...as the result of some redecoration I found myself unable to use the computer and when I did get it all connected back up it promptly crashed and I ended up having to do a full system restore during which I lost load of stuff that I have discovered that I didn't need anyway.
Not being able to access the Internet for a few days proved to be of absolutely no consequence whatsoever. Okay, so I did pick up my emails on the phone, irritating and slow though this is, and managed to write some letters and stuff on an old laptop that was laying around. But I found that I actually got more done and got it done more quickly too.
Did you miss me? No.
Did I miss you? No.
The Internet clogs up our lives and whilst it allows us to post endlessly about anything we choose we are really just preaching to the choir. The bloggers and posters on the web are able to pass on a lot of information, much of it useful and some of it truly shocking, but in the main it is all being read by like minded people. The majority do not know what is really going on because the truth is not told in the MSM, like it or not that is the reality. More so, whole tranches of the MSM are not even looking for news, they are simply look for scandal such as Jimmy Savile/ Horse meat/legal tax avoidance flim-flam, or repeat the government agenda regarding smoking/drinking/eating etc., ad nauseum. If the Internet is truly to change the way people think they will have to be convinced by deeds not just by words. We need to report on our successes and failures, examine everything and respond to it, bother our councillors and MPs so that they remember who is in charge, ask questions and act on the answers.
Our pubs, back when they were more than just trendy hook-up joints or 'dining experiences', were a place where people put the world to rights over a few beers and a smoke, but a lot of information was passed around and experiences shared, now perhaps the internet will have to fill the gap left by the demise of the traditional pub, or its' changing role anyway. The revolution was always going to start at closing time and at least the pubs did shut, the internet never does. Perhaps we need to shut off the web now and again and actually go and do something.
MitB
ReplyDeleteA few like minded friends have set up meets for the generally 'pissed off'- in a pub - to do exactly as you suggest.
Our aim is to make MPs and Councillors more accountable for their actions, to challenge their 'Authority', to find remedies for problems the people face and yes to get off our arses and do something.
Yes the internet is a great way of giving and receiving information, but passing that info. on to people other than the 'choir' and answering questions, pointing them in the right direction is far more rewarding than punching away at a keyboard.
The Fleece hotel, Ashton in Makerfield 7:00pm every Weds.
The Cattle Market hotel Bolton 7:30pm every second Thurs. Next meet 28 Feb 2013.
I agree. Talking heads alone achieve nothing and that's what internet addiction risks turning us into. Akin to the bodyless Orac of Blake's 7.
ReplyDelete