Rating: 
Summary: Beware the Guardian Angels!
Review: This is a book for those who feel a deep urge to achieve a better understanding of the epoch-making transformations affecting our planet at the start of the 21st century. On reading many of the pages of Rifkin's work I have found myself enlightened, as if my vision and perception of our present world had gained a new touch of insight. But it is quite typical that when you are submerged by an experience you are not in the best condition to judge it objectively, to inventory, classify and minutely describe its processes: you look rather being 'lived' by than actually living the thing yourself! Just this happens today when everybody is speaking about globalization, often following a sort of faddish inclination to appear up-to-date at least as far as words are concerned: but if you are really to develop an informed awareness of what you are talking about books like Rifkin's set a milestone in understanding. In my opinion Rifkin may act effectively, without no risky millenarian side-effects, both with readers already accustomed to the arguments of entrenched futurology (Toffler and Naisbitt are in my opinion just some steps behind Rifkin in terms of analytical and factual depth) and with the total newcomers to this kind of topics. Rifkin's line of reasoning unfolds from a very definite and proven assumption: the new cultural capitalism rising on the horizon throughout the continents - with all the geocultural differences and contrasts to be taken into due account - ushers in a radical turn in the relationship of citizens-consumers to the sources of production on one side and in the relationship of citizens-consumers to goods and services on the other. In both aspects an ever-increasing shift from the notion of production/property to that of distribution/access is taking place. In the industrial era and even in the first period of post-industrial society the marketplace was something still distinct from individual and communitarian experience: the marketplace was a vital and fundamental part of any citizen's or community's life but was perceived as a separate entity, influencing but not totally determining the facts of existence, especially those relating to the most intimate core of being. Psychic experience, in the wider meaning of intellectual, emotional and imaginal events making up the very fabric of individual and societal life was not the prevailing interest of a capitalism which kept considering material mass production its main objective. The new capitalism (should we name it the third or the fourth wave, Mr Toffler?) is opening the door to marketable psychical goods: human experience at large becomes the target of global selling and a host of new ways of producing, presenting and distributing it are being designed and engineered by the new market operators. These ways may be different but are in the end characterised by a substantially uniform modality of fruition: access, not property! The new Erich Fromm of our days (hoping there will soon be one for it is badly needed!) will more aptly write a 'To access or to be', as the idea of possession is now better expressed by the possibility of getting temporarily in touch with an experience rather than directly and materially detaining 'something'. And where there is access, there you find gates, with gatekeepers guarding them and deciding what, when and how you should live your predefined life-windows: doesn't this sound like familiar semantics these days? Beware the Guardian Angels! Rifkin is not easily satisfied by abstract assertions and his book is full of examples of what he says. A lot of pages are devoted to bringing evidence before the eyes of the reader and here and there you feel overwhelmed by factual demonstration. But soon you realize that each example adds an important piece to the overall mosaic of explanation, until a complete and convincing picture takes shape in your mind. The last chapter is particularly rich in insight and reveals in my opinion a depth of discrimination which should be advantageously absorbed and fruitfully applied by all kinds of new economy actors, be they concerned directly with the marketplace or indirectly, thru politics and policies in the higher sense of these terms. Rifkin says that we need an ecology of culture and capitalism if we are to save a global human civilisation from the self-destructive impulses of the new mode of production. The market is in fact something kept alive and trustworthy by culture and creative continuity with the past of human experience: civic and cultural traditions as tangible signs of social identity are the stuff which supports the sense of reciprocal trust and well-rooted community indispensable to the effective functioning of the market. By destroying local cultural and civic traditions with the unconfessed aim of forming a standardized global consumer society the new capitalism is putting at risk the same ground on which it is trying to build its lasting triumphs. Human experience cannot be fragmented and sold to society as experiential frames accessed thru predefined portals: this would simply transform the inherent vitality of human culture into a mediocre jam of insignificance, meaningful communication and links among human beings would gradually turn into mutual mistrust and violence and so, while Communism died by too much failure, Capitalism might eventually disappear by too much success. Believe me: this book is a must!
Rating:
Summary: One of the most important books EVER.
Review: You may not like what the author has to say, but like it or not, we have entered a brave new world order of hyper-capatalism and Rifkin disects it throughly. This book isn't so much about politics as it is about the ever encrouching power of the multi-national coporation. Reading this book may not be fun, but it is neccessary.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular analysis of today's hyper culture and commerce.
Review: Your life is part of a larger drama. As you grow up you are presented with numerous options as to the character you will play. What attributes should your character have, what personality traits, what reputation, what should your character strive to be? Will you take on different personas at work, in social situations, in simulated environments? The choice is up to you, but your choices are presented by advertisers who seek to steer you in a particular direction and supply you with the props to act out your character of choice.Once you acquire the physical props needed to reinforce your character (which have limited revenue potential for the companies supplying them), you need to compliment your props with experiences. Maybe you want to play a distinguished individual; one who lives in an exclusive golf community with others of similar status and means. Your character of choice has the newest cars, the latest gadgets, and adheres to the norms of others playing similar roles. You own little if anything and consume most everything as a service - you lease your car, despite "owning your home" you have to pay for all kinds of memberships and fees to keep up the act. You script your social circles and cultural experiences. The majority of your relationships are based on monetary exchange and are pre planned. You are able to purchase cultural experiences based on what market research has determined you want to experience. You are presented with that which others have determined you want to see and will pay the most to experience. Your experiences don't reflect reality, as it exists in nature, but the "reality" which you want to, and think, should exist. If you have enough financial resources you can rent the exact character you want to play, buy all the necessary props, and engage in all the appropriate cultural experiences. Everyone will treat you just the way you want to be treated. You'll be able to script your whole life. Will your relationships be built on trust, empathy, compassion and other genuine human emotions? Does any of this matter? Is there any difference between a life where everything is a paid for experience and one where it is not? Is this much ado about nothing? That's up to you to decide. Jeremy vividly describes how such scenarios may affect you. Another fundamental issue in "The Age of Access" is the private ownership and control of public assets and natural resources. Should a private entity be allowed to claim exclusive ownership of the radio spectra over which all sorts of communications are broadcast? Should a biotech company be able to patent (and therefore have exclusive use) of a particular gene that has always existed in nature but has only recently been discovered and put to a particular use? Should companies be able to have patents on the very building blocks that make up life on Earth? Should they be able to patent things that make up your body? When it comes to property rights, where is the line between private property and the right of humanity to share in and access the natural wealth of the planet? Monsanto, through the development of "Terminator seeds", has already shown how such patents and associated biological tampering may be used for the financial gain of a few to the detriment of the food supply of the world. [Terminator seeds were developed by Monsanto as a way to claim intellectual property rights and revenue from farmers. The seeds are bio-engineered to be sterile so that instead of simply harvesting seeds at the end of one crop season to be used for the next, the farmer would have no choice but to ante up to Monsanto for seeds for next years crop.] The parallel is made between cultural diversity and biodiversity. As the world's natural resources are depleted, can we continue our current lifestyles, our massive energy consumption? Many other works contend the answer is no. Rifkin compares biodiversity to cultural diversity. Can capital markets continue to operate if the very social fabric and trust on which they are built is transformed into continuum of paid for experiences? "The Age of Access" is brilliant. It raises issues that will become more and more important as we move forward into the age of "hyper-capitalism". Will it matter if your life becomes a series of subscriptions and paid for experiences? Should any private entity be able to claim control over things like genes or radio spectra or should they remain in the public domain for all to use? Is it in anyone's interest for corporations like McDonalds's, Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, and others to steamroll local cultures and business outside of the US in the pursuit of profit? Rifkin presents scenarios that address these and many other questions. You may or may not agree with issues and perspectives in the book but its one book you can't afford to pass up.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular analysis of today's hyper culture and commerce.
Review: Your life is part of a larger drama. As you grow up you are presented with numerous options as to the character you will play. What attributes should your character have, what personality traits, what reputation, what should your character strive to be? Will you take on different personas at work, in social situations, in simulated environments? The choice is up to you, but your choices are presented by advertisers who seek to steer you in a particular direction and supply you with the props to act out your character of choice. Once you acquire the physical props needed to reinforce your character (which have limited revenue potential for the companies supplying them), you need to compliment your props with experiences. Maybe you want to play a distinguished individual; one who lives in an exclusive golf community with others of similar status and means. Your character of choice has the newest cars, the latest gadgets, and adheres to the norms of others playing similar roles. You own little if anything and consume most everything as a service - you lease your car, despite "owning your home" you have to pay for all kinds of memberships and fees to keep up the act. You script your social circles and cultural experiences. The majority of your relationships are based on monetary exchange and are pre planned. You are able to purchase cultural experiences based on what market research has determined you want to experience. You are presented with that which others have determined you want to see and will pay the most to experience. Your experiences don't reflect reality, as it exists in nature, but the "reality" which you want to, and think, should exist. If you have enough financial resources you can rent the exact character you want to play, buy all the necessary props, and engage in all the appropriate cultural experiences. Everyone will treat you just the way you want to be treated. You'll be able to script your whole life. Will your relationships be built on trust, empathy, compassion and other genuine human emotions? Does any of this matter? Is there any difference between a life where everything is a paid for experience and one where it is not? Is this much ado about nothing? That's up to you to decide. Jeremy vividly describes how such scenarios may affect you. Another fundamental issue in "The Age of Access" is the private ownership and control of public assets and natural resources. Should a private entity be allowed to claim exclusive ownership of the radio spectra over which all sorts of communications are broadcast? Should a biotech company be able to patent (and therefore have exclusive use) of a particular gene that has always existed in nature but has only recently been discovered and put to a particular use? Should companies be able to have patents on the very building blocks that make up life on Earth? Should they be able to patent things that make up your body? When it comes to property rights, where is the line between private property and the right of humanity to share in and access the natural wealth of the planet? Monsanto, through the development of "Terminator seeds", has already shown how such patents and associated biological tampering may be used for the financial gain of a few to the detriment of the food supply of the world. [Terminator seeds were developed by Monsanto as a way to claim intellectual property rights and revenue from farmers. The seeds are bio-engineered to be sterile so that instead of simply harvesting seeds at the end of one crop season to be used for the next, the farmer would have no choice but to ante up to Monsanto for seeds for next years crop.] The parallel is made between cultural diversity and biodiversity. As the world's natural resources are depleted, can we continue our current lifestyles, our massive energy consumption? Many other works contend the answer is no. Rifkin compares biodiversity to cultural diversity. Can capital markets continue to operate if the very social fabric and trust on which they are built is transformed into continuum of paid for experiences? "The Age of Access" is brilliant. It raises issues that will become more and more important as we move forward into the age of "hyper-capitalism". Will it matter if your life becomes a series of subscriptions and paid for experiences? Should any private entity be able to claim control over things like genes or radio spectra or should they remain in the public domain for all to use? Is it in anyone's interest for corporations like McDonalds's, Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, and others to steamroll local cultures and business outside of the US in the pursuit of profit? Rifkin presents scenarios that address these and many other questions. You may or may not agree with issues and perspectives in the book but its one book you can't afford to pass up.
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