The Cybernetic Revolution and the Crisis of Capitalism (page 11 of 11)
By Jerry Harris and Carl Davidson
The Chicago Third Wave Study Group

Conclusion

As Marx pointed out long ago: "Modern Industry never looks upon and treats the existing form of process as final. The technical basis of that industry is therefore revolutionary, while all earlier modes of production were essentially conservative. By means of machinery, chemical processes and other methods, it is continually causing changes not only in the technical basis of production, but also in the functions of the laborer, and in the social combinations of the labor process. At the same time, it thereby also revolutionizes the division of labor within the society, and incessantly launches masses of people from one branch of production to another." (Capital, 1954, p. 457)

The same transformative process goes on today. A revolution in information technologies is creating fundamental changes in how and where people work. It is changing the functions of the laborer, the social combinations of the labor process, and has launched masses of people from one branch of production to another. Does this not accurately describe the world around us? Yes, the traditional crisis of accumulation has reemerged in full force, but the context and form of these changes has been the revolution in the means of production. New technologies have changed the face of capitalism, affecting the economic base, the relations of production, and are impacting political strategy. Our task is to understand the general crisis, its new forms, and begin to develop new strategies for appropriate technologies, radical democracy and sustainable socialism.

Jerry Harris is a senior history professor at DeVry University in Chicago.

Carl Davidson is the director of Networking for Democracy, a Chicago-based cooperative assisting grassroots organizations with media and new technologies.