Importance of liberal
democracy is not understood since nobody is bothered. Everyone is selfish and
playacting concern to consolidate power. Social media has empowered people no
doubt but also to fully act on their own selfish opportunist ways that they observe and emulate from powerful people as they amass riches with least effort.
Collective news source no longer exists. People are living in alternate realities.
Media is dead (to paraphrase Nietzsche). Whatever media may say they no longer
hold the narration of collective. Ofcourse, most do source check the facts but
their narrative are agenda driven and controlled by extremely rich people
seeking more influence. Their focus and prioritization are biased to their
ideology and profit from sponsors. Legacy media worked to extend the status quo
and balance the regressive. To assert that they stand for truth is spacious.
The reason why people desperately look for alternate source of news is because they
don’t trust, or else they choose the easy ways of daily sedation by dumbed down infotainment of least responsibility.
We therefore live in
post-media world. When collective is no longer source for information it
creates its own problems. It is responsibility of the state and tech platform
to authenticate facts, create systems to red flag and tag misinformation and
disinformation. There is explosion of variety of opinions, that is not
controlled and disseminated by elite and narrow interests. With access to
authentic facts, it is for individual to choose what to read and frame his or
her thoughts on. Value education, compassion and aesthetic sensibilities will
create the framework for better. Therefore, in this post media world the state
has a huge responsibility to invest in quality education and critical thinking.
It must invest collective activities for young, active involvement in nature
like kitchen gardening, butterfly parks, maintaining trees, bird watching so
on. Best of education is rooted to uniqueness of each life and biodiversity in
which they nurture. Such connectedness nurture understanding and therefore compassion
for other life. This is investment for better future. Social institutions that actively
value and strengthen framework of empathy and compassion. Creative people who extend
creative sensibilities of society. Technology has increased speed of access to
the world and rapidly multiplied possibilities of senses but that shouldn’t be
the reason to hasten pace of life. There is a need to slow down. Our experience
of life needs slower introspective involvement to bring in the best
possibilities. State is dutybound to create framework for people to find their uniqueness
and connect to surrounding. It should no longer be an individual pursuit, long
delayed. State must invest in public areas where people are actively
discouraged from using smart devices. Spaces for people to sit around for as
long as they want, parks and garden with biodiversity, unique attributes of the
habitat and value the ordinary. Quieter ‘boring’ places needs to be part of
life’s experience that is being actively sought to be negated. Too much
excitement over inane is not adding to anything but people on dopamine rush
with low attention. It is a mix that surely cannot produce anything worthy. There
is an urgent need for new narration to redefine what we value.
Cycle lanes and footpaths
actively slow down pace of life while being sustainable and healthy. Work space
can encourage a day without technology every month or so. Areas to spent
leisure time without much activity or purpose must be encouraged. More
information and awareness need space for cooling the mind, ability to evaluate
and understand, space to think. Slowing down makes delicate nuances and
astonishing complexities accessible. Connecting to world fast is exciting but
shouldn’t decide conduct of life and how we experience. Neoliberal value system
has created this framework of fast technology equated to fast pace of life so
as to work their ‘development’ model which is based on fast consumption defined
as ‘growth’ on juvenile assumption of unending resources and no consequences.
Apart from environment impact and individual wellbeing what is not discussed is
how it is working to define collective sensibilities and connection to
surrounding. People are increasingly getting alienated through technology,
further isolated from surroundings through in social media, they create
alternate world through virtual associations that is not able to distinguish fantastical
from real hence easily fall prey to all kinds of fake narrations. A strong
foundation of quality education, compassion and refined sensibilities is a
barrier from the pull of rot of hate groups, extremist views, supremacist chauvinistic
ideas and exceptionalism, conspiracy theories and all the worst possibilities.
Since they are not able to find alternate to neoliberal capitalism nor refine
and reevaluate the premise of development and growth it is for people to insist
on slow down spaces so as to retrieve their being. We are not cog in neoliberal
greed nor does job define our value or need to occupy ourselves from fear of
our worst selves.
