History is always in the making.
The Age Of Technology Is Creating Growing Pains for Humanity
Many events have stopped the world in it’s tracks through humanity’s history. Each major happening jarred nations and individuals alike. Yet there was one factor that we are just now seeing the true impact of: the internet.
More specifically the practically unfettered spread of information. This idea can be freeing for humanity, or it can be damning. It all depends on how the people adapt to understanding information is a fluid entity.
For example: Poverty is a massive problem in America and it’s not as easy as saying “Fix it Government!”. As a firm believer in moving towards the concept of Post-Survival and Post-Scarcity, it’s a ludicrously complicated problem and starts with the individuals in our community and how we treat poverty.
Many of us have been watching the world change over the years, but 2020 has ushered in more change directly to the face of the humanity than we’ve seen in quite some time. Life has always been chaotic for many, and even as racial inequality and oppression are tackled as problems for humanity, they’re hardly the end of our problems.
Any loss of life is tragic, yet any tragedy is amplified by the oppressive choices of our fellow man.
Communication Is Vital To Enacting Change
Perhaps the greatest tool in our arsenal is something many have called a “luxury”. Mobile Devices. I want to call them phones, but they are so much more than that. This service is what is allowing all of the videos of riots and protests to stream live for the world to see and understand for themselves.
Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, LG, and all the others may seem like luxury businesses but this technology is driving a massive change in information spreading. For example: I worked a couple miles from where the Minneapolis riots started. I saw smoke and helicopters in the distance coming in to work one morning.
Naturally, I want to know what’s going on downtown if I’m going to be that close. Thankfully for me I remembered a similar time in history where social media and mobile devices drove massive change: A civilian coup organized in Egypt in 2013 used largely twitter hash tags for nearly 350,000 people to communicate in real time.
So instead of looking towards local news feeds, I looked towards latest twitter hash tags like #MinneapolisRiots, #MinneapolisProtests, #Minneapolis and the like. Skimming these told me far more efficiently what was actually happening nearby, and gave me a better and clearer picture of many of the people involved.
You can record concerts, or systemic oppression. Phones are a tool and(sometimes) we are using them wisely.
The Spread of Misinformation Could Be Driving Negative Changes
That being said, I would like to take a moment to point out that this spread of information is not always positive. While skimming these hash tags I also came across a problem that severely bothered me. These channels were absolutely flooded with political commentary from people who had nothing to do with anyone or anything in Minneapolis.
While I understand the importance of allowing folks to get their opinions out, it hardly felt right to be looking at tweets of where medic stations are and how riots were starting to escalate and seeing no end of articles talking about politics when real change was forming around us.
Many of these articles even in title spoke to the ignorance of the writer in what was actually going on. It was as if many of them had seen a local news cast and felt they knew enough to comment. Take it from someone who worked with some of the peaceful protesters and also tried to keep as current as possible while not actually being in the thick of it: I don’t know much at all and I am aware of that.
Therein lies my main point: Despite the wide spread of information and society becoming aware of it’s fluid nature, we must realize there is far too much to the concept of perspective to claim to know what other people deal with.
That is why I try to be kind to the people in my community I don’t know. If 2020 has thrown us all for this much of a loop beyond our normal day to day problems, I can’t even begin to fathom what some other folks are dealing with on top of everything else.
I could sit and read twitter all day and still never know. I’m not that person. I know a small fraction of a single day in their lives. That’s what drives me to be kind to the people I don’t know, even though I live in a culture I find difficult to stomach on a good day.
As I see the world move forward I’m seeing some changes I’m all for, and I see some changes that I’m not for at all. This is hardly the end of our woes as a modern society moving towards the future. My hope is the internet and the tools to spread information become more readily available to all. I also hope the culture does far more than it is now to learn how to process and understand this information as it is spread.
Moving towards the future I hope many more take the approach of being the change they want to see in the world. I also hope they do their best to understand how good changes in their lives may not be good changes for others.
Being the change you want to see in the world does not mean telling everyone else you know better, and that seems to be the concept most people cling to when they hear that phrase. I don’t know how many times I’ve had opinions shoved in my face when they weren’t even asked for. It seems to be a cultural norm nowadays and it’s even more troubling that so few are aware of how harmful that can be.
Elections are the last place we want ignorance to run rampant.
Now More Than Ever We Need To Keep Arrogance In Check
With the elections also now upon us spreading information without understanding is creating a horrifyingly volatile tone in our every day lives. It’s not just people in power, either. Every day Americans are eagerly accepting heated political rhetoric. This rhetoric may be leading them believe their neighbors are bad people, when the truth is their neighbors are trying to stand up for what they believe is right as well.
This becomes especially difficult when you realize there are people out there who not only are willing to harm others, but want to actively seek out destruction of others’ lives. Radical thinking is everywhere to the point I am concerned Sociopathy may have already have become part of our culture. Even science is finding neurological links to the polarity between both parties and I believe this polarity is stemming from our culture embracing the foolish concept that they know better for those they don’t even know.
While many would love for me to sit and bash Trump, even before he was elected I had said he was a perfect example of typical American mentality. He truly believes he knows better for society and that is what so many on all sides of the political aisle are struggling with. Yet a President that doesn’t believe he knows better for others doesn’t exist.
Anyone who truly believes in respecting that they don’t know better for anyone but themselves would never take on the role of deciding so many things that impact so many people’s lives. Especially when those beliefs are enacted through the use of force.
Being Humble Can Enact Positive Change
This TED talk changed how I approach understanding other people a few years ago. Ernesto points out how quickly he was humbled by attempting to help a community in Zambiya. He claimed to know better, and everything seemed to be going well until nature reminded him he wasn’t as smart as he thought. When he realized helping people went far better by shutting up and listening to their own passions, he took to better understanding what change really looks like.
While big organizations definitely have their place, they are not the only way we move society forward. In fact, I personally feel that the individuals and small communities are what is driving humanity as a whole forward especially in the age of technology. We must simply ask where our time, energy, and resources are being spent. Unfortunately for us, far too many are not asking any questions at all and still pretending they know better.
As the election approaches I am quite confident these lessons will go in one ear and out the other for many. At the same time, remembering the concept that small communities are what is driving us forward gives me hope I can find my own community to grow and help change the world for the better.
Without telling others how to live their lives.
