I have a sense that, all but for a few rational actors, everything is out of control. That includes the sanctions.
We are all riding the Putin train and it’s a downward express. No milk run here. Where it ends still remains the sticking point. Russia is going to be bled dry if this goes on for a long time. In the 21st century I’d describ…
I have a sense that, all but for a few rational actors, everything is out of control. That includes the sanctions.
We are all riding the Putin train and it’s a downward express. No milk run here. Where it ends still remains the sticking point. Russia is going to be bled dry if this goes on for a long time. In the 21st century I’d describe a “long time” as somewhere around three weeks. There’s already lineups at ATMs there and I’m sure there must be at least some shortages. It’s going to get exponentially worse for them. Perhaps the Revolution will come. This is a long-suffering people.
I also am waiting for the first appearance of malicious actors. People not of Russian origin, not directly affiliated, but holding a deranged sense of justice. Who will get blamed if an American or German power grid goes down? Nobody’s going to believe a Russian denial. Yeah, it can probably be traced back to the source and then we’d know. But that’s just an example. The dogs of war have been loosed. Hmm…think I read that somewhere. 😀
My book is called “Splintered”. It’s on America, not Canada, although there is, of course, cross pollination.
The thesis is that the pace of life has inexorably become more and more sped up since WWII. Institutions have sunk - people are no longer ‘joiners’. Technology has created all sorts of changes. Some of those we have anticipated. But others have arisen that could not have been foreseen. New Thing A creates change. New Thing B creates change. We can plan plan for their effects. But we can’t foresee the combination of New Thing A plus New Thing B.
At the same time we moved squarely out of the fag end of the Industrial Society into the new Information World. Hugely dislocating. Unions have been disappeared. Family ties have suffered. Church relevance is minimal compared to what it was. And we (for good reason) do not trust the biggest institution - government. He’ll, even the Boy Scouts and service clubs like Kiwanis follow this trend.
So now we are atomized. This brings about loneliness and a kind of faux-individualism. And anger.
Now I have had time to read what you have written about your book. And I have questions. Like, do you have a table of contents. But we are speaking of a not yet published book. And this is a public forum on the Internet. So that would be decidedly imprudent. So I will write generally.
You are a thinker. (I only think while I am writing. That is true.) And you know stuff. And you've paid attention. Over years. And have observations and opinions. Your career and personal life have long been centered on children in the context of creating classroom and school communities, and on creating a family social unit. You care about the next generation.
Bonding means a lot to you. I am writing this to understand the givens.
And when you write "life has inexorably become more and more sped up since WWII" this is applies to the totality of people's lived experience of being in the world and is impossible to stop or to escape. And the pace is so fast, that it prevents people from bonding. Through the old institutions which - have been emptied of meaning and/or of members.
So here is where I am unkind to Eric the writer, but hopefully heartening to Eric the concerned person. With the caveat that I know almost nothing of your book. Proceed until apprehended, I say.
I think you are on to something. Even though we can find other and simultaneously many other factors to explain the demise of a wide range of social institutions. And other explanations for loneliness, and when you say "faux individualism" I am thinking you mean an imposed solitariness. Which results in such things as anger. But yes, the pace of life may certainly run through it all. They do speak of time as a river. And here it is a raging one which may unmoor us.
It seems that what he did for the industrial age, you are attempting to do for the digital age. I would not be surprised to learn that you have an interesting view and useful observations to share. And even if you do not publish it, the writing itself may be beneficial to you.
But as to the 'we're fucked' part.
Many in our generation may experience dislocation. But the generations who are born digital are not dislocated. They are at home. Unless you are positing an innate and universal human need for specific forms of connection and community. Which for all I know may be the case.
But you describe your children who seem all to be part of satisfying professional communities and family units ... so ...
But maybe I have presumed and maybe that is not what you meant at all.
But for your book. Only you can say whether you dare presume and whether it is worth while.
I have a sense that, all but for a few rational actors, everything is out of control. That includes the sanctions.
We are all riding the Putin train and it’s a downward express. No milk run here. Where it ends still remains the sticking point. Russia is going to be bled dry if this goes on for a long time. In the 21st century I’d describe a “long time” as somewhere around three weeks. There’s already lineups at ATMs there and I’m sure there must be at least some shortages. It’s going to get exponentially worse for them. Perhaps the Revolution will come. This is a long-suffering people.
I also am waiting for the first appearance of malicious actors. People not of Russian origin, not directly affiliated, but holding a deranged sense of justice. Who will get blamed if an American or German power grid goes down? Nobody’s going to believe a Russian denial. Yeah, it can probably be traced back to the source and then we’d know. But that’s just an example. The dogs of war have been loosed. Hmm…think I read that somewhere. 😀
My book is called “Splintered”. It’s on America, not Canada, although there is, of course, cross pollination.
The thesis is that the pace of life has inexorably become more and more sped up since WWII. Institutions have sunk - people are no longer ‘joiners’. Technology has created all sorts of changes. Some of those we have anticipated. But others have arisen that could not have been foreseen. New Thing A creates change. New Thing B creates change. We can plan plan for their effects. But we can’t foresee the combination of New Thing A plus New Thing B.
At the same time we moved squarely out of the fag end of the Industrial Society into the new Information World. Hugely dislocating. Unions have been disappeared. Family ties have suffered. Church relevance is minimal compared to what it was. And we (for good reason) do not trust the biggest institution - government. He’ll, even the Boy Scouts and service clubs like Kiwanis follow this trend.
So now we are atomized. This brings about loneliness and a kind of faux-individualism. And anger.
So we’re fucked.
End of book. Not a good explanation.
Now I have had time to read what you have written about your book. And I have questions. Like, do you have a table of contents. But we are speaking of a not yet published book. And this is a public forum on the Internet. So that would be decidedly imprudent. So I will write generally.
You are a thinker. (I only think while I am writing. That is true.) And you know stuff. And you've paid attention. Over years. And have observations and opinions. Your career and personal life have long been centered on children in the context of creating classroom and school communities, and on creating a family social unit. You care about the next generation.
Bonding means a lot to you. I am writing this to understand the givens.
And when you write "life has inexorably become more and more sped up since WWII" this is applies to the totality of people's lived experience of being in the world and is impossible to stop or to escape. And the pace is so fast, that it prevents people from bonding. Through the old institutions which - have been emptied of meaning and/or of members.
So here is where I am unkind to Eric the writer, but hopefully heartening to Eric the concerned person. With the caveat that I know almost nothing of your book. Proceed until apprehended, I say.
I think you are on to something. Even though we can find other and simultaneously many other factors to explain the demise of a wide range of social institutions. And other explanations for loneliness, and when you say "faux individualism" I am thinking you mean an imposed solitariness. Which results in such things as anger. But yes, the pace of life may certainly run through it all. They do speak of time as a river. And here it is a raging one which may unmoor us.
Suddenly the phrase 'the pace of life and anomie' came to mind, so I googled it - and came up with Durkheim. it.https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/anomie
It seems that what he did for the industrial age, you are attempting to do for the digital age. I would not be surprised to learn that you have an interesting view and useful observations to share. And even if you do not publish it, the writing itself may be beneficial to you.
But as to the 'we're fucked' part.
Many in our generation may experience dislocation. But the generations who are born digital are not dislocated. They are at home. Unless you are positing an innate and universal human need for specific forms of connection and community. Which for all I know may be the case.
But you describe your children who seem all to be part of satisfying professional communities and family units ... so ...
But maybe I have presumed and maybe that is not what you meant at all.
But for your book. Only you can say whether you dare presume and whether it is worth while.
"And should I then presume?
And how should I begin?
...
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it towards some overwhelming question,
To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—
If one, settling a pillow by her head
Should say: “That is not what I meant at all;
That is not it, at all.”"
*https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock