[This is my entry in the Arrival Day 2005 blogburst.]
For as long as I can remember, I've been a "joiner." When I was a kid it was extra-curricular stuff like choirs and bands and BBYO and summer day camp (where I stayed on for years afterwards as a counselor) and the world of penpals and teenybopper mags and fan clubs, then in college it became APO and Queen's Chorale and whatever Bill-Dale Marcinko dreamt up from year to year, then afterwards it was Uncle Floyd and sf fandom and apas and zines and comics fandom and Firesign fandom and the world gradually went digital and it was CompuServe fora and mailing lists and Usenet and now message boards and blogs. And for each hobby-du-jour I seem to immerse and invest myself rather heavily, but I've also found through the years that a number of these hobbies seem to intersect with one another from time to time like a Venn diagram.
Which I don't find at all surprising, as many people are drawn to these creative hobbies for their communitarian aspects. It's also why many folks who aren't as geeky as me find comfort in religion. It's very empowering to know that you're not the only one who believes in or has passion for something, that lots of others out there also "think like you do." And I suppose it's what attracts folks to politics as well, the idea that by pulling together we can make our communities, our country, our world a better place than it was before.
That there is strength in numbers, in communities of like-minded people, tends to frighten those in power (particularly the current batch), because ordinary citizens outnumber them greatly and they achieve and maintain that power in large measure due to the tactic of "divide and conquer." This kind of scapegoating can have tragic consequences, as we know, but at the very least internecine squabbling takes power away from groups of ordinary people acknowledging their common humanity and focuses undue attention on the fighting itself (whether physical or verbal) rather than on what needs to be accomplished. Every now and then we can shake ourselves out of this media-induced lethargy, particularly when tragedy strikes as we've all seen this past week, but it isn't long before we pit ourselves against each other again for the amusement (and ultimate benefit) of the most privileged classes.
Sometimes it's an uphill struggle to remember that we're all human beings, we all have the same basic needs and desires and dreams and we ought to be afforded the same basic rights and dignity and chances to fulfill those dreams. Being outward-directed is usually a good start in the direction of reconnecting with the community spirit; it's one reason why, stuck as I am in a suburb-based soul-sucking job that affords me little leisure-time energy and mobility when I'm not on vacation, I've taken to reading others' blog entries far more often than writing my own. I've always maintained that just about everyone I know is more interesting than I am, and I hope I'll always feel that way. Thank you all for being a part of my greater whole.
For as long as I can remember, I've been a "joiner." When I was a kid it was extra-curricular stuff like choirs and bands and BBYO and summer day camp (where I stayed on for years afterwards as a counselor) and the world of penpals and teenybopper mags and fan clubs, then in college it became APO and Queen's Chorale and whatever Bill-Dale Marcinko dreamt up from year to year, then afterwards it was Uncle Floyd and sf fandom and apas and zines and comics fandom and Firesign fandom and the world gradually went digital and it was CompuServe fora and mailing lists and Usenet and now message boards and blogs. And for each hobby-du-jour I seem to immerse and invest myself rather heavily, but I've also found through the years that a number of these hobbies seem to intersect with one another from time to time like a Venn diagram.
Which I don't find at all surprising, as many people are drawn to these creative hobbies for their communitarian aspects. It's also why many folks who aren't as geeky as me find comfort in religion. It's very empowering to know that you're not the only one who believes in or has passion for something, that lots of others out there also "think like you do." And I suppose it's what attracts folks to politics as well, the idea that by pulling together we can make our communities, our country, our world a better place than it was before.
That there is strength in numbers, in communities of like-minded people, tends to frighten those in power (particularly the current batch), because ordinary citizens outnumber them greatly and they achieve and maintain that power in large measure due to the tactic of "divide and conquer." This kind of scapegoating can have tragic consequences, as we know, but at the very least internecine squabbling takes power away from groups of ordinary people acknowledging their common humanity and focuses undue attention on the fighting itself (whether physical or verbal) rather than on what needs to be accomplished. Every now and then we can shake ourselves out of this media-induced lethargy, particularly when tragedy strikes as we've all seen this past week, but it isn't long before we pit ourselves against each other again for the amusement (and ultimate benefit) of the most privileged classes.
Sometimes it's an uphill struggle to remember that we're all human beings, we all have the same basic needs and desires and dreams and we ought to be afforded the same basic rights and dignity and chances to fulfill those dreams. Being outward-directed is usually a good start in the direction of reconnecting with the community spirit; it's one reason why, stuck as I am in a suburb-based soul-sucking job that affords me little leisure-time energy and mobility when I'm not on vacation, I've taken to reading others' blog entries far more often than writing my own. I've always maintained that just about everyone I know is more interesting than I am, and I hope I'll always feel that way. Thank you all for being a part of my greater whole.
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