>Note, please, an excellent new book , Shifting Time, by Armine Yalnizyan, T. >Ran Ide, and Arthur J. Cordell (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1994). > >[Order from Between the Lines, 720 Bathurst Street - Suite 404, Toronto, ON >M5S 2R4. FAX 416 535 1484. Pre-payment with VISA, check, or money order $16.53 >CAN or US - covers taxes, postage and handling] > >These Canadian authors present and analyse the new realities of a North >America polarizing between haves and have-nots, the overworked and >un(der)employed, and--probably increasingly--the information rich and poor. We >are witnessing the creation of what JK Galbraith (in The Culture of >Contentment) called a "functional underclass" and Jamie Swift, in his >hard-hitting introduction to the book, defined as "a class of workers >handcuffed to a changing labour market that is producing alot of poorly paid, >part-time jobs; a class of workers whose expectations have been ratcheted down >to the point that getting thirty hours of work at $8.50 an hour may start to >seem like a real job - or perhaps the only job they can really aspire to." > >Looking at future options, Ide and Cordell present a jolting >"business-as-usual" scenario of a world that offers a secure life only to the >small wealthy minority who increasingly run the world from behind high walls >of secrecy and security devices. These authors urge instead an "enlightened >self-interest" scenario that emphasizes community well-being. Among other >suggested new social forms, a "technology productivity tax provides the basis >for new forms of employment designed to enhance communities [and] revitalize >aging infrastructure." Increasing attention to family, community and >environmental responsibilities would characterize future communities. > >Redistributing both work and income, and domesticating investment, are seen as >perhaps the only effective ways to address the new realities that have been >created by technological change and economic globalization (including capital >mobility),and to avoid descent into a bladerunner future. The challenge is to >achieve these ends without triggering a "capital strike", or some other >draconian defense from powerholders. Yalnizyan suggests that the entire >problem set must be re-framed in terms of the need to establish "principles >for future social and economic security". Ide and Cordell argue that the >movement to a new information society in the 21st century can create exciting >new possibilities for human development, if only we can think and govern our >way out of 19th century social norms and power arrangements. >
