- fiksa eseja par Modernās Pasaules Problēmu: Integration
- 12/18/14 07:08 am
- Let me elaborate with the help of my own comment in a making of a new post with super rant-like qualities about the sad situation of our beloved Pussy Riot (and also the World we live in) - now belonging to Big Coorp., using session musicians and singing in English. What for? The Big Coorp. Nowadays it has its' shares in any of our potential escapism methods, so the revenue is always there. Why do you think cannabis is suddenly so politically accepted in USA? Because it's one of the main definitions of escapism. Legalize it and hold your hand tightly around it's palm to feel the pulse slowly going down beat per beat, per beat, as we stand and gaze upon the World morphing into something in which escapism as an art form or a recreational activity would be so integrated in our (and to those people that are somewhat close to us) reality that It would call for a new definition of the term.
I feel that to a being that has chosen a lifestyle that may include an option to "get off the grid" for a while (or for a lifetime, If one chooses so), an option to enjoy our essential and necessary freedoms provided by the constitution of 1788 (sorry, I couldn't stop myself from typing this as a fictive USA citizen; but don't be alarmed as our constitution, at least the spirit of it, is very much alike to the invoked one) and every other international human rights document that's ratified by most Western countries, Integration (with all the "smartphones", GPS technologies, advanced apps and more serious attitudes against social portals/profiles, as if the virtual persona would have been promoted to a higher ranking officer than the one in the pathetic real life) is one of the main threats of the new century as it's a threat that's ever evolving and so vigilant that the majority of us even cannot comprehend the enormous amount of different resources that are being flooded into development of social networking and social "second life" portals and on understanding such social phenomenons regulating the need of the people of a more comfortable persona in a fictive online environment. And also the ongoing intrusions into human psyche, but in this case only in the part that's relevant to the problem - and right now (and I believe that for few years it will still persist) the problem of not having a chance or method to escape the chains of ones every day reality will grow proportionally with the development of more complex cognitive/psychological/socioeconomical problems that will make us even more inclined to accept statism as our one and only true religion as the level of dependance on state will skyrocket together with our "new needs" and "new mental problems" (if not new... than just google the numbers of people being treated for all types of depression and other "social" illnesses - real or imaginary - by Big Pharma).
So why did I write this? All it did is made the idea about my and the future of my friends a more uneasy one. As some idiot few generations older than me that I saw in a video in a social networking site made his absurd point (paraphrase): "Bloggers are the future of checks and balances [e.g., the method in democracy where one power oversees the second power which oversees the third power]. You guys have the power! A group of bloggers following a common idea and attached to solving one problem will make a big difference and will make Them think twice before fucking with us."
Why do I consider this claim as being absurd? Mainly because of the problem of Integration that I've discussed earlier in this post. In near future people will enjoy this integration in many different ways, and one of them definitely will be the so called manufacturing of consent - making people think that logging in and pressing some buttons will make them a part of some kind of Frankenstein-Leviathan democratic process, while in reality it will be just a butaphoric program made by the State or Big Coorp just to meet the self-governing needs of the people and to make them feel like they're in control of many aspects (maybe even more than nowadays) of their lifes. Therefore people won't have the necessary interest, nor the span in their attention to make the vigilant-public-eye-style of journalism/blogging as an effective tool to inform and to disrupt the Sheppard and his dogs and their aggressive manner of pushing different agendas into "ordinary peoples" lifes. Also we really can't be sure to trust the journalist or the blogger as they're interests can be and most likely will be controlled indirectly or directly by State or Big Coorp (there always will be the Louder ones that will evidently get the most attention from "ordinary people" mainly just for being that loud (and therefore having a large amount of followers; and we all know that the bigger the number, the more legit the information seems; basic psyche), possibly funny each in their own way of interaction with the "ordinary people" [to gather the attention of different audiences] and maybe even [so they'd look more human alike] they will seem annoying or abstractly imperfect to some in a way that will alienate those few percents of potential followers and therefor will make it so that their "web spaces" are filled with a false sense of the possibility of a rational discussion, e.g., people arguing about the same things over and over, and over - as it's the perfect state of mind that's destined to unconsensual, mostly indirect control by those who Profit), so the argument about them attaching to a fixed problem and reporting about it as much as possible (as leeches attach to a body of flesh) seems like the typical "we can make the state succumb by using interwebz" argument which of course in a different, much smaller context (in a world that hadn't reached the integration levels of my perceived gloomy image of the hopeless future that's standing right behind the corner) can be a very effective tactic unique to the age of information. And don't get me wrong, the idea about blogging leeches is not that bad, but in these potential future circumstances and in this heightened level of social integration I perceive nothing more than failure.
And the saddest part is the one I'm writing now. That I've no idea how to CHANGE the direction we're heading. Nor I have any ideas about what to start with if we want slowly and methodically CHANGE my dark vision of future (that is almost Now) to a version that is less connected with social networking, being integrated and deceived by false digits and numbers, and maybe even a false sensation of power that could be both executive and judical ("this man has commited a crime against society X - press A to hang him, press B to incarcerate him, press C to release him with a warning on probation), and maybe even the one about that Frankenstein-Leviathan democracy where there are no political parties (it doesn't matter if they are or are not, just look at good old USA) and where you have to vote for or against some laws/bills/rulings [it may or may not be an obligation for you, but this fact doesn't make any difference, as the democratic processes will all be halted "until further notice" and laws will be passed just like the old days - with divine grace or, to make it sound more modern, with the made up consent of millions of people who have voted using their touch-sensitive smartphone screens. Except the voting part won't matter at all (in socio-political sense), as the proposed law will become functional with the power of the word of the State or Big Coorp. And the butaphorical voting apps they've manufactured for the use of the concerned, politically active people will just count meaningless numbers.
But maybe it's not such a gloomy future after all. Knowing that more and more uneducated people have access to vast amounts of information, so we can see a pattern of choice and negligence shining through the surface of it all- a choice not to enlighten oneself. A choice based on many different factors (nationality, age, literacy, education, social status, etc.) of whom the largest and most dividing factor will be the social consciousness of Integration that will keep the sheep within the reach of the consent-shaping and ever vigilant Sheppard [I'm starting to fear that the "blogger-leeches" will definitely be used as a tool by Them).
To end this seemingly endless "essay" [as there are a lot of aspects that I've left untouched or hanging in description], I've decided to do it by asking a question - both to myself and to anyone interested in this subject. Not a rhetorical one, mind that. As established in this post, (the not so far) future will be about The Choice, an illusive one. Although it would possibly be meaningless, it's still an option to choose, so technically (if we perceive social freedoms as a form of social/human progress) it's better than any form of dictatorship where there is no choice at all.
So which one you'd choose - a glimmering new world where "everyone is connected" and which is full of possibly false hopes and opportunities, and where one would have the possibility (or an obligation) to enact the human and political (but possibly butaphorical) rights and could participate in a potentially already set-up elections or law making processes, or a world that we've known for thousands and thousands of years, a world in which mankind was forged, a world which in a certain way has never failed us [as in this scenario State/Big Coorp. would be of a more predictable nature], a world where there would be a "never changing" elite that supposedly would function for the greater good of the people [of course, the power would manifest itself in a form of a pyramid or a triangle, and as we know - the top would consist of 1%'ers, rich and powerful people who would supposedly care for the well-being of the lower side of the pyramid, dismissing any chance of political opposition and therefore dismissing all the proactive political voices of the interested parties, that is, people [but there wouldn't be any allegations of rigged or butaphorical "voting apps" and laws would be enacted only because the State or Big Coorp. had a need for them in order to gain more revenue]?
To tell you the truth, I myself can't come up with an answer to this question as there are way too many variables, and my definitions (if there were any) were so vague that one could say that they even don't count. Of course, I myself do understand what I'm rambling about quite well and all the definitions are in my mind, so technically I'm the most inclined person to come up with an answer. But still - I can't. One may ask me - why? Why do I make up my own stories and after them ask myself questions that I can't really answer? I know that I've should have touched the subject with a larger pole and maybe I've should have poked it a bit more, but as this is my essay, and the target audience is me and maybe someone else who has been thinking about the not-so-far future in the context of social technologies, so lets say that I wrote this just as a form of enjoyment or maybe to satisfy my need to write letters, words, sentences and so on.
So what is this subject I wanted to poke a bit more? Predictable. It's the uneducated (or seemingly educated, but "can't-come-up-with-my-own-ideas") people behind the wheel of a "fully" integrated society, racing through their daily routine of making and enforcing the law - even if everything has been set-up by the State or Big Coorp.before the voting process even started. Yes, that is what I fear the most. Not an oppressive government. But oppressive people. Not a lying government. But people who could live in a world made up of lies and do so with such dignity and comfort that If it would happen, history books would become alive and re-write themselves, I don't know, maybe even skipping this period of human evolution completely just for the sake of the next hundred generations to come? Just so they wouldn't have a clue that their ancestors were people who willingly destroyed their individuality just because they felt lonely and didn't want to go outside, so they all came to this one virtual place where they would share pictures of themselves doing trivial things, comment on them, enjoy continuous spiral-like discussions fueled by such basic human emotions as hate, anxiousness, impatience, inertia, self-isolation and procrastination. And to what end? Social relief. But instead of things happening the way these people would like them to happen (in context of socio-political freedoms), because of their mayor negligence in essential human communication or maybe just because They have had the Power all along, State and/or Big Coorp. would waltz right into your social network private party, shit all over the place, break your mums porcelain collection, fuck the sleeping girl, smoke all the weed, drink all the booze, suckerpunch someone in face and leave the party as if nothing would have happened; and the next day your "smart phone" would make a strange beeping sound that you've never heard before. You would try and find the cause of it, and to your surprise you'd have had received an official message from State/Big Coorp. telling you that you have to pay your debts until sundown [or else: a) confiscation; b) incarceration], as the process of their representatives coming to your late party and tearing it up so good wasn't a cheap process at all, and as you are such an unique being, you have been exempted from any kind of tax funded well fare programs or civil insurances regarding your property.
Those people and these things usually come when least expected. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Because it's what they want. And if we understood my ramblings metaphorically, we'd come to a conclusion that we we're at that party few days ago.
(atvainojos, ka angliski; lai arī man pašam tas nepatīk - gluži kā es nekad nerakstītu mūzikai liriku angļu valodā, nu, ja vien nedzīvotu Tur - man tomēr par šo tēmu rakstīt ir nesalīdzināmi vieglāk tieši angļu valodā, jo citā valodā es nemaz par šīm tēmām neesmu lasījis/klausījies un pat domājis [domāt dažādās valodās ir ļoti veselīgi prātam])
- 3 atstāja kaut koatstāj kaut ko
- 12/18/14 09:00 am
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I've got a hunch that you've fallen for a overdescriptive-trolling [missing in vocabulary] attack.
To you this text might be worth of a 6 month therapist sessions with the right people around.
With the wrong people around it could be a scalpel dissecting your brain. - Reply
- 12/18/14 09:06 am
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I still have not read your essay, but my prejudices tell me, you've been doing some serious ego fapping - so the essay most likely has more of a probable therapeutic value. Not something to accidentally dissect your or someone elses brain with.
- Reply
- 12/18/14 09:19 am
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But, really, I'm intrigued, and I'll try to find spare time to read this.
- Reply