Wikileaks and all that guff
Sci-fi cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling holds forth on Wikileaks, Julian Assange, and Private Bradley Manning. While I agree with him that Assange is essentially a technofied sociopath with a desperate need for attention, I disagree that Manning is somehow a victim or scapegoat in this whole sorry business. A traitor is a traitor; a criminal is a criminal. Moral relativism is so yesterday.
The comments section is, of course, filled to overflowing with delusional hippies, armchair anarchists, self-described (and -important) 'hackers', and other examples of the societal flotsam one typically finds clinging like electronic remora to such screeds. They go on ad nauseum about high-minded concepts like "one-world" and "people's justice," as well as taking the opportunity to once again throw rocks at The Man. It's the same tired old garbage we've been hearing for near-on fifty years now, and I grow weary of it.
The young and bright of advanced societies always believe that they will be the generation to overthrow the perceived (and mostly imaginary) injuries of statism and finally make communal anarchy work -- and they are always wrong. While it still angers me, I've come to realize that such behavior is simply the price sheltered intellectuals must pay for their lack of worldliness.
The specific folly of the current generation of youth is excessive faith in technology. They just substitute "internet" for "Marx" and recycle their grandfathers' drivelings. In their fevered imaginings, the modern ascendancy of worldwide electronic communications (which was invented by DARPA for the purpose of furthering their research efforts) is somehow going to translate into No More War and Happily Ever After. They have missed entirely the fact that machines don't shape society, people do. Machines are only reflections of us.
I have come to realize that the essential difference between liberal and conservative thinkers is not a lack of vision; both groups can see the Shining City On The Hill off in the distance, its spires gleaming in the sunlight. The difference is that while liberals are running headlong across the fields, their eyes uplifted towards the Promised Land, the conservatives are scrutinizing the ground in front of them, pondering those little clumps of dirt that look suspiciously like a minefield.
The comments section is, of course, filled to overflowing with delusional hippies, armchair anarchists, self-described (and -important) 'hackers', and other examples of the societal flotsam one typically finds clinging like electronic remora to such screeds. They go on ad nauseum about high-minded concepts like "one-world" and "people's justice," as well as taking the opportunity to once again throw rocks at The Man. It's the same tired old garbage we've been hearing for near-on fifty years now, and I grow weary of it.
The young and bright of advanced societies always believe that they will be the generation to overthrow the perceived (and mostly imaginary) injuries of statism and finally make communal anarchy work -- and they are always wrong. While it still angers me, I've come to realize that such behavior is simply the price sheltered intellectuals must pay for their lack of worldliness.
The specific folly of the current generation of youth is excessive faith in technology. They just substitute "internet" for "Marx" and recycle their grandfathers' drivelings. In their fevered imaginings, the modern ascendancy of worldwide electronic communications (which was invented by DARPA for the purpose of furthering their research efforts) is somehow going to translate into No More War and Happily Ever After. They have missed entirely the fact that machines don't shape society, people do. Machines are only reflections of us.
I have come to realize that the essential difference between liberal and conservative thinkers is not a lack of vision; both groups can see the Shining City On The Hill off in the distance, its spires gleaming in the sunlight. The difference is that while liberals are running headlong across the fields, their eyes uplifted towards the Promised Land, the conservatives are scrutinizing the ground in front of them, pondering those little clumps of dirt that look suspiciously like a minefield.
posted by Jar(egg)head at 08:36
5 Comments:
I might disagree with one aspect: Conservatives aren't exactly looking at the minefield in front of them. By and large, they are stepping on mines of their own, mostly due the blinders of religion obscuring their vision.
Utopia is impossible. Human beings are animals afterall,and in general will act as such at every opportunity. There just aren't enough truly enlightened people, and there probably never will be.
The biggest misconception many of the "enlightened" think, is that technology will protect them from tyranny. They falsely believe that people are just too informed to fall for a leader or put in place a Government that will have brown shirts marching down the streets and people disappearing in the night. They seem to forget that the Nazi party was born in the 20's and rose to power under Hitler in the 30's. It amazes me how some people have the notion that The Nazi's were elected and started attacking countries. When you play class warfare and have people who vote (with their voice, or their fist) that have no skin in the game, you end up with Hugo Chavez, Mussolini, Hitler, Castro, Lenin, Pol Pot, Etc etc....
I noticed you used "enlightened" in quotes. I am referring to truly enlightened people, not the ones currently in office or academia who call themselves "enlightened."
It has been my experience that 99.9% of the time someone calls themselves enlightened, they are a pretentious douchebag who thinks they are smarter than everyone else. I freely admit that, although I do know more than the average mouth breather, I don't know everything about everything. Hell, for the most part I am willing to admit that on most of the topics I pontificate about on this blog, I know just enough to be dangerous, but am willing to listen to other arguments and admit when I'm wrong ( which according to my wife, is alot). The "enlightened" do not.
On the subject of truly enlightened, I subscribe to the "Idiocracy" theory. If you haven't seen it rent it and check it out. Essentially the movie uses the premise that smart people don't breed or only have one kid, while stupid people breed like bunnies and reverse evolution happens in the future. Trust me, this is happening as we speak. Ran into a guy who is 23 works 2 part time jobs, and just had a baby his dream is to be a mixed martial arts fighter. Welcome to the gene pool.
Well, I know everything. It's the recalling of that information I have trouble with.
But you are right. Humanity is breeding itself out of existence. It's going to take a while, but eventually we'll be usefull as little more than a food source. Or a power source. Maybe the Matrix writers are making an accurate prediction, and we can take solace in the fact that Keanu Reeves will be long gone by then.
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