Ian Glendinning on The Santiago Boys https://stream.syscoi.com/2023/08/01/ian-glendinning-on-the-santiago-boys/
Morozov:
“That’s why I find the legacy of the Cybersyn Project and Stafford Beer to be a very promising avenue for reinventing what socialism of the 21st century should be.”
No, it’s not. A better world is built on #trust, not on “cybernetic management principles”. Giving decision-makers “chairs with a set of futuristic buttons, a cigar ashtray, and space for a whisky tumbler built into the armrest” does not exactly project a picture that they may have the workers’ best interests in mind.
Medina has a much better understanding of the whole Cybersyn thing and the role technology plays in creating a better world:
1️⃣ Government can shape innovations to benefit the whole of society
2️⃣ Design bias can limit democracy and inclusion
3️⃣ Older technology can solve problems
4️⃣ Privacy is critical
5️⃣ Innovation alone does not build a better world
https://jacobin.com/2015/04/allende-chile-beer-medina-cybersyn/
@Kihbernetics ut cybernetic management principles are (a) intensely focused on building trust and (b) relatively neutral on any permanent hierarchy but in fact broadly opposed to the concept.
It all depends whether you see the whisky and cigars (very much a Beer thing, but as Morozov says to the point of unnecessary repetition, it was branded a 'wine and empanadas’ revolution) or the ‘at last, the people’ as symbolically more important.
@antlerboy @Kihbernetics
Like to pick up on the trust point. There's an increasing polarisation that "we" can't trust "them" (management / government / establishment).
We MUST rebuild trust everywhere. There is no solution that works without it.
Real trust between people and between people and technology is built, not by engaging in philosophical discussions about the “greatness” of one or another idea, but in real #work where all “have their skin in” and “scratch each other’s backs”.
Unfortunately, a large number of people may not see that, and develop an infatuation with narcissistic loudmouth salesmen that don’t genuinely have their best interest in mind.
