Saturday, October 2, 2010

Clutter


I have nothing to write, yet I feel the need to hear the keyboard’s rhythm as I tap out words. The sound every letter makes as my flesh impacts the plastic is the same sound produced by a warm summer rain falling on an old wooden roof. I guess, I type out of vanity, and to hear something in the silence of another night sitting in my chair soaking in the darkness.

I’m indifferent to everything which seems to be a common trait amongst my generation. Force fed so much information, from every single direction, we’ve become lost in the madness of the cluster; all the while feeding it. Feeding it, but feeding it shit. Such as mass quantities of garbage at a cheap price and a drive thru wait. Make no mistake about it that the meals we’re serving are not healthy, and the cluster keeps getting fatter and uglier.

Most people never mention the cluster in an effort to hope that it will never consume, or over run us -- despite all the obvious writing on the shit house walls we simply ignore it. The cluster is allowed to exist because it feeds on the one trait we all seem to have. Greed. Who’s going to turn down information, social connection, and a chance at fame in order to be left in the dark? Not many people, so we allow it to keep growing. Like a tree that produces golden pineapples until the gold becomes so common it becomes a health hazard, as uptight citizens keep tripping on it; physically, mentally, and pharmaceutically until we’re all too high to counter strike, and too sore from our broken toes to run from it. Soon the pineapples beat us over the head until we all die a bludgeoned death in a mass exodus of raining golden pineapples as fat jolly Hawaiians think it’s a sign from God.

Unchecked growth in any facet of life tends to be dangerous, and end with an over production that becomes a burden. Life’s very nature is to expand and survive. We always grasp this concept when placed into ‘living” things such as the spreading of germs, bugs, migrations, and ecosystems but we often fail to see the living into such man made growths like a political system, a social movement, a dance crazy, a business, an artistic renaissance, and technology.

The cluster is a mix of all the man made life forms such as the internet; and mass communication advances which I’m fairly certain will consume and destroy us. I’m scaring myself with these thoughts, as all of a sudden I realize I’m starting to think like the Unabomber. The only difference is I’m not against the cluster per say, and enjoy its fruits; that and I don’t believe in terror to influence thought. We already have enough of that with politics, reality television, love, and religion.

News and accuracy is blurred through opinion and pandering to a point where nobody knows what is truth. What is truth? Dollars and suits with powers are behind every single source of information that we consume. With so many voices shouting, and updating, and poking, nobody really knows what’s going on, and that’s where social networking comes into play.

American’s have always been protective of their freedom and privacy. There was a time in this country’s history where men would yell at their wife, “I don’t want my phone number in some public book you tell those fuckers at the phone company we’re not interested.” Now we update our locations, pinpoint our thoughts, and flaunt our interests. The people who have access to this information have absolute ownership of the collective thought of America. In a representative government the person with the knowledge of the people will control the people.

Four Square is the newest and most dangerous trend. Remember to always follow the money in this world; and Four Square is new money. Four Square which launched in March of 2009 is now valued at over 100 million dollars (CEO: Dennis Crowley Investors: Union Square Ventures, O’Reiley AlphaTech Ventures, Jack Dorsey, Kevin Rose, Alex Rainert, Ron Conway, Joshua Schachter Chad Stoller, Sergio Salvatore, Andreessen Horowitz.). This is not a corporation owned by shareholders but rather a private company hoping to start making in the big bucks like Facebook.

Four Square (a virtual city where people check in to locations they are at to earn points to try to become the mayor of the virtual place which is a real location. In other words you can create your house and your work and your favorite bar has already been created. So when you are out you check into work, when you are at the bar you check in there, and so on. You track yourself freely so that whole world knows where you are as foursquare gets to study human pattern and trends. Pure vanity and a self imposed tracking devices we’re feeding into our own ankle bracelets.

Mississippi is the nation’s 30th largest state and in less than two years Four Square has already eclipsed its population. So it has information and money, what is stopping it from organizing its members and becoming a major political player? Democrats and Republicans will be a thing of the past as companies such as four square fights Google for the big white house with the outdated red phone. Google is a frightening super power as it knows what everybody is thinking and grossed 6 BILLION dollars last year in pure profit. TO put that in perspective the 2008 presidential campaign cost the two candidates a combined total of somewhere around 5.5 Billion dollars. Google out grossed both of their budgets and with the accessibility to voters could easily win or sway an election.

I really don’t know who runs Google, or any of these new money super powers. The could be run by some vile kiyoodle or some genius think tank -- and its frightening how little we all know about the people who run these products that own us. What is Google and four squares product? Our habits and out thoughts. Unlike the TV or the Radio we feed these machines knowledge so we are actually working for them. They built the roads on the internet super highway and all they ask is for complete knowledge of what information we seek to ride on the roads. A steep toll when you really think about it.

I feel like a cockroach kicked back on a soft hotel bed watch HBO not realizing the poison I was breathing. Like an old timer who knew the cigarettes were bad for them, but smoked because nobody had yet proved it. How long are we going to play this game?

Job security is non existent as our jobs vanish to the progress of man and these new communications options allow work to go overseas where labor is free. As the world shrinks our jobs become deluded and job security diminishes. It’s not like the old days where you can give yourself to a company and earn a secured living. Now the companies don’t want us because they have grown so large and we’ve become so small.

Eventually the replaceable part that is you and I will no longer be able to afford the internet as the job market shrinks. Soon the information will be cut off to the poor and only the super elite will have access after robbing us of all our thoughts for so long. The death of this age of enlightenment that we are actually living in.

I’m sorry for the rant and if it don’t make sense I’m sorry for that as well, as I am just purely emptying the gibberish from the back of my brain as I sit here with nothing to write just wanting to hear the sound of my keyboard in motion, writing for nothing but the vanity hoping somebody discoveries me for my fifteen minutes of fame -- just feeding the clutter.

AFL

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