L MAO

[sabotabby]

Apparently, we're all a bunch of Maoists. Digital Maoists. According to Some Guy, subsuming one's identity into an electronically aggregated mass is akin to Mao's China.

Go read this article. It's sillier than all those people claiming that the interwebs would bring us grassroots democracy and maybe ANARCHY. It's wonderful because it combines so many of my interests—crypto-Maoism, old media-types who fear and mistrust teh intarwebs, and a prime opportunity for Boomer*-bashing—all in less than 500 words. Some choice bits:

Now Lanier has taken on another role: dyspeptic critic of the surging trend of digital collectivism, an ethic that celebrates and exploits the ability of the Web to aggregate the preferences and behaviors of millions of people.

Yes, the intarwebs are just one big collective. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. That's why everyone on the internet now likes furry pr0n.

IM IN UR INTERNETZ

COLLECTIVIZIN UR TUBEZ

In a recent essay posted on the Web site Edge.org, Lanier disparages the recent spate of efforts that rely on conscious collaboration (like the anyone-can-participate online reference work Wikipedia) or passive polling (the so-called meta sites like Digg, which draw on user response to rank news articles and blog postings). To Lanier these represent a rejection of individual expression and creativity.

If you collaborate with other people in a cooperative manner, the terrorists communists win! He's also against open-source software, if you were wondering.

But my favourite bit is this:

If you look at the history of youth cultural movements, they tend to go one of two ways," he explains. "One is in the direction of individual expression and creativity; the best example is the '60s. The other way is to lose themselves in the collective, binding themselves into a gang—as in the Cultural Revolution.

My generation's mindless trend-following is better than your generation's! Because we smoked marijuana! And grew our hair long! We were such rebels. Our generation changed the world forever, which is why it was back to lock-step conformity once we all sold out, bought SUVs, and those annoying Gen Xers came along with their world-weary cynicism and OMG short hair.

Hat-tip to rohmie, who knew this would make my day.

* No, I don't mean you.

Comments

[ironed_orchid]

That's fantastic. Of course, Jim Wales is some kind of randroid, so it may be true about the hive mind stuff on wikipedia.

[sabotabby]

I didn't know. :(

[ironed_orchid]

Oh yeah, that's last year's news. (Or early this year, which feels like a century ago.)

[springheel-jack.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia is beyond his ability even to mist it with ideology. Much bigger. Still flawed, but not his baby anymore.

[ironed_orchid]

Yeah. Which is no doubt a good thing. But it's something of a cesspit, regardless.

[frippy.livejournal.com]

See, but, um, that's why Wikipedia is a free-for-all. The best, most brilliant, strongest, handsomest facts, opinions, and entries will remain in Wikipedia. If it's not in there, it was too weak and deserved to be deleted/ignored.

I'm making shit up here. :P

How do Randroids have children? Babies are weak, stupid, dependent, and lack rippling, golden musculature. Altruism is for suckers! Throw the baby in the woods and if he survives into manhood, then he is worthy of the title of son.

[ironed_orchid]

How do Randroids have children?

First, this would require that randroids have sex, this si too disturbing to contemplate.

Doesn't matter though, they can just let those stupid weak altruistic people have kids and raise them until they are 16, and then all the randroids have to do is leave strategically placed copies of Atlas Shrugged around, and behold: a new generation of randroids are created.

[frippy.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see! Kind of like the Shakers.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

They call it sex, we call it rape.

[ironed_orchid]

Ouch.

Nasty, because it's true.

[sabotabby]

I think most Randroids don't have sex. They like to talk about sex a lot—in theory—but they aren't actually getting laid.

Face it. "Let us begin the sexual transaction wherein you exchange a fancy dinner for the temporary use of my vagina" is not a very hawt pick-up line.

[frippy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I guess I should've figured out the lack of sex. I mean, aren't they all incredibly discerning? Like that woman who determined that she is statistically desirable. I think she also didn't want kids because it'd make her statistically less undesirable (women who don't have kids have 35.6% perkier breasts and 24.7% tighter vaginas. I know this is true because I read it on Wikipedia). Until she finds a guy who is also a Randroid who is statistically comparable to her in terms of looks, brains, and money, I guess it's no wiener for her.

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

How do Randroids have children? Babies are weak, stupid, dependent, and lack rippling, golden musculature. Altruism is for suckers! Throw the baby in the woods and if he survives into manhood, then he is worthy of the title of son.

I guess if they had kids, we would hear more rants against those oppressive "genetic welfare laws" that require people to support their lazy offspring until they reach age 18. Granted, they could force their offspring to work for their room and board, but as you have pointed out, babies are weak and useless. Naturally, the only objectively logical solution in keeping with the Laws of the Free Market would be to start kids in debt servitude as soon as their motor functions allow. This way, they could pay off the debt incurred during their infancy. Such Structural Adjustment Programs would in turn teach the little leeches the value of money.

[frippy.livejournal.com]

Hey, I smoked pot! I'm every bit as righteous as those Boomers!

I really do hate the self-congratulatory attitude of Baby Boomers. Yeah, you changed the world in the 60s, so you say, but it fell apart once Reagan got into office and there was a killing to be made in the 80s. And what real changes did hippie kids make, anyhow? It certainly wasn't those groovy hippies who fought for civil rights. All they did was ride around in VW busses (so groovy, man, Nazis founded this righteous automobile company) and drop acid and fuck each other. Where did long-lasting change come out of that?

Whatever. You and I and everyone else born after 1960 know this to be true. Have another bed-in, hippie, and see if that ends wars or feeds the hungry. I'd rather be part of a co-operative effort if it were to produce real, long-lasting results.

Most (but by no means all) of the real progressive changes in America happened around the turn of the century -- female suffrage, labor rights (slowly being removed from us, but hey, 40 hour work weeks and safety regulations were nice while they lasted), food and drug safety, even the first proponents of birth control, all of these people were doing their collective thing when the Boomer were but gleams in their parents' embryonic eyes.

[sabotabby]

Much happened in the 60s to change the world. But our generation is also changing the world. The world changes. The difference is that most generations don't act like they were the awesomest ever.

I'm also under the impression that the people who did change the world in the 60s aren't the ones bragging about it now.

[frippy.livejournal.com]

The generation that begat the Boomers are called The Greatest Generation. Maybe the boomers will rename themselves The Awesomest Generation.

Our generation is changing the world? But I thought we were all cynical slackers who like to wear flannel shirts and enjoy skateboarding and grunge rock 'n' roll and we have zero ambition or interest in anything but the Pearl Jams and reruns of HR Pufnstuf. :(

Yeah, I mean, there were important strides towards gay rights and women's rights and environmentalism that found genesis in the 60s. Oh wait, ZOMG, THAT WAS ALL COLLECTIVE ACTION!!!! *RED CHINA ALERT! RED CHINA ALERT!*

The biggest problem with Boomers bragging about changing the world is that their attitude ultimately concludes with, "Hey, kids in the black sweatshirts, we fixed everything in the 60s and it's all groovy now, so go home, man!"

[springheel-jack.livejournal.com]

I'm from the EXTREME generation.

[lemur-man.livejournal.com]

so groovy, man, Nazis founded this righteous automobile company)

Ehh, it was more like they co-opted an existing one. But yeah, forced labour and building tanks for the Nazis, not good.

[bike4fish.livejournal.com]

But where are the Masons? They must be somewhere in a conspiracy to turn us all into uniform drones.

[sabotabby]

Jews are also missing. But since we're responsible for both communism and capitalism, I guess a case could be made for our influence on Mao.

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

While I appreciate the hat tip, I must confess to being somewhat disappointed. Where's the Maoist kitch or Constructivist fonts? Why, there isn't even a single pixel of red in your entire graphic.

... I thought I knew you ... [*sob*]

[sabotabby]

Icon!

In other news, guess what arrived today?

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

Enjoy.

"Demolition" is technically the first episode, but I think you will like the pink boxed tape best (I do anyway). "Summer Holiday" is the last episode and, unfortunately, it shows so see it last. Otherwise, order really doesn't matter.

[seaya.livejournal.com]

http://catsinurstuffdoingthings.ytmnd.com/

[sabotabby]

Hee!

The "IM STEELING UR GIRLFRIEND" was my favourite.

[esizzle.livejournal.com]

This made my day too!

Although, to be honest, I wish that Lanier was right about the Internet having a "hive mind". Not just because it makes me feel like a fearsome Borg character from Star Trek. But also because if he was right, then I can fall asleep knowing that Tubgirl would touch the lives of millions of people worldwide in the same way as it has mine. ;)

On the other hand, if Lanier worries that the Internet has turned our youth into a collective that lacks creativity and individual expression, does he weep gently for the youth following of OC, Desperate Housewives, Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, Felicity.. etc?

[sabotabby]

All those shows are evidence of how diverse and creative individualist capitalism can be!

I should ask some of my non-interwebby friends if they know what Tubgirl and Goatse are, just to see if they've really had the sort of cultural impact that Lanier describes. I already got to tell three people about tentacle porn, including a co-worker.