CapitalistResistanceToNetocracy

ThoughtStorms Wiki

Consider this story : http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/068/business/Freshideasloseouttomorepragmatic_concerns+.shtml

On the surface, it's simple. After getting burnt by the dotcom bubble, business is retracting and turning against "innovation".

There might be another way of understanding this. Traditional corporations (capitalist institutions) having realized that they have no strategy to sieze control of the net and use it to their advantage; are now fighting back against NetoCracy. If the net is a threat rather than opportunity to them, they have every reason to try to destroy it.

The main counter-attack is to starve the emerging network of support. Having put lots of money and attention into the net, corporations will announce that this was wasted. And start to deny money or attention to it. This is coupled with the legal attacks by more directly threatened corporations, such as copyright holders.

We can expect no return by corporations to support for the net, unless NetoCracy succesfully tempts it by offering the illusional strategy of siezing control.

Netocracy will keep trying to tempt capitalist institutions to their own destruction ...

Capitalist or Corporate?

Perhaps this should be framed as CorporateResistanceToNetocracy. (Few corporate manager/owners are Capitalists, they tend more to Mercantilism. BillSeitz:MercantilIst)

–BillSeitz

Good point. I suppose there are two kinds of conflicts :

NetworksVsHierarchies, in which corporates qua hierarchies are clearly engaged.

But I think there's also "real" capital (ie. money and property) vs. social / network capital. The two are both network / market organizations, but differ in what flows through or is exchanged by the respective network. These aren't necessarily enemies, but as they're both TypesOfPower, trying to have a real influence on the world (by, say, motivating people to behave in particular ways) then they will sometimes have conflicting interests and will have to solve them. (Eg. when the hacker wants to build a cool app. to impress his friends and the company wants him to fix boring bugs for paying customers. When the hacker wants to release the code OpenSource for long term kudos, and the shareholders want to monetize it quickly as a proprietory product.

What's fascinating is we are seeing both going on the same time. Makes for a very complex picture. But very "interesting times."

– PhilJones