The great capability of the Cuban revolution to survive is unquestionable, it resisted the boycott, the blockade, threatening attacks and also the collapse of state socialism in the Soviet Union and East Europe. Survival is not only simple existence, but – hopefully – also means the development of a sustainable new socio-economic model.

This issue covers the long awaited topic of the new developments and challenges in information society, because this filed has not been comprehensively addressed since the No. 27 of Eszmélet. Authors of this issue explore such vital questions like how education becomes part of the ‘information society' or the problem of growing asymmetric access to digital public goods (information knowledge products), the hardware of information society (PCs, internet) in the Hungarian society.

Three articles contribute to the growing debate started in the previous issue about the "sickness" of the political left in Hungary and East Europe – and we will continue the discussion also in future issues due to the outstanding interest. G. M. Tamás and Tamás Krausz who challenges him approach current problems, and also the problems of our future, through giving meaning to past developments – providing the fundamentals. On the other hand, János Hajdú investigates opportunities for present ‘salvation' by Hungarian party politics. We publish the speech of a former ‘Hungary specialist' Soviet diplomat and the article of the leading ideologist of Cuba as documents of the thinking of late state socialism -matched by a thorough study of István Mészáros the great figure of Lukács' heritage on the ‘structural crisis of politics'.

Table of contents

1. Vietorisz Tamás, Z. Karvalics László : “Millions of littele knowledge sources” Transforming education and transition to a sustainable world
2. Ferge Sándor : Digital public goods
3. Molnár Szilárd : Information society development in Hungary regarding social capital
4. László Gábor : Open source software and the potential for democratisation
5. Mészáros István : The structural crisis in politics
6. Tamás Gáspár Miklós : A capitalism pure and simple
7. Krausz Tamás : What is the “pure capitalism” theory about? Debate with G.M. Tamás’ theorem.
8. Hajdu János : Denial is not a program
9. Szigeti Péter, Mészáros Ádám, Böcskei Balázs, Artner Annamária : Globalisation from below – supressed groups and rebel movements. Discussion on the book of Annamária Artner
10. Bartha Eszter : National canon and lefwing literature – On Péter Agárdi: Having the past such as this to confess
11. Tütő László : Jane and janes – or who has forced Jane?
12. Valerij Muszatov : Speech at the Budapest Conference – June 15, 2007
13. Armando Hart : Towards the 21st century socialism
14. James Petras, Robin Eastman-Abaya : Cuba: continuing revolution and contemporary contradictions

In the shadow of the fast coming global environmental and social crisis we have to fundamentally reorganise our social communication and control processes and we need social innovation. We have to create such education to involve future generations – by using sense, emotion and will – in acquiring knowledge about the increasing ecological and social threats and also about the answers to them. This goal can only be reached if structures of public education and science, developed and successful in the industrial age, will be transformed to meet the challenges of information society – with autonomy, social involvement and co-operation.

Speaking about digital public goods, we think of goods to be provided to all. We do not want to close out anybody from the consumption of information or knowledge products. Recently, when information becomes a more and more important resource the significance of knowledge capital can be compared to of material capital. The article seeks what are the social and legal conditions, in addition to the "unlimited access", that create digital public goods.

The Hungarian information society – regardless to its modest development – is increasingly divided. In addition to the known reasons, it should be considered that the majority of the outcasts have neither direct contact with PCs and internet (the feature devices of information society), nor with persons using these devices on a daily basis. In order to break the cultural and knowledge barriers, that mostly responsible for the digital division, we have to launch such IT programs that regenerate incomplete social contacts in order to speed up the spread of innovation, new values and attitudes.