Twitter Twaddle & Virtual Freedom
The nu-media marketing guys must be loving it: Everybody talking about “the Twitter revolution” in Iran; the dark-age Ayatollahs having their reactionary powers zapped from them by the button-clicking masses; the hip Iranian “Millenials” proving that freedom is aflame through social networking interface platforms. Middle East 2.0.
Well, sorry to cry humbug at everybody’s online party, but isn’t this condescending guff? The western response has been: wow, we didn’t realize Iran was so vibrant, so modern, so like us. Keep it up, guys: We’ll tweet you all the way to secular democracy.
Unlike the poor protestors on the streets of Tehran, though, we don’t have to get our heads kicked in by security forces. We just tune into the revolution from the gym, or gorp at videos of the violence on our IPhones.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s wonderful that new technologies can help dissent against oppression. It’s great that Iranians can, to use the phrase, by-pass traditional media to show that their country is not the neocon caricature of a monstrous theocracy.
But there is something fraudulent in our online admiration for those battling on freedom’s behalf in Iran; our virtual participation, even, in their struggle through the global communion of the world wide web. It’s as if we are vicariously living out fantasies of courageous rebellion against the oppressor on our laptops and cellular devices. But we don’t get blood on our keypads.
You said, “humbug at everybody…” and “condescending guff”.
Hold your T-shirt up to the mirror, and read it carefully.
The trouble with the left, is that their media is successful at reducing the american public to caractures and stereotypes, such symbols are then easy to manipulate in the sound-bite MainStream Media.
Clinton figured that if we give the family jewels to China, and trade heavily with them, they couldn’t afford to bomb us, as we let our military and intelligence rust into a vestige.
Unintended consequence, they end up owning us, and still don’t like us very well.
Is Iran at the “Tiananmen Square” phase? Will they begin to trade with us, and ally with China, and do us harm whenever possible, somewhere out in the future?
You used the term “neocon caricature”. LOL. Do you know what a “neocon” is? That is a pejorative, variously, for people who voted for Bush, people who supported Bush’s military adventures, people who listen to Limbaugh, people who are trying to improve or “clean out” the GOP, people who consider themselves conservative, or mostly just everyone the far-left hates. Most of these various incarnations don’t even overlap very well.
You said, “tune into the revolution from the gym”, and “we don’t have to get our heads kicked in by security forces”. You don’t get out much. You seem not to have visited many black ghettos, indian reservations, latino migrant farm-worker camps, etc. Have you even been to rural Oklahoma?
You COULD have said, “Here’s what I think”, without also making fun of “here’s what I think YOU think”. Then you could have asked for comments, and we’d all be on the same side, notwithstanding differences of opinion.
Don’t buy too much into the caracatures created by the enemies of conservatism. And you might hear from some of us who have been experts in the technology of communcations for over 40 years, and our opinions on it’s effects on global politics over that timespan.
Barney,
The left’s media doesn’t need to reduce us “to caractures and stereotypes”. You’re doing a fine job of that yourself.
And maybe it’s just me, but I tend to mistrust anyone who describes themselves as “experts”.
Dear Barney, thanks for your note. To answer your questions:
1) I had no idea what neocon means. I just wanted to sound clever. Thank you for explaining the term to me.
2) I’ve never been to rural Oklahoma. I’d love to.
I’m not wearing a T-shirt. But when I go home, I’ll hold one up in front of the mirror and see what it says.
Dear Freddy, I think that Barnie has got you wrong. I recognise, share and cheer your guilt. The world would be a far better place if we all owned up to our sins.
Mr. Rebble: “as we let our military and intelligence rust into a vestige”
If only it were so, perhaps we wouldn’t be so adventurous looking for monsters to destroy. Our Military-Industrial complex (now at the fingertips of that well-tanned Bill Clinton) is spending like the Russkies are still seeking converts to Leninism.
Spending: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_federations_by_military_expenditures
I think the bigger issue about Twitter here is how important it has been just from the reporting perspective, not necessarily that it is the home of the revolution.
http://www.averagejoele.com/news/just-in-case-you-thought-old-media-wasnt-dead-yet/
I agree with Mr. Gray’s main point, but it needs to be put in context. All cross-cultural communication and identification is inherently pretentious. That’s because human beings are involved, and we have an seemingly incurable habit of thinking ourselves (and our cultures, which are extensions of ourselves, no matter how fashionable this is to deny) more important than we ought.
Human communication is about being condescending and smug in all sorts of ways, some hidden and some not. but it is still worth doing, and it can still be a thing of beauty, even if that beauty is an unmerited favor from above rather than an outgrowth of some inherent knack for compassion and understanding.
. Do any of us really know what it’s like to walk a mile in the average Iranian’s shoes? I cannot even truly identify with my cross-alley neighbors, but as a Christian, I am commanded to love them and pray for their well-being; two actions that are befuddling on various levels, but also delightful.
These twitter-ers, or whatever they’re called, are helping us westerners do that, and that’s a good thing, even if we cannot “understand” as much as we may think we do.
Yellow Dog – Whenever I was called to the stand, as an expert witness, the person who hired me would start by having me state my credentials.
But just as a driving license does not guarantee that person is a “good” driver, you and I are right to be suspicious of self-styled experts.
You and I could probably also agree that “derision” would find it hard to “learn”.
Freddy Gray – You said, “…humbug at everybody’s online party…”, which I took to mean that it is okay for you to tell us what you think you hear from us, and to give us your opinion on that.
My fault for the misunderstanding, caused by the rhetorical question followed by my listing why I thought your use of the term “neocon” amounted to the very essence of “caracature”. I intended to point out the joke of you saying that a “caracature” was creating other “caracatures”.
And as you pointed out to me, any insight that we share with others, will be met with a mixture of people, some of whom already “knew”, some of whom came to the same conclusions last month, last century, and, maybe some of whom need to hear us speak. And some of whom, may disagree with, or wish to add to, our insights.
all atwitter. I’ve often amused myself with variations on the line “the revolution will not be televised.” Seems it is being webcast, blogged and twittered. is that good or bad, both? we;’ll see, perhaps. In the meanwhile we will all provide examples of another usefull phrase:” the meaning of every communication is what the hearer thinks it was.” P.S. love the new website. love the civility compared to —-oh, just look around the web!
Oh, ‘rusted vestige of a military’….I agree with this. But then the military is as too blame as outsiders, with all their competing visions of what is needed to fight yesterdays wars in tomorrows battlefronts and other scenarios.
The real problem, which Freddy notes, is that there is a tendency on the part of the Western media (to include bloggers) to try to understand things in familiar terms. Not so long ago we saw pastel revolutions in Eastern Europe that were essentially media creations, with corrupt and authoritarian politicians successfully pretending to be reformers because they knew it would play well with the National Endowment for Democracy, which would continue to buy them computers, iPhones, and internet access. The fact is that we have no clue about what is going on in Iran. Haven’t had a clue since 1953, when we used circus strongmen to overthrow Mossadeq. One might argue that we also don’t have a clue about Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Venezuela. Someone should tell Obama.