effing luddites.
Oct. 5th, 2004 09:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keryxThis morning, I've been bombarded by what I'd call luddism if so doing weren't an insult to Luddites and a misappropriation of the term.
First irksome thing: the slow food people. They want to eat only artisanal [read: expensive] foods and have created restaurant guides that allow you to do so. Because mass production of food is eeeeevil. I didn't read very much of their site, so I can't really comment in detail. If they're working to make sure everyone has access to handmade food, they're just kinda tunnelvisiony (handmade food and slowing down is good, but mass produced stuff and speeding up has its uses to, yo); if they're not, though, they're a bunch of wicked yuppsters (an assessment based entirely on their restaurant guide).
Second irksome thing: actually, it's 90% thought-provoking article and only about 10% irksome. The Go Animal newsletter proposes that we think of nutrition beyond edible food. Interesting, right?
Until you get to this quote (from the "Modern American Imbalance" segment): As TV tyrannizes our culture, many Americans show a decreasing interest in the world of ideas; many of us no longer read books or seek out new ideas. That's right. Because TV NEVER CONTAINS A SINGLE NEW IDEA. I hate that smart people can believe stupid things like that; it's a countermedia stereotype of the medium, and it just isn't borne out by the reality of our experience. The media that we curse (TV is always first on the list, but the net follows right behind) are essential to the large-scale distribution of ideas. And seriously, do you think those giant Barnes & Nobles survive just cause people like coffee?
We're entirely too embarrassed by our own technology. Why is that?
First irksome thing: the slow food people. They want to eat only artisanal [read: expensive] foods and have created restaurant guides that allow you to do so. Because mass production of food is eeeeevil. I didn't read very much of their site, so I can't really comment in detail. If they're working to make sure everyone has access to handmade food, they're just kinda tunnelvisiony (handmade food and slowing down is good, but mass produced stuff and speeding up has its uses to, yo); if they're not, though, they're a bunch of wicked yuppsters (an assessment based entirely on their restaurant guide).
Second irksome thing: actually, it's 90% thought-provoking article and only about 10% irksome. The Go Animal newsletter proposes that we think of nutrition beyond edible food. Interesting, right?
Until you get to this quote (from the "Modern American Imbalance" segment): As TV tyrannizes our culture, many Americans show a decreasing interest in the world of ideas; many of us no longer read books or seek out new ideas. That's right. Because TV NEVER CONTAINS A SINGLE NEW IDEA. I hate that smart people can believe stupid things like that; it's a countermedia stereotype of the medium, and it just isn't borne out by the reality of our experience. The media that we curse (TV is always first on the list, but the net follows right behind) are essential to the large-scale distribution of ideas. And seriously, do you think those giant Barnes & Nobles survive just cause people like coffee?
We're entirely too embarrassed by our own technology. Why is that?
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-05 06:42 pm (UTC)so for a vegan who is all think globally, act locally, wouldn't that pose at least an interesting question? however, since anti-consumerist vegan can afford to just compost the damn things, the whole thing is moot.
i have absolutely no knowledge of which strategy creates more badness, nor do i care to define badness. and this is not the point. the point is that it's, you know, funny what some anti-consumerist people think sometimes.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-05 06:50 pm (UTC)