I fear for Ukraine. What happens when we decide it's over even when the war is still raging, as we have done with Covid, not caring how many people's lives will be ruined, or ended.#
I expect it'll be the same with Roe v Wade, until we really get woke and see the big picture. We need societal mechanisms to stay focused on what matters, and not lose focus in meaningful ways, until the problem is solved or the threat is over. #
Lots of other things fall into that bucket btw: climate change, regulating guns in the US, black lives matter, LGBTQ rights. We only focus briefly, leaving us vulnerable to dishonest power-hungry people who are more patient.#
Social networks can help, but only ones that are carefully crafted to stay focused on the goal they are assigned to. Twitter and Facebook et al were invented and bootstrapped in chaos. I understand this process as well as anyone. There are other ways to do it. #
PS: I posted this as a thread on Twitter. I know no one there will latch onto it, because it's not the kind of thing Twitter-the-network pays any attention to. Which is the point. The only way to get something like that going is to go first, the same way podcasting and RSS and blogging before it got started. Do it until it seems obvious, and then there's a FOMO, and let the people with the loudest voices pretend they were there at the beginning. All those things have to happen. So we're a long way from being able to work together, but until we start, we'll still be mired, and the people who think and act long-term will keep running everything. #
Last update: Sunday May 8, 2022; 6:47 PM EDT.
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you're about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won't do for Scripting News readers who are a discerning lot, very loyal, but that wouldn't last long if I did rude stuff like that. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It's got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we'll get in there. People really love it. I wish I had done it sooner. And every email has an unsub link so if you want to get out, you can, easily -- no questions asked, and no follow-ups. Go ahead and do it, you won't be sorry! :-)