Re: <nettime> California Ideology mea culpa

[Christiane Robbins <crobbins@mindspring.com>]

As read â?¦. very quick response â?¦ 

mea culpa - this instrument of confession strikes me as one so rooted in the confiteor and contriteness of a Catholic asking for penance - an acceptance of punishment and absolution. 

It caused me to circle round to my proverbial question - are we really so shocked at the sophomoric a biased level of hubris and self-service that underpinned this 25 yr. trajectory - as well as our collectively blind participation?  Perhaps FBâ??s "failure of imagination" may simply approximate a mirror of our own.  To singularly tag this as FB is to deny any of our own participation - whether as part of a burgeoning community or as employees of these expedient companies exporting aspects of our expertise, et all.

A salient point raised is that Civil engineers are licensed - as they are charged w/ protecting our public safety ( physical ) as other other professionals ( Architects, Attorneys, Doctors) who ostensibly protect the public good.  In the absence of any necessary and ubiquitous digital media literacy and agency  and as we emerge from the wading around hip-deep in the arrested development of of High School emotives and directives of software engineer ( Imagineering).  As indicated it behooves us to give critical thought to the field and its responsibilities to the public good.  

â??  The nerds had ascended, culturally and socially, and had become enchanted with their own virtuous self-image. â??  

Dare I state, it wasnâ??t only those aspects of ascension noted, it was also the base fact that divisiveness had been generated by the mere amount of capital - of $$$ -  of salaries of class divisiveness - which dwarfed other professions - outsized salaries,  remunerations and career advances which held a initial promise of a reciprocal offering of public good / responsibility.  Much of this was not realized.  Reportedly, just the opposite.  Despite its mythical MSM illusion - serving as the cover story -  the City of love, the genesis of burning man and the legacy of the Gold Rush, the SF Bay Area embodies that divisiveness â?¦. and, perhaps divine intervention ( its the Catholic in me speaking :)

Much more to be addressed - to be continued â?¦ thx!

Chris

> On Jan 15, 2020, at 1:10 AM, Bruce Sterling <bruces@well.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> "Our beloved 'California Ideology'!  It's ended in tears!  If only we'd been more Canadian all along!"
> 

<....>




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