Blogging For Peace
Call me ideological and foolish, but I genuinely believe that blogosphere holds one of the keys, and one of the few chances, to peace in this turbulent world. Who would you trust to look after our best interests when it comes to world politics, the environment and the fate of humanity? Politicians? They are by their very definition (always have been, always will be…) corrupt. They have to be, on some level, just to have got to where they are. Too many favors owed, too much ego, too much brainwashing. They cannot deal with the issues squarely and fairly- as if they did, the short-term pain involved for their voters would be unbearable and they’d soon be shown the door.
Any honest economist will tell you that capitalism and the free market economy is finite in what it can achieve. It certainly is not a sustainable model that can be spread worldwide, long-term. Apples for oranges, there just aren’t the resources for everyone in China to have a TV and fridge. That’s a fact you can take home to the bank. And when economies falter, that’s when you usually get war. America is the no.1 superpower in the world right now, but give it 20 years or so and this will change with the Sleeping Dragon in the East pulling its might.
The best hope, the best solution to all problems is surely honest, open and unfettered communication- between the people whom inhabit these nations and not their elected leaders. And what better way is there than blogging? True, Google somewhat capitulated to the Chinese government in its desperation to get access to that golden market- but it has opened a window that is unlikely to ever be shut and one will find increasing openness as time goes by.
Right now, I can get an uncensored, live update from an Iraqi blogging inside Iraq. I may not agree with everything this blogger says in terms of his politics, opinions, traditions and values. But we can have a straightforward, open discussion and put water on fire with win-win ideas, finding the similiarities, rather than shooting bullets or throwing bombs at each other. The same can be said all over the world. When there are starving people in Africa, why we throw away food to retain trade advantages? Why we don’t sign the Kyoto Treaty while being the no.1 polluter in the globe. And so on…..
What this means, in the age of blogosphere and immediate information/communication, is that a man like Goebbels could never orchestrate a successful campaign of mass propaganda as he did in Germany during the 1930s. Or how the KGB did during the Cold War. In the modern world, even in North Korea or Iran, it’s simply not possible. And this is our best chance for world peace.
As Benjamin Franklin said-:
I hope…that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for in my opinion there never was a good war, or a bad peace..
Instead of looking to the Sleeping Dragon, I think we should look to the Sleeping Elephant. While the Dragon is having an impact on manufacturing, India is quickly and quietly becoming predominant in more technological, brainpower-oriented markets. And they have an enormous amount of potential; they have hardly touched their human resources. (Plus they don’t feel the need to strike special deals with Google to keep their people pacified. Free information = accelerated growth.)
salem said this on September 15, 2006 4:55 pm
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Jack of All Blogs » Blog Archive » Why You Don’t Need Tony Robbins said this on October 2, 2006 1:07 am