Re: <nettime> e-LITISM (UK and beyond)

["K.Patelis" <cop02kp@gold.ac.uk>]

The bitter comments reflected in this frank commentary leave me astoned. 
For one academia is no longer an ivory tower. I wish working there was a
digital paradise for masturbation but unfortunately academia is more
commercialised everyday and access to the Net has been stoped by
universities to many research students as a way to settle financial
dificulties. Believe me universities do not keep their staff happy or
rich. 

But I have a more general objeciton to the comments which is :WHY ON EARTH
DO YOU EXPECT THE NET TO SOLVE ALL THE PROBLEMS OF MAN KIND INCLUDING THE
INEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES? 

Your comments reminded me of a question students used ot ask me upon
arrival at a new educational institution " are you working class?" was the
qeustion. I laughed! I mean do you ask a dyslecix Greek girl writing a PhD
at 24 if she is priveledged? It is such a stupid question. It is stupid
ecause it is only those who live in the world you accuse us of living in
that can imagi nesuch comparison. The others know by birth that there a
sturcutrla inequalities that will and can not be possibly erased by
technology.Beating yourself up about it is like taking a year of to go to
"poor poeple".(the speling mistakes in this answer are my living reminder
that cyberspace can not be magical). 

There are plenty of poeple in this mailing list that have had plenty of
opportunities to experience exclusion and the ridiculity of the Net in
certain circumstances. And I am talking about more serious problems than
my computer and disks being destroyed in the earth quake. They haven't
made similar comments because they understand the limitations of the
medium. 

Finnaly I should point out to you numerous academic pieces that are very
critical , some old like "Cyberspace and the world we live in", my own
political economy of the Internet, Sussmans work, even Digital Capitalism
by Dan Schiller. 

So no I am in no need to phicoanalise myself on how pirvelidged I am and I
think that this need expressed by the letter is what needs to be talked
about. 


Korinna

PS to put it simply the letter talked more about the priviledges
experienced on the off-line world then about the ones on-line. Maybe I say
that becuase Greece has 200.000 users only!Reflect on this before
dismissing my point









8888888On Mon, 22 Nov 1999, Geert Lovink wrote:

> OBSERVATIONS ON e-LITISM
> By Jim


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