Here's Aki Orr's answer to my email. The neglect of internal democracy by
PHON adds relevance to an IT-based movement away from top-down
'leadership'.
Regards
Brian Jenkins
From: Aki Orr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Brian Jenkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Saturday, 6 February 1999 0:02
|5.1.99
|Hi Brian,
|Many thanks for yr comments on Autonarchy. If you get the spirit of it
|you'll realize that the movement I propose cannot be subverted because
|it has no central decision-making bodies. I consider any organization
|with a central decision-making authority as negative. Central
|decision-making has to be abolished.
|This does not mean that a society, an organization, a place or work, or a
|site of education, must fall apart. Today we can have decision-making
|by all members of a society, organization, place of work, site of
|education, by direct voting of all its members. The Autobank technology
|demonstrates every hour that it is possible for millions of people to
|make decisions (at present only personal ones, concerning their money)
|which can be unified - in seconds - into a single decision by computers.
|The computer makes no decision, it just adds together all the decisions
|made by people. Not everyone will want to make decisions. OK. They
|have the right to. If they use it - fine, if they don't - they'll have to
live by
|decisions made by others. The technical possibility to establish such a
|system on the level of the entire State, never possible in the past,
|exists today. Therefore the time is ripe for a discussion, and debate,
|on a new alternative to Capitalism.
|At first I labeled this alternative as NEW SOCIALISM, but later I
|decided that "Socialism" has too many interpretations and connotations
|so I opted for Autonarchy (as in Anarchy, Monarchy, etc).
|I expect mostly opposition to the idea. Suits me. At least the debate on
|alternatives to Capitalism - which died out after the collapse of the
|USSR - will be resumed. ATB, Aki ORR
|
|Brian Jenkins wrote:
|
|> Hi,
|>
|> This is addressed to the proponent of autonarchy and copied to members of
|> the Neither list, through which the matter was brought to my attention by
|> Luke. (Thanks, mate.)
|>
|> http://www.autonarchy.org.il/
|>
|> At first acquaintance, I dig the ideas on your website which take a
|> direction similar to that of some thinkers and activists in Western
|> Australia over the past five years.
|>
|> In the 'seventies and 'eighties, we subscribed to a parliamentary
movement
|> (the Australian Democrats) which started out with similar ideals to
yours.
|> However (and perhaps inevitably), this movement became subverted to
|> sectional interests (eg, feminist, gay, and frank personal
nest-feathering
|> by elected representatives and staff).
|>
|> The pragmatic 'electoral objective' (and Australia's party-controlled
|> preferential voting system) then drove AD power brokers into deal-making
|> with the two major parties whose corruption had been the raison d'etre of
|> the Democrats. Internal critics of such abuses were then disempowered,
|> alienated, expelled, etc. The party's cherished participatory democracy
was
|> finally supplanted by top-down executive control between 1991 and 1994.
|>
|> A couple of years ago, some of us formed a group, SODA (Society of
|> Democratic Australians) which last year submerged itself in the worldwide
|> battle against the MAI.
|>
|> Australia has other groups with similar ideals, and similarly browned-off
|> with machine politics.
|>
|> I'll be reading your material more closely with a view to commenting
|> further, and will thus stay tuned.
|>
|> Regards
|>
|> Brian Jenkins
|> Perth, Western Australia
|>
|> Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
|
|
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