Small Groups, Loud Actions

photo by Gigi Ibrahim / flickr

A suicide bomber attacks a vehicle traveling on the airport road in Kabul yesterday.  14 people are killed, people throughout the city are once again confronted with a  major act of violence and destruction.  Throughout the world millions read the headlines and chalk it up to another blow in the already (presumed) failed story of the new Afghanistan nations around the world have worked to help stabilize.  Despite the fact that millions of Afghans went about their day, working, socializing, living life, it is the suicide bomber and the 14 victims that become the latest symbol for the nation.

Groups of angry protestors around the Middle East and North Africa (and beyond at this point) take to the streets and attack their local US embassies as an angry reaction to a poorly produced video clip that presumably insults their most important prophet and religion. In one case a group of militants in Libya take advantage of the chaos and attack; the now infamous story that ends with the murder of several people including the American ambassador.  Throughout the world, especially in social media circles, people express their anger at the violence and the stupidity of the protestors for a long list of reasons. Further conclusions are drawn about what has happened in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, in places like Egypt and Tunisia where many now presume angry fundamentalists have new found power and will continue to carry out these types of acts and worse.

Again, millions upon millions of Libyans, Egyptians, Yemeni’s, Tunisians, etc did not take to the streets and attack innocent people and set fire to American buildings. But those people don’t make headlines, the bold criminals who take advantage of a situation and are led by blind rage, they’re the ones we base our judgements on.  Like so many moments in the history of the world, even in the era of so much information and the possibility to hear from so many voices, small groups of people willing to take action (in this case for destructive, criminal means) are the ones who shape perceptions of reality.

This is not to say such groups aren’t dangerous. Or that recent events involving mass protests and violence aren’t significant. But it is to point out how, as always, be it 82 million Egyptians or 6.5 million Libyans, regular people in far away countries get painted with the broad brush, and we’re convinced the image we’re given must be the whole picture.

News Cycles Turned Social Media Trends

Photo by NS Newsflash / Flickr

When social media rose up from what were thought to be the ashes of traditional media, there were high hopes for the new world that was to come. And as world events continue to unfold and these seemingly open forums continue to grow in importance, alot of old habits and trends continue to appear. What once was known as the 24 news cycle has not disappeared, but rather, it has spawned the world of trending topics and viral media.

What has this new media ecology meant for independent voices bringing original content about topics that have a significant influence on human well being around the world? Today on the podcast I lay down the framework for how the news cycle of the 80’s and 90’s, translates to the trending topics of 2012.

I’ll be speaking on this topic at Campus Party Berlin on August 25th.

Satire and News in Georgia

Every nation needs someone to question, ciriticize, and even make fun of its own society. Even if people don’t always like it, making satire of the news is an essential way to unclog the social and political arteries, to prevent a detrimental heart failure.  In the Republic of Georgia, there is no shortage of humor and rediculousness to be found, but chiti.ge doesn’t just go for the low hanging fruit… they see the value of pushing the so-called limits of what can and cannot be made fun of.  My guest is Saba Lekveishvili, one of the people behind Georgia’s finest fake news program.

Check them out at Chiti.ge

Complex Answers

Berlin, 2010“You want it to be one way…” as the character Marlo Stanfield once put it. When we look out at the world or when we look to our various sources of information about what is happening to ourselves and to others, we seek explanations.  Explanations into how and why, into who wronged who, and to what is a solution if there is a solution. Some like the long detailed explanations, while more seem to want summaries, short versions, and just the latest info.  Often times, the more complex an issue is, the harder it is for us to grasp, and the lower the desire to take the time and energy to understand it.

From there come the simple labels, the us versus them, the quest to find who to blame, and the practice visualizing what side we want to be on. Liberals and conservatives; pro-life and anti-abortion; pro-war and anti-war; socialist and capitalist; hippy and yuppy; the list is far longer and spans the globe.  Rare is the individual who can resist finding themselves in such a group, even more rare is one who can avoid being placed in such a group by others.

Why does this happen? The quest to simplify it all perhaps. The need to take a complicated issue and break it into basic parts in order to decide what we believe is to be done about it.  This simplification is sometimes done after extensive or ongoing research, and sometimes it is done based on un-empirical influences.  Whatever side you take, whatever facts you choose to use, in the end you can look at a conflict and say “this is where I am on this.”  From there you can either sleep soundly, or spend your waking hours fighting like hell to communicate and bring to fruition the resolution you wish to see.

I thought of this phenomenon alot while I was in Afghanistan. But I think of it anytime I visit the US or even right here in the Netherlands as I watch socio-political debates on TV.  Some Afghans will tell you they don’t want any foreign military in their country, but if you keep talking to them they will tell you they do want foreign military assistance.  Some Americans who have read through the proposed new healthcare plan will tell you they don’t want this plan but they do want a universal healthcare plan.  An experienced Dutch journalist working in Afghanistan can tell you she is in favor of the Dutch sending people to help with keeping and improving peace in Afghanistan but she will also tell you she’s not in favor of just any kind of Dutch involvement.

Yet it is more common, or perhaps just more visible in today’s massive public sphere, for people to tell you it is one way or the other in any of the situations listed above.  Take most any conflict in any country these days, you’ll find a loud group of people saying it is one way, and a loud group of people saying it is the other.  Anyone who points out the complexity and tries to explain it is somehow considered not as legitimate, perhaps because they’re often not waving a banner in front of governments or standing in front of a camera on prime time television.

One of the great dangers of our time, as I have seen in my short life and extensive travels, is this push to simplify everything so that it all fits in a box or a category and we don’t have to learn and appreciate the complexity of what is happening around us.

3 Videos Since Milan is Coming Up

Since I know yee good people have things to catch up on and I can’t keep writing mountains, today I’ll simply recommend three videos and be gone. Friday is the journey to Milan for vlogeurope, so video is the name of the game for the immediate future.

First: A New vlogger on the scene. You may recall I had a group of students I was tending to from Minnesota… well wouldn’t you know it.. one particular Rachel has started a vlog that has this great energy.. a certain je don’t know quoi.

Second: I’ve recently been writing for Richard’s news vlog, the Eclectic Newsbrief… news you won’t find in the mainstream and presented in a unique way. (see if you spot the societal critique)

And Lastly: A wonderful artist, my friend Hollye Davidson has a great understanding of how people relate to art. She even helps me to see my own art, which I often forget. Watch her latest vlog on dogs and art… i learned alot.