[Upd-discuss] Analysis: Cyber-communism: how the Americans are superseding capitalism in cyberspace, by Richard Barbrook

[Zapopan Martin Muela-Meza]

Barbrook, R. (1999). Cyber-communism: how the Americans are superseding
capitalism in cyberspace. London: University of Westminster, Hypermedia
Research Centre.
http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/theory-cybercommunism.html
http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9909/msg00046.html

Excerpts:

'...is the impact of the ...information revolution on capitalism not the
ultimate exemplification of... Marx's thesis that: "at a certain stage of
their development, the material productive forces come into conflict with
the existing relations of production..."? ...does the prospect of the...
"global village" not signal the end of market relations... at least in the
sphere of digitalised information?' (Zizek 1998: 33-4)

"The pleasure of giving and receiving gifts can radically change the
personal experience of collective labour. Within the marketplace,
individuals primarily collaborate through the impersonal exchange of
commodities. The buyers and sellers should remain unconcerned about each
other's fate. In contrast, the circulation of gifts encourages friendships
between its participants. The construction of a successful network
community is always a labour of love. Working within cyber-communism can
be not only more productive, but also more enjoyable than digital
capitalism. According to Howard Rheingold, these social benefits of the
hi-tech gift economy are not confined to the Net. Despite all their
wealth, many Americans are suffering from the isolation and alienation
imposed by market competition. Luckily, some can now find friendship and
intimacy within network communities. Since there is no necessity for the
enclosure of collective labour within cyberspace, Americans can compensate
for the damage caused by their nation's '...loss of a sense of a social
commons.' (Rheingold 1994: 12)"

"Yet, even this synthesis is already being superseded at the cutting-edge
of modernity. The heroic minority is no longer alone. After two centuries
of economic growth, ordinary people are also able to adopt advanced
productive relations. Within the Net, working together by circulating
gifts is now a daily experience for millions of people. As well as in
their jobs, individuals also collaborate on collective projects in their
free time. Freed from the immediate disciplines of the marketplace, work
can increasingly become a gift. The enlightened few are no longer needed
to lead the masses towards the future. For the majority of Net users are
already participating within the productive relations of cyber-communism.
Everyday, they are sending emails, taking part in listservers, making
websites, contributing to newsgroups and participating within on-line
conferences. Having no need to sell information as commodities, they
spontaneously work together by circulating gifts. All across the world,
politicians, executives and pundits are inspired by the rapid expansion of
e-commerce in the USA. Mesmerised by neo-liberal ideology, they fail to
notice that most information is already circulating as gifts within the
Net. Engaged in superseding capitalism, Americans are successfully
constructing the utopian future in the present: cyber-communism."

--------------------------- * ---------------------------
"Any man who reads a lot and uses a little his own brain
falls into lazy mental habits.” 
--------------------------- * --------------------------- 
"Cualquier hombre que lea demasiado y utilice poco 
su propio cerebro cae en hábitos mentales perezosos.” 
-- Albert Einstein (Thorpe, S. (2001). Como pensar como 
Einstein : How to Think like Einstein. Bogota: Norma, p. 214)


		
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