glg@sfsup.UUCP (G.Gleason) (11/13/87)
In article <8711121158.aa17574@note.nsf.gov> fbaube@NOTE.NSF.GOV (Fred Baube) writes: >Redirect to alt.poli.sci .. For further discussion of the relationship of military, econome, and political power, yes, but I am interested in a comment you make at the end of your posting. >> If our leadership >> continues to take our economic position for granted, democracy will be >> over-run first economically, then politically. >Ah, but what is democracy ? They claim they will let workers >elect their supervisors. What a concept ! Yes, what a concept! I have often thought that in a sense democracy is meaningless when large portions of most of our lives are controlled by self-appointed hierarchical organizations. Even if you work for yourself, or in a small organization where your position can have some weight, actions taken in the board-rooms of large corporations have large impact on your life. Hazards are created in your environment, large lobying efforts effect political policy, and prices are set for the goods you buy. If you work for a large corporation, they also set your wages, control your working conditions, and the quality and methods by which the company conducts its business. Although there are some encouraging signs of openness from Gorbachev, I have my doubts about their political organization ever releasing this type of control. Democracy is likely to be restricted to party members for a long time to come, but then even this is encouraging. There are several topics of dicussion related to this idea that would be appropriate for this newsgroup. One is how a change to more participatory management structures might come about. It is already happening to some extent because traditionally organized companies have trouble competing with faster moving creative companies that are beginning to take advatage of new electronic communication channels. Hypertext systems may have an effect on this in the future. Small independant companies that are cooperatively sharing knowledge in this way could probably be trendsetters. Small companies are often much more participatory and democratic. To accomplish this type of thing, these companies would need to cooperate to a very high degree, making trust extremely important in their relationships. What do you think? It is too dangerous to continue to let so many important decisions go on behind closed doors, both in the private and public sectors. Large corporation cannot help but have a primary concern for the bottom line, which is often at odds with creating wealth for people to enjoy, or protecting the environment. Gerry Gleason >> Gerry Gleason > >Gorbachev seems to be admitting that the effort to create the New >Socialist Man has failed miserably. After three generations they >still have freeloaders and slackers that exploit job security. >Free-market-ish incentive structures are called for. > >#include <disclaimer.h> >Fred Baube >Nat'l Science Foundation