Mediacologyputting the ‘eco’ into media ecology (and other tangential meditations)

What follows is a response to someone who felt that my elation from the results of the last presidential was “junk”:

What I was expressing, and I think others were too, was a shift in energy and an opening for new possibility. All of us are responsible for co-creating democracy, even if it has been reduced to glorified public relations. I believe it’s important to remain critical while committed to making change within our own communities (and selves). What troubles me is how many on the left are so unwilling to feel good about anything. We now have someone who speaks in complete sentences and takes global warming seriously, who believes in net neutrality and in the rapid deployment alternative energy. These are things that cannot be delayed even for one minute. We no longer have time to screw around on these points. So for that I have some gratitude and find it remarkable that some would rather see Palin and McCain punt these critical issues for four more years.

I agree that on the surface many of Obama’s appointments look like the same-old, same-old, but I would like to offer just a few tidbits. These are not ordinary times; everyone has the potential to change and alter his or her views. That is the amazing thing about this moment. We don’t know how people will react. Also, the US government is a massive, complex machine based on social networks, personal relationships and connections. It’s important to keep your enemies close to you and to have good operatives who can get things done. It’s very logical that there are so many “players” coming into the transition team. How else can you run a government? I mention these things not because I’m an apologist for US imperialism or the government, but I do believe whole-heartedly there are people in the military, government and corporations who want to change their relationship with the world and the environment, and some of these people will be coming in from the periphery. Not everyone in the system is an evil, selfish conspirator. I believe we’ll inhibit growth and change if we do not participate in co-creating the emergent reality with all parties, even ones that we do not like. Real change comes from dialog, and I hope that we will not shut if off from those who hold “power” because of our own prejudices of how we think people should behave according to their position in society.

My argument is for taking advantage of this opening and to push it open wider. The physicist David Bohm argues that every seed is like an aperture to a potential reality, but that the environment in which it is planted conditions its reality. I hope that we can contribute to a space that nurtures greater possibility and change rather than succumb to cynicism and despair. Thanks for listening.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 am and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.