"We delude ourselves if we believe that we participate in a democratic polity, except in the Orwellian sense of educated discourse" -Chomsky The Anarchives Volume 2 Issue 9 The Anarchives Published By The Anarchives The Anarchy Organization The Anarchives tao@lglobal.com Send your e-mail address to get on the list Spread The Word Pass This On... --/\-- AT&T / / \ \ Centre Of Empire ---|--/----\--|--- In the Information Age \/ \/ /\______/\ by Jesse Hirsh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Thursday (Sept 21/95) of this week there was a significant if not paramount historical event. Amerikkkan Telephone & Telegraph, in a time of mergers and consolidation, announced a three-way split. This should be viewed as a substantial power move of a global nature. AT&T is the leading corporate power. They embody corporate governance, and the rise of fascism. Metaphorically speaking this breakup was the equivalent of the brain detaching itself from a cumbersome body. The core of the break-up resides in the corporation that will retain the AT&T name. This corporation will compose of AT&T's phone networks, cellular networks, and capital corporation; in addition of course to Bell Labs, perhaps the most advanced research & development organization in the world. Please note that the networks that will remain AT&T, compromise the backbone of what emerges as the electronic conscious. The phone networks are a in part a monopoly of long distance networks, combined with extensive fiber networks with global reach. The cellular networks, formerly McCaw Communications, are what will soon become the infrastructure of multi-way television, and the 9 Billion dollar, Bill Gates - AT&T, Teledesic Corp which is attempting to launch 900 "low-altitude" satelites to carry a larger cellular network. AT&T capital of course owns all the rest. The two companies that will break off from the old mammoth of AT&T will still be owned by AT&T Capital, much like the rest of the capital world. Bell Labs of course is responsible for most of the technology that exists today. They make kazillions just on licensing fees, and are perhaps the leading force in the development of so-called "future" technologies. I like to keep my eye on AT&T for the simple reason that they have their eyes on us. ;) Just to slip in a little history on AT&T; they have traditionaly been an integral part of what has been commonly termed the "military-industrial" complex. They have developed a large majority of amerikkkan military technologies, and have become grossly rich as a result. They still command a virtual monopoly on military and large corporate telecommunication business. These muuhfukkas are straight up evil. Look to them to be an emerging fascist power, silently becoming the backbone of the world consciousness that mcluhanites are all harping about. With this breakup AT&T becomes much more flexible in being able to dominate the global market, and in essence become the very fabric that this new market is being built upon. On Thursday when all this happened almost 12 Billion dollars was injected into AT&T after they announced this move. Clearly capital approved this strategic move, and AT&T has been given their mandate for global domination. And yet the large majority refuse to recognize or even begin to consider the possibility of corporate governance. The power AT&T have now, at the dawn of the information age, is staggering, and I would argue, uncomprehensible. This power will grow exponentially, accellerating an already accelerated rate of change after the announcement of this break-up. Liberal democracy depends upon the incospicuousness of AT&T, and the ignorance of corporate governance. If the true role of AT&T were to be laid out on the table, the farce of democracy would dissolve, as clearly AT&T is not a democratic institution, and yet it dominates the world...