I was 19 years old when I awoke on September 11, 2001, to the defining event of our era. Huddled with others around a screen, I watched live television broadcast images of planes flying into the World Trade Center. The mood of life – its color and tone – changed in an instant.
The importance of my school receded to the background; it was clear that the world had bigger questions to resolve. A month later, I watched the American invasion of Afghanistan on CNN. While the consensus in America seemed firmly behind military retribution, I met many people who expressed deep dissatisfaction with the invasion and realized that 9/11 was a tremendous opening that called humanity’s collective future into question. I didn’t know whether or not we should have invaded Afghanistan, or even who the Taliban were. In fact, like most young people at that time, I was blissfully ignorant of the world outside America. But I knew that life after 9/11 was rushing toward a conclusion that no one, young or old, could fully foresee. Nothing could be more exciting for the youthful spirit than to feel that the future was open to discussion, and I resolved to start an anti-war student organization. With this decision, I unknowingly joined a nation-wide movement that was building momentum toward a revolutionary moment.
We founded an organization at Swarthmore College called Why War? and adopted the motto “Question the war.” Our position was simple: 9/11 blindsided us, and we need time to reflect before we’ll know the proper response. However, when it became clear that we had to fight to have our voices heard, we turned to protest.
I remember the mood in 2003 when 38 million people worldwide gathered to voice their opposition to the impending invasion of Iraq. On the streets of New York, we felt that we had finally accomplished an organizational feat capable of altering the future. I watched as my friends broke through barricades, and I refused to move as police horses charged a blocked street, nearly trampling my head. The revolutionary momentum was at a peak – it felt like anything was possible, and that a new world was truly within our grasp. How could the world leaders stand against us when we were able to organize and synchronize protests on every continent in the world?
But our movement didn’t stop America from invading Iraq. The much-heralded “Day X,” a day of civil disobedience that was supposed to sweep the nation, fizzled out without noticeable achievements. Our failure to prevent the Iraq war dealt a blow to our confidence and our momentum dissipated.
Although the Bush administration was able to stem the tide briefly, it did nothing to weaken our vision – merely driving us underground and making our present resurgence more powerful. And in place of the naïve hopes of yesterday are the mature demands of today – voiced in whispers in our hopeful hearts, a dangerous conspiracy to outlast the regime, to maintain our youthful exuberance but temper it with wise consideration. We’ve seen enough in the seven long years since 9/11 to know that we were right to question the war and to trust that, inevitably, we can change the future.
Our momentum is growing. Bush is done, consumerism is collapsing and the patricians are dancing for plebeian votes. On the horizon appear presidential candidates who claim to be the source of our strength, but who are merely the symptom of the revolutionary thrust picking up again in America. We’re optimistic for the future and willing to be inspired, but too skeptical to respond to the rhetoric of “Hope” and “Change” with our whole hearts. So we let them do the work of encouraging demands for change, knowing full well that we will carry their promises further than they intend. What we hear is not what they’re saying. What we’ll accomplish is not what they envision. By playing for our votes, the establishment only helps us see the questions that are off limits and the positions that are deemed impossible.
In martial arts classes, timid students are taught to put their fists through solid wood by punching through the barrier. The target is not the wood, but the space behind the wood. Likewise, in revolutions, momentum is not meant to stop on a specific day, but to carry through to the other side. The barrier is the limitations of what has been declared possible. We’ll overcome it by imagining, demanding and achieving the impossible. In the weeks and months ahead, we will see America’s revolutionary momentum build and, with wise youthfulness and experienced imagination, we will learn to pierce the mental barrier that stands between the tired allegiance to this world and a passionate building of the next. Our target is not the election, but a time beyond the election, when our mental preparation will combine with our political momentum in a revolutionary moment that ushers in a storm of change.
_Micah M. White is a Bingington, New York-based writer and activist, who is currently pursuing a PhD in Media and Communications at the European Graduate School.
{commentclosed}
Its true that electronics make life easier, and maybe the reason people have less time to spend with their families and doing other activities is because people get heavier volumes of work because its easier to do.
Technology is the way that we are all being slowly but surely enslaved....it provides us with entertainment work, great shopping abilities and everything else that we need to not rebel against our masters. Now that we have it all at our fingertips why should we worry about corruption, war, famine or any of the other things that are happening in the real worlds...we are being spoon fed through network hoses and always feel strangely disattached from the pictures on the screen not really knowing why.....Should we ever want to venture out of our cozy condo our position can be easily tracked by global satellites and with the new DNA testing technologies available a court can decide that you are likely to commit a crime and therefore detain you for the good of the rest of us sane people.....
Luckily enough the people who built the systems aren't half as smart as they need to be so we are still in control.....The Matrix isn't coming...it's already here....open your eyes zombies
Who says technology was supposed to lessen our workload? Seems to me most of it is built to streamline workload, but has nothing to do with its quantity; that's all up to the user.
I'm not sure if it's all so bad. I agree with someone above me, in that not all of it is the tech., and moreso the person using or misusing the technology. I think this type of mindset will convince people to throw away their cell phones, computers, and pdas and then what? Be disconnected by choice? It's all a little ignorant for me.
Music Suggestion: No Phone by Cake.
I think this is very interesting and a great idea also, I spent a week without computer, television, cellphone, music, etc it was a project and my results fascinated me, at first it was driving me crazy but then I felt totally free and discovered how great it is not depending on this kind of stuff.
Fo Realz. Silly Technology.
Well many of these electronics do make life easier but it's interesting to see many of the younger generations addiction to it. One of my favorite things in this life is the internet and having instant access to information, as well as the networking possibilities the net provides.
All the gadgets can become a distration but overall I think the pros far outweigh the cons.
But I do feel for the teacher who always has to be available, I would not work under those conditions.
Intriguing and disturbing how the personal responsibility dogma is so prevalent, a way of ignoring the ills that are systemic and very hard to avoid, esp. when imposed on one, as some contributors here have noted. Seems to be a legacy of Cartesianism and Protestantism to pin total reality and responsibility and blame on the lonely denatured individual. Throw in a little Buddhist detachment/moderation philosophy and that lets technosocial degradation off the hook. Cell phones and other technoaddictive gadgets weren't necessary 12 years ago why now?!?! Because toy supply, like the availability of drugs, creates demand and need. We ARE enslaved by much of the new technology, whose creation, keep in mind, is precisely for that purpose not to make a better world, but to make more money for the corporate pigs. Doesn't that raise your ire enough, in itself, to want to toss the phone? And note we're not even talking about the physical health effects now burgeoning, the neurological disorders with a roughly 10 year incubation time, according to major doctors and publications. Brain tumors are skyrocketing, and there's no coincidence, especially for vulnerable brains of the young.
A closing thought, from my musings in the middle of last night: The revolution will not be podcast.
Check out another interesting article on this topic: Digital Dilemmas: What Wireless Industry Doesn't Want You to Know - http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cArticleC&cid1203758679197&....
sorry guys, music is the answer, so im hooked proudly. dont have a cell phone, no use, ill never hear the thing.
that's a good one
folks, I don't always answer my cell phone I got rid of the landline. On the weekends I ignore my email.
Simple, no?
I went back to a non-picture Tracfone and disabled texting. Luckily I don't need it for work. The only reason I have one at all is because it's impossible to find a pay phone these days. I keep it for emergencies and long distance calls to family. Only my family know the number. And they know I don't answer it. They email when they need to get ahold of me.
Leanne, I have several friends and business contacts who used to be Borg and thought they couldn't survive 30 seconds without contacting their continuum. I have successfully converted many Borg to talking primates by walking away when they start texting. I started subtly and moved on to more extreme measures with much success. I have even moved to other tables in restaurants, started listening to music during meetings and walked to the other side of the street. A few of them get annoyed, of course. I find, however, the ones who are worth it don't need me to explain that I would like to give them my undivided attention because I value their opinions and ideas but regrettably I received a more important message from the other table or my mp3 player or the other side of the street. Yes, for about 2 months most of the texting was about what a bitch I am. But everyone I deal with now either turns off their phone before they meet with me or tells me in advance they are waiting for a call. Six of them have expressed relief that they are ALLOWED to turn it off and have started doing so around others. I have not been interrupted since by any lolcats or forwarded 50 year old text jokes. The ones who are not worth it... well, they aren't worth it. They are joined to their tech and cannot be saved. There is no point in trying to remain friends with someone who doesn't listen or stay in business with someone who can't concentrate.
Do you choose to switch off and get in touch with ones self, family and the outside world we live in? Would this potentially make you fall behind as others race ahead with technological gain?
A year in the 'wilderness' could mean be a lifetime in technospace.
I agree with Matt's point about mechanisms of normalisation in our culture. In my experience, not having a Facebook account can make life difficult, as most people at my university use it to facilitate sharing notes and courserelated information as well as a means of firing off party invites and chatting with friends. This normalisation means that, at my university at least, not being on Facebook means being left out academically as well as socially. As for mobile phones, I like to be contactable just in case something urgent or unforeseen comes up. While I agree with Luke about it sometimes being necessary to switch off one's phone or put it on silent/vibrate like when driving I want to be reachable in an emergency if a loved one is suddenly taken ill, for example. Personally, I like the feeling that I can be reached easily in case something does happen. That said, it is unbelievably annoying when I'm chatting to a friend and they start texting someone else midchat. People still don't seem to have realised that texts don't have to be answered immediately, unless the matter is pressingly urgent.
I consider my cell phone exactly what the name is: a cell of foam. The cell is comfortable yet confining. The issue exist when the person calling you interrupts the person you are speaking to face to face. I will often silence my phone and use it like a pager, I can't get rid of it because this cell phone acts as a portal to responsibility and I am forced to keep myself celled. Turn off that electronic dog collar when you are with real peopel and talk the way were are intended to, face to face.
It's the masts and the microchips I'm against. Hence... no phone. Never once missed it. And Leanne is right about people who dump the conversation just to answer a call which fundamentally was only asking 'where are you?'. Always thought they were covert tracking devices. It's not even covert. Yer family and friends never leave you alone.
I got rid of my cell phone two years ago, and am happier for it. No, technology is not evil; its' inanimate. I have to stifle a laugh every time I hear a cell ring tone at full factory set volume or listen to people say they have to answer every call because they can't figure out how to bring up their voice messages. I'm never sure if it is lack of intelligence or laziness that causes some people not to venture past learning how to place and answer calls on their cell. Perhaps they were distracted by a shiny object.
in my personal experience i have become detached from phone calls, but have seemed to develop a dependency on text messaging. i always have my phone on silent and rarely answer. but texts... i almost always respond. it gets to the point and the last thing i want is to get stuck in a 30 min conversation about nothing. so i'd rather speak to you in person, or text you...
its simply becoming a way of life. the more we develop the more stressors can be formed. it will just be a matter of finding solutions to the effects that our developing world will cause.
For me, technology has been food for thought. With the Internet I can reaserch and explore topics and ideas that interest me, and discover perspectives I have never thought of. As for the phone, you can just switch it to the silent mode.
Technology was sold to us, back in the day, as a way to make our lives simpler and better. As a public high school teacher, I have witnessed the evil that is technology. On my days at home sick, I am expected to check my email. It is also expected that I respond to parental emails within 24 hours no matter how busy I am or how trivial their email. My students hardly know how to interact with each other this is something they speak openly about, due to their time IMing and texting. Further, if they cannot google something or find it on wikipedia they are lost. So, sure there are pluses to technology, but there are also many minuses. We need to be honest about the true cost of technology.
you are only trapped if you let yourself be 'enslaved'. yes communication technology can be damning and draining and just plain rude... but you got to learn to switch it off when you need to, or put it on silent or vibrate when you dont want to be interruptionjolted and then prepare to decide whether or not to answer. People dont always have to be contactable but we live in an era were this is the norm... an life has begun to function around this norm you got to keep it all in balance. With the good also comes the bad.
Would any of us be able to debate with the person above without this technology...it has created a shrinking world. When something shrinks, you always lose something though.
True. Contemporary technology does seem to have more of a tendency to enlsave. However, tehcnology is not inherently evil i.e.: forks, bicycles, ovens are all technology. I think it has more to do with our marketing saturated society causing us to believe we need all of this contemporary technology. What is needed is to look at technology as a tool and to muster the discipline to leave the cell phone at home, read a book instead of surf the web sometimes, or to enjoy occasional silence instead of the radio. We might not view ourselves as such victims of technology if we focus more on our ability to control our level of dependence on it.
I think it is rather cynical to call us technoslaves. I don't keep my mobile because I have an obsssesive need to feel connected. I keep it simply so that if the need arises I can call someone, or I can call them. Simple as.
Well written. Wonder what generation next will be like?
Its hard to start conversations in public places now since people always have earphones in their ears. Instead, people are dating online because when people go out now, they're not really in the moment, but instead grasping onto their phones awaiting those precious texts... very strange if you ask me.
Surprise yourself and shut off your internet connection at home. You will figure out ways to access it elsewhere when absolutely necessary. It will free you up to do more productive things this makes many assumptions about the necessities in your life, however. The cell phone thing is hard. Even the most staunch opponents to computer technology are tied grudgingly to their cell phones, ready to defend their addiction with excuses like I need it because it has become the norm for initial human connection a phone call usually leads to more intimate dialog..etc.. It's not the cell phone, it's your choice to use it.
Of course nobody will admit to it until it is too late. WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? If only one person out there reads these notes and looks at this graphic, it will have been worth the time I spent.
Are mobile phones wiping out our bees? Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees. They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hitech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world the abrupt disappearance of the bees.
See graphic at: www.raithy.com/unpaid20.html