[Fis] FW: The Age of Discord

[Pedro C. Marijuan]

Dear Howard and FIS colleagues,

(I think your interesting response below did not enter into the 
list--other parties should read it before these lines).

Curiously you do not develop there the "yes" side of your reasoning 
regarding the role of Internet & mobiles.

It is unfulfilled expectations the main factor? Maybe, but only 
partially, for they have to be accompanied by deep social crisis, by 
efficient means of communication, and by a modicum of rebel 
organization. Otherwise the revolts do not ignite or do not conduce to 
anything. In 1848 there was a radical capitalist transformation and the 
beginning of the proletarian insurrection. Mass migrations to city 
slums, lots of poverty coupled to ancient regime constraints, with 
plenty of pamphlets and newspapers of all kinds circulating, and new 
organizations of both bourgeois and proletarian orientation. Previously, 
both the scientific revolution and the political revolution had been 
shaking the world, both the brainchild of the printing press...

So, I much emphasize "means of communication" (in Iran 1979 it was not 
books but clandestine cassettes circulating among Mosques). These means 
represent the "plus" without which revolts cannot ignite or propagate. 
Therefore the fight to tip the balance between 
information/disinformation in the own benefit, by both defenders and 
contenders, is essential to frame the resulting expectations and 
frustrations. What Joseph and Terry have just argued. He who establishes 
the "truth" of the masses wins.

And in our times it is the new media which are bringing an unexpected, 
never seen panorama of global connectivity, irreflexive mentality, and 
internecine division within societies, coupled with the diminished, 
frustrated expectations of large fractions of Western population (middle 
class, proletarians) right in front of the new mega-rich. This felt 
inequality and a sense of immediate ecological catastrophe, and aired 
gender grievances, are igniting today's well connected masses... 
towards? Who knows. This may be connected with Diego's and Karl's 
reflections.

Best--Pedro


11/2019 a las 2:24, Howard Bloom escribió:
> pedro, thanks for this.
>
> we are in a time of paradox. with street demonstrations in Asia, the 
> Middle East, Europe, and South America.
>
> do these depend on the internet?  yes and no.  remember, in 1848 there 
> were roughly 57 revolutions worldwide, and there was no internet.  
> even though there was the telegraph.
>
> remember the j curve.  when expectations are raised, then not met, we 
> have revolt in the streets.
>
> ironically, it's good times that raise expectations.  so good times 
> crimped by a momentary downturn can lead to street demonstrations.  it 
> happened in france in 1788 when bread prices went up. and it happened 
> in iran in 1979.
>
> frankly, we need a theory of expectations, a theory of the role that 
> future projection plays in our lives, in our biology...and in the 
> forces of history.
>
> with warmth and oomph--howard
>

-- 
-------------------------------------------------
Pedro C. Marijuán
Grupo de Bioinformación / Bioinformation Group

pcmarijuan.iacs at aragon.es
http://sites.google.com/site/pedrocmarijuan/
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