Insular Worlds and School Shootings

A Facebook post, in which A. got annoyed with the amount of posts that seemed to show that people really just didn't care about the recent school shooting in Newtown, CT.  The postings I have seen have been basically pictures of angels, and of the children themselves, or posts supporting or being against (mostly against) gun control as a method of curbing future shooters from getting guns in the first place.  The feeling is more that if the rest of us have guns, those that want to use them for violence won't get very far.  Sort of a cold war Nuclear race type idea.  But most posts after this have been about life as it has gone for years, past and future, and A. is annoyed because it seems like no one cares.  My thoughts were to figure out if there was any support to this.  A.'s post in italics.

A: Y'know, MOST of my FB friends are thoughtful and considering in posting their comments during a time of seemingly unremitting bad news. And I'm hesitant to even post this, since the majority of those people are, allegedly, adults. There are a few, though, who seem to be living in their own little worlds, oblivious to anything and everything that falls outside of their self-contained insular nests. To those of you who fall into that latter category, here's a word of advice: when there is a mass murder, involving mostly innocent children, a crime so heinous that it throws the entire civilized world into shock and mourning, then no one gives a damn about the movie you just saw, your love of computers, the new color scheme of your bathroom, cutsie cards/posters, or your gaming passion. Not to be too preachy about it, but save that crap for another time. The rest of us will be OK without it.

 

I agree with you, to some extent. That's a complicated matter, as escapism is a tool people use to deal with circumstances such as this. And has the media made it so where, after the time they deemed necessary to talk about the CT shooting, it goes on to the next item, having trained us, on the evening news, to hear about the everyday shootings and fires and accidents and then move on, unmoved about the loss of human life. Is it that, the news that is reporting how monstrous mankind can be, is also training us to view it as normal, or overlook it as fringe happenings that deserve a ninety second story, and then on to the Weather, sports, and what happened on American Idol? Humans live in their compartmentalized, "insular" worlds and deal with issues even as they watch their football games and download apps. onto their Android phones. 

My mom retold the days following the Kennedy Assassination, where between news reports, the three channels played classical music for the entire weekend. She was shocked when, after the funeral and procession, when an advertisement actually came on. How far have we moved past those days, when commercials will be done no matter what is happening? Where there is always cable channels filled with escapist, entertaining, crap so that we would never have to face reality at all. And I do it too, as the Disney Channel stays on my TV most of the day. I play my Bejeweled Blitz and my Hidden Chronicles, and the world outside goes on unnoticed. It's unfortunate, but I don't believe that the majority of people who are on Facebook could *not* participate in mass escapism to deal with the Sandy Hook massacre, as the addiction of constant information gorging is far too powerful for them to watch one Television station, with no commercials, and classical music in between news of something that should bring us all together. Human beings are too busy being walled in by big screen TVs and tiny cell phones to deal with actual live human beings. We can reach out, and participate in world events just as instantly as they happen, yet that same ability keeps us even more distant from each other. It's the tragic irony of our times. As the politician on the Monkees movie "Head" said, "The tragedy of your times, my friends, is that you may get exactly what you want." How true that is.

It's also the fact that most people have a very limited attention span. No one, it seems, can focus on anything for more than a few moments. Thus the constant demand for digression: to the extent that television "news" rarely runs a story lasting more than thirty seconds. Absurd shows like "Good Morning America" intersperses tragedy with music, celebrity "news", weather, and so-called human interest stories. It's no wonder that the average American is misinformed about, well, everything. 

Yep.  How we communicate is as important as what we communicate (Postman), so we've been trained to communicate in 30 second sound bytes, 140 characters, get it out, make it known, no thinking, just instant response.  Move back and forth, from one subject to another. It's necessary, to some extent, in this world we live in. Compartmentalization allows us to sort out the vast amount of data that gets thrown at us every minute. Now, that doesn't mean that we're able to reflect, absorb, and learn from that information.  It also protects us from that raw data, as, for the longest time, we weren't able to instantly be aware of all the wrongs in this world.  Now, with the 24 hour news, the Internet, the cell phones, we can know everything going on.  And that's not good.  Robert Goolrick, author of The Reliable Wife, documented the many tragedies that happened in the northern states back prior to cars, electricity, medicine, where people went crazy and slaughtered their families, killed themselves...etc..., but no one knew about all of that, as CNN wasn't there to report on it.  Now, we didn't know, so we couldn't solve the problem.  We couldn't throw our money, our technology, our scientific knowledge at it.  But there was also no instant emotional response in rash legislation passed, no blame turned political, and no moving on as the next tragedy hit, and the next, and the next.  And the idea wasn't put into other, maybe mentally unstable, people's heads, so they could carry out the same thing the next time they forgot to take medication.  Copycat acts are the direct result of the communication of unsorted images and acts and emotions, all thrown out of televisions and computers.  We have to learn to think about the consequences of our actions, and in this society, that's not happening.  It all boils down to right and wrong, and in today's world of victims, moral relativity, and shades of gray, it's hard for a normal person to decide right from wrong, much less someone who might have a neurological problem.  Thus the results are ambushed firefighters, slain school children, and all the myriads of violent acts that happen every single day. 

MegaUpload to Holodeck

So one of my friends, S., posted this picture on Facebook, which is the going thing these days.  As if creating a picture will explain the whole world.  It's amazing, the way that people choose to communicate with each other.  Facebook was supposed to be a method for people across the world to talk to each other, but more and more I've seen just these pictures posted, without discussion or even thought about what they mean, how they impact the processes of the mind, how things are connected to others through synapses, often incorrectly so.

It seems to me that someone in the Occupy Wall Street crowd was downloading something on MegaUpload and all of a sudden {blink}, it's gone.  No more downloads of music, movies, software.  And let's not kid ourselves about this, it has nothing to do with all that for the normal computer user.  It's all about the Porn.  We just gave the Porn industry such a boost, because once you get rid of all possible places where pornography can be downloaded for free, the people who view such things will be forced, once again, to buy it.  But I got off track...  And so they think, it has to be the greedy bastards sitting at the top of their skyscrapers making money from all us poor people.  It's just not fair. Wall Street must be responsible for all this.  And in a very small way, that's part of it.  But the larger issue, one that is beyond this pictures ability to communicate, is that the Justice department was the one that implemented the raid and closed down the site.  That, along with the suspended SOPA bill, is giving the government full power to regulate the stuff that's on the Internet. Now, if that were the whole of it, I would go off on a tangent about how we should be able to download all the stuff we want, and haven't the RIAA and MPAA made enough money and blah blah blah.... except that's not it either.  There is no way that this issue (not SOPA, but just MegaUpload) can just be summarized in a picture. It is an argument of intellectual rights, free market issues; ideological, philosophical, and asethetic issues; so many issues. It could easily take up a book. We could produce arguments for and against MU, and be both right and wrong.  This issue brings together all the opinions of Free Market Capitalism, intellectual property, freedom of distribution of information, everything that the current generation feels about the way the world works.  The internet is a cacophony of information, stimuli, communities, vices, mind-numbing wastes of time, and we have ti pumped into our heads continuously throughout the day.  I go into most workplaces nowadays, and the workers have their iphones on and tuned into Spotify or their MP3s, and they're texting and checking their Facebooks, even watching videos when no one is watching.  It's an epidemic that is probably costing businesses tons of money.  And outside of absconding everyone's gadgets when they first come in, there's little anyone can do about it.  Everyone must have their fix of bytes and bits and kilos of data.   And that, too, is just a small part of it, and not what I was really focusing on.

I've gotten episodes of Disney shows from MegaUpload, they are free* on the Disney channel, so... was that wrong? Maybe. Is it illegal? Maybe. Should the government regulate such things. I don't think so, but the Libertarian paradox applies here. In the end, MU's shutdown won't matter much, as technology will change, methods will change, people will still get their copies of intellectual property. They'd have to shut down the internet entirely to stop it.  That would be the quickest way to start a revolution. Reminds me of the Pendragon Series, book 4, The Reality Bug, by DJ Machale. The Internet, and the things we download from it, are the fantasies by which we escape our own lives. To take that away would be akin to taking drugs away from the user. The withdrawl would be too much to bear. For the government to become that of Brave New World, they have to realize that the easiest way to control the people is through happiness, and whether our SOMA comes from a pill or through fiberglass cables, they have to keep the escapism alive.

I think that it's up to the providers of movies, games, etc... to come up with viable alternatives to free* downloading of their product. Spotify, for instance, is an amazing method, and would be more effective than any regulation or lawsuit. Hulu, Gamefly, Netflix, Redbox, also, are viable alternatives.  Another option would be the current companies that distribute intellectual property to vastly expand their "On Demand" line-ups, encompassing the entire line-up of TV shows and Movies that are available.  To do so would take an incredible amount of server upgrading, but would certainly doable, since the storage companies like MegaUpload basically have it already.  And there would need to be some way for the artists and producers to be compensated for their work. Basically, that would be Comcast or Cox or Charter hosting something like itunes or whatever, which would work. It's a viable option, something they should think about if SOPA actually passes with the vitrol it had in it previously. It would keep them from being liable while providing users with legal ways of obtaining their fixes. And if we can think this up, surely they can as well. Wouldn't be surprised if it's already in the works.  Comcast would have to increase their charges (or make it as a separate service) in order to do this, much as iTunes does now. And the public would have to accept that as a method better to get their fixes than downloading media online without compensation. It's a mental thing, a change in the minds of society's consciousness. That paying artists is actually a good thing, that the idea of the artists being just another part of the 1% is wrong, that they actually produce work for society and should be compensated as such, just as a worker laying the beams for a new skyscraper or the person making your Subway Sandwich. Changing the beliefs of Western Civilization is hard. It is done through technology or religion, and "Thou Shalt Not Steal" isn't working, so a change in technology is the best method. Thus the idea of Spotify and the iPod or like technology to provide all music everywhere with commercials. Although I think at some point it'll be a paid service (beyond the Premium service they already have).

I think that's the main issue here, when you get down to it.  The overwhelming idea that the Internet is free (totally and utterly free, without the * on it), and anything and everything that can be transmitted through the internet should also be free.  This ties in with the idea that artists and authors and directors are paid by these megacorporations that make millions (by other people besides me) and so they don't need the money from one measly download.  Because we're all broke, and we need our fix, and that fix is stronger than any legality or moral beliefs that would keep us from obtaining it.  It would be like speeding down the highway.  The desire to get to our location as quickly as possible is more overwhelming than the consequence of a speeding ticket, even if the ticket would equate to a whole week's worth of work.  The subsequent consequence for downloading a song or a video would be much more than that, even jail time, but most people don't even think of such things, so overwhelming is the desire to have music, film, games, and porn, all at our fingertips, and all free.  It's the thought process which is key here.

Once again I bring up two books which must be read to understand the idea behind changing the philosophies of Western Civilization.  If you can find, or download, these two books, they will be well worth the time to read them.  They are Clifford D. Simak's Ring Around the Sun and Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter's The Light of Other Days.  Both are amazing books which show how, through technology, the entire mindset of the world can be changed, much quicker than through a religion or through the machinations of corporations or governments to control the activities of the people under them.  It simply won't work.  However, changing the technology to adapt to the citizens' mindsets will work, just as the invention of the Internet changed the way the world thought and worked some years ago.  It's simply an adjustment, from one mindset to the next as the world speeds along forward, from book to radio, TV, Internet, Ipad, to Holodeck.  One day, we'll get there.

25 Random Things [Mirrored from Facebook]

I was reading a review about the movie Cloverfield where the twenty-something partiers in NYC were called the Facebook Generation. They all seemed so self-centered, so interested in building up egos (theirs or friends). What I mean, is that when the monster finally attacked, like on the bridge, I totally didn't care about the people flung into the river to their deaths. They reminded me of lemmings.

Point being, that the rash of 25 random things is really fascinating, especially from people I've not talked to in many years, just to find out more about them. Should I honestly think that anyone is going to care about reading my own? Course, that may just be a self-esteem issue, and another self-centered part of me doesn't care whether it's read or not, cause I'll post it anyway. So if you read this, thank you, I hope it helps you get to know me better, if not, you've probably stopped reading already, so :P~~~

1. The only book I read for pleasure between the 5th and 8th grade was The Forgetful Robot by Fairman, ISBN: 0030724155. I bought it many years later after the library withdrew it from the stacks. I know it's the same book cause I put my initials in it. :)

2. I've been writing on my Myspace blog for about 2 1/2 years, where I've written tons of stuff about everything. It's at this page. It's much better than writing in a journal, cause no one can read my handwriting anyway.

3. I am the oldest* male fan of Hanson, and I don't care who knows it. I wrote an article about it here. I went to their concert in Atlanta in 2000, and was deaf by the time I left.
*that I know of.

4. I hate geese. Due to some thinking I was food as a child.

5. The only way I have Star Wars recorded is on my BetaMax tapes, which I still have the player, and it still works. They say people can't do without their Tivo...well, before all this new-fangled technology, there was Beta, and it was good.

6. There were times, in the middle of a college class, that I had this sudden urge for Fiestadas, which they serve in Public Schools mainly. It's hard to get them outside of that.

7. I'm going to one day make a movie, it'll be called The 30 year old Virgin. It'll be a hit!! It'll...what....already been made?

8. One day, Kittens will be legal tender. Or doughnuts...it'll be easier to control inflation that way.

9. I have a fiddle table, something with little nick knacks, like the sparkly balls they have at Borders. Cause I have ADD out the wazoo. Makes it hard to watch a movie on TNT, cause by the time they get through with the commercials, I've forgotten what it was I was watching.

10. Speaking of which, my favorite TV shows are Jeopardy! (which I always get the final question right), Star Trek, or House. It's odd, cause I hate hospitals, but I feel right at home in Princeton. House reminds me a lot of myself, which can be good or bad. The banter is amazing, and House's anti-hero character is the best creation on TV since DS9's Garek.

11. My internet name, and the name I use on video games, is Audoin, a name from Tolkien's The Lost Road. Full name is Audoin Errol.

12. I'm very picky about what I eat. It 's a texture thing. Mushrooms, Pecans, Coconuts, Pineapple... I can't eat them. Disgusting stuff. And no matter what the map says in a box of chocolates, I will always pick the Coconut one first.

13. I also can't stand Microfiber clothing. But I love polyester.

14. There's a certain physical response for sitting in the back seat of the car, on the left side, behind the driver. I can't do it. I also have to sit on the back right at a restaurant. It sounds crazy, but I've met other people who have the same feelings.

15. I'm allergic to Cantaloupe, and to some extent, bananas and kiwi. Makes the back of my throat itch, and milk is the only way to get rid of it. But I love all those fruits.

16. Apple Juice makes me.....well.... nevermind.

17. I've got a spoiled cat, Puddy, that we domesticated from the neighborhood. She's old, and ornery, and is definitely the alpha female in the area (she tries to stare down my mom, but it doesn't work.) See pics of "the Cow" in my profile pics, or on Myspace.

18. I found my mom's 1967 income tax information in the garage. Two words: Pack Rats. Thoreau would turn over in his grave if he saw our basement.

19. I dream about Transformers at least two times a month. I either am one, or am shopping for them, or am talking to them. My parents took them away from me in the third grade. Something about not telling Fantasy from Reality... .. I've got an Autobot symbol on my Jacket, and no one can argue that Optimus Prime is sexy.

20. I won the Associated Writers Press Intro Award for my poem "The Great Sleepers," which was about my dad. It was in the Mid-American Review in 98, I think. You can put the title and my name in Yahoo and find it. I wrote quite a few poems in college, but after I graduated, and got on Prozac, I haven't written any more. Can't write poetry and be on Prozac at the same time. (The reason for Prozac is a long story, but the gist of it was that I was trying to become a teacher.)

21. I want a Chevy Cobalt... a short squatty car that can make U turns in the middle of the road. I currently am driving my mom's 95 Buick, which is a limo.

22. I have a few close friends that I love dearly, and although I rarely say it, except for Christmas cards and Birthday cards, I do think of them often. Friendship is so important, especially in these times when it's harder to socialize with people outside of the Internet. And since I have no social life outside of that (girls have cooties... :) ), it's enough. It has to be.

23. I live an epicurean existence. James Taylor sung, "The Secret of Life is enjoying the passage of time." I agree. I will enjoy my pizza, and while I love swimming and walking, I have no need for useless exercising. But I'd rather live happily than live a frugal, caustic existence on account of some mythic beautiful body or some mistaken belief that being miserable in this life will make me happier in the next.

24. I'm a very nostalgic person. I love old towns, abandoned buildings (the old psych. building at GC&SU in Milledgeville). There is Romance (capital R) in the remains of human civilization. What was, and could never be again. Towns where everyone knows everyone else, where entertainment consists of a ball and stick instead of electronic gadgets. Where people sit outside and talk in their rocking cliches, instead of watch useless TV shows in dark rooms. There are still some places in America where that is possible. Unfortunately, those places are drying up, dying far from the interstates and big cities. (See my Nostalgia blogs on Myspace)

25. I am who I am. I'm happy with that. I wish I had an apartment, and someone to love, but for now, this will do. I also cannot predict the future, so, if this is all there is, then so be it. I am content with that. Happiness is something that you cannot traverse the globe trying to find. The best way to be happy is to, as Voltaire said, tend our gardens. Tend, and Love, and Be.


Puddy resting near Azalea at Twilight