Also, Going Postal by Pratchett.

IMO, Going Postal is a veritable call to arms for us net citizens. There's a war going on, and it's between the piggy capitalists and the common stiff. We need to take control and make this a world that works, dammit, because there is no technical reasons why it shouldn't. It's all a matter of will.

Also have to agree with the sorts of conclusions to which your links lead: we're heading for an odd new form of organization, one that encompasses tribal, national, corporate, and network cultures.

I consider myself to belong to a tribe of people who get together to do a common activity: motorcycling. There's a certain level of pulling-together, sharing of tools, pubs,widow's charities, that seems tribal in nature.

I consider myself to belong to a nation, a great one that tries (and needs to try harder!) to ensure that all of us can maximize our lives. We pull together because there are certain tools that go beyond the ability of a mere tribe: tools for war and tools for health. And more importantly, because we tribes need to pull together if we're going to do well against...

The corporations. And wouldn't you know it, I "belong" to some of them: I choose Nelson Afterdark beer when I can; I choose OEM parts for my car; I choose GE for lightbulbs. I choose them sometimes because I simply like their product; sometimes because choosing them benefits me; sometimes because their CEO kicks ass as a fellow who "gets it." There are other corporations I boycott: Walmart and Best Buy are two of them. I just wish my country would support me on this...

Anyway, back to the theme: I also belong to a network community. First a tribe (Citadel) and a nation (Citadel network); then an anarchy (Usenet) which soon enough collapsed under its own weight; and now what was a tribe and has become a nation, MeFi and its satellites.

I predict we're going to see a blurring of the lines eventually. I can readily imagine Coke someday purchasing exclusive rights to the BC market, leading to an underground tribe of Cola smugglers from Alberta using the network -- and its tribal communications tools -- to undermine the desires of the corporations and provide our community-tribes with The Real Thing in exchange for our fruits and wines.

this is a long posts thread!

Huh. Not much of a thread at all, all y'all!