MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents"
|
|
MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents" |
| MY GLASS HOUSE | THE PREVIOUS EVENT | THE NEXT EVENT | THE WRITERS/GUIDELINES | |
| In his State of the Union address, President Clinton proposed a $3 Billion (USD) fund for high tech research and development. The titans of the semiconductor industry were doing the macarena in streets from Silicon Valley to Silicon Alley. That's the American way of budgets: when the money is set aside for someone else, it's "pork," when it's set aside for you it's a "visionary investment in the future..."
The truth, of course, is that most politically savvy people listened to Clinton's State of the Union knowing that it was meant to serve two purposes:
The former had everything to do with Clinton's desperate need to be remembered favorably politically if not personally. The latter was a way of sending a message to the diverse constituencies here in the United States that "staying the course" with the Democratic party would provide them with significant rewards. It's the latter that's so important for Vice President Gore's presidential prospects. You see, it's an open secret here in the States that --- after innumerable trips to the elector-heavy state of California during the Clinton/Gore administration and assiduously courting some of the poobahs of the Silicon Valley --- Al Gore has gotten little in terms of support for his efforts. |
Invest in the future of your economy with someone else's money.
Al Bore, the "Father of the Internet?" What's he running for again? |
|
The World's Magazine: g21.net
Event # 201: AMONG THE ELECT This Pull-down Menu will hyperjump you to all our great features. Try it! JOIN THE G21 MAILING LIST. Get updates on new features. Take part in our Readership polls, shape the future of The World's Magazine. It's easy! E-mail The World's Magazine with the "Subject" line: SUBSCRIBE. Want to know more about our community? The Info is here. LAST WEEK's EDITION For Deep Background visit the G21-Barnes & Noble Shop OR get great books at the G21 BARNES & NOBLE SEARCH ENGINE Discover the MOIA Discussion List "I think gub'mint should just get out of the way and let the markets decide how this industry grows." dubya-dubya-dubya MediaConglom dot com 
|
While Clinton/Gore is supposedly high tech-friendly, and the President again waxed rhapsodic in his State of the Union about the miraculous potential of Information Technology, the doyens of Silicon Valley, Multimedia Gulch, Redmond, Reston, Austin, Boston and Silicon Alley have been as willing to lean toward George W. Bush, Jr. as Vice President Gore.
Meanwhile, our macarena dancers again foolishly demonstrate the hyprocrisy of their so-called libertarianism. While they are the first to insist that high tech industries should not be regulated or taxed and that "the market should be allowed do its job," they are simultaneously the first to ask for government assistance to help them grow in the form of subsidies, tariffs against foreign competition, tax credits, H1B liberalization to hire cheaper foreign workers (a George W. Bush promise) and now this $3 Billion (USD) free ride. They are also pronouncedly the last to admit that the Internet which is now their cash cow was originally funded by the federal government they are pronouncedly first to villify. Our software companies complain about "dumping" of programs by smaller competitors from abroad, while failing to admit that what companies like Microsoft and Netscape have done abroad for years, in order to achieve browser dominance, is effectively dump their products and strangle competition from firms whose browsers were better suited to those markets. It is the American way of "free trade" to appeal to Olympian organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and predatory agreements like the Global Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) to open "foreign" markets, while turning a deaf ear to the legitimate complaints of developing countries or competing G7/8 governments for barriers against our own predatory market tactics. |
| Clinton/Gore know this. They have had seven years to both court and hobnob with the IT industry in the United States. They readily give credit for the unprecedented prosperity which obtains at the top of the American economy, if not throughout it, to the industry. And they know when to throw a recalcitrant dog a bone.
George W. Bush, Jr. and his dogged competitors know this, too. Unfortunately, as far as high tech support goes for the Republican hopefuls, too many of them are cleaving to a narrow and conservative social agenda that is anything but internationalist and high tech. Bush's only formidable centrist competitor, John McCain, has managed to say as an aside that he would not be inclined to tax Internet transactions. It's unclear whether he thinks this unilateral declaration of American interests will play well with the European Union or any other concerns abroad. While demonstrating his greater knowledge of foreign policy issues as other areas, McCain's grasp of the global economy seems questionable. But then, much to my lament, most Americans' grasp of global issues, not just economics and trade, is questionable. In an election year, why should anyone expect a sudden abandonment of parochialism? The best any of us here in the States who consider ourselves internationalists can hope for is that those people who still believe in this political system would be convinced by the soap and cornflakes salesman we call political consultants to do as little harm as possible. |
TAKE THE RISK OF INVOLVEMENT.
 or make it.
In an election year, why should anyone expect a sudden abandonment of parochialism? |
MEMOIRS OF THE INFORMATION AGE ARCHIVES
THE PREVIOUS MEMOIR
THE NEXT MEMOIR
© 2000, GENERATOR 21.
E-mail your comments. We always like to hear from you. Send your kudos, brickbats and suggestions to rod@g21.net.