on hiatus but back soon

Just a quick note to say sorry for slacking on the posts, I've been trying to wean down my computer time. What can I say, I'm not perfect yet, that is perfectly free of technology, but I have a vision and am striving to minimize. I do intend to write more posts but real life has demanded my attention. I'll be back with a mind blowing post on why medicine does more harm than good next week.

A new political party is inevitable

I received a comment a while back about starting up a new political party. The thought of even a mini revolution made be salivate. However, I don't think that I nor anyone else is going to need to make a conscious effort at constructing a new party. Right now there is a course of events occuring that will take care of that job. Here's the situation.

First, It seems to me that the pocket books of the regular joes are getting light. Economists are babbling their dribble about whether or not the economy is in a recession when to me it is quite obvious that the economics of the household are already in a recession. I'm guessing this started about a year ago. Times are tight. With any forsight, someone would have been able to see this was going to happen definitively 10 years ago.

So what happened? Globalization. Not the kind of internationalism with interest of people at heart, but instead it was globalization in a technical sense that allows world markets to play out for the profit of stockholders. Companies were able to move their businesses out of dodge and exploit workers in other countries rather than keeping business in the US where labor laws, unions, and a comparatively closed system hindered profits.

Corporations have continually spewed porpaganda claiming that people of the world would be brought "up" to the economic status of people in the US. However, with the exception of a perhaps a few people in China, many of the pawns of the globalization process, such as those in Africa and South America have been stomped down further and people in the US have also had a diminishing quality of life. Globalization deregulated industry giving incentive to multinational corporations to stuff their stockholders, fattening them up like thanksgiving turkeys.

Sorry, enough with the rant....Anyway, I think the standard living has gone down and Americans are trying to reverse this trend. The most important way people think they can do this is by using their albeit soft voice and vote. People have high hopes that this election will be able to change the downward economic trend the middle class is spiraling down. However, I think we are going to be sorely dissappointed.

Our politicians are paralyzed. Incapable of making big change. The current political parties are so entrenched in capturing the center, moderate vote they are going to be unable to launch any real change, certainly not the tough changes required to reduce the globalization, and the subsequent polarization of wealth into corporate hands. An old fashioned democrat might have been able to accomplish this change but not the sort of squishy, iffy, talking head types we have now.

4 years from now when the once cushy middle class lifestyles our parents knew are further pillaged, people are going to be pissed. I also think they will be enlightened, a little desperate and certainly ripe for political change. This progression will pave the way for a new political party. My guess is that it will be a party coming from the far left with liberal, socializing views and ideas. It will be a revolution sort of like the one FDR played a hand in by instituting social welfare programs. The New Deal renergized the population after the Great depression. I think after 4 or maybe 8 years of a continually regressing standard of living, most people will be ready and able to make real change.

2 notes

I realize this has more to do with politics, than with technology, however as an end note, Technology is a major, cause, facilitator and perpetuator of globalization.

Lastly, If globalization was perfectable in its purist sense, where as wealth and markets are distributed globally as a way to better the lives of People (not loaded Corporate stockholders), I would be all for it. I suppose I am just a little unsure how that would practically work?

Are we Guilty of physical abuse?

I justed started my last semester as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I have a rather fluffy course load...Cross Country Skiing and the Birth of Modern Philosophy. Prior to attending, I suppose that I did not even consider the possibility that the skiing class would provide me with any intellectual stimulation. On the other hand, the philosophy class seemed more promising. It is taught by Prof Cole. A man whom I had yet to take a class with but has the appearance of being a quintessential intellect. He is probably in his 50's, fairly fit with a square jaw, and a sharp nose which he always seems to be slightly looking down. More over, he has fashioned himself in a way to resemble a typical ancient greek philosopher. His long silver hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail and he has a long, meticulously groomed beard fashioned around his jaw and chin...Very authorative.

In sharp contrast to Prof Cole, Tom Beery, UMDs outdoor sports instructor seems the opposite. He is tidy but has a loose demeanor. Very approachable and enthusiastic. I suppose he doesn't appear to be a typical sports muscle head, but he certainly seems less serious, grounded and academically inclined that Prof Cole.

I think my first impressions of the teachers were deeply wrong. I sat through Cole's class, mind drifting off as I listened to his monotone ramblings spoken more through his nose than down it. His lecture was less than inspiring. He read his lecture notes like a bad actor making his best attempt at a well rehearsed script. Based on the first class, I must say I don't have much hope of having any meaningful philosophical revelations, much less the epiphany I am right now badly seeking. However, I hold out much more hope for my ski class....

Tom started his class off by expaining the motivation for teaching his outdoor classes. He believes that the reason that we abuse our environment so much these days (via frivilous, excessive consumption and waste) is because we fail to physically contect ourselves with nature. As a result of this detachment, we lose sight of nature's value, at least the value of having things like drinkable water, eatable fish, breathable air.

Well, this idea really got my wheels turning. I have considered often how technology has social consequences and in turn how sickly or non-existent social relationships cause us to feel insecure, and leery of our neighbors intent. And also I've though about the effects that follow this progression, hording of resources (so our neighbors won't get them first and potentially use them against us or instead of us) consumption, greed, selfishness. Oddly though I have never noticed this even more direct potential result of technology. If I am sitting inside my little box (my house) fiddling on the computer, or watching TV, I am not amongst the rest of the world enjoying the crispy crunch of dead leaves underfoot, or craning my neck to catch sight of the woodpecker beating on the birch tree. In fact when I'm staring at the boob tube, I don't even think of nature, much less value it. Instead I come to value whatever is on the screen. Maybe its the flashy lexus in a commercial, or the concise disciplinary skills of the Super Nanny. (Have you seen those brats!) The result of this disconnect is that during the rare occassions when I do step out into nature, everything is exciting, mysterious and foreign. I don't have a clear understanding of nature, or how it works. I also fail to sufficiently value its spoils because of my bit of uneasiness at being in such a strange environment. In a sense, nature becomes a foreign enemy or at least an outsider which fails to garner the full degree of respect it deserves...Hmmm
This outdoor phys ed class will be a good experience and I promise to be a little less judgemental about people, like Tom Beery, who are teaching from a different, not lesser, perspective.
Lake Superior's North Shore

Technology a "guy thing", Aristotle's influence

\I was specifically trying to avoid this aspect of technology, or was hoping to at least ease into it to a point where most men wouldn't notice what was happening because I didn't want any particularly insecure males to be put off by this blog. However, my Aunt emailed me regarding my last post at noted that obsession with technology is a "guy thing." I couldn't agree more. Not only is technology a male project but all natural science as a whole. It started back in the days of Aristotle and his project to boil down nature to bits and pieces of matter and substance quantitatively. Reduce, analyze, repeat...Reduce analyze repeat. His methods were systematic and hypnotic to a point where he mezmerized many followers, affluent Greek men, to further his experiment. It caught on like wild fire and it is the same sort of scientific system that drives science and technology today. However, in his drive to analyze the world into numbers of stuff and elements, Aristotle, and his followers right up to the present day have lost sight of the big picture, or the natural world and humanity that all the stuff adds up to.

Science and technology takes the context out of the world and neglects to recognize the quality of nature as a whole. Often when you look at something to closely and only see a smallpart of the whole, the thing itself is unrecognizable, has no meaning and makes no sense. Take for example Beautiful works of art. Particulary good examples are in the pointillist art tradition which are the same concept todays printing presses run on.
The first picture, really a snippet from the second, is the sort of perspective that natural science (and Aristotle, the father of science) capture. To me, well the first picture is interesting but it means nothing nor makes any reference. By such a reduction, the picture of the geisha loses its qualitative meaning. From the first picture, sure one can deduce how many dots there are and what color they may be, but from day to day we don't live in a world of numbers and dots. I suggest that rather than living in a world where everything is reduced and misunderstood, one should instead consider the big picture. Humanity, earth, nature, just can't usefully be reduced.

I promised this article to be about how science and technology was a guy thing and didn't mean to go off on a long drawn out rant about Aristotle, but he seemed to be the first guy who really started the current progression. Since Aristotle, who believed womens only value was as slaves, science was construed predominantly by men to reduce, analyze, control and manipulate the environment. In contrast, woman historically were subjugated into supporting roles as nurturers, focused on relationships; and tended to consider not just parts, but how parts interact with each other, especially socially. Although we may no longer be pressured by power and wealth into reductivist roles such as the male Aristotelian followers, nor enslaved into nurturing, stewardship type roles such as during ancient greek times, we currently seem to still adopt these same gender roles -by choice?

Global Warming Fix, how new energy technology is not the answer

Its mid January in Northern Minnesota. The past few days have been steamy by any seasoned minnesotan's standards. The streets have been full of sloppy brown slush and the snowbanks are withering down to a level where one can actually see over them to look for oncoming traffic when trying to make a turn. This January has been a far cry from what I remember from winters past. My tale is not unique...ask the polar bears.

They say the rapid Climate changes are caused by elevated amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere, largely attributed to the burning of fossil fuels for energy. All of a sudden techno-scientists have furiously worked to develop different ways to fuel our demand for energy. Wind power, solar power, geothermal tapping are being purported as the best solution to minimize global warming. In fact overly positive terms have been paired with these types of energy like "sustainable", green and renewable. From the way alternative energy technologies are promoted, one can practically hear the choir singing, a solution has been found. however, these technologies may buy us some time, are not viable long term options.

First, as science is historically and currently imperfect. There are a lot of negative consequences of new technology that are unforeseen. In fact I may even go so far as to say that every new technology has some unpredicted effect that does not serve humankind in any positive manner. In past blog postings, I've have illustrated some of the ill effects of the television as far as it is an emotion numbing, reality distorting cube. In addition, there are a hundred other effects TV has like promoting obesity from long hours of arse sitting, hyper activity in children from flashy images, and the fact that it sucks up a humans free time to the point that ambition and interaction with others becomes impractical. So TV seems to be a no brainer...it has some extreme ill effects which bring to question its value to society, good or bad. Consider another example, one that at first glance may seem benign and innocuous: The Telephone. Benefits the invention of the telephone are evident. It allows a person to quickly contact someone far away, beneficial for telephone to telephone communication. It allows a person to summon help with a touch of some buttons when they might otherwise be isolated. Well...everyone knows how to use the phone and why they use is. Although do you think that Alexander Graham Bell anticipated the extent to which we use phones today and the degree to which they replace friendly visits from family and neighbors.

I was recently at my friends house. She picked up the phone and called her daughter, chatted, for a few minutes, and hung up. When I asked her what her daughter was up to she replied, her daughter was upstairs only 20 feet away. So near, yet so far away. I didn't see the teenage daughter for the entirety of the visit, neither did her mother. First if a conversation or relationship is even worth pursuing, shouldn't a little effort, like walking to see them, be appreciated? When someone goes even a little out of their way to communicate with me, I appreciate it. Phones are too easy, they breed laziness (adding to our obesity) and laziness in our relationships. Also, phones breed a false sense of security about our children and what their up too. There is so much to be said for a real live smile, or a tilt of the head, a furrowed brow. Truly interacting with people really stimulates our senses, our reasoning, and in turn our happiness as humans being that we get to enlist our full faculties. Electrical pulses traveling through a wire cannot recreate the full and valuable communication experience. Not to mention, what parent would notice red eyes, or alcohol laden breath of inevitably sneaky and experimental teenagers? Maybe if we invented a smellaphone...

Anyway, I think the case of techno converstation from parent to youth provides a good example of unintended negative consequences of technology...I could give further examples of any technology you could name. So how does this relate to global warming and alternative energy sources?

In is inevitable there will be negative consequences resulting from wind, solar and geothermal energy, some of which are beyond the capabilities of our imagination. Some consequences are forseeable. Imagine massive fields of windmills operating globally to satiate our unchecked consumption for energy. Would the absorption and alteration of wind currents (or hydrocurrents) alter weather patterns and hamper air flow? It is allready known that windmills affect pose a dire hazard to migrating birds, birds that are intergral to our ecosystem. Excessive use of solar power may also affect our climate and geothermal energy may affect soil and plant growth. Who knows what consequences are in the future. Humans really don't have an understanding of what we are headed for, nor for the consequences and the reach of our actions. However in contrast, we do know our history and where we have been. In retrospect we can see actions, behaviors and technologies that had better results. Maybe we should consider taking a step back to the good old days (at least to some degree). They say hindsight is 20/20.

I realize some will argue that human progress is natural, we can't stop it. But progress can be social and emotional, it isn't necessary that we calculate progress only monetarily and technologically...In fact social and emotional progress is the only way to keep our excessiveness, and consumption within sustainable bound....more on this later.

Another Score for Anti-technology

I have just suffered yet another puncturing rejection. Yesterday I returned to my warm, sweet, home after a few days out of town with the kiddies. Upon my return I was a little tired and wired as traveling and stepping outside of the comforting routine the kids are used to can be trying. I was greeted by my honey when I got home and the kids were so happy to see daddy they ran for hugs and were energized to romp and play rough, daddy style. I, however, was frazzled and ready for bed. So sleep I did. Today, feeling better, I took on the chores, the kids, the cooking and finally when it was all finished, was looking forward to some kid-free adult interaction with Ron, hoping to catch up a little. After the kids went to bed, Ron was engrossed in an online game of scrabble with his "friends" that are really only virtually friends. Hmmm...I thought playing a game might be relaxing and perhaps give us both a giggle so I asked Ron if he wanted to play with me. After a long pause before he even acknowledged my request (It must have been a really BIG scrabble word he was in the midst of contriving) He replied that he was really too tired to play a game with me, he thought he would just go to bed. So, slightly wounded, I waited-for hime to go to bed that is. 10 minutes later or so he was playing yet another scrabble game. Finally when I asked him for the computer, he gave it up to me and proclaimed he was off to read for a while. Admittedly, I was a little incredulous at the whole situation. The brush off, the failure to show any interest in the real live person in front of him. To me it was such a blaring example of preference for machine over human it took me aback. Are virtual friendships really so much more pleasurable than real ones? Granted, online friendships are easier. One can press a button and access millions of computers (not people) around the world. In addition, the interactions occur at users leisure, one can simply turn the computer off or on at their whim. Computers create ease as well because they allow users to put only their best face forward, which reduces the anxiety of committing certain social faux pas. It also enables us to prevent people from catching on to our worst traits we are most insecure about. However despite its apparent ease, I can't help but think virtual relationships are less satisfying than real ones. I have five senses and a giant rational human brain...So I guess it takes a little more to really turn my crank than a bunch of zeros and ones.

Television Tango

Right now I'm sitting in my dad's livingroom with a giant, foreboding HD Flatscreen TV blaring in my ear. The noise drowns out and mutes the voices of my little daughter and son. I can't hear them bickering nor can I distinguished their laughter. Any attempt at interaction with someone in this room is futile. When I try to get my dad's attention his eyes flick momentarily from the hypnotic swinging pendulum of flashy images making eye contact, only to return quickly to the screen, while I am still in midsentence. Trumped by television. Numbed by the droning. The content running across the screen, It could be an ad for a george foreman grill or COPS. Whatever is on the screen seems to neutralize emotion and motivation. I suppose that is somewhat understandable. When the TV gets shut of its kind of depressing to think that you really don't know very much about the people sitting next to you. That warm cozy sense of security that one gains from intense, pervasive relationships is missing when the screen goes off, replace by a slight uneasiness-A fear of a long awkward pause.

No money, no worries tit for tat

Last week we ran out of money. We still have a lot of stuff like food, fuel oil, entertainment and what not, however, our funds have run dry. One might think this would cause me to be alarmed or discontent. However, I find the result has been the polar opposite. Over the past few days I have found myself extremely relaxed. Things have really been quite pleasant. Our pace of life has slowed down. I have not been making shopping lists, running around buying unnecessities, scanning the newspaper ads for any must haves or arguing about which restaurant we'll be going to for dinner. Instead I have a lot of free time. For the first time in at least a year I even started to get a little bored. However, I was easily able to redirect that extra time to things that seem to be full of substance. I have been able to really engage with my family. I have been cooking meals at home and teaching my son to help, catching up with friends over the phone, playing with the kids, getting my life organized and most of all, I have had some time to gather my thoughts and find a little direction in my life. Writing seems to be an eloquent and rewarding way to express myself, hence this blog and my new ambition to enhance my writing skills and perhaps produce a publishable political or ethical work......If I had a fistfull of cash I think I'd be buying new wallpaper, rustling through the racks at Amercan eagle to find jeans, and snapping at the kids when they got in the way....Money and our obsession with the stuff it buys is truly overrated. Satisfaction is more likely to be found in its absence.