Culture

Geek As Citizen: What We Don’t Know

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Wrong Way Sign

A few weeks ago there was a story bouncing around the internet about a Google employee who had started a petition to replace the US government, basically, with Google CEO Eric Schmidt.  This was apparently not done with any form of approval from Mr. Schmidt, and you can read more about the person behind this at Quartz.  If you heard about this, it’ll give you some idea of the person behind the petition, Justine Turney.

To put it politely, I find Ms. Turney’s idea to be ill-thought out and lacking a sense of the larger picture, as well as impolite about Mr. Schmidt’s lack of free time.  It felt like a Deep Geek idea, to reference my previous theories, disconnected from reality.

As I discussed it among the gang, something came to the surface  how many times we run into political theorizing that doesn’t seem to involve an understanding of how the world actually works?  It’s a problem whose distribution may vary among people, political groups, and such, but it’s a problem you find everywhere.

We don’t know what we don’t know.  Which may qualify you if your career is to be “random pundit who yells a lot,” but really doesn’t help solve problems.  It is, in fact quite good for creating them, as anyone who has ever worked on a project that was poorly defined without repercussions knows.  I’m guessing that’s all of us.

Now as much as I’d like to see a lot more people address this lack of knowledge about lack of knowledge, it’s something we geek citizens should also address in ourselves.

In fact, I’d say we need to be extra responsible.

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No Mystery On The Science Of Political Theater

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One of the groups protesting (counterprotesting?) the genetrification and changes in Silicon Valley* protested at the home of Kevin Rose of Digg and Google Ventures fame.  They also apparently asked for $3 billion to establish anarchist communes, which will doubtlessly lead to many sarcastic analyses of investments.

Kevin Roose (not Rose, but boy he’s apparently had problems with parties over the names) referred to this as political theater.  Indeed, political theater is something the Bay Area** is used to, usually from the left and in this case anarchists, unless that’s also part of the joke.  Except, the more I think about it, it seems that who uses political theater has changed, and I think this is where the protestors are going to experience backfire.

Political theater in America is now the domain of the Right.

The right is the realm of elaborate Tea Party costumes***.  It’s the realm of Glen Beck’s blackboard.  It’s where Clint Eastwood does performance art talking to an empty chair.

I don’t know about you, but I associate political theater with the Right in America, not the Left or Anarchists.  As Roose (not Rose) notes, the more “mainstream” protestors are involved in anti-eviction, city planning comissions, and the likes.  Those prone to political theater are in the realm of the Right at this point, and that may hurt their cause, whatever it is (one guy even suggests it’s a false flag), since the traditional Left won’t be sympathetic, the Right isn’t sympathetic, and others may just be confused.

* I should note that the exact geography of Silicon Valley is up for debate.

** Not necessarily the same as Silicon Valley, but let the debate begin.

*** Cosplay for people into politics.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Brendan Eich And The Unspoken Origin

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Looking over the departure of Brendan Eich, I have the feel we’ve just seen something historical happen.  A CEO of a Silicon Valley company was compelled to leave (apparently at his own choice) after protests over his support of Proposition 8.  I’ll be analyzing this for awhile, knowing me.

Right now there’s a roundup of unhappy people who are anti-gay rights who are obviously unhappy about this.  I’m seeing the words “homofascism” thrown around (possibly to recall the infamous Pink Swasticka), talk of the Gaystopo, weird ranting, and so on.   Mozilla is target of several boycot calls, including one aping the OK Cupid call.  There’s the usual parade of anti-gay groups like NOM, which to note seems to be the only group actually calling for a boycott.

I didn’t see any LGBT rights groups involved in the call for Brendan Eich’s resignation.  I saw various individuals, a company in protest, and frankly a lot of unhappiness here in Silicon Valley.  It was grassroots displeasure.

Allow me to postulate a theory.

What is really upsetting to people against the LGBT population is this was spontaneous.  There was no one group involved, nothing from GLAAD, no big campaign.  It was a bunch of different people and then one company saying they didn’t want this guy.

That’s upsetting to the anti-LGBT activists because it suggests that this behavior – their behavior – is simply not acceptable.  It’s something people are viscerally disgusted with and won’t put up with.

The anti-LGBT groups target people, let us make no bones about it.  They target a small population for ridicule and persecution and worse.  They are bullies – they’re big groups (funded by people glad to or ignorantly donating to such groups), and like bullies, they punch down.  The people supposedly below just punched back – hard – without an organizing group.

That suggests a fundamental shift.  People aren’t taking anti-LGBT stances and laws lying down.  If first Eich (who, frankly, handled this poorly and probably could have saved his job) what’s next?

I think they’re angry people are fighting back and there’s no one person to target, no one to take revenge on.

However, let me end that for supporters of LGBT rights this is just one thing.  It made a statement, threw down the gauntlet, and called out the rather foul Prop 8.  But if you want to help, go get involved.  Donate to the Al Forney Center or a similar group to help LGBT youth.  Join GLAAD or Lambda Legal.  Vote.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.