re: New New Economy
__It's summer vacation,__but our inbox sure reads as if school were in session. First, to Sociology: Readers brandishing The Marx-Engels Reader chastised Kevin Kelly for calling collaborative technologies a form of socialism; the correct term, they said, is anarchism, capitalism, or Leninism. Next, to Economics: Students unhappy with David Wolman's proposal to eliminate cash complained that it was unrealistic; you can't buy street drugs with a MasterCard. Of course. Class dismissed!
Defining Terms
What Kevin Kelly calls new socialism in computing and the like is, in fact, capitalism ("The New Socialism," issue 17.06). Voluntary cooperation and collaboration among individuals are actually forms of free trade. This new "socialism" is made possible under governments that (at least in this realm) respect property rights, the cornerstone of a capitalist system. Let's dispense with Kelly's equivocation on socialism and give capitalism its due.
Joseph Kellard
East Meadow, New York
Feedback
The June stories that elicited the most reader response. In reality, socialism was and always has been an attempt to enhance the equality of all its citizens, freeing them to live better lives. The problem is that in order to promote equality you often have to limit freedom. The point of Kelly's article is that these new open source projects allow a form of equality that doesn't require such limitations.
Excerpted from a comment posted on Wired.com by ETHERFIRE
I live in Norway, which meets Kelly's definition of old socialism. The currency is strong, and health care and education are free. When you retire, the state pays you a pension. The unemployment rate is 3 percent. None of Norway's newspapers are controlled by the government. The state-owned radio station satirizes political leaders. So much for "harsh penalties for criticizing leaders" and "forced labor in government factories."
Mads Tobias
Wichstrøm Munter
Bekkestua, Norway
We need a new term. How about Net-assisted syndicalism or computer-assisted cooperation? Socialism, collectivism, and communism are failed systems. Even the words have bad karma.
Hunt Evans Johnsen
Encinitas, California
Kelly's new socialism will exist only on the Internet. It will never build a bridge, manufacture a car, or feed and shelter a population.
Brad Wander
Houston, Texas
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Silent Night
*We should have known there would be trouble. As Melissa Maerz wrote (Music, Play, issue 17.06), the world's most insane supergroup—Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, and David Lynch—planned to ship its album/book project in June. But a legal scuffle with EMI, Danger Mouse's label, has since put the kibosh on the official release. As a result, the limited-edition *Dark Night of the Soul book ships instead with a blank CD and instructions to, ahem, "use it as you will." Law-abiders can stream the album at NPR.org.
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Detroit 2.0
I enjoyed Charles C. Mann's article ("Beyond Detroit," issue 17.06) until the last few paragraphs. How can he conclude that "higher gas taxes are necessary" and are "the best way to get Americans to buy more-efficient vehicles" when he also notes that Detroit was "blindsided by the public interest in hybrids, which soared with the US arrival of the Toyota Prius in 2000?"
It's astonishing that Mann can accurately explain the failure of US automakers through the prism of free-market theories but still recommend artificial market controls that would have made Adam Smith cry.
Matthew Gibson
Oceanside, California
Great article. On-demand manufacturing—which led to the success of Dell and was explored briefly by BMW in the 1990s—would alleviate the huge burden of stocks for manufacturers. One should question the dealership model: Is there any value added by someone whose role is to help people buy a car they don't want but select just because it happens to be available on the lot?
Excerpted from a comment posted on Wired.com by PHCATFISH
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Greenback Flap
In "Time to Cash Out" (Start, issue 17.06) David Wolman presents several compelling reasons for eliminating cash. But he failed to mention the three ironclad reasons it will never go away: illegal drugs, prostitution, and illicit gambling.
Excerpted from a comment posted on Wired.com by JUSTINSCHNEIDER
Cash is a waste. People complain that we are becoming a plastic society, and I say, "Good." When was the last time you saw a heroin dealer with a credit card machine? If we eliminated cash, it could put drug dealers out of business. But don't worry, potheads; you can grow your own.
Excerpted from a comment posted on Wired.com by kemp509
OK, Wolman is a journalist, not an economist. But anyone savvy enough to write for Wired should be able to ask a simple question, like "If we dump physical money, what's next?" And given how easy it was to pirate digital films and music, the follow-on question should be "Will safekeeping the replacement money be more trouble than it's worth?" If it ain't broke, don't fool with it.
David O'Rear
Chief economist Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
Hong Kong
Wolman would surrender the anonymity of all your transactions to save you $3 a year? Do you want your health insurer to see your food, alcohol, and tobacco purchases? Do you want the government to get suspicious if you purchase lye to make soap? Are you crazy?
Excerpted from a comment posted on Wired.com by BEERCRITIC
No more shopping during a blackout! Live in a rural area? No buying produce until Farmer Joe gets electricity and the Internet at his roadside fruit shack.
There will always be a place for a physical exchange between two people for goods and services. It has existed for thousands of years, starting with rocks and sticks, and it's not going to go away now because some of us have access to the Internet.
Tyler Freeman
San Francisco, California
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Nothing to Read Here
We received a lot of comments regarding "Fathers of Invention," our piece about Islam's scientific achievements (Start, issue 17.06). But the occasional intelligent response was overshadowed by a trove of anti-Muslim racist drivel. Trust us—by not publishing them here, we're sparing you. Next time, spare us.
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Tweet Me
Enough with the Twitter stuff—stop feeding the hype ("Playlist," Play, issue 17.06)! The mere thought of all the time wasted on this makes me cringe. Go talk to real people!
Excerpted from a comment posted on Wired.com by BUGMENOT
