dear ambits,
After reading lots of nice introductions ( i will continue this tradition: hi, i am gerald and i am interested in digital art in a sociopolitical context, my hobbies are supermarkets) i was wondering if people are already sick of the permanent media hype about the political situation or not really interested in this issue or if they just don`t want to use this mailinglist for �out of the category� subjects. The online forum is a wonderful thing and I think it could be good to expand the content. The following lines are some basic thoughts i wanted to put forward to open up a discussion about the complexity of the political problems at the moment - with or without digital art. Do we have to say anything ? Maybe we can start a beside digtlrt - a so called �side-burning� discussion on this mailing list. Best wishes gerald ++++START++++++++++++ THINKING TWICE Some statements of the obvious and not so obvious To think about the bombing in Afghanistan is important for creating a political/ social consciousness which goes beyond catching simple answers to highly complex questions. Some basics about western predominance - The capitalistic system is a global system and took several hundred years to get established to its present structure. It is based on a western concept of thinking (e.g. individuality / religion � state division), it is profit driven and through its mechanisms it is highly successfully. Others than western cultures have been exploited, existing in parallel without being noticed and have been influenced and transformed by this system. Different cultures are living in one society within the same geographical borders (often left over from colonialism) with different values and identities. Cultures, which have been and are under pressure to take part in the western predominance, mostly and simply for better survival. Some of the societies, represented (or not) by a variety of elected (or otherwise declared) powers, are trying to do so only during the last fifty years � getting through militant regimes, well or not so well educated rulers, several queens and kings and through different or the same presidents over decades. In each period of change of leadership, leaders have been and are confronted with complex social structures which have a wide range of exclusive interests � trying to win the peoples voice for the one or the other reason, shifting the parameters which are set by a specific political elite to keep power or to change power. The different consequences of the unavoidable presence of the capitalistic system with its western predominance on nonwestern societies are not only based on the interest of western national leadership, but also on the possibility of the easy and permanent worldwide perception of western values. (one part of globalisation) Consequences of change - Every change in a specific society means a certain threat to well established values for a specific culture � identities are getting lost often without having a real option for anything else other than uprooted meanings. One of the consequences to avoid those meanings is the escapism into traditional, well known and over generation established structures. (e.g. religion/ war) Hence no change without a fundamental response � often the starting point of fundamentalism. For example: The U.S. are threatened because of an unexpected shift in their supposed invulnerability. The cold war strategies are representing the known as a safe harbour � manipulated for the purposes of political survival purposes. The results are the flag� the bomb - the war - symbols which are well known, carrying familiar values to rely on. People feel safer. The Taliban regime is the result of a big uncertainty, effected by the Russian and American short term politics and the western influence in general without a real socio-political interest. A threat alltogether. The religion is representing the well known as a safe harbour � manipulated for the purposes of social survival purposes. The results are the flag (burning) � the bomb (aeroplane) � the war (terror) � symbols which are well known �carrying familiar values to rely on. People feel safer. Some obvious reasons why it is as it is - Human beings in general tend to follow easy answers to complex questions because it makes life easier. The bitter (never ending) moment is, that most of the political elite (democratically elected or not) does not act socially responsible. Mixing faith with state power (Taliban) is as misleading as mixing economical interests with psychological based revenge (U.S.) Fundamentalism excludes tolerance. Words of criminal law being used for political purpose is narrow minded. (Bush wants Osama bin Laden �dead or alive�). But it is not the same. There is a (big) hen for this egg � U.S./ western policy missed out on leading a constructive dialog instead of continuing an extended version of colonial exploitation � putting national interests first without looking at the long term consequences. Bombing a disaster zone will not help to stop terrorism. Without the profound change of western political ideology violence is growing massively. The transnational unity (related to western actions) under Islamic based societies serves as a welcoming valve for building up a simple picture of projecting one big enemy - �the west� in general and �the U.S.� in particular � and on the other hand delivers a necessary platform for a polarisation which can be used for developing a cultural identity. An identity which is more defined on �the known other� (western world) than on �the unknown self� (culture in crises). A clash is almost unavoidable. Main religions have never been and will never be tolerant without a permanent rethinking of their inherited limits. Easy answers to complex questions are leading consequently into fundamentalism. Blame culture � Creating pictures of the enemy � relaying on simplification to (de)channel emotions leads to a blame culture which asks for revenge without having to question any further consequences. Where is the balance? No wonder if humans simplify sociopolitical processes when they fight in wars since they have been born � growing up without any education � without any possibility for a different perspective� guided by violence, empty promises and everyday survival. But what happens in the western world? Seemingly priorities in the western political system are set to solve problems adequate but it looks like that the consequences on real politics are behind any achievement. It is not understandable why millions of dollars are spend on bombing a specific territory in Afghanistan instead of putting more effort into supporting education. A lot of people feel as much paralysed as not represented by western governmental actions. To support the U.S. + supporters in their short term view politics is extremely irresponsible and only serves to stabilise fundamental tendencies on both sides. So what? +++++++END++++++++ Following questions arising: Why is there a huge silent mass? What do we think about it? Will there be explicit political work in all the wonderful digital art centres? An idea: Printing 50 �There are no simple answers to complex questions� T-shirts: e.g.: Front: Think twice Back: i am neither target nor bomb best wishes Mr. Clay _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------------------------- a m b i t : networking media arts in scotland post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] info: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and write "info ambit" in the message body -------------------------------------------------
