I'll probably see a small peak in traffic
I read most of the blogs the Corante hosts on a daily basis. The other day Sarah Lai Stirland used what I thought was an excellent quote from George Soros.
Frankly, I never expected to get a referral from any of Corante's blogs (though Dana Blankenhorn surprised me here once or twice). So I go to see what's up:
Meanwhile, this previous
post of mine elicited these reactions from both the left and the right. I would like to point out that I am not advocating anything here. I just think that it's a shame that we're covering Cyberspace as a pure market opportunity, when it is so much more than that. Covering Cyberspace only as a business story is like treating everyday society like a supermarket. Why should we bother with Congress and the Constitution when we can just have a free market??
In a way, this is why I feel that the whole blogging thing is overblown. It's impossible to illustrate what I'm trying to say without doing a whole magazine article. Blogs just don't do the job. They're the digital equivalent of standing around a bar trying to explain something while the listener just tunes you out and regurgitates their own boiler-plate political views.
… and
I'm the referenced leftie.
Ms. Stirland is focused on tech, as is appropriate for a blog named
CONNECTED: nodes & networks. On the other hand, I (as well as my right-wing counterpart, who I'll get to in a minute) am at least somewhat focused on politics and economics, as is appropriate. And Soros was definitely taking a political position with the statement.
I feel your pain, though. It's hard when a writer sees a clear parallel between a well expressed idea in another realm and her own position, only to have her thing glossed over when she expresses it. And I'm not trying to draft you into the culture wars, though. I really do collect clever statements. My favorite comes from an old Thor comic book. Not just that, but you're still stuck with me as a daily reader—I need my tech fix, especially nowadays.
I do have to say this, though: in reality, cyberspace (ugh, that term…) is a thin scum on the surface of the planet, which is where the
real action is…ask the Napster kid which world has more power. And if it's a shame to treat a shadow world like nothing more than a business story, treating the planet that way is much worse… and fixing my problem will likely fix yours.
As for the referenced rightie:
WHAT'S THE DIFFIn a Corante blog entry dated last Thursday, Sarah Lai Stirling voices the typical collectivist view of intellectual property � that there is a compelling public or societal interest in limiting intellectual property rights. I find this entire concept to be abhorrent in the extreme. It is to my mind the perfect demonstration piece of the absolute moral bankruptcy of any social, economic, or political model that denies in any way shape or form the sovereignty of the individual.
To me, the difference between the denial of intellectual property rights and slaveholding or any other form of thuggery is merely one of degree. They are of the same kind � crimes against humanity and the essential humanity of the individual.
I don't think I need to comment.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 7/1/2003 08:24:47 PM |
Posted by P6 at July 1, 2003 08:24 PM
| Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1010
