Sporadic thoughts on Tech and Culture (chapter 1)

Progress, surely, is not a term with a universal definition. Our broad use of it seems more a hindrance to our progress, if anything. A entity, whether that entity be a person, group, nation, or corporation, wanting negative results is going to view progress as a path towards those results. On the contrary, wanting positive results is going to lead one in the opposite direction when searching for progress. If such a broad example can be made to show the ridiculousness of our collective definitions of progress, how then has this subject not come under closer scrutiny? In a world of individuals, with individual agenda’s, thoughts, needs and wants, how have we forgotten to include progress in our discussions concerning special interests?

On material betterment- material betterment, a subject close to the hearts of those who concern themselves with other aspects of physical enhancement, and pleasure, seems to be one of tangible results. Corporations require data, and information that deals with demographics and profit to enhance their market. We do not have a group of like minded people concerned with the betterment of humanity creating our products, or our technology. We have dark suited gentlemen with letters after their names wondering how they can more effectively worship their almighty, (money), and its prophets, (profit). A certain level of paranoia is, of course implied, however when a handful of people own, literally outright ownership, of basically everything we consider to be progressive, this paranoia seems to be justified. Why aren’t there more people asking whyFaceBook and MySpace are portrayed to be opposite social networks, where this one has this application, and ‘better’ features than the other, and vice versa relative to time, when the same person owns and is in charge of both websites. Why are they being sold to us as threats to one another and opponents? Surely we now understand the importance of agendas, or is Enron’s investment house scandal already lost to us?

Let us concern ourselves with the paradox of business and ethics. First of all, a peaceful coexistence between ethics and the empire of business does not, cannot, and will never exist. If I own a business that sells products, and I do my best to make these products, but there is a man down the street who makes the same better than I do, an ethical thing to do when customers come in to buy would to peacefully direct them to the man down the street, because his products are better. This is not concerning progress, but the issue of ethics, where the former is the ethical decision. Not only am I giving a person business, but I am doing that customer a favor in pointing them in the direction of a more worthwhile purchase. Even though I might feel some sense of accomplishment and I would become a nicer, better person, I would undoubtedly go out of business should I choose to act this way every day at work. Therefore, where there is ethics, there can exist nothing of business, and the reverse is equally true. NOTE that this only applies to our current definitions of business and how the economy works under a fractional reserve banking system. Now, those in disagreement with these statements might argue that it does not really make any notable sense to apply a code of ethics to a code of business because it is unfair and not practical to ask a person to do said actions while owning a business. This is correct, and exactly why business cannot be ethical. Simply put by Jacque Fresco, “business cannot afford to be ethical”. Now that this has be determined, we can also determine that technology, which has been associated to issues of progress be considered the definition relevant to all of us? Are there not ethical beings among us? How then, have we been trapped into thinking that both business, and the technologies sprung from their seed are somehow ethical, and “progressive” relative to our needs and wants.

On moral betterment. “When you have cut down the last tree and poisoned the last river you will know that you cannot eat money”. Seemingly moral words from Native American wisdom, will put this type of betterment in direct opposition to that of the material, but are they really? Native American society is one of self worth, community, and an appreciation for the occult and paranormal. Poppycock for some, but very relevant to those engaged in its practice. Only in defense of themselves do they even think of killing, and when animals are killed for food it seems as though the rituals for sending it off in a state of peace and tranquility are endless. I see parallels in our society today. It seems as though many of our so called problems might be diminished with an understanding of a seemingly “moral” society. But are our morals relative? If so, are they more relative than progress, and what the relationship is. In all my years I have not met a single person who glorified war, and when our notions of progress are obviously bringing destruction and death along with its so called progressiveness, might a dash of moral society be so bad? Of course I am not saying we are all immoral, but rather our institutions that we give so much of our power to. If anything came from reading this text, its that we need more of ourselves permeating the upper echelons of life, and that progress is a matter of perspective.

An excerpt from Network, 1977 movie:

"You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale... and I won't have it!

Is that clear?
You think you merely stopped a business deal.
That is not the case.
The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country... and now they must put it back!
It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity. It is ecological balance!
You are an old man... who thinks in terms of nations and peoples.
There are no nations. There are no peoples.
There are no Russians. There are no Arabs.
There are no Third Worlds. There is no West.
There is only one holistic system of systems!
One vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-variant, multinational dominion of dollars!
Petrol dollars, electro dollars, multi-dollars.
Reichsmarks, rins, rubles, pounds and shekels!
It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet.
That is the natural order of things today.
That is the atomic, and subatomic, and galactic structure of things today.
And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature!
And you will atone!
Am I getting through to you?
You get up on your little 21-inch screen and howl about America and democracy.
There is no America.
There is no democracy.
There is only IBM and ITT, and AT&T, and Du Pont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon.
Those are the nations of the world today.
What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state? Karl Marx?
They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions and compute price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, like we do.
We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale.
The world is a college of corporations... inexorably determined by the... immutable bylaws of business.
The world is a business, Mr. Beale."