Date: Thu, 17 May 2001
Subject: "E-business threat 2 'old economy' overblown"
Hi David (Mr. Crane),
I remember reading your article in the Ottawa Business Journal several
weeks back and initially, I was NOT sure whether I should comment on
it or NOT.
You seem to claim that the Net is NOT a significant turning point and
you do this by citing stats to conclude with the assertion that it is ONLY
a complementary ADJUNCT to the "old" economy -- albeit an adjunct
that is expected to grow in importance.
For me, I see THE NEW ECONOMYUSHERED IN BY THE NET as
an ABRUPT CHANGE with the past in HOW business deals with the
future.
Basically, I view it as a moderism versus post-modernism phenomenon.
For me, modernism started around the 1500s with the introduction of
Roman law + classicism and lasted until the fall of the Berlin Wall in
November 1989. The period was one where hierarchy, authority, in-
dividual competition + ideology (religion + politics being used ideolo-
gical in nature) were the "underpinning constructs" of society.
People "at the bottom" were oppressed by people "at the top". The
American Revolution followed by the French Revolution (in which
the Americans played a major part behind the scenes as far as I'm
concerned) tried to reverse the "established order" in the name of
Protestant equality in the former and "Égalité, Fraternité et Liberté"
in the later.
The intention was to put THE POWER into the hands of thePEOPLE:
the American Constitution is emblematic of this ideal.
Post-modernism on the other hand is a PARADYGM
SHIFT: the accent is on co-operation, collaboration, + partnership in order
to create SYNERGY.
It is the FULL RECOGNITION of the importance of the
non-magerial work force + the need to treat them very well so that
they do NOT slow down the business, so that they do NOT sabotage the bus-
iness, so that business can GO AS FAST AS IT CAN.
It is also the FULL RECOGNITION that THE POWER
TODAY is in the hands of thePEOPLE.
To President Clinton's great credit he talked up this NEW ECONOMY when
running for the Office of President in 1991. And incidentally, it was his Vice
President, Al Gore, who was a KEY PROMOTER of the Internet in the 70's +
80's. Add to that the fact that the Net has only really taken off as of 1997 as
a customer-business interface.
And look where we are at today!
Today, a business, like Amazon, can be a going concern
without bricks + motor. Musicians can find a niche online BEFORE marketing
their CDs through regular marketing channels.
The Net has allowed for direct access to customers
around the world and is a the most complete expression of
the 1980's organizational trend of DISINTERME-
DIATION.
(But after all is said + done, the KEY QUESTION is this: what happens to
the "traditional corporate veil" behind which
graft was a given?) :o)
What is important to understand from my stand point is that everyone
in dot.coms is highly valued, highly paid,
there is NO corporate veil + NO need to
practice graft to get business.
This NEW WAY of doing business is A
PARADIGM SHIFT.
In the past, the notion that business HAD TO BE "DIRTY" to be successful
in business was omnipresent: today, THE NEW, YOUNGER PLAYERS on the
block don't believe in being "dirty".
This is a marked change from their parents/predecessors + truly a SOCIAL-
ECONOMIC PARADIGM SHIFT as they believe everything CAN
BE DESIGNED to facilitate a WIN-WIN sce-
nario in STARK CONTRAST to their parents/predecessors who believed
that there were winners + losers and to the winner goes the spoils, too bad so
sad but that's the law of the Darwinian jungle.
Thank goodness today we live in a completely NEW WORLD,
that of the dot-coms.
The old economy businesses -- even with a Web interface -- are FAT
DINOSAURS in my view. The sooner they disappear the better.
And personally speaking, I have no respect for their kow-tow,
demeaning dynamics.
I strongly believe we are NOW finally in A NEW WORLD of
GENTILEZZA (Italian: gentleness) + FAIR-
NESS/EQUITY.
In light of this new forgiving, understanding society
the judicial system has to be revamp + Gov't bureaucracy has
to be made criminally responsible to thePEOPLE
that they serve rather than an inherently, corrupt, oligharichal group that run
the System.
We now have the ways + means to CLEAN UP the System +
make Canada ta BILINGUAL country where French Canada
is ON PAR with English Canada.
In conclusion, I agree with the title of your article, "E-business threat to 'old
economy' overblown'.
However, I'm just suggesting that e-Business today is NOT a threat to
the 'old economy' but A DIFFERENT WAY OF DOING
BUSINESSwith RADICALLY DIFFERENT
MENTAL CONSTUCTS that have their origin in the American/French
Revolution + the Protestant Reformation.
An aside
=======
I believe French Canada can NOW assert
its right to be treated as an equal with English
Canada in accordance with the promise made by the Bristish to the
Canayiens in the war of 1812 + RENEWED at the time of Confederation
of being EQUAL PARTNERS.
So I have to smile when I think Mike Harris can make an issue of
Montfort hospital in Ottawa: he's living in the past.
Here's a guy that takes money out of education + health care system only
to put it back when he should be CLEANING HOUSE by instituting a body
of 3rd party auditors to do spot auditing
of public institutions in order to WEED OUT the CROOKS
+ he should be ensuring that the provincial public books
are put on the Net for PUBLIC REVIEW.
With Mike Harris, I feel, we have nothing, but phoney Gov't,
but NOT for long.
He could find himself behind bars in jail down the road along with his other
cronies with the public laughing and you can count on me to be grinning as
he was NOT smart enough to see it coming having failed to recognize the
fact that thePOWER is withthePEOPLE and the
PEOPLE want clean, fair, open Gov't
in a FULLY BILINGUAL Canada.
A fully bilingual Canada will be #1
if we
- revamp the criminal code to keep
as few people in jail as possible
for as little time as possible
- weed out the crooks from the Gov't
- put the public books on the Net for public review.
Best wishes,
Ken
~~~
K+ President