Date:      Friday, December 10, 2010

Subject: Empower XV - Dave Winer

Dave Winer, my fourth favorite blogger (after Glenn Greenwald, Paul Krugman and Doc Searls) has written, on December 08, 2010, a very meaningful post entitled "Are we starting a full-out war on the internet?" Following is the first two paragraphs:

WikiLeaks is the perfect storm for all past issues on the net, but I'm afraid it also will draw us into a future that I've believed was coming and didn't want to talk about. We don't like to think about how much our civilization depends on the proper running of computer networks, and how vulnerable they are. Whoever it is that attacking Mastercard and Paypal are anonymous. They could be teenagers (that's what we hope) but they could also be professionals working for foreign governments, or even the US government. 

I watch my friends root for the attackers and think this is the way wars always begin. The "fighting the good fight" spirit. Let's go over there and show them who we are. Let's make a symbolic statement. By the time the war is underway, we won't remember any of that. We will wonder how we could have been so naive to think that war was something wonderful or glorious. People don't necessarily think of wars being fought on the net and over the net, but new technology comes to war all the time, and one side often doesn't understand.

Dave is a very perceptive observer -- please read the entire post. He concentrates on the WikiLeaks situation and I want to make a different point.

Without getting all wrapped up in irrelevant debate, I believe that we are in a war -- a religious war -- that we are unwilling to acknowledge publicly. And there is only one way to stop a religious war -- a cease fire -- so that the involved parties can negotiate with each other. The important point is the need for people to communicate with each other, to resolve their differences democratically.

Dave goes on to explain his approach to a conference that he will be attending on Saturday -- and I have no argument with that approach. Where I differ is in the hypocrisy of all four of my favorite bloggers -- they all are perfectly happy broadcasting their personal opinions to the world -- same old way, ignoring the potential of this newfound technology.

And, yes, I understand the limitations -- including the psychological ones -- first and foremost, our personal defenses -- it's far easier to ignore an attempt to start some dialog than it is to take the time to participate. Besides, cherry picking is the standard way of avoiding conflict that might arise from any kind of personal discussion.

There is another way -- empower the people -- elevate the comments into a full fledged forum (I call it a seminar)(SAMinar). We know that people are willing to participate in social networks -- we need to build a network of social networks where people can participate in the kind of conferences that Dave, and a lot of other people, seem to reserve for themselves.

We are in a new and different world -- one with the capability of instantaneous two-way communication -- let's start using that capability!!!!

BTW, we need to stop that religious war before it really gets out of hand.

To be continued (I hope)

BTW, in hopes of exciting some discussion I am posting this page on the following web sites.
http://ifihadmyway.com
http://nationalcomputerassociation.com
I don't provide for comments -- I do provide an e-mail address!! (Please put a [MYWAY] in your title to get my attention)

Thanks for your time,

Doug Skoglund - skoglund@pdmsb.com

2010 Archive List