Information and Society

I saw that BBC series recently about the internet, the basic gist of the series was that we are living in a new age where the internet is a powerful tool that we can use to interact with other cultures and bring more democracy. An example of such is that people in Iran where able to film a protester being shot by the Iranian state and keep people informed about what was going on. But I'm afraid I have to disagree slightly with the message of that TV series.

The truth is that here in Britain such information and particularly video footage does not have the same impact. The killing, direct or not, of Ian Tomlinson and the outragous beating given to women protesters at a the vigil by Police has been pretty much ignored by the state. That isn't really suprising considering the fact that British state also ignored, for example, the largest protest in British history in 2002 (the anti-war protest, attended by 1 million people). By the way, at the trial of Sgt Delroy Smellie there was no jury, just a judge so that gives you an idea of how the state views the Police compared to us because without a jury it's much easier to rig the trial of a Police officer. This is what the state often does, it doesn't truly listen, it responds. It canives and whispers behind the scenes until it can come up with a suitable response that will benefit it's chances of getting what it wants. The mainstream media plays a role ofcourse, tipping the balance in favour of the state and the ruling class in either a subtle or dramatic way.

The officers in question have their ID numbers covered up so that it makes it easier for people to complain about them, as their job seems to be to stir things up so that protesters can look bad, be provoked and be punished by the state by either being physically assaulted or arrested- a way of keeping us 'in our place'. Sgt Delroy Smellie is one of these officers and has been involved in other incidents aside from the one caught on video in which he attacked inocent women. He has also been noticed by activists pushing a middle aged women into a wall for example.

So it seems, so far, that this technology of ours is capable of condemning the government of an independent country in the middle east that just happens to be an ideological enemy of our (puppet) government and it's allies (US friendly nations) but not condemning the criminal behaviour of the domestic Police force that protects the elite. And no I'm not pro-Iran as such, I'm pro-Iran in that I wish the people the best but I don't wish their state the best (and neither 'our' one).A state and it's people are two different things which is why us Anarchists are not patriots, we are internationalists. The Western media labels places like Iran as backward, in some ways yes they are backward but in others they are ahead of us. Although I'm not a Muslim or a Nationalist I'd say that they have a better way of organizing their national infrastructure and communicating with the world. Iran has a planned economy and doesn't go around invading other countries left, right and centre. It's also a country that is run by a stringent interpretation of Islam combined with Nationalism so that is the drawback, it is a deeply religous country where as Britain is religous in a more subtle way.

Iran and Britain are two different cultures but thats not to say that we have the best culture because our culture is different from Iran's in that we just enough materialism, misinformation and ignorance to believe that we are totally free when the reality is that we have very little freedom. It's the people who rule us that have the real freedom. Neither Iran nor Britain are free countries but the illusion of freedom is stronger in the UK. Don't get me wrong, the media is powerful but it's the mainstream media that is more so, it shapes the way the majority thinks and feels, partly by being biased and munipulative and partly by because the majority are unquestioning, uneducated and fickle- as they are socially conditioned to be by the current dominant society.

I've felt for sometime now that we take our freedoms for granted. In the UK (and plenty of other countries) you hear people complain about unions, equality legislation, protesters, immigrants, green issues, integration and homosexuality- essentially freedom itself, freedom lies in all those things. You hear people complain about other things aswell- war, poverty, racism, religous hegemony, homophobia etc but the mainstream media sets the agenda and steers the outcome as do pastors, bishops, corporations, polticians, the judiciary,TV presenters, disc jockeys, celebrities, teachers and military officers. Technology has huge potential, theres still alot it lacks in my opinion but we've come a very long way. It's the dominant society and culture that is the problem.

A society that runs itself, run by the community and not a dominating outside force would be much more prefferable and democratic than Capitalism. The state is not only a human construct but one that is based on organized domination by a powerful and rich minority over the population. Fascism, Marxism, Feudalism and Capitalism all rely on the state. A community based society (Anarchism) is a natural way of being that achieves a balance of community and individual freedom, order is achieved by that balance, participatory/autonomous democracy.

With this new Anarchist/Libertarian Communist society people would elect a local, national and hopefully international council that was not only truly accountable to them but that they could interact with properly. The council would co-run things with the people but not rule and dominate- it would be mandated by the people and consist of the people, not an elite. Workers would collectively run their workplaces and would reward themselves and each other without bosses, parents would be able to educate their children without having to worry about the school being run by religion or they would be enabled to educate their children themselves, all social and economic resources would be shared, rational thinking and enlightenment would prevail over racism, xenophobia and sexism, religous and cultural differences would be tackled by secularism and a new Anarchist culture, the economy would be planned- yet libertarian and democratic, pollution and environmental problems would be priotitized over profit, ignorance, misinformation and corporate agendas and a more humane existence would be enjoyed.

The egalitarian sharing of economic power, coupled with true individual freedom would mean that not only would life have more purpose, fulfilment, everyone achieving their potential but that this would lead to a society that would be run more efficiently. People would be absolutely free to chase their passions, not having to worry about poverty, debt, red tape, too many working hours, not enough reward from work or their boss or any kind of boss because everyone would be a boss. That is the true nature of Communism, Libertarian Communism-Anarchism. Thats the kind of society that people deserve and thats the world I want to live in and it's the kind of world that is needed. The world wide web does let us connect with other parts of the globe and can bring about awareness but not as much as would be possible if the constraints of the existing society were not there.