Tue, 09 Sep 2003 13:13:08 GMT

The Chilean “socialist Internet” – circa 1972!

When Pinochet's military overthrew the Chilean government 30 years ago, they discovered a revolutionary communication system, a 'socialist internet' connecting the whole country. Its creator? An eccentric scientist from Surrey, UK named Stafford Beer.

This is a fascinating story. And yes, he really did link up Chile in '72 – long before the Internet…

[Politics in the Zeros]

though it was a network, i don't think it was an internetlike network, it was closer to a phone network, but the uses it is put to are interesting and worth exploring/mentioning, because implicitely this is what post-fordist political economy is interested in, the mechanisms that allow economies to operate, in this case it was a very real technics, but in other places it is cultures, beliefs, fantasies, etc.