Informism

Tool of exploitation

Always the ruling class had the tool , which granted him privileges and allowed him to exploit the rest of society. Such a tool or exclusive resource, enshrined in legal norms, gave its name to the social order:

• Slavery — Power
• Feudalism — Land
• Capitalism — Capital
• Informism — Information

Let’s start with the basics: What is the main “tool of the trade” for a bureaucrat? That’s right — a document. And a document is information. Whenever a bureaucrat asks you for a document, they are exercising their power over you. Any document you need from a bureaucrat will also not be obtained easily or for free. A bureaucrat managing a corporation also “feeds” on documents. And the more valuable that piece of paper is, the more they will charge you for it.

Who do you need to “kick back” to get a contract signed? Who’s “slicing” the budget? How much does a license for alcohol production cost? And in reality, how much do you actually have to pay? How much does a permit to convert an office into a non-residential space cost? And what about converting it into a residential space? And in reality, how much do they actually pay? We are all at the mercy of documents and paperwork. From the moment we are born until the moment we die. You can’t be born without a piece of paper, and you can’t die without one either.

However, it’s not just about the paperwork. The paperwork is merely an illustration. Power over information also provides the ability to manipulate. If a bureaucrat dislikes someone’s business, it can be easily “killed” with a single phone call. Conversely, if they like it, they will support it. The bureaucrat is the master of all the money in the country or corporation. They decide whether to build a bridge over a river, to open or close a factory, or to allow goods to cross the border. They have the power to crush any capitalist and to elevate anyone as well.

Simple possession of information that is considered a trade secret or a private matter gives officials unprecedented advantages in exploiting society and individuals. Naturally, it is in the interest of the ruling class to strengthen this informational control. The ruling class will undoubtedly continue to enact more and more laws aimed at such reinforcement and will take increasingly numerous measures. The reasons for implementing these measures can vary, but the outcome is the same — more and more information becomes concentrated in the hands of the ruling class.

Information from “naked” scanners at airports, surveillance cameras, databases of discount card customers, payment card transactions, and so on. The ruling class is increasingly controlling information. This includes the media and the internet — even satellite tracking in orbit is carried out exclusively by state structures.

Information is used to manage society. This includes tax policy implemented through relevant documents, propaganda, and even the simple act of profiting from fueling the hysteria around swine flu, as a recent example.

When. Academician Glushkov in the mid-20th century proposed to create a unified system for optimal planning and management based on the Unified State Network of Computing Centers (USNCC), he anticipated resistance from the bureaucratic apparatus to the new system. Therefore, the project authors made efforts to close all possible loopholes for circumventing the automated data collection process. The project stipulated that “the circulation of economic information outside the USNCC is not permitted.”

Of course, the implementation of the project was buried by the bureaucratic apparatus USSR. At the same time, officials from the sectoral ministries came to the conclusion …that computerization can be beneficial without losing an ounce of power. Each ministry built its own computing center and began developing automated control systems (ACS) for its internal needs. By creating specialized ACS, the sectoral ministries laid the technical foundation for strengthening centralized control over the industrial enterprises under their jurisdiction. With this organization in place, ministries no longer needed to share their management information—in other words, their power—with any competing agencies.

In the USSR, and now in Russia and Ukraine, there exists a well-known system called “Shaiba” (which you are unlikely to find mentioned online) that collects all information about individuals—such as their phone numbers, the numbers of the people they call, online account details, document numbers, border crossing dates, property transactions, bank accounts, and so on. Any record in any database eventually ends up in this system. Access to it is granted to security forces and, yes, the ruling elite. The same situation exists in any other sufficiently developed country.

In the USA, there was a project called “ Echelon “, which has now evolved into something more serious and at a different level. With the help of information gathering systems and game theory, the United States is already able to predict the outcomes of diplomatic negotiations before they even begin and conduct negotiations in a way that achieves the desired results.” source ,. translation ).

The concept of “privacy” today seems more hypocritical and one-sided than ever. The authorities will care about “privacy” precisely to avoid losing control over information.

Orwell wrote about Big Brother? Here he is, nice to meet you.

The well-known “Nobel” prizes of 2001 awarded to George now appear in an interesting light. Akerlof , Kenneth Arrow. (famous for his monograph on collective choice and proof) disability democratic elections, so-called Condorcet’s paradox ), Michael Spence (his work on conveying market signals) as well as works Rothschild and Goldfinch (known, by the way, for his harsh criticism of the unrestricted market), Mirrlees (1996 Nobel Prize) and Vikri. (refutes the idea of leveling income differences through taxes) and so on, showing that the foundation of any business is based on uneven distribution. information In any deal, the one who knows more wins.

Means of maintaining control

In any social system, the ruling class has taken measures to expand its control over the means of exploitation, while also striving to… to exacerbate control over this instrument. Pleasant analogies can be drawn:

• In a slaveholding society, the issue of acquiring new slaves was resolved through raids on neighboring communities.
• In the feudal society, there was an era of great geographical discoveries.
• Under capitalism, there was an industrial revolution and automation.
• In informism — informatization.

We live in an information society, and what is now referred to as “information technology” is actually a tool needed by the ruling class.

No one would have besieged Troy, no one would have sent Columbus to America, and no one would have paid Thomas Edison if it hadn’t been beneficial for the ruling class. In other words, the informatization of society is an expansion of the ruling class’s sphere of influence. And what serves as a means of control? Of course, it is laws and legal norms.

We all care aboutsafetyand we all honorthe right to privacyPublic morality and the law that corresponds to it serve the ruling class. A clear-thinking person will always notice that an honest person has nothing to hide. There are, however, things that we feel embarrassed about and do not want to make public.

Privacy is a taboo.

For example, things related to the sexual sphere. We don’t want our neighbors to observe our sex lives, and we don’t want to “expose” certain relationships with the opposite sex, especially those that contradict “official morality.” Setting aside prejudices and realizing that everyone is essentially the same, one would conclude that a neighbor’s sex life shouldn’t cause a stir.

The transfer of certain things into the realm of taboo is the most convenient means of controlling society. It’s best to taboo the most basic, essential aspects of life: food, excretion, sex. It’s more difficult to impose taboos on breathing or heartbeat, for obvious reasons. However, there are taboos related to breathing as well; for example, it’s considered impolite to yawn in public.

In any case, the “value” of personal information that drives people to support privacy rights and the prevention of sharing such personal information with neighbors lacks logical foundations, which means it is either intentionally or naturally… public nature ) supported by someone who monopolizes their right to such information (that is, the authorities). In other words, eavesdropping on phone conversations is bad, but for the ruling class, it seems acceptable, supposedly for the sake of security.

At the same time, the irony is that if we are walking down a dark alley, we want to be able to look around. In other words, the only way to protect our right to privacy is to demand… the right to knowledge Текст для перевода: ..

Safety

Security is the second “argument” of the ruling class. We were stripped of our weapons in the name of this very security, and now people cannot defend themselves, as weapons are only in the hands of the ruling class. For the sake of “security,” the ruling class has the right to monopolize citizens’ personal information.

In the name of “security,” there is a “fight against terrorism.” Under the guise of discussions about “safety,” officials monitor entrepreneurs and issue them licenses, telling everyone that if they didn’t keep an eye on them, these entrepreneurs would, for personal gain, engage in illicit activities.а.They would put cyanide in cookies to give them an almond flavor. So, it turns out that every entrepreneur is a criminal without morals, ready to kill people just to make an extra penny. And we believe it!

The authorities do everything for the sake of security. The only question is, whose security are they concerned about? When we want to ensure safety in our homes, we do everything except protect our personal information. We create shared hallways with our neighbors, and it turns out that they know more about us than we do.as ifIt would be worth it. We place a concierge in the entrance and lose the ability to bring our lover into the house. We introduce ourselves to people whose trust we need. In general, we “ we are opening up “Any such disclosure is a narrowing of one’s own personal space.”

The ideally safe community is one where the walls are transparent, people are visible, and everyone knows everything about each other. However, such communities do not exist, as this contradicts the goals of the ruling class. Communities that come close to this state are usually poorly managed by the ruling class. Remember the collectivization of the 1920s and the dekulakization. People in villages lived with “transparent walls,” making it impossible to reliably monopolize. information flow these people to their advantage.

The meat departments of supermarkets literally have transparent walls so that customers can see what the patties are made of. Is it really that difficult to organize similar public oversight for any kind of production? At least in the form of field trips for schoolchildren.

However, on one hand, the ruling class promotes the idea that the recipe for cookies and the technology for their production are commercial secrets, while on the other hand, for this very reason, and supposedly in the interest of the public, they constantly burden entrepreneurs, demanding payment for licenses, “inspections,” or “assistance,” and simply extorting bribes.

But, excuse me, don’t the competing pastry chefs already know the basic principles of what and how to make cookies? Or have we abolished chromatography and mass spectrometry, which allow for reverse engineering of any manufactured product? Or is it really that difficult to simply “buy” the official who is aware of this recipe?

It is precisely because it is easier to turn to an official for information and pay them than to buy a chromatograph that this system of “certification” exists.
Summary: The ruling class maintains its power over information by manipulating laws and morality, as well as by monopolizing its right to information about specific individuals and processes.

The Role of Capital

This doesn’t mean that we should dismiss capital. It’s just that we should not underestimate its role in modern society. Take landowners during feudalism and even today. Yes, they still exist. Do they have advantages in society that come solely from the fact of owning land? No. All advantages stem from the valuation of land as capital. Similarly, in an information society, simply having capital (that is, owning information) does not provide any advantages. One must also know how to manage it wisely. For example, look at the fates of people who have won jackpots. They had money. So what?

For example, a person may have information about more than a dozen promising investment projects, but due to a lack of capital, this knowledge does not make them all-powerful. However, it is important to understand that what is needed to implement projects is not just capital, but knowledge of where to obtain it. money What is needed is not just money, but an investor and income from investments. The investor, in any case, makes decisions based on the information available to them.

And by the way, remember how capital helped Khodorkovsky. 🙂