines and areas of interest to explore proposed NII legislation
on the future of the arts and the humanities in 21st Century America.
  
	A new fight for democracy has begun in cyberspace.  Join it today.

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Federal Information News Syndicate, Vigdor Schreibman, Editor & Publisher, 
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