FYI:
An Internet Awakening
by Jay Fenello
An Aligning With Purpose(sm) Column
From Deepak Chopra's latest book, to the current format
of The Oprah Winfrey Show, I am constantly amazed at the
exploding interest in the Personal Growth/Spirituality
movement. It's almost as if the entire field has reached
a critical mass, the point where a new concept or idea
spreads far enough to build a momentum all its own.
To me, this is a movement of awakening.
It is an awakening to the human condition -- who we are,
what we do, and why we do it.
It is an awakening to the unconscious nature of our
actions, and how they are driven by unconscious beliefs.
It is an exploration of these unconscious beliefs, and
the process of replacing them with conscious ones,
beliefs made rationally and spiritually.
And through this process, it's an awakening to who we
really are, our purpose here on this planet, and a
personal relationship with the God of our hearts.
My name is Jay Fenello, and this is the latest edition of
the Aligning With Purpose(sm) column. In today's edition,
I am reflecting back on my three years of involvement in
the establishment of Internet Governance, and how it
relates to the introduction above.
Now this discussion may sound a little strange to you. I
know, because there was a time when it would have sounded
strange to me. But this is my truth, for I have seen the
results of this movement, up close and personal.
I have seen people who were unhappy in their lives and
unhappy in their loves, emerge from a weekend seminar
as newly radiant beings, on their path towards
consciousness.
This process of moving from darkness to light, from
unconsciousness to consciousness, can be a rocky road,
full of emotional turmoil, distress and misunderstandings.
But the end result is worth it, for it is that which we
all seek.
And *this* reminds me of ICANN.
For those who don't know, ICANN is the newly formed
organization established by the Clinton administration
to assume the role of Internet Governance.
In actuality, it is a take-over of the Internet by big
business, big media, and big government. It is currently
pursuing an agenda that would place some serious controls
over use, and some serious controls over civil liberties.
Worst of all, it lies, cheats and steals to get its way.
So, how did we end up with a seriously flawed organization
like ICANN governing the Internet?
Why has a coalition of like-minded power mongers, working
in secret, been able to establish ICANN, a structure where
they can artificially constrain resources on the Internet?
Why has ICANN been structured to stifle free speech on the
Internet, not only by constraining name space growth, but
also by constraining the allowable uses for the existing
name space?
Why has ICANN been allowed to favor certain players,
making new business opportunities on the Internet
dependent on who you know, not what you know?
Why has ICANN pretended to embrace democratic processes,
all while the decision making remains secret and well
hidden from view?
Why didn't our governments step in to stop it? Why didn't
the world press report it? And why did some of our most
prestigious institutions and foundations support it?
In the real world, the answers to these questions are
conjecture, mere whispers in the wind. On the Internet,
they are the seeds of our collective rebirth.
In people, unconscious beliefs lead to unconscious
actions, which result in their current life situations.
In societies, unquestioned beliefs lead to unquestioned
actions, which result in our current world situation.
Before the Internet, we could not tell that big business
had been using exactly same techniques with ICANN, that
it had with the WTO, NAFTA, etc. We could not tell that
a knowledgeable minority existed in each of these battles,
and despite their protests and well reasoned arguments,
they were ignored and marginalized by our government and
by our press.
Now, thanks to the Internet, we can see this pattern in
action. We can see how big business uses the government
for its own benefit, and how it uses the media to hide
its secret agendas.
And this situation is getting worse.
Not so long ago, a single organization could only
control a handful of media outlets, and only if they
were scattered throughout the nation. Today, thanks to
the Telecom Act of 1996, these restrictions have either
been removed or drastically reduced.
The result -- less than 10 multinationals control over
80% of the worlds news outlets. And this consolidation
continues, as can be seen in the CBS/Viacom merger, and
the Time Warner takeover of America Online. In fact,
this consolidation is such a large threat, that even
people like Walter Cronkite have voiced their concerns.
http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/cronkite.shtml
Not surprisingly, the Telecom Act had its own small
but knowledgeable minority that fought against these
provisions. One such participant was Robert McChesney,
the author of "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" and a scholar
at the University of Illinois. And just like the other
battles, his input was ignored, and he was marginalized
in the process.
The truth of the matter is, we are all stuck in a
recurring pattern. We are using unexamined beliefs
about our government and the way our world works,
to guide our actions. And through this process,
we continue to get results that we don't want.
In other words, ICANN is really just a symptom of
the problem. The real problem is our "collective
*un*consciousness."
A little over 20 years ago, I first noticed the bias in
our media. A few years later, an engineer at IBM gave
me a book that explained much of what was going on. It
told the story of an elite establishment who had great
wealth and power at their disposal, which they used to
control and manipulate the masses for their own benefit
(more about this in future columns).
I've been following this "shadow government" ever since.
At first, I doubted its existence. But over time, I
found that it was an accurate model of how our world
really worked. I even came to accept it, convincing
myself that they must be benevolent and fair.
But what if they weren't benevolent or fair? What if
they used their power and influence to the detriment of
the masses? What if they grew more arrogant with time,
and started down a path that was clearly against the
common good?
In my opinion, that's exactly what is happening -- power
has been consolidated to the point where those at the
top, no longer feel that the rules apply to them. And
given current events, they are right.
I humbly suggest that it is time for us to realize that
many of our fundamental beliefs about the world are no
longer valid (if they ever were). It's time for us to
explore these fundamental beliefs, and replace them
with beliefs made rationally and spiritually.
In other words, just like people have started on a
journey from darkness to light, and a life without
purpose to a life with purpose, let's drive our
collective *un*consciousness towards consciousness.
Thanks to the Internet, we are now on the cusp of our
greatest renaissance -- an Internet Awakening. Or,
our worst dark ages. Let's hope we choose wisely.
Until next time . . .
Respectfully,
Jay Fenello,
New Media Relations
------------------------------------
http://www.fenello.com 770-392-9480
Aligning with Purpose(sm) ... for a Better World
------------------------------------------------
"If we want to change the world, we have to
begin by changing ourselves" -- Deepak Chopra
Copyright (c) 2000 Jay Fenello -- All rights reserved
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