Wise Up

"You're sure there's a cure
And you have finally found it
You think, one drink will sink you till you're underground
But it's not going to stop, it's not going to stop, it's not going to stop
Till you wise up" (Aimee Mann, "Wise Up")

Facebook (FB) is banned in Iran. More than an issue of censorship, how damning is this serpentine mandatory move in the curtailment of civil and political rights?

Using the forces of production rationale – who are into FB (not fuck buddy, dummy)? Are they using it as a political tool/vehicle? How engaged are they in the transformative power of technology? Do they even believe in its transformative potential?

Once these questions are dealt with squarely, our realization might be that this is a fight we can forego or shelve for another day or if you have ample energy, go ahead but don’t stake your neck for it. This is the Iranian government, take note.

This is a lesson I paid dearly for – choosing my battles and choosing them well. In my youth, I was a bit uncompromising – every indignation had to be indemnified, big or small. It was not about winning but making a point, registering your voice, standing up because you could not live with yourself if you didn’t.

Come to think of it, did I ever score a win in my political battles? I suffered losses more than my frail ego could take. That’s the whole beauty of the struggle – steadfastly believing in romance and having faith, even as you are licking your wounds.

Faith is an orientation of the spirit much different from simple, doe-eyed optimism. It is a conviction that something makes perfect sense regardless if your action succeeds.

The principle also applies to love. To me, it isn’t about the object of affection or how that object responds to it. I will not even negotiate because love is a human function no different from bathing or brushing my crooked teeth. There’s no need to overthink or hammer your brain for excuses, just love for the heck of it. Regardless of how it turns out.

Same with technology. I have no delusions in its transformative appeal. It all boils down to power relations – who owns it? Yes, there are millions signed up in FB, in FS (I am there), in Twitter or whatever is the current rage but there are more who don’t have access – no education, no electricity, wars, poverty, name it.

In the real sense, who is the disconnected?

In the early days of blogging, some were agog about this cheap technology crystallizing the world into one global village. All bets are off. It isn’t as neat as it sounds – technology is ruled by the same power relations we contend with everyday. More glaringly, the multitudes, the masses are still out there, not in cyberspace. So for whom are we blogging?

Blogging is for megalomaniacs, some argue. It is unabashed exhibitionism without a sense of purpose. Amen, I have no counter-arguments. In fact, let me add one thing: blogging is the new narcissism, bebe.

I blog because this is an arena open to me. I will take every crumb of chance to reach out, to connect. I try not to shout my political persuasions but even as I am skeptical that cyberspace is not the turf of the powerless, I will not concede this battlefield by default. I don’t expect to cash in political gains because my aim ain’t high but it’s true. Yes Mr. Costello, my aim is true.

Blogging as I often say, is an expression of worship and with a few friends partaking, there is some kind of fellowship going on. That puts a smile to this ugly face.

I am the last person to take myself seriously or to expect to be taken seriously. People who do should produce scholarly journals or teach or do some research or go into serious organizing. These people are to be lauded.

As to Iran’s president, is he to be lauded? He’s not my drinking buddy but for the sake of lame argument, let’s just pretend he’s like a parent regulating what his children should be watching on TV and the internet. What a crock.

Anyway, I am not in FB so this isn’t my fight, haha.