here's something that caught my eye recently from the ramblings of a
techno-futurist:
*Nor are governments as important as they used to be. National governments
are constrained by external treaties - by some estimates, up to two-thirds
of primary legislation in the UK has its origins in EU directives or WTO and
WIPO trade treaties. Even the US government, the largest superpower on the
block right now, is tightly constrained by the international trade system it
promoted in the wake of the second world war.*
i.e. the demise of the nation-state has happened in plain sight, and we are
still quibbling over two-party /multi-party systems and over the
merits/demerits of decentralization. the future of our countries and
communities have been mortgaged for the next few generations, while we are
encouraged to keep working *within* the system.
for the complete rant:
<http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/08/usenix-2011-keynote-net
work-se.html>
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