Comments on: Web 2.0 Expo: Are we finally leaving the Middle Ages?

Author Douglas Rushkoff provides an optimistic view of the financial crisis in a talk at the San Francisco conference: it's our chance to get rid of so many broken old systems.

[rapier1]

The guy certainly has a unique perspective. I'd argue that his historical premise is almost entirely wrong though. Second, its sounds like he doesn't have anything that could be used to replace the functions of a corporation (shared risk and so forth). Third, he seems to be ignoring the fact that just because you are a good tech doesn't mean you'll be a good manager. These are very different skill sets after all. Working in academia I've seen a lot of really good engineers and researchers elevated into management only to act as a hindrance because they couldn't manage a lemonade stand. Lastly, he seems to feel that many of these constructs were imposed from the top down but in reality most of them were imposed from the bottom up.

As far as centralized currencies go - if there wasn't a centralized national currency then trades people would have simply created one - which they often did by adopting a currency (the daric, the louis d'or, florin, etc) as a trading currency. This worked for large scale trading but it fell apart with local traders who would need to deal with multiple local currencies - which would incur additional costs when one currency was exchanged for another or requiring the trader to stockpile currency and reduce their liquidity. Not a good situation for local entrepreneurs.

All in all it seems like this guy talked a lot without actually saying anything. Maybe I would feel differently if I was there but based on the premise I don't think so.

[ewelch]

I think your comment about referring to kings and feudalism is a cheap trick is dead-on.

They guy is certainly not light on some kind of substance. ;-) And I'm sure a lot of people would like some of what he's been smoking. But his arguments are not completely without merit. The comment about how the neighborhood is more worried about the housing values going down is dead-bang on. And it reflects on the greed is good culture we've grown into since college students dropped the anti-establishment attitude in the 60s and 70s and sold out to the right-wing money is everything philosophy of the 80, 90s and 2000s. It's about time for the pendulum to swing the other way. Just not as far as it has for this guy.

[rapier1]

I agree that its disturbing that his neighbors were more concerned about housing values is disturbing - but that's tangential to anything regarding corporations and currency. Its a red herring unless he somehow linked it back to his main premise in a coherent way that wasn't presented here.

[MikeDson]

Gawd, all we need is yet another economic illiterate yapping about his own crackpot theories on money. There's not enough of them around. No doubt he has a video series on YouTube.

[cosuna]

Agree in full with ewelch, although I believe that the swing is gonna be drastic, not because it is need but because this so-called downturn, is more of a tipping point than most people realize.

The crisis could have been predicted if the spin doctors of the 90 and 2000 have been stopped with the "dot-com" bust.

Today the corporations are really cracking, but not of old age, but of decay, since they really died on 2000, just the lied to the rest of us of their demise. Hip culture, was a zombie, but nobody cared to check the heart beat.

So what's next. Remember the Napoleonic era, followed by his defeat, and the Bourbon Restoration in 1810's, which eventually ended with Charles X.

Same thing. We're gonna have a radical period, then a restoration period, then finally a different "world" but not so aggressive as the radical period. Happened then, sure will happen now.

My two cents, and I don't share the substance mentioned by ewelch... hope would find some.