[Air-l] peace (fwd)

[Nathaniel Poor]

I would say that the list isn't about stuff like that so it isn't
brought up.

I blog about it, and see a lot of stuff in the NYTimes instead -
editorials, opinion pieces, pictures and articles about thousands of
marchers. So no, it's not on AIR, but it's out there, a lot of it is.
And I get email, like one today to a good Michael Moore piece.

I mean, there are a lot of other outlets, so it's not like I myself am
not talking about it, I'm just not doing so absolutely everywhere.
Perhaps the net has allowed for so many different methods of
communication that we don't need to use every way we have to talk about
it, sometimes respite is good.

ndp...


> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: david silver <dsilver at u.washington.edu>
> > Date: Wed Mar 19, 2003  5:19:47 PM US/Eastern
> > To: air-l at aoir.org
> > Subject: [Air-l] peace
> > Reply-To: air-l at aoir.org
> >
> > i attach a few preemptive apologies to this post: apologies if the
> > topic
> > strays from what some believe to be appropriate discussion areas for
> > the
> > list, apologies for leaping to a soapbox to exclaim a personal
> > position.
> >
> > i am writing to inquire why there is so much silence regarding a topic
> > that deserves a bit more than silence.  the historian in me wonders
> > what
> > future historians will think when they look back into the archives of
> > lists like air-l and notice that while the world is on fire, there were
> > only a handful of posts about it.  why is this?
> >
> > i run a resource center which puts me in communication with a ton of
> > international scholars, most of whom like us focus their academic
> > interests on the internet and digital culture.  over the last few
> > weeks,
> > i've received a few dozen emails asking me about americans' positions
> > about the impending war with iraq.  i'm very nervous about being some
> > kind
> > of spokesperson for a country as large and diverse as the US but i'm
> > equally nervous about some of the ideas they are getting from the
> > press.
> > (example: today's washington post reports a poll saying 7 out of 10
> > americans support a war with iraq, with or without UN support.)  i
> > think
> > it's important to say that i live and thrive in seattle, a particularly
> > progressive (in some ways) city that has a history of political action
> > --
> > in the last few years along: the anti-WTO protests; indymedia.org,
> > which
> > started in part (please: if i'm wrong here someone correct me) in
> > seattle;
> > curbside recycling, which has spread to much of the country -- and
> > cultural creation: jimi hendrix; grunge bands like nirvana and pearl
> > jam;
> > and in nearby olympia, the riot grrl movement.  so perhaps my reality
> > is
> > tweaked (*always* a possibility, i freely and proudly admit), but here
> > in
> > seattle there is a massive anti-war movement: seen in the streets, on
> > campuses, on storefronts and homes, and with furious and earnest
> > INTERNET
> > USE to organize, education, mobilize, and give counsel.  while the
> > mainstream media may portray americans as standing firmly behind their
> > president select, there are massive numbers that think this war (and
> > the
> > series of wars that many of us fear will follow), the way in which it
> > has
> > been developing unilaterally, and the global disarray it will produce
> > are
> > insane, dangerous, undemocratic, and, well, suicidal.  through talking
> > with friends and colleagues -- via interpersonally, through the phone
> > and
> > letters, and especially OVER THE INTERNET -- i have come to believe
> > that
> > it is not only in seattle.  such beliefs can be found throughout the
> > country, as well as of course throughout the world.  with HELP FROM THE
> > INTERNET i have learned that many global protestors understand this:
> > recent protests seem to me to be more anti-bush than anti-american but
> > i
> > could be wrong.  i would love to hear more about this from anyone who
> > cares to post.
> >
> > if some believe this has little to do with internet research, i offer,
> > again, my preemptive apologies.  but i think we are missing a massively
> > important topic here: as my friend jay babcock has taught me, this war
> > --
> > if and when it happens -- will be the first (or one of the first, that
> > can
> > certainly be debated) INTERNET WAR.  by the phrase, jay means and i
> > agree
> > the first major war that will be conducted since a critical mass has
> > gone
> > online.  what are the repercussions?  it's possible -- i say possible;
> > please save the "you technological determinist!" flames -- that the
> > net's
> > distributive nature and massive user base will allow a more free flow
> > of
> > information from the front lines.  if and when the war begins, will we
> > see
> > gifs and jpegs of killed civilians, bombed out cities and villages, and
> > general horror that will not be shown on CNN and fox news?  will we
> > read
> > -- in the form of emails, list postings, and blogs, to name a few --
> > first
> > hand accounts of what's going down rather than the canned press
> > releases
> > being fed to american (and others?) media outlets?  perhaps an early
> > example of this -- one that i, as a jew who has grave reservations
> > about
> > israeli imperialism, am a bit nervous to post in fear of fostering
> > misguided anti-semitism -- can be found here:
> > <http://www.palsolidarity.org/rachel.htm>.  any interest in discussing
> > this?
> >
> > peace,
> >
> > david
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Air-l mailing list
> > Air-l at aoir.org
> > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> Nathaniel D. Poor
> Ph.D. Candidate
> Dept. of Communication Studies
> http://www.umich.edu/~natpoor
>
>