Fear

Notes on climate change and sustainable development…
Destroying our planet = Destroying ourselves
The debate over climate change is ridiculous. Scientific evidence (such as the Stern Review) is clear; we are doing irreversible damage to our home. Suck it up, big business. Make some changes and move forward.

Sachs is a compelling advocate for change, but even he is not sure of what to do. Poverty and economic inequity are complex and pressing issues, and there are no easy answers.

Notes on Collier…
Sigh. I could have done without: 1) poor writing, 2) name dropping like crazy, and 3) preaching about the need to avoid ‘stigmatizing’ the bottom billion while doing it throughout the text. Aside from these surface issues, the ideas in the text were sound. He focuses on the two key concepts in making change in the bottom billion countries:
- Change must come from inside the bottom billion
- Wealthy countries should support the individuals working for change inside the bottom billion
This led me to think about digital equity, and wondering if technology could help empower the bottom billion to ‘jump’ up and close the gap. In Howie Budin’s class we talked a little about this, but I am wondering how it fits into an economic text like Collier’s.

Notes on Appadurai…
This was the most engaging reading, in my opinion. It was smartly written and situated in this particular moment in history. While analyzing our current situation, Appadurai cited many great social thinkers of the past – showing his social street ‘cred.

His term ‘crisis of circulation’ hints to Beniger’s ‘crisis of control.’ The nation state is a symbol of stability and control. Rocked by terrorism and other destabilizers, our confidence is shaken and we begin to experience fear because we have lost control. In Beniger’s text, trains on railways without control collide– but fixing train schedules is a concrete task. Once completed, the trains run with reasonable regularity. Our ‘crisis of circulation’ isn’t that easy to tackle. This lack of control, or destabilization induces great fear.

We fear because we cannot understand ambiguous terrorism; this is the heart of the evils of humanity. Fear must be pacified. In the pursuit of stability and control, humans can turn into monsters. Appadurai highlights some of these instances.

It is likely that I’ll read this again before class to get a better handle on the material…

The Transition

Semesters change, classes follow.
Classes change, blogs follow.

This is now a blog for Theories of Communication.
I have moved on from Social and Communicative aspects of the Internet and other ICTs. You will be missed, but never forgotten :)