Globalization, Ai and the Promise of Tomorrow in the Social Imagination!

Globalization has been an agenda and has been discussed for a very long time; its not a brand new idea. It was feared by the Founding Fathers. It was a practice of the Roman Empire if you really think about it. Globalization is when any group is driven to conquer and control ~ The British and even Mongols did it too. What for you may ask? A good question with an obvious answer I would add ~ money, power and prestige.

Ironically, today globalization is being sold as 'global harmony', as it promises no disparity, no war, no poverty... etc. If we just make everyone the same, on the same page in terms of economics and politics and even race, we will have created a utopia. I like that use of grammar ~ future perfect. Will have done something. When I taught English as a second language, my students would always ask, what is that tense for and will I ever use it. I said it has its purpose in the English language and though you may not use it, you better be ready when someone else does.

Oh really, a utopia? What about a dystopia? Right, a dystopia is a society/world that is undesirable and even frightening! It would be such because in order to have 'real globalization' one would have to erase socio-histories, erase identity and language and the meaning that people have and find in them.

That would be a huge undertaking but guess what. It is at hand. How you ask? Via social media. It is now a tool for the process just mentioned. Once we get everyone on the right page, (facebook i.e) we will be able to do the rest. But you say, how can being on that page erase socio-histories, identity, language and meaning that belong to a group of people in a place? Good, in fact very good question.

With a little help from their friends (including programmed Ai) it becomes an easy task. There is no doubt that it will take time but its becoming a no brainer with that kind of help. How? Well, once you set a program into action, with no holds barred/no questions asked, the end justifies the means ... and it just goes. You can of course use programs discreetly by programming in limits on what can be said, texted, twittered and or you encourage tolerance of some things over others which you label as intolerant, you make evil good and good evil and all in the name of peace and globalization.

This is a kind of or a form of politically correct bullying that has an ultimate goal which is to conquer and control. The beauty no one person can be pointed out as the villain. So, who is doing this kind of digital virtual reality bullying? The best guess - algorithms are.  Its all in good programming form, all in good taste, all in good 'global conscious' too. After all, its becoming a brave new world and we need to make it safer and nicer and just simpler for everyone and that makes it fair.

Now, the next question... the promise of tomorrow in the social imagination. What will that be? Who knows but one can make an educated guess, right?  There is no certainty of what it will be so there is no promise for anyone in particular, that's safe to say. But, there is hope for change and hope for change is always a promise for something, right?

The only thing to worry about is that without knowing what to hope for (since we are just hoping for change) people can actually become hopelessly hopeless for anything and that's the goal and journey of globalization. Such a condition is just right to make all the right changes, right?  Oh, maybe a bit of chaos thrown in to keep up moral about change. But, its coming for sure!

In that case, if your head is in the sand, maybe better keep it there...???

The Founder ~ Ray Kroc Used Virtue Signalling in the Social Imagination!

Ray Kroc... what a blow to the leftist liberal minimalist mindset, right?

Ray Kroc saw something in a symbol, a name, in simplicity and ran with it. He saw the virtue in it as any American did in those times and still does see it  ~ Promotion of the individual's purpose in his/her own Pursuit of Happiness in the Social Imagination. That is 'McDonalds'.  Its not the 'socialist' virtue. Its never was.

And so, it never was about collective service for the good of society. It was always about the service to the individual that was the brainchild of the McDonald brothers and Ray Kroc just gave it to everyone. And, that is why it went nationwide, worldwide and will likely be universe wide at some point in the future. Unless, you can argue logically that the promotion of the individual in their pursuit of happiness is wrong. 

So, yes... I might have to agree that virtue signalling is 'an American virtue' in light of the the above. But, why is it today being used to promote socialism which is anti-individual and pro-service to the sui generis?  In view of the Hollywood movie - The Founder, we are given a fair view of Ray Kroc and how he grew up a symbol and name to serve the individual which ironically serves both the individual and the good of all society.

The left thinks of Ray Kroc as an evil capitalist and the right thinks of him as a man with a vision - all for one and one for all ~ You didn't do it 'alone' or was that the left's mantra? Well, Ray Kroc didn't do it alone either, right? So, I guess he was a leftist. But, some will and do have a problem with that, with his kind of virtue signalling.

They will say that Kroc did not do anything like that. Really? He made a social observation of America, looking at where their virtue lies and he ran with it. Was that wrong? Only if you are not the right person doing it for not right reasons... which are?

Well, let's look at what are the wrong reasons in the eyes of the left. They would be: taking advantage of someone else's idea and in this case, the McDonald brothers. But they in fact borrowed from Henry Ford. The left seems to be anti- corporation but they love Starbucks and bailing out corporate banks and car companies. They liked the slogan that Obama claimed and used "You didn't do it". Unless, it doesn't work for their agenda which is to promote a global world order of socialism. They should get on board with Ray Kroc's dream... it did start the very global world order they want.

All there is left to say... is that we/you should beware of what we/you virtue signal these days, we/you might just get what we/you want and find out that we/you really don't want it. In all seriousness, you could end up being creator/promoter of something that goes worldwide without you and leaves you behind on just a simple swing with a view. But, if you can claim to be the Founder, you won't be alone... who doesn't want to be part of something really big!

Finding and Applying Wisdom in the Social Imagination!

Solomon wrote that there is nothing new under the sun... that's true in a fallen world. We go in cycles, winding down... the universe is not winding up.

All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new "? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.… Ecclesiastes 1:8-10.

Finding and applying wisdom in this kind of social reality - imagination is especially difficult if we do not accept the basic premise - the universe is winding down. As it winds down, we can accept the past as it was and use it as a platform for acquiring and applying wisdom. If the universe is winding up, then there is no call for wisdom, there would be no need as there would always be new everything, so new we would not recognize what came before it and no need to. But, that is not the case inasmuch as many like to think otherwise, deceiving themselves by doing so.

If the universe were winding up, the wisdom would not exist because it would not be necessary to have. We wouldn't even know what it was or what it meant. So, what is wisdom in a universe that is winding down? It is the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight. It is accumulated over time: insight and discernment. It comes from the teachings of ancient wise men.

1- She has gained a lot of wisdom over the years. 2- From that experience, he has become a person of great wisdom. 3- They shared their valuable wisdom to the audience. 4- These stories offer plenty of wisdom to readers. 5- Given my expertise, I fail to see the wisdom in doing that. You see, in this kind of logic, a 3rd grader cannot have wisdom. They might mimic the wisdom of a parent or grandparent but they themselves have no wisdom ... not at that age. They have not acquired wisdom and thus cannot apply it. 

In applying wisdom, we first reflect on the past as in past experiences or knowledge acquired over the years, we seek to find what is really worthwhile in terms of what can bring about the most positive outcome in the current situation of winding down.  We seek wisdom to lesson the burden and pain of winding down and or perhaps we seek to just get through it expediently. 

Wisdom as such, is very valuable ...

Culture and Change in the Social Imagination...

When it comes to culture, any kind of change is actually an absorption or integration or adaptation of another culture's information. Why? Because, it seems wise or suitable or the right thing to do at the time. Another culture may appear to be doing well or better than or it appears to be better off because of a certain practice that it has adopted and or adapted to.

Some cultures are more open books than others and it can be to their benefit or not... in either case. Those that seem to be more closed are taking a risk in the eyes of some and yet they may think that melting into the global network is the real risk.

Change does not come easy and it is not always welcome. But what is real change and if it were real, by whose standards or expertise claims it to be real change? You know what comes around goes around and that there is nothing new under the sun ~ Ecclesiastes 1:9.

There is in fact no 'real' change. There is only mankind and mankind is flawed. Man is greedy by nature. Man is only willing to stick his/her neck out when it seems like there is an advantage in doing so or forced to; the altruistic man is an ideal type that anyone would like to be or thinks they measure up to be. Therefore, any change whether on the individual level or cultural level is likely following that order. As within culture 'groups/societies' this applies as much as it does to wider scenarios - culture to culture.

Is there appropriation? Most certainly. Is that bad? No. In fact, such exchanges of cultural data and its absorption benefits any culture that choose to do so based on the above commentary. Yet, you are still thinking that change does exist... what about technology? Isn't it changing everything? Yes and No!

Yes, because as it was when we gave up hunting and gathering, or the car for the horse, or the telegraph for the telephone or the light bulb for the candle. It would seem that culture changed; but what really changed was only how a given culture experienced such technology in a place and shared it in a place.

Culture did not really change; because the meaning of it did not change - what it means to be this or that and not that or this in a place.  Oh, but you insist yet that cultures change and that certainly what it means to be an American has changed. Has it?

Doesn't it still mean to have certain liberties: such as the freedom of speech, and the right to assemble and to be represented? Yes, it does. Just because the actors change or new 'sets/props' come on stage doesn't mean things have changed or that such 'change' is equal to 'real' change. But, then again... does 'real' change exist? There is no thing new under the sun said a wise man named Solomon!

Cultural Decay ~ A Waste of Time in the Social Imagination...

In the past blog, we explored cultural appropriation, cultural data and capital as well as cultural deprivation and cultural lag in the social imagination... Now, we look at its state of decay. 

Edward  Gibbon was an English historian, writer and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. He is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open criticism of organized religion. Gibbon observed five marks of the decay of Roman culture. They were: concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth, obsession with sex and perversions of sex, the production of art that is freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original, a widening disparity between very rich and very poor and lastly, an increased demand to live off the state.

“A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today. The Western world has lost its civic courage . . . . Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling and intellectual elite, causing an impression of a loss of courage by the entire society.” ~  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn...

 “If we do not live where we work and when we work we are wasting our lives and our work too.” ~ Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture...

 “Although the natural rights inherent in our( Constitutional) regime are adequate to the solution of this ( minority) problem...the equal protection of the law did not protect a man from contempt and hatred as a Jew, an Italian or a Black"..." 'Openness' was designed to provide a respectable place for those groups or minorities--to wrest respect from those who were disposed to give it--This breaks the delicate balance between majority and minority in Constitutional thought. In such a perspective where there is no common good, minorities are no longer problematic and the protection of them emerges as THE central function of government.” ~ Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind...

The quotes above are certainly illustrations of our times. The summary from Gibbon was concerning the Roman Empire; but essentially, it applies to America today which seems to have a death wish to either be destroyed or taken over by someone or something. Is America losing its cultural data and or capital and thus lagging behind other cultures? Perhaps, it is. How does that happen? The comments by Gibbon and other quotes above give us a pretty good idea... don't they?

As a sociologist, I would add that once a culture loses its identity as in loses its cultural data its cultural capital, it becomes lost in a kind of socio-schzophernic mood that can bring down any society. Take time to reread the above and reflect on America today and you too may observe this kind of loss; especially in the last quote. Why is that? Because, it shows that in America there are other minorities and many not even mentioned. As a melting pot, we were able to wrestle with our differences and in many cases, it was not pretty; but in this world there is the good, bad and the ugly. 

A top down government cannot nor is it able to make this world, this life pretty for everybody. In the social imagination of any culture, it is better to accept the good, bad and ugly and deal with it in the place where you are... As Wendell Berry said, "If we do not live where we work and when we work... we are just wasting our lives and our work too". To say it another way, if we do not live and work at the grass roots level, in the place where we are, we are wasting our time, our culture and our social imagination.