Mark Pesce responds to All

Folks, I apologize for being so conspicuously silent thus far.

That said, I'd like to address this whole 'hypercapitalism' mythology. It sure reads pretty, but it ain't particularly true. People are connecting and hyperconnecting because we are built to connect. Wired from the womb. No one is thinking about the Theory of Surplus Value when they make an edit in Wikipedia, or add a comment to RateMyProfessors.com. They're thinking about sharing, an activity which is equal parts narcissism and altruism.

Almost everything-2.0 stands outside of contemporary discussions of capital. Yes, it can be colonized by capital - though there are some things even late capitalism isn't prepared to digest (Wikileaks) - but has nothing to do with it, is not derived from it, derives no value from it, etc. These are human tribal behaviors that have been amplified to supernormal stimuli by the presence of technological mediators.

OK, that's out of the way. Later today I'll address the either/or questions Douglas has posed. With and-and-and.

Cheers,

Mark