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Examines the impact of the Internet & other technological advances on the modern perception of capitalism, & discusses the importance of the emerging virtual/technological class. It is argued that the virtual class has blindly pursued the realization of a fully technological society, & has thereby bypassed personal ethics or any concern regarding the possibility for aesthetic creativity, social solidarity, democratic discourse, or economic justice. Under these circumstances, human concerns are sacrificed to technological advance, & the primacy of information surpasses that of the body & mind. It is suggested that the virtual class is aggressive & predatory, & that the success of a virtual postcapitalist system will erode the integrity of the state & divide the globe into three virtual classes: master function (virtual class), clone, & slave function. The slave-function class is already apparent in Third World nations where economic failure has subjected citizens to manifestations of predatory & unregulated capitalism, eg, child labor & black-market organ trade. It is concluded that the unchecked pursuit of the virtual world could destroy currently realized social advances, & lead to the abuses & inequalities characteristic of the colonial era. T. Sevier

Der Beitrag will deutlich machen, daß die nunmehr fast ein Jahrzehnt heftig geführte Standortdebatte nichts von ihrer Aktualität eingebüßt hat. Im Gegenteil: Die weltwirtschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen haben sich gerade in der jüngeren Vergangenheit radikal geändert und zu einer Intensivierung des Standortwettbewerbs geführt. Eine Analyse der wichtigsten Kostenfaktoren - Arbeitskosten, Arbeitszeiten, Betriebszeiten und Unternehmensbesteuerung - zeigt, daß Deutschland seine Position im Standortwettbewerb in den letzten Jahren nicht verbessern konnte. Die Unternehmen reagieren darauf verstärkt mit der Auslagerung von Produktion ins kostengünstigere Ausland, sei es in Form von Direktinvestitionen oder durch eine Ausweitung des Vorleistungsbezuges aus dem billigeren Ausland. (WSI-Mitteilungen / FUB)

Exits to the Posthuman Future is media theory for a global digital society which thrives, and sometimes perishes, at the intersection of technologies of speed, distant ethics and a pervasive cultural anxiety. Arthur Kroker's incisive and insightful text presents the emerging pattern of a posthuman future: life at the tip of technologies of acceleration, drift and crash. Kroker links key concepts such as "Guardian Liberalism" and Obama's vision of the "Just War" with a striking account of "culture drift" as the essence of real world technoculture. He argues that contemporary society displays gr