OT, re dams, internet, and Microsoft:
Interesting conversation.
I think one thing you are missing, is that humans are herd animals. We are hard-wired that way. We feel most comfortable surrounded with people who are moving the same way we are moving, and who think and look a lot like ourselves. We self-sort ourselves into herds, and then the herds discipline the individuals, to maintain herd behavior. Your "dams" are simply the rules of the local herd.
Once upon a time, the herd was a country, a religion, a location, a political party. Now, mostly, we define ourselves by what we do. Mainly, what we do is work. Americans work more hours now, and spend less time at home or with their family, than 20 years ago. I'm a physician, living in Alaska. I have more in common with doctors from Vietnam and Hungary, than I have with the plumber or carpenter who lives down the street. And that is true, regardless of ethnicity, distance, etc. I even have a distinct language (medicalese), which only members of my herd understand.
Since we now define ourselves this way, the corporation (or professional group) is our natural cultural unit. The most successful companies are those with strong, well-defined, pervasive corporate cultures. Like Microsoft.
One danger in a strong corporate culture is that the members can get disconnected from the larger society. The utter disbelief (how can they do this to us??? We've done nothing wrong!!!!) of Microsoft employees, from Ballmer on down, is evidence of this.
The internet will dissolve a lot of dams. It will threaten all authoritarian systems (corporate, government), who can only survive by controlling the flow of information. But those dams will simply be replaced by other dams, because people will still need structure, rules, and herds in their lives.
You are going to be disappointed in the results of the Internet Revolution, in the same way that many Communists were disappointed in the results of the Russian Revolution. |
