From: Charlie Stross (charlie@antipope.org)
Date: Wed Dec 01 1999 - 07:48:40 MST
On Wed, Dec 01, 1999 at 08:42:12AM +0000, Kathryn Aegis wrote:
> Social justice, free trade and labor concerns form the basis of many
> objections to emergent technologies, and coalitions are being formed on
> that basis.
In no small part because small organisations of protestors get
less attention than honking great big coalitions, and the mainstream
organisations who would have traditionally represented them (left- wing
political parties, trades unions) don't exist or aren't interested
any more.
(Example: here in the UK, this sort of protest group would have been
represented within the fringe groupings of the Labour Party until about
a decade ago. But now the Labour Party is firmly in power, in step with
the other dominant political party -- and it's mutated into just another
bunch of middle-aged yuppie-lawyer types in suits who have to consult
a PR factory before they can fart in public.)
The wheel of reincarnation turns and we're seeing mew types of coalition
forming to represent their members' aspirations for publicity or protest.
The danger here is that because these interests are largely excluded
from the usual political discourse, they will increasingly turn towards
violent protest as a way of getting the system to respond -- however
inappropriately -- to their concerns. While we don't agree with techno-
luddism, I think it'd be better for everyone if we could exchange
verbal opinions rather than letter bombs and tear gas grenades.
-- Charlie
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