The Hyperliterature Exchange, July 2005

"Why are people being made redundant, why does redundancy still mean poverty, why are the inequities of the system being exaggerated, when if things were reorganised effectively not only the need to work, but poverty and starvation too, could be abolished for the vast majority of the world's population?"

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for July 2005: Edward Picot reviews "The World Owes You A Living", a monolithic 6-CD audio-collage on the subject of jobs and new technology, by the Canadian new media artist Matt Fair. To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewtwoyal.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

Comments

, Jim Andrews

> "Why are people being made redundant, why does redundancy still
> mean poverty, why are the inequities of the system being
> exaggerated, when if things were reorganised effectively not only
> the need to work, but poverty and starvation too, could be
> abolished for the vast majority of the world's population?"
>
> New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for July 2005: Edward Picot
> reviews "The World Owes You A Living", a monolithic 6-CD
> audio-collage on the subject of jobs and new technology, by the
> Canadian new media artist Matt Fair. To read the whole review, go
> to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewtwoyal.php .


Matt's work is very important. Great to see this review. I hope the word
gets out widely!!

One thing I would add to the review is that Fair looks at a number of
reasons for the inequitable distribution of wealth besides human greed. For
instance, the predominance of economies of scarcity rather than abundance
even in cases where there is abundance, not scarcity.

One of the things the review picks up that's important is Fair's argument
concerning the necessarily diminishing market for employees, given the
nature of automation. In other words, on the whole, automation decreases the
need for human labour, though there be local increases here and there in,
say, the tech sector from time to time. Given this, and given the great
abundances created by contemporary society, Fair points out we need to work
toward a world in which the distribution of wealth is more equitable.
Otherwise, the 'age of terrorism' simply intensifies.

Fair's *is* radical work, and he has been at it for thirty years. Check it
out.

ja