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Doc on Passivism vs Activism

I found myself nodding over this post from Doc today. Yesterday I wandered into multiple different conversations comparing the Bush administration to a dictatorship, which may be a stretch at this point, though I'm 54 years old and never in my life have I felt the same sense I feel now – that we could ultimately be so totally screwed that our grandchildren will inherit ashes. But I'm with Doc: this happens only if we let it happen. Those of us who are involved with Internet technology have the tools to make a difference, and a responsibility to put those tools to work. [Link]

It's different now. Large institutions today — church, business, goverment, education, law enforcement, the courts (and crime as well) — are not just connected by the Net, but rely on its open, free and increasingly capable infrastructure. Activism can now be very direct and personal. The threshold of engagement, of organization, of raising and spending funds, is so low it has become negligible for all but the very poor.

Its enemy is passivism, which is maintained by manufactured entertainment, consumed on a massive scale by citizens of civilized countries around the world. The result is stupidity on a grand scale.

jon posted this at 9:12 AM
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