Message Of The Medium

The great US anti-Imperialist writer, William Blum (author of “Killing Hope”) adds his contribution to the pile of anti-prison literature, last represented here a few days ago by Paul Craig Roberts. Unlike Roberts, Blum leads his readers towards a direct political connection, epitomised by the case of the Cuban Five. This is Christmas time, people. Think about all of these prisoners. Article linked below. It’s time to think about this Communist University newsletter, too. It has been going for a year in its present technological form. Why are other people not doing this kind of thing? Actually, plenty are doing so! There is even a site with a silly name (http://del.icio.us/) which is set up so that people can easily list, link and share their favourite pages with the world, as the CU does. So you can now do your own “Communist University” with a lot less trouble than before. The new Google Groups Beta would also assist, because CU experience shows that the pro-active publishing of e-mails to real addresses is the most powerful driver of readership. Just hanging the material up and hoping for the best does not work. The Internet medium, taken as a whole, is a naturally communistic one, well made for dialogue, sharing and interaction. In terms of what is possible, it is all there, and it’s mostly free. For example, do you know that for the last 3 years you could have free international phone calls through the Internet? Not only that, but the same company (Skype) that does the phone calls is about to introduce Internet TV? See the linked article below. The days of the bourgeois state-owned central public broadcaster may be numbered. People can now do their own, and by-pass the begrudgers and the gatekeepers, the Snukis and the Dalis, and the whole “banking” model of broadcasting. Content is available. The quality varies, but that’s all right. The point is that it comes from real people, and is available to real people. It is not the content that matters most, in any case. It is the dialogue that is generated that counts. See the SACP Gauteng Arts and Culture Newsletter linked below (download). All these developments will contribute to the further collapse of the monolithic, hierarchic, pyramidal National Qualification Framework (NQF) which, in spite of the huge funds pumped into it via the Skills Development Levy and the dozens of Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), is strangling on its own internal contradications. See Renee Grawitzky’s article linked below. But Renee has not got to the root of the matter. It can never be “resolved”, except by abandoning the “banking theory of education”, of which the NQF is a development to the point of absurdity, or perhaps to the point of fascism. Click on these links: United States of Cruelty, William Blum, Counterpunch (767 words) Skype team turns its attention to television, Financial Times (769 words) SACP Gauteng Arts and Culture Newsletter December 2006 (153 KB Word file download) SETA-SAQA framework needs resolution, Renee Grawitzky, B Rep (982 words)