Re: [ox-en] Peer Economy. A Transition Concept.
- From: Stefan Merten <smerten oekonux.de>
- Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:27:17 +0200
Hi list!
I'm just rereading my rather long mail to get back to this thread. A
few more thoughts coming to my mind I'll put in this reply to myself
so they are not lost.
3 days ago Stefan Merten wrote:
A few mails ago I wondered whether there really is a general
difference between information goods and other physical goods. I
argued that information goods need to be bound to a physical carrier
to be of any use for humans. In that respect information goods are not
so special compared with other goods which need the manipulation of
matter. At the moment they are special in two respects:
[...]
* Coypability
I.e. we have machines which make it easy to produce new information
goods. Or to transform the information contained in one source
information good in an exact copy.
"Exact copy" is of course wrong in a material sense. There are
different atoms, electrons and magnetic fields affected. But the use
of the result being interpreted as digital information is an exact
copy of the source.
Now, how can needs of the producers be coordinated with the needs of the
consumers?
What for? At least on a general basis. If one wants to create a
question here then it needs to be something like "How can it be made
sure that all needs are supplied?". Which in this generality probably
can not be answered at all and there probably never was a society who
answered that question...
That also reminds me of a citation from Adorno. When asked how a world
could look like where all needs are supplied he answered that this is
hard to say. The only thing which could be said probably is that
nobody needs to be subject to hunger.
I agree, however, that the means of production for less virtual goods
are not as distributed as for digital goods. Contract producers
("Lohnfertiger") are a step in the right direction, however. Or some
of the examples given by Eric v. Hippel.
In "Democratizing Innovation" to be exact. The book I still want to
write a review for...
How will limited resources and goods be
distributed?
At least in the review there is only talking of abstract labor.
However, in the contemporary state of capitalism there is not a lack
of abstract labor - in the contrary.
I meant labor power of course.
Grüße
Stefan
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