Time was when we used to distinguish between the nights you sit around telling stories, and the nights during which those stories were born. I have found myself spending evenings of late telling stories about the time my buddy told this or that great story.
But none of us expected anyone to be listening in or running analytics on our engagement levels. One could make the case that eschewing all those intoxicants would give us a clearer view of things, but it could also be argued that the log in our colective eye is media/news/entertainment-driven a mindless behemoth that diverts us, runs surveillance on us, and even dispatches us. All at once.
~ the lure of convenience is strong, especially when it aligns with the profit motive. Many will sacrifice freedom for security, twas ever thus. Compounded by fear & narrative control gives the authoritarians an advantage. But their grip on narrative formation is loosening & too may have gotten wise to the playbook. It was only a few years ago that people looked at me cross-eyed when I pulled out my flip phone. "Why don't you have a smart phone?" Herd behavior is powerful but can be turned by exposing the risks of the current trajectory. Hopefully those that still indulge choose a sativa buzz for conscious thought & righteous action. ~
All these detailed highly specific late 70s references makes me think you should try writing a coming of age novel set back then. Even though you and I are the same age I didn’t hang out with a stoner crowd in high school and was always so curious about what they talked about. It sounds like you have a lot of insight into that Wayne! On another note I definitely remember thinking how weird it was that there were two distinct groups that had practically nothing to do with each other in high school—those going on to university in the Grade 13 stream, and those not doing that—and how it was largely based not on intelligence but on economic background. It was always this way of course and is even more so in the U.S. but it used to really strike me as unjust.
Time was when we used to distinguish between the nights you sit around telling stories, and the nights during which those stories were born. I have found myself spending evenings of late telling stories about the time my buddy told this or that great story.
But none of us expected anyone to be listening in or running analytics on our engagement levels. One could make the case that eschewing all those intoxicants would give us a clearer view of things, but it could also be argued that the log in our colective eye is media/news/entertainment-driven a mindless behemoth that diverts us, runs surveillance on us, and even dispatches us. All at once.
~ the lure of convenience is strong, especially when it aligns with the profit motive. Many will sacrifice freedom for security, twas ever thus. Compounded by fear & narrative control gives the authoritarians an advantage. But their grip on narrative formation is loosening & too may have gotten wise to the playbook. It was only a few years ago that people looked at me cross-eyed when I pulled out my flip phone. "Why don't you have a smart phone?" Herd behavior is powerful but can be turned by exposing the risks of the current trajectory. Hopefully those that still indulge choose a sativa buzz for conscious thought & righteous action. ~
It's on us to spend time with the ones we care about and not get distracted with devices and the rabbit holes they suck you into.
All these detailed highly specific late 70s references makes me think you should try writing a coming of age novel set back then. Even though you and I are the same age I didn’t hang out with a stoner crowd in high school and was always so curious about what they talked about. It sounds like you have a lot of insight into that Wayne! On another note I definitely remember thinking how weird it was that there were two distinct groups that had practically nothing to do with each other in high school—those going on to university in the Grade 13 stream, and those not doing that—and how it was largely based not on intelligence but on economic background. It was always this way of course and is even more so in the U.S. but it used to really strike me as unjust.