Politics Information

Open Source and Post-Capitalistic Society


Capitalism as the social structure was founded in order to support further evolution and development of human race, to support the innovation which was oppressed by the former system. It was brought up by the two industrial revolutions. The technology was obviously the main to blame for the outcoming capitalistic society. The new capitalism was more liberalistic promoting free trade and pushing globalization in order to support further development and growth of technology.

But, it seems like the technology has been pushed so far and so high that the now old capitalism formed to support it starts to act as it's oppressor. The world of software technology is the obvious example of it. The first signs of these events can be recognized far back into 70s and 80s when the software technology's started to emerge.

Now, the capitalism oppresses the further technology growth by oppressing the development of software. How? By making it proprietary, creating monopoly's. To capitalism, everything is property, including software. And that is where the problem is. The software cannot be considered as property, it is more like an information. It is simply too easy to copy it without ANY effort and that is what led to it becoming a commodity which is a reason more why it just cannot be proprietary. If it is considered proprietary and created and used in such manner, we are getting monopolies created, patents issued and other restrictions that do no good to the further development of software technology, but to oppress it.

Look at the capitalistic giant, Microsoft! Imagine that there were no free software movement and open source. Microsoft would be the ultimate monopolist, the whole world would be their empire. In such case, there would be no real progress and innovation because there is no force to drive it.

THAT is the very proof of capitalism being simply too old and incompetent to handle the new technology of today properly, in the information age run by computers and software.

The open source and free software movement are already taking steps further, outgrowing the limitations of the old and incompetent capitalistic system in order to create what may be called a post-capitalism, true liberalistic, society where the technology will be freely developed at the rates the open source software gets developed today.

More to this, open source and free software movement being the major sign is not the only sign of the sickness of capitalism and it's fall.

Simply look at the way things are going at this point in history regarding the major events. When there was a war in Iraq, masses of global and organized people, ordinary people like you and me, used internet to start the organized real time and worldwide demonstrations against the war in Iraq. The same happens with any other major event. There is a global network of people united in their fight for freedom and peace. It shows how the technology of today gives the power to the ordinary people instead of power being in hands of a few big shots. And those people, masses, globally networked masses, ask for one thing: FREEDOM!

Their (our) "enemies" are therefore everyone that anyhow try's to restrict the freedom and impose the control over them.

The entity's that fall into that category include:

  • the greatest corporations such as Microsoft and oil companies (imposing monopolies and restrictions in order to control as much as possible)

  • political entities such as USA and European Union (imposing wars such as the one in Iraq, pushing restrictions of freedoms to use and develop technology through software patents etc.)

And when we say "enemy", we don't mean that the corporations, companies and governments as the organizations should be terminated in order for us to have the freedom we deserve nor we in any case mean to fight them with violence acting like terrorists. We should simply raise our voices using the internet and technology in order to change the way these entities function today so that they are no longer the oppressors of freedom, but it's supporters.

These global networked movements, such as open source and free software movement are actually forming a third industrial revolution which may crush capitalism as a social structure and finally bring the power to the majority and support the unrestricted growth of technology.

I am on the right side, are you?

About The Author

Daniel Orsolic - Graduate of the school for electronic engineering and the great open source/free software movement enthusiast, the founder of libervis.com - the open source community node.

Copyright: Daniel Orsolic

Article published under GNU Free Documentation Licence (GNU FDL)


MORE RESOURCES:

New York Times

Redemption Politics
New York Times, United States - 16 hours ago
By TED WIDMER We all know that politics makes strange bedfellows, but how odd it must have been to have sat in on the recent meeting between Barack Obama ...


Jesse Helms quotes on life and politics
The Associated Press - Jul 4, 2008
"The destruction of this country can be pinpointed in terms of its beginnings to the time that our political leadership turned to socialism. ...


Wall Street Journal Blogs

Political Wisdom: Politics as Usual, Back Again?
Wall Street Journal Blogs, NY - Jul 4, 2008
Neither Obama nor McCain seems to enjoy the role of political hack. McCain has a slightly pained or hangdog look when he starts trying to appease the ...


Pastors and politics: Presidential race fodder for lively debate
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS - 15 hours ago
It is a very diverse group in terms of race, politics, gender and denominational affiliation who attend regularly. The gathering's purpose is to provide a ...


Pike Road parade leaves politics at door
Montgomery Advertiser, AL - 12 hours ago
It's not a serious parade - there are no political speeches, no marching band - but everybody has a good time," said Phillips, who continued his tradition ...


The ‘sophisticated’ politics of DP
Daily Monitor, Uganda - 2 hours ago
If I have, I ask to be forgiven for repeating it - it is simply irresistible given the political tactics of the leadership of the Democratic Party (DP) ...


Former Army chief blames politicians for mixing politics and Armed ...
The Statesman, India - 45 minutes ago
KOLKATA, July 5: Former Army chief, General (retd) VP Malik, today blamed politicians for mixing politics and the Armed Forces to such an extent that it has ...


News & Observer

Enduring images of a life in politics
News & Observer, NC - 14 hours ago
During his stint in radio broadcasting, he found both his voice and a devoted following that propelled his rise in politics. ...


Reuters

Obama mixes holiday and politics in Montana
Reuters - 1 hour ago
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent BUTTE, Montana (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama mixed presidential politics with parades and barbecue on ...


Longtime Louisiana political observer retiring
The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com, LA - 6 hours ago
"This place is heaven for a political junkie." At 70, though, the man who is considered the dean of local political analysts is retiring. ...

Politics - Google News

home | site map
© 2006