Trade of the internet-privacy for agency

How do we gain agency in a world that seems to take joy in making more rules and taking away more personal freedom in the name of communal freedoms?  What would our world look like right now without the internet?  What has gotten better because of the internet?  Have we lost more or gained more agency?

Take this case of racial profiling in NYC.  Using '250's, the NYPD stop random persons under 'suspicion' and frisk them, filing a report whether anything came of it or not.  They have quotas to make on these and are subject to negative action if they do not submit.

Yes, things are changing now.  But why?  Because of the agency the internet provides us, that social media provides us.  UpWorthy is one such site that includes amazing stories that make a difference, exposing love, hate, law, injustice, passion, hilarity and more.

Yes indeed, we lose some agency on the internet- we lose privacy to be involved... but we gain a world of agency at our fingertips... if we have the internet and are willing to use it for better, we can make a difference, we can have a voice and give that voice to the voiceless. 

For more on this trade off and how to manage it, read NetSmart, How to Thrive Online, Howard Rheingold, 2012.

Syria, Anthony Weiner and 9/11... what a combo

Even for those not from New York, we all know who Anthony Weiner is.  Who hasn't heard the news of the talented young politician who screwed himself over when he decided to be unfaithful to his wife through sex-ting...twice.

As you all know, he lost his bid for election in NY.  He was a sore loser too- flipping off the press as they followed him to his car.  Regardless of his arrogance he has a LOT to teach us.

Good support taken for granted:  Weiner has a wife who stood by him as well as obviously campaign staff and constituents, or he would not have made a bid again for office.  In fact, he actually had such a good support system that it looked like he was going to overcome his past.  But he took it for granted and...

Mistook his belief system and wife's forgiveness for permission and lower standards.  He thought for some reason, that since she was so kind and forgiving, so faithful, that he could do it all again.  Forgiveness does NOT mean permission to sin again. It also does not give us a free pass from the consequences of our actions.  It just means we are forgiven, not re-punished over and over for the same sin.

See Hilary Clinton. She is the epitome of faithful wife who forgives (from what we can see).  And while I would probably never vote for her, she is a class act when it comes to a cheating husband in office. Bill learned one thing from her: don't be too...

Arrogant.  Just because we are loved, just because we are forgiven, does not mean we are better, that we are free from rules or somehow cheated the system.  We only cheated ourselves because we were...

Too smart.  We thought we had it all figured out.  We think our way is the best, we have an ultimate right to it and our own happiness was put first.  But that is not sensible thinking, it is simply...

Too  visceral.  Quit thinking with your heart and your genitalia.  We are possessed with what makes our heart go thump thump and our groin grow warm.  We forget that our gut is where God is- deep within us, in a place that is instinctual and very rarely wrong.   We use sex and sexuality for all the wrong reasons and we wonder why others look at us like we are a train wreck.  But that is because we ...

Didn't change  our M.O..  Yup.  We refuse to change and think we can still do the same old thing and get different results.  It doesn't work folks.  We have to stop...

Assuming and observe with new eyes.  We will never be able to overcome our weaknesses until we call them what they are, hold ourselves accountable, expect to be weak again and set up a safety net, seek forgiveness and quit making it all about us.

So what does this have to do with 9/11  and Syria you ask?  We  have done the same thing  that pissed off proper Islam- we flaunt our sexuality and think we have an innate right to do so without consequences America.  And we almost did the same thing again with Syria- we almost went to war when we did not need to.  We are bound to do the same thing with a new financial collapse if we do not learn to take our punches when we make financial mistakes and tighten our belts instead of upping our limits. Let's not be Anthony Wiener- flipping off the world when we make a mistake.  Let's suck up, apologize, own up, and make it right.