Category Archives: cataclysm

Is the Fifth Wave a good witch or a bad witch? (3)

Posted on April 22, 2013 by

This is the third in a series offering a normative evaluation of the radical changes brought about by the Fifth Wave of information – what is sometimes called the digital revolution.  My method is simple:  to examine specific attributes of this ongoing transformation, and … Continue reading →

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Is the Fifth Wave a good witch or a bad witch? (2)

Posted on April 16, 2013 by

This is the second of a series of posts offering a normative evaluation of the radical changes brought about by the Fifth Wave of information – what is sometimes called the digital revolution.  My method is simple:  to examine specific … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public | Leave a comment

Is the Fifth Wave a good witch or a bad witch? (1)

Posted on April 2, 2013 by

 My concern in writing this blog is to understand the effects of the Fifth Wave of information across various domains.  This has seemed sufficiently ambitious.  Tossing out cosmic judgments would be fun but self-indulgent.  Marx’s scorn for interpreting the world … Continue reading →

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The economic implications of the Fifth Wave

Posted on February 18, 2013 by

Enter Tyson’s Galleria, a golden temple of consumption for upscale shoppers.  Built in 1988, it was expanded in 1997 and made to appear – so the designers thought – like a “European streetscape.”   In reality, it looks a bit like … Continue reading →

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Academia in the age of Skype

Posted on January 22, 2013 by

The American university is in truth a medieval institution reformed along German lines in the 19th century.  At that time, the university replaced the informal “republic of letters” as the arbiter of authority in published works.  The academic self-image resembles … Continue reading →

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Politics and the culture of the web

Posted on January 7, 2013 by

The latest issue of The Economist carries a longish essay on “The new politics of the internet” – in essence suggesting that web activism today may be at a take-off point, comparable to the birth of the environmental movement after … Continue reading →

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Marx and the Fifth Wave

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

Karl Marx was a creature of the industrial revolution.  Colossal productive forces were unleashed during his lifetime, which swept over and altered every form of human relations.  An irreparable breach opened like a wound between nineteenth-century Europe and its own … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public, web | 3 Comments

Silent scream: riddle of a street revolt

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

The overarching theme of this blog is the rise of the public and crisis of authority, propelled by a reversal in the information balance of power.  When applied to actual events, these generalities bump into a paradox:  a riddle.  The … Continue reading →

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Measures of authority, measures of decline

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

The theme of this blog is the revolt of the public and the crisis of established authority, very much including government, made possible by deep structural changes in the information landscape:  what I have called the Fifth Wave.  This secular … Continue reading →

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The crisis of government

Posted on October 27, 2011 by

In Libya, the public in arms has overthrown and executed Muammar Qaddafi, brutal dictator of 42 years.  In Syria, the public has battled the equally ruthless Assad regime to a standstill.  In Tunisia and Egypt, the protesting public, after toppling … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, the public | 1 Comment