It’s fresh at my attention because I’m using Technopoly this semester, and the “as indiviuals” line from Marx set in action a fair amount of classroom fluster over what it might mean. We started to talk about labor in less neatly economic terms such as “occupation” or “what we do,” which turned to some discussion of rhetoric, and, I think, some interesting ways about thinking about technology (broadly) as forms which induce expressive occupation and, accordingly, which proliferate (new and different?) rhetorical relationships. Dunno if this is helpful, but your entry echoed what I’d just read and watched unfold in EN106; figured I’d share.

Thanks for the feedback — I picked up Postman from the library today, on your recommendation. It’s a useful connection, I think, and Postman seems to make it more explicit. (And, re your other comment on Balkanization — please, don’t call it “butting in”; I’m really grateful for the comments.)