Tag: Politics

We can do better!

We all campaign for our own survival and decency.

Our term limits are long, and the road is hard.

It was still dark when I got to the park.

A guy with backpack barely crossed the street. That early!

Then it hit me: the street is his home. He never got out of any house. So being around there early or late, geography is irrelevant.

America, we can do better.

Let’s tackle the issue (I blogged once, though unfairly, to make a point, that Curiosity Rover was looking for any sign of life on Mars, while on Main Street, all kinds of life are evident, but no one cares to lend a hand.)

The payload (admin overhead) for any program perpetuates itself. In short, we trample upon our own device, good intention or not.

So America sees its sons (and daughters) walk the street at dawn to dusk, with no specific purpose.

(ironically, the unemployment office is named “One Stop“) With 10 per cent of payroll revenue loss, America is bleeding by interest payment.  Next generation of homeless kids end up with scars and shame, fast food instead of fast track to college.

Think strategic. Think long-term. Think with a heart. America, ask not. We can do better!

On self-repackaging

The age of frozen self has finally arrived i.e. you either update your web presence, or remain “frozen” in cyber space.

Years from now, people remotely connected to you will Google you  and mine all the intimate data about you or written by you. Personal digital archive.

At the turn of our century, Command-and-Control model dominated management practices. Now, with better algorithm, faster broadband and only a few degrees of separation, suddenly we all “footloose” like Kevin Bacon (who is purportedly connected to everyone in Hollywood by one film or another).

Mass media gave ways to niche media. And we start hearing voices from the fringe. It only takes a camera and an upload.

News personalities are not making nearly enough money as once thought. It’s an age of “do-it-yourself journalism” or Pro-Am.

People point, shoot, upload and save. Gone are the photographers, photo shops, post office and stationery stores.

With Wal-Mart moving in, we are just about to see a complete overhaul of small town America. The Age of Nextville.

No wonder the trend now is to move to North Dakota and the likes. As long as there is broadband connection, a heater and a Wal-Mart.

Online, it doesn’t matter where you live. Or that you are a dog, as they say.

As long as you can repackage yourself, brush up your web presence and leave behind well-orchestrated digital footprint.

It’s a new world. It’s a beautiful world i.e. a hybrid world of on and off-line, virtual and organic relationships. Charlie Chaplin was only partially correct. We are not just an extension of the Machine. It’s the Machine that has become us, shaped and repackaged according to our narcissistic image. I am beautiful. So are you. As long as there is still Photoshop. .