When the digital realm became entertainable in the late 20^th century, regardless of whether we are speaking about the World Wide Web (WWW) or the National Intranet, one has to wonder if the digital realm represents the beginnings of ‘Life after Modernity’–a “Postmodernity”–or a “Late-Modernity,” which is to say an ‘extension of Life under Modernity.’  The Work-Standard (2^nd Ed.), The Third Place (1^st Ed.), and Work-Standard Accounting Practices (1^st Ed.) retreads on this matter insofar as many of the topics they raised were all reaching their maturities around the 20^th century. There is a consistent argument throughout the Treatises that Modernity has not yet ended as it is still too early to speak about ‘Life after Neoliberalism’. “Post-Liberalism” and “Post-Capitalism” remain mere rhetoric; the main institutional actors of Neoliberalism (OECD-Type Student Economy, Private and Public Sectors of the Market/Mixed Economy, Fractional-Reserve Banking System and Financial Markets, Parliamentary Democracy and the WWW) continue to be pervasive across the world. It is likewise for the Post-Bretton Woods Debt Standard and its Fiat Currencies as well as the shared paradigm of Production for Profit and Production for Utility.       

Can humanity go beyond Neoliberalism, beyond Liberal Capitalist Parliamentary Democracy? This Author has maintained that steadfast belief. The countless different crises of the 20^th century signaled the need to envisage Life after Neoliberalism. That unyielding desire for change persists in the 21^st century and even the 22^nd century if present trends continue. The pivotal difficulty, as I had found out, is that most people do yearn for some alternative to Neoliberalism, but they lack the creative thinking, insight, instincts, and especially the information to imagine what Life is capable of being without Neoliberalism. There are many things in this world that are not going to be made readily apparent insofar as they need to be pieced together into something cohesive. The Work-Standard is one of them.  

Mass communications and mass mobilization go hand in hand in the State of Total Mobilization. In the 20^th century, the flow of information was limited not by the censors per se but by the Technology of what was at hand. While information traveled quickly compared to previous centuries, it only had nationwide reach. Morse codes and telegrams are limited in their reach and message size, whereas radios and televisions require broadcasting equipment transmitting information in one direction without any feedback from the receiver.  

The mass communications of the digital realm or the Noösphere offers the Totality of any nation the ability to engage in mass mobilization on a scale only dreamed about on the battlefields of the 20^th century. Social Media presents anyone with the ability to spread information about anything, contextualize it in any way they see fit, and let it dominate the direction of political-economic discourse. Unlike the State Media and Commercial Media that defined mass communications in the previous century, the National Consciousness is capable of being altered in the digital realm. New and old ideas, concepts, and beliefs are now able to clash with each over the hearts and minds of the Totality, compelling the Totality to put practically anything up to debate and reinterpretation.

Of course, what the Totality ultimately does with any information is a different matter altogether. Even though information on the WWW travels rapidly, said information is not always going to be applicable to the Self, let alone their Totality and State. It is very easy for something like a major national issue to go unaddressed and unanswered on the WWW by drowning in the ocean of trivial information that is of no value to the Totality and the State. The National Intranet, because of how its inherent design emphasizes information emanating from a nation’s Self, Totality and State, can alleviate that issue somewhat. Instead of censoring information like in Production for Utility, filtering them on a Production for Dasein basis is the ideal. The rest can be dealt with the governance structures of the National Intranet in the form of the Social Forums and their roles as part of a functioning Council Democracy.

The Social Forums are not just there for individual Selves among the Totality to congregate and communicate in the hopes of someday socializing offline. There is also far more to them than simply providing the State Commissariats the ability to formalize the Value of Digital Arbeit and Price of Digital Geld for Enterprises operating on the National Intranet. Another important characteristic is their ability to facilitate the conduct of Council Democracy by letting the Totality become aware of national issues within their nation. Through Social Media, any Self can something to the attention of the Totality and the State, sparking a genuine discussion. The Social Forums are capable of becoming that digital medium through which the Self could convince the Totality and State to address the matter in the Real World.       

Just as how Digital Arbeit and Digital Geld must become Actual Arbeit and Actual Geld, what happens on the National Intranet can step into the Real World at one point or another. Suppose there is a local, regional or national issue in the country. Normally, one would approach the Delegates of their Councils and bring the matter to them in the workspace. But what happens if that is not possible? What happens if the issue happens to occur outside the workspace despite not eliciting enough responses from the Totality and State?

When the Self cannot discuss it in the Real World, they have no choice but to raise attention to it on the National Intranet. The Social Forums are there for those who cannot otherwise approach their Delegates in person or feel that they need to be more direct with the Totality and the State. Here, anyone can start a discussion about something and spread awareness about it through Social Media. Should enough of the Totality become aware of the issue and realize the gravity of its implications, they will be the ones to pressure the State into action.    

The National Consciousness could even be altered through the National Intranet. As a repository of information related to the Totality and their State, the Self can introduce new beliefs, concepts, and ideas beneficial to the Totality and the State. The information will spread more quickly on the National Intranet than on the WWW, compelling the Totality and State to respond to the new information in some manner. The information can also be allowed to spread beyond the national borders, assuming there are people outside the country who can access the National Intranet vis-à-vis the International Internet.  

Categories: Politics

Tags: Economics, Finance, Work-Standard, Socialist Finance, Philosophy, Politics, Technology, World Wide Web, Psychology, Third Place, Work-Standard Accounting Practices, National Intranet