The Journey Begins

Ladies and gentlemen of the Internet. Allow me to update you on my crazy and exciting life. Anyway, that's what I said on June 13th when I started this entry...maybe I can finish it now.

For those of you who don't know, and there probably aren't many of you nowadays, I will be leaving for Japan on August 1st. I'll be taking language classes in Tokyo for 7 weeks while living with my friend, the excellent Mr. Chris Cooper. This is, to me, very exciting. But you folks should probably not worry about it too much.

Other miscellaneous updates for your information (numbered, for your convenience!):

1.Spring quarter was an amazing success, at least as far as classes go. I learned a lot and got good grades. The Chemical Engineers also had some crazy nights out that I'll remember for years to come.

2.Two of my best friends were married on June 27th. I was a groomsman. It was a gorgeous ceremony. Unfortunately, I got a bad sinus infection directly after the wedding. Better than before it though, right?

3.I realized that I'm actually quite poor and going to Japan is going to kill me financially...but screw it; I am going. If I give this up I will never forgive myself. My family's motto is "Fortitor et celeriter". It is time I lived up to it.

4.I'm on co-op now and working as a project manager. Basically, I ensure that work gets done correctly, safely, cheaply, and on time. I'm pretty busy. It is as close as I've ever been to enjoying my work. I could actually see myself doing this for a living...for more than a year even. It is weird when older people call me "sir" though.

5.There was this girl that I liked/like and I told people about her. That's probably going nowhere...and not just because I'm going somewhere. I'll throw all the optimism I have at it though, folks. *mmmph*

6.On an unrelated note, I'm still depressed about being told off on Friday. Who knew I was so sensitive? I'll get over it, but I had to tell someone.

7.I love tennis. David beat me handily this past weekend though. I'm 1-1 on the summer...a higher win percentage than the Reds...admittedly, it is a much smaller sample size.


So here's the part of the entry where I stop condensing my life into bullet points and start a more intellectual discussion. I want to make two mostly unrelated points.

First, regarding the Internet as a political tool. The protesters in Tehran made international headlines by opposing the reelection of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in what many consider to be a massive case of electoral fraud. While this was occurring, the Iranian government confined foreign journalists to their hotel rooms and offices, shut off cell phones, and severely limited internet access. All in a bid to stifle the ability of protesters to organize and get information out to international media outlets.

Before we go any further, let us all take a moment to reflect on how frightening it is that governments are capable of that degree of censorship. We can only speculate as to what our own, much more technologically advanced government is capable of. Frankly though, if you'll excuse my momentary descent into conspiracy theory territory, I feel that the US government has much more subtle mechanisms of control than the rather heavy-handed techniques employed by the Iranian government. But needless to say, if you make the government angry, they're more than capable of cutting you off from the world and making you disappear.

/end tangent

My real point arises from a unique facet of the demonstrations: the usage of proxy servers by Iranian dissidents to access social networking sites (read: Twitter) in order to post their first hand accounts of events on the ground. The optimist in me has this to say: hooray!, a new age of communications is upon us. The birth of our global communications network which crosses borders has brought us closer than ever to a unified world. The people of the world need no longer suffer in silence.

But let's face it folks, things aren't so simple. First, although many Iranians did reach the outside world using Twitter and its contemporaries, the net result was first, minimal, and second, only achieved through the utilization of more traditional, mainstream media outlets. If the BBC and NBC hadn't told you the Iranians were on Twitter, you probably weren't going to hear about it. Also, the nature of identity on the internet of unreliable at best. We really have no idea who is feeding us information on the majority of social networking sites/blogs etc. This makes reporting difficult and justifying any decision-making based on the information obtained from such accounts very difficult. Finally, ignoring these technical issues which can perhaps be resolved or debated, the real problem is that many people don't have access to food and water, let alone cell phones and internet access. The oppressed people of the world can't all cry out to us on Twitter when they don't even have electricity.

Maybe that's going too far though. Maybe my point about global poverty borders on the non sequitur. It is undeniable that, as we progress technologically, more specifically, as we continue to explore the possibilities brought about by our newfound ability to connect to each other nearly instantaneously, the ability of governments oppress their people continues to diminish. I feel that, the more we share with each other, the more we will feel like we are one people sharing this planet. Maybe we can start to rethink our prejudices and hatreds. Hopefully within my lifetime we can come a lot closer to seeing how stupid killing each other really is. If technology can bring that about, it is worth it.

The second issue I want to address is in the same vein as my last discussion. However, it is more of a rant than anything else. I'm sick of a couple of things. First, I'm sick of the pointless animosity between those who fight under the banners "Democrat" and "Republican". So many people use these and other similar labels as a device to demonize anyone who disagrees with them. They also allow politicians to avoid the intricacies inherent in everyone's political views and dismiss them out of hand. I think this environment is, first and foremost, self-perpetuating in that it attracts the wrong sort of individual to politics and, second and perhaps more damagingly, a detriment to intelligent political discourse. How can we come to a proper compromise when we dismiss each other as an enemy? How can we understand an issue when we disrespect the opposing viewpoint that is shared by a large number of people who think it is the right thing? How can a truly honest and moderate politician, which most people seem to want, come to power when the elections are a contest of fundraising, mud-slinging, and political pandering?

And don't think this rant has anything to do with President Obama - though I might consider saying something against him just to goad you gypsies into a reaction. But, frankly, I think he's done a good job so far with everything that has been thrown at him. I would have done things much differently with the economy, but there isn't always one right answer. And if things don't work out, people need to try to avoid scapegoating...something our country loves to do. But as far as foreign relations go...I'd say he's been top notch. Non-interventionalist rhetoric is a breath of fresh air. But I'm rambling again.

I hate to just rant on and on without presenting any thoughts as to how things can be changed, but it is so difficult to think of how we can get away from this destructive trend of party politics...which does, admittedly, have some advantages. Perhaps if we just made it a policy to try to be friends, not call each other names, and see things from the other side before making decisions we would see some change. People almost never see themselves as "evil"; they almost always have the best of intentions. Karl Marx may have been right when he said that "The path to Hell is paved with good intentions", but if by the end of the path we get to the point where we see that we're really all on the same side...Hell really can't be that bad.


Well, I've rambled on enough tonight. I apologize, dear reader. Hopefully you got something positive out of this blog entry. I really did mean well. You have my best wishes.