dotcom delusions
John Samuel, National Centre for Advocacy Studies, Pune, India.
The new mantra is "Information is power". But who is being empowered by the dotcom revolution? The consumers who are rushing for their daily online fix? The thirsty villagers who have access to neither technology nor plastic money? Or the merchants and brokers of information, money and images?
There's tonnes of information floating around the information highways these days. And there are hordes of Internet junkies swimming around in dotcom waters. But what does this information do for the hungry child or the thirsty village? How much of this information can fill an empty stomach?
My concern is not about the validity of the information but that this contagious information fever is eclipsing reality. The dotcom revolution is going to lead to even more information anarchy. The global information order will thrive on the confusion propelled by that anarchy.
The emerging information order, finance market capitalism and image-driven politics will in the long run create more social and political insecurity in real life. Because the delusions of development, wealth and participation they create will not effectively change the ground realities of inequality, mistrust, social paranoia and moral degeneration.
Such a scenario calls for an urgent rethink on the present information euphoria. For a full version of this article: http://www.humanscapeindia.org
This and other articles can also be found at The School for Prophets: http://www.school4prophets.fsnet.co.uk
Download PDF version of this page