You may well not be near Manchester, but I think this is worth re-blogging for the idea of a socialist internet (which I think we should work to ensure is a communist internet instead)….
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From Charlie Winstanley (cfwinstanley@gmail.com)
Dear All,
I’m writing to inform you of an event which I’ll be organising this coming December. Raul Espejo, formerly Director of ‘Project Cybersyn’ will be coming to speak in Manchester on a radical experiment in social decentralisation enacted under Allende’s government in Chile in the early 1970s. Cybersyn was a prototype internet system designed to replace the role of the market, as a ‘central nervous system’ for the economy – allocating the distribution of raw materials and finished products automatically across the Chilean economy direct from the factory on the basis of data being constantly submitted by workers and staff in respective ‘Industrial Belts’.
Project Cybersyn aimed to connect together the social and economic infrastructure of Chile, mapping out the distribution of natural resources, raw materials, the state of mass transit and the road network and many other factors in order to organically and unconsciously involve the Chilean people in the management of their society.
After the American backed coup de tat, Cybersyn was one of the first projects of Allende’s government to be destroyed by Pinochet. The meeting aims to explore both the potential of Cybersyn itself and the geopolitical situation surrounding the demise of the project.
I hope this event sounds intriguing – there is a facebook event here with more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1415698718646414/
Entry will be between £4-£3 on the door, and the event will be held in the Cervantes Institute on Deansgate.
I hope to see some of you there, Charlie
Path to the Possible 