11.09.06
Posted in Front Page News at 2:16 pm by Doodpod
I’ve had more than one person say to me in the last couple days that they don’t vote, and because of that they get to bitch about the poor decisions of whatever lawmakers are in office. I can’t stress enough how much of a total crock of shit this is.
It doesn’t matter what party you belong to, the fact of the matter is that by voting for the candidate of your choice (however lousy the entire lot of them may be) you play a part in the political direction of your government. When the candidate you didn’t vote for does something ludicrous in office, you can say “Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos”. Conversely, when your choice of elected official commits a political faux pas, you get to say things like “I never imagined he’d do that!”, and so on. But when you are not actively engaged in the decision making process, you cannot be actively engaged in the critical aspect of our political system. When you waive your right to vote, you wave your right to cry foul. Those people who participate after the fact are the worst kind of carpetbagger around these days: they voice their opinions in discussions they don’t have any representation in.
So I say fuck you. If you want to bitch about our politicians, either vote or move to Canada. At least in Canada we who voted won’t be able to hear you whine.
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03.29.06
Posted in Front Page News at 3:39 pm by Doodpod
This is getting fucking ridiculous.
DVDs, MP3s, DLDs and flat TVs; cameraphones, mailing lists, “hot” ringtones — you get the gist. Everywhere you look these days, digitalia is invading our lives. As you drive in your car, the on-board computer keeps you apprised of the interior and exterior air temperatures, triangulates your position on the globe from as many as 15 satellites in geosynchronus orbit, and transfers the engine’s power from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip. We have hundreds of channels of television (one quarter of which are just redundant news networks all reporting the same stories), and not enough quality programming to fill half of them. Cell phones keep us in constant contact with the rest of the world, whether it is with people, current events, or even website updates. I can be notified via a text message when you comment on this story.
I took all the gadgets I own and put them in a box, just to see what I’d have. Here’s the list:
- 2 iPods
- 2 cell phones
- a digital camera
- a digital voice recorder
- a Sony Walkman FM radio circa 1982
- a digital tire pressure guage
- a laser pointer
If I were to try to carry all this crap with me, I’d have my cargo shorts filled to capacity. Most of it is stuff I don’t even need at all. I got by without a cell phone for a long time, but plowing my car into a snowy rural ditch at 6:30 am, and the potential for such an event to happen again, necessitated the phone.
All this extraneous digital “convenience” has helped us to clutter our lives with distractions. We feel like we’re actually accomplishing more, being more productive, and though in some cases we actually are, more often than not these devices and services only serve to divert our focus from what really matters. It’s like we’re being encouraged to ignore the world immediately around us in the name of connectivity and information, while disregarding the concept that makes all the rest of these things possible in the first place: discovery. We’ve forgotten how to take the time to find things out and discover things on our own. Interpretation has become a lost art; we are simply spoon-fed meaningless drivel, and never asked to derive anything more than momentary enjoyment from it.
I’ve been reading a book lately called “In Praise of Slowness,” and it’s been a source of positive reinforcement for a lot of the concepts. Essentially, it’s saying that we need to stop, take a deep breath, and reevaluate what it is that we, as individuals, need. Do you need to see the latest episode of “My Name is Earl?” No. Should you run out and grab that new Teddy Geiger album? Not unless you’re a 16 year-old girl. Will the world come to a screeching halt if you don’t meet your friends for drinks on any given night this week? Of course not.
It’s a sort of “return to organic living” concept. Live here, in the now. Digital devices and media should play an ancillary role in people’s lives, not a central one. Roses are red, but when was the last time you smelled one? Beck rocks out, but have you ever experienced the energy of one of his shows? An experiential existence is far more rewarding than a passive one.
I would encourage you, having read this, to go out and experience the world around you, even if you don’t leave your own home. Be creative. Be active. Ride a bike, write a letter, bake cookies, learn to paint, join a club, read library books, change your own oil, take photographs, fix something broken, go hang gliding, visit a museum, skip stones, do anything. Engage the world around you, don’t just let it passively dictate your life to you. When you engage, and really live, you actually become part of the world, rather than just existing in it.
It’s like Conor says: “It’s the ones with the sorest throats who have done the most singing . . .”
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