There’s a fascinating essay over at Wikileaks Central which, as the author, I can say with complete bias that its eloquence is matched only by its poignancy. Here’s a sample:
The specter of totalitarianism is looming. A cyber-backed authoritarian regime, arising from the collusion between government and other powerful institutions, forever protecting the interests of the few from the threat of a free human race. Yet the solution to prevent this dystopian future can be found where it has been all along: inside every person.
The surest way to keep out tyranny starts with a voice inside that says “I can make a difference. My voice counts. I matter!” Whatever it is that makes someone feel like this, is precisely what is needed in larger amounts. Anything that takes an individual from feeling helpless and afraid to feeling hopeful and engaged is what will ultimately set humankind free.
By now you’ve heard about the disgusting display of humanity known as Vancouver’s post-Stanley Cup riots.
While unjustified damage to random property is bad, what’s worse is these drunken hooligans have tarnished the reputation of people amassing in large numbers. Now, whenever massive groups of dissenters congregate in the same area, police and authorities will anticipate violence and preemptively crack down with force.
At least in the Arab World the uprisings are part of a greater struggle for democracy, but the Vancouver riots had no higher purpose. It was just boozed-up buffoonery run amok, and it just made it that much harder to demonstrate against just causes in Vancouver.
As planned, a follow-up demonstration was held today, this time with hundreds taking part. There were no arrests reported, despite large numbers of law enforcement present. Eventually, officers did forcefully disperse the activists.
So, a good turn out with no arrests. Successful protest, it seems. But what can we learn from this?
Well, for one, it shows the power of groups. When Kokesh and his cohorts were arrested last week, hundreds of angry phone calls to the police department ensured a prompt release. These same complaints probably warranted the light touch used by security forces earlier today.
As well, the protest went on mostly unabated because there were hundreds of dancers. This shows that if you want to take action against unjust laws by breaking them, it’s best to make sure there’s a lot of people are doing it alongside you.
And it doesn’t hurt to get it all on video, either.
One of the key factors to making world peace a reality will be our newfound powers of communication and community building. We are uniting like never before, and the implications will be profound.
For one, we are gaining new means of dialogue, and dialogue is an integral step in the peacebuilding process. Just getting people to talk is often the first step in conflict resolution.
Dialogue can also rehumanize an enemy. Often, warring parties will dehumanize their foes, painting them as evil, irrational death dealers, but dialogue can make these misconceptions evaporate, and it is that much harder to kill someone who we come to see as a fellow human being.
Our new communication tools are also letting us spread important information that our mainstream media rarely, if ever, discusses. Issues like the Military Industrial Complex, the Distrubtion of Wealth, or how our world has been consistently improving for centuries are all empowering forms of knowledge.
And, thanks to our growing powers of community, we will become more and more able to do something about it. Facebook has exploded in size in just a few years. Fast forward a few more years, and we will have groups large enough to rival corporations and governments in terms of power and influence.
Combine the size and might of our ever expanding groups with the speed of Twitter and instant messaging, and boom… we have some truly revolutionary power in our hands.
Look at what today’s flash mobs can do for a glimpse into the power we are unleashing. A few hundred people, united at the same time and place for the same reason can really shake things up. Now imagine instead of just 100, we had 100,000 people acting in unison.
Global Flash Mobs… mobilizing to action, in real time, all with shared goals, could truly shift the power back into the hands of the people. We will be able to harness this power to make our world everything we want it to be… egalitarian, progressive and peaceful.
