BIG BROTHER LIVES!! The Anarchives Volume 2 Issue 3 The Anarchives Published By The Anarchives The Anarchy Organization The Anarchives tao@lglobal.com Send your e-mail address to get on the list Spread The Word Pass This On... --/\-- The Information Revolution / / \ \ Power & Oligarchy ---|--/----\--|--- McLuhan's Global Village \/ \/ /\______/\ by Jesse Hirsh "The extensions of human consciousness are projecting themselves into the total world environment via electronics, forcing humankind into a robotic future."1 The information revolution is here; transforming the globe; we witness the information age. This is the second industrial revolution; a change in the means of production; accompanied by volatile frontier capitalism. Vast amounts of wealth are being created and centralized as large information based corporations explore and expand the electronic frontier. The proliferation of information technology has and will continue to have profound effects upon society, changing the industrialized world into a fully integrated information economy. The information revolution creates global information institutions that harness all the effects and benefits of globalization, and create the global corporate state. The individuals in control of these institutions form a political elite, whose strength grows as its numbers diminish. The iron law of oligarchy continues as global organization yields global rule, and a global elite. Among the ranks of this elite are the owners of the technology, supported by subservient classes of a corporate and technical elite. This essay examines these issues, then begins to present options for resistance towards this global power move. Marshall McLuhan in The Global Village illustrates the transformative and oligarchic natures of the emerging media. It is in this work that McLuhan identifies the trend in communications that he terms "Global Robotism". This term describes a method of social organization that accompanies the proliferation of electronic media such as computers, satellites, global networks, and multi-way video communication. Humanity extends itself into the electronic environment, lending itself to electronic organization. We witness the emergence of a global machine, a global computer that is alive with a developing global consciousness, derived from the collective efforts of millions of human participants. GAIA rises from the industrialized world. "As man succeeds in translating his central nervous system into electronic circuitry, he stands on the threshold of outering his consciousness into the computer."2 This essay also takes into consideration the work of C. Wright Mills, and Robert Michels in order to understand the potential role of the new power structure that emerges in the wake of the information revolution. Their works are concerned with the roles of elites in mass organization, they illustrate the present and potential roles of an elite within the burgeoning information age. "As the institutional means of power and the means of communications that tie them together have become steadily more efficient, those now in command of them have come into command of instruments of rule quite unsurpassed in the history of mankind."3 The information revolution creates a new institution that enhances existing ones, while creating a new and unique global entity. The proliferation of computers and advanced communication technology throughout society provide the medium that is revolutionizing the means of production. Converging media create the potential for a unified electronic environment in which mass media are homogenized into a standardized mosaic of human communication. Decentralization on the micro level yields massive centralization on the macro scale. Multimedia and interactive technologies become the central modes of communication, and a new environment is created in which everything is considered data; the user merges with the data base as the system becomes so total that exclusion is a technical impossibility. The earth reduces itself to binary code to form an institution of global power. "More and more people will enter the market of information exchange, lose their private identities in the process, but emerge with the ability to interact with any person on the face of the globe. Mass, spontaneous electronic referendums will sweep across continents. The concept of nationalism will fade and regional governments will fall as the political implications of spaceship earth create a world government."4 The people in control of this emerging global governance, wield power unsurpassed by previous regimes or empires; the hegemony of information power. The information media penetrates into our lives, transforming us: the media is the message. "There are no more passengers, only crew. Such a grasp of totality suggests the possibility of control not only of the planet but of change itself."5 The information revolution is a bourgeois corporate revolution, of the highest magnitude. Enacted by large conglomerates, it is fueled by their continued investment and research & development. The corporate world benefits the most from the success of the information revolution. This is true for the simple reason that they own, operate, and create the revolution. Through its enactment the corporate sector is experiencing its greatest empowerment ever, gross profits at the highest levels and the expansion of the corporate state. This empowerment is accompanied by the emergence of a corporate elite. An elite that integrates itself into the foundation, or backbone of the information society. Their infiltration if not creation of the emerging environment of human communication places them at centre-ground; everywhere and yet seemingly nowhere at all times. "The multi-carrier media corporation has the peculiar ability to be a media orchestrator, to link all video-related technologies, whether satellite, earth station, microwave, date base, or computer into a resonating whole."6 The two corporate giants, American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) and International Business Machines (IBM), are built upon information technology, and through the information revolution are increasing their global dominance. Through centralized government-military-industrial spending and their own monopolistic practices they are among the largest corporations in the world. Together they hold the copyrights and patents on most of the technology of the past, present, and future.7 Now through deregulation these American centred organizations are able to wield and develop their power on a global scale. Their presence within the global arena places them as competitors for global power. ....... ue$$$$""""$$$$$$"""*$Nc z$# 3$$$$$ 4$$$$$ $$$$$N. d$E '$$$$$ 4$$$$$ $$$$F ^$r .$$$$$ $$$$$F 4$$$$$ .$$$$ $ dF$$$$$b *$$$$$ $$$$$ 4$$$$ $ $ 3$$$$$ '$$$$$ $$$$$ 4$$$$ 4F $r $$$$$L $$$$$ $$$$$ 4$$$$ $ '$ 4$$$$$ $$$$$F $$$$$ 4$$$$ $ 3$ $$$$$F 4$$$$F $$$$$ 4$$$F $ $L 4$$$$$ $$$$$ 4$$$$ 4$$$F $ $. $$$$$ $$$$$ 4$$$$r 4$$$F 4F 3$ '$$$$k 3$$$$ $$$$F 4$$$F 4F $r $$$$$ 4$$$$ **6CL..J?"*" 4F 4$ ^$$$$r Ce$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$F $r $*)d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$9$$$F 4$ u$$$$$$$$$$$$"^$$$$$$$$*** **$F $$$"$$$$$$$$$*" z$$$$$$b @$F .. 9$$ ^$$"$$$$$$r '$$$$$$$$ :L $$b .z$$@$JF '$* :$$$$$$$.@$$Nd$$$$$$u$$$$c$$e$B@# dWF .ue$$$***********************$$CBW*#" dS$" z$*2e*#""" ^".Cue$****""""$ .dl$" .@#z# .ue@**")zc. .$z$$P 4$:P .e$ed*"*$#" 4F $ C*c?$$c4r @#$)6F$" '$$ :$P@F z*h.P J$" ^*$$$" .$$$**$$" '*Im. $d`CW **" @z" . ueP*$- $4E$$Nc$ $c. '"**$"4$*" .e2P ^9F"**=*) $ $*$+*3z$W" . .*r .F$'3F9P """ u $"" 'L" :P$*JF3$F* $$ @.. $ 3r $ :e$6@":$$b.'$ zS$c "*r ^L :$ '$$$**"$"b$.4$ *$$N$$PF $$ $ .$$ "$$ku#J$ .# @@FF`u $ '" $N@F'$$" $$u ?$'N /$> d :" $ $ r $P ^$$F $$*"$$. ** $ '" F $ ^$b@)5F4N $$@P $" .$ ^""#"\ $ '##$$/$ 4$$$ ^F'* ..(@6*$" 4$ z$ "$F ?$$$L F z" "^$$JF d?$ "b 4$$$e b:d $$ .$ 3$$. ^*6 '#NJ 'k9 3 ^Nf$ JP eN*$$k '"*eu*NJNF'$$'r '$3$ :$".ek '$$$L ^b "$\ :F k $b. u$$.kEF $$$$u '* P@ d F$$$$bu u@$$$$f` $k .*$$$$c . 4$F "F $'$$$$$$F u$$$$$$$$$ .P "d" #$$$$$NJ$$$d$J F ^k *$$$$$ .dB$$$$$$$$$$$r "*h ?L ^$$$$$$$$$$$$ b 'u 'kr$$$$h '@'9$$$$$$$$$$$$ 4b" ^"" '$$$$$$$l$$FL &L * '$$$$$@. ^$$$$$$$$$$b ' 9$$$\$$$$$f ^EN 3L$$6$$2" d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$**" "$9$$$$$$$Nmu% :/L $$6$$F '~*@$b$$$$N. ^$$$$$$$$$$$bI$'$L$$$$ ~ 4$$$k*$$N. $$$$$$$ 9$$$$$k$F$$F N$NE$J*$$u "$$$$ "$$$$' 4$ "#d3N$$9$$k ^$$F "" $ **3b$NP$b. *L $9 $ "*d$d"$u "b # '*k * "N. ^$k Some of their current financial figures illustrate just how large these companies are. AT&T in 1993 had a total revenue of $67.2 billion with a profit of $3.97 billion.8 Similarly IBM's revenue for 1994 was $64.1 billion with profits reaching $3.02 billion.9 Their economic performance rates better than most nations. IBM has a practical monopoly in the large computer mainframe10 industry, supplying 72% of the mainframes in the world, primarily to corporate and government clients.11 AT&T has generated huge revenue through virtual telephone monopolies, and these are likely to grow as they begin marketing multi-way television technology.12 Both of these companies compete with other smaller information technology companies acting as the vanguard of the information revolution. The fate of countless other companies, not to mention nation-states rests upon the implementation and further development of information technology by these two competing communication conglomerates. To understand the oligarchic potential consider the impact that their information technology will have on financial institutions. McLuhan states: "There is no technical reason why the 40,000 - odd financial institutions in North America devoted to banking, securities, and insurance could not be merged into a single institution through electronic means."13 McLuhan continues to describe this process: Using EFT: electronic fund transfers, "banks are able to transfer money electronically between customers bank accounts" which in effect enables "the creation of a super bank through the electric linking of literally hundreds of local and regional data sources to provide the entire Western world a view of your social and economic standing."14 The information revolution is accompanied by the liberation of capital, generating the gross amounts it needs to continue developing and profiting. As the implementation of this new media continues the intensity of future development increases. The rate of change, and the rate of growth operates on an exponential scale, requiring increasing amounts of capital to fuel the industrial expansion. Free Trade allows the globalization of capital that enables the creation of the global banking institution, and at the same time enhancing global centralization through the protection of American intellectual property. It is in this context that AT&T and IBM offer the best contemporary example of oligarchic rule. "The commercial corporate organization is, after all, a broad extension of the human mind; it develops controlling structures to organize human behaviour to produce an economic benefit."15 The control of such an organization is purposefully hierarchical, centralizing control into the hands of the few members on the board of directors, and indirectly the minority of society who are share holders. Therefore if a few large corporations control society, through their control of the increasingly dominant information industry, the traditional pattern of rule by the few continues. Accompanying this rule of the few, will be a similar oligarchic pattern on the micro level. The information regime requires a class of technical administrators to act as enforcers who are able to wield the power centralized by means of information technology. The process of decentralization that occurs on the micro level is accompanied by centralization within these diverging centres. "In short, the entire operation has been miniatruized, speeded up, and placed under the direction of one mind instead of several."16 System administrators with the aid of computer technology single-handedly control information networks. They bear the responsibilities of access, security, maintenance, and general network structure. Through control of the technology they are also in control of the users. This one person can make the decision whether a user may operate on the system; what, when, and how they operate on it; as well as having access to all personal records and actions made by that individual user. This pattern of technological control is explicitly oligarchic. This oligarchic pattern resembles similar trends described by Robert Michels who stated: "Who says organization, says oligarchy"17. As information is organized on a global scale, control of such information is in the hands of technical administrators, forming a new bureaucratic class. This class will act as support for the new political elite that accompanies the proliferation of information technology. "The bad news is that all persons, whether or not they understand the processes of computerized high-speed data transmission, will lose their old private identities. What knowledge there is will be available to all. So, in that sense, everybody will be nobody. Everyone will be involved in robotic role-playing including those few elitists who interpret or manage large-scale data patterns and thus control the functions of a speed-of-light society. The more quickly the rate of information exchange speeds up, the more likely we will all merge into a new robotic corporate entity, devoid of true specialism which has been the hallmark of our old private identities. The more information one has to evaluate, the less one knows. Specialism cannot exist at the speed of light."18 In conclusion, the information revolution is the latest attempt by a small elite to consolidate its control on society and reinforce the oligarchy that has traditionally existed. It threatens to support the iron law of oligarchy which states that as society continues to grow and further organize it simultaneously centralizes power and control into the hands of the few. At present the media is swamped with information-hypeway and all the positive aspects of information technology. This purposeful misinformation, and to some extent indoctrination, serves to cloud the minds of the public into thinking they are aware of the changes, and furthermore approve of them. Yet throughout this second industrial revolution very few are critically addressing the transformations that are occurring. The information revolution can be expressed in the metaphor of Noah's Ark. Great rains are falling, determined to flood the world. For most the choice will come down to sink or swim. However those who can be quick on the mark, recognize early what's going on, might still have enough time to build their own boat, and find their own piece of land in the new frontier. Perhaps the opportunity to participate in the development of the future. As the ruling class continues its consolidation of power, and the strengthening of the oligarchy, opposition to its tyranny grows. A resistance emerges to counter this flow of power, as awareness of this change increases. Perhaps the most successful resistance movement, or more accurately described counterculture, are the so-called "hackers". The average computer hacker epitomizes McLuhan's concept of ground within an electronic environment. Under the threat of severe retaliation and persecution, hackers are forced to maintain a myriad of identities, inhabiting a widely distributed area, blending into and becoming ground. A hacker will have hundreds if not thousands of "accounts" or access points to an information system. Like the power elite themselves they have integrated themselves into the framework of the electronic environment. Through exploration of "backdoors" and security holes hackers have familiarized themselves with the inner workings of the system so as to dissolve into its structure. They have been able to obtain unlimited access, to the extent that they themselves actively participate in the development of the emerging media. They constitute an opposition to corporate centralization that increases with the success of those same corporate interests. Their belief in the freedom of information, places them as the most serious and severe threat to the emerging new order. Yet at the same time relatively little is known about this counterculture, an indication of their success at embodying the concept of ground. Another form of resistance that is emerging in the changing information environment are community groups demanding their own empowerment in the ongoing information revolution. These public interest groups are commendable in the sense that they oppose corporate centralization and greed, however their actions at present seem only to re-enforce the corporate process of empowerment. Tragically the large majority of these groups are still convinced that the "content" is the message, and are directing actions accordingly. In effect these organizations are dealing with the information revolution on a shallow and superficial level. As long as they ignore the role of the medium itself within the electronic environment, they will remain subservient to the corporate order. This raises the role of awareness within the possibility of resistance. Clearly awareness is essential in determining possible courses of action. However awareness alone cannot achieve change, it obviously must be accompanied by action. One would hope that awareness would increase revolutionary fervour and the desires for social justice rather than simply unite apathy with corporate obedience. The military-industrial complex has successfully integrated itself into the innermost workings of our society. Military technology can now be found within every home, and every workplace. The institution itself has effectively dissolved into the essence of our society. We are now all members of this powerful entity, and we must turn to the ground to not only ensure our survival as socially just human beings, but also fight for the survival of our species. The option of running away to the hills no longer seems to be available. We are surrounded on all sides; our only option is to confront the changes taking place and hope to have some effect on their outcome. Time to get our shit together.... 1 McLuhan, Marshall & Powers, Bruce; The Global Village; Oxford University Press, New York 1989, pp. viii 2 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 94 3 Mills, C. Wright; The Power Elite, pp. 23 4 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 118 5 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 98 6 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 119 7 All information used in this essay on AT&T and IBM comes from their respective Web sites on the internet that can be reached through the following addresses: http://www.att.com/ http://www.ibm.com/ 8 AT&T Corporate Report 1993, from http://www.att.com/finance.html 9 IBM corporate report 1994, from http://www.ibm.com/finance.html 10 Mainframes are super-computers, often the size of several rooms, that are the essential components of computing in any medium to large sized organization. 11 From IBM Web site http://www.ibm.com/industry.html 12 From http://www.att.com/future.html 13 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 91 14 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 111 15 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 121 16 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 106 17 Michels, Robert; Political Parties; Free Press, New York 1962, pp. 365 18 McLuhan & Powers; The Global Village; pp. 129 TAO Strives On....