Revolution in the Cyber Age

   

As the second decade of the 21st century begins, what may be the beginning of a raging fire of social change sweeps across nation after nation in the middle east, an ancient and fiercely traditional part of the world.  A place where change is almost unknown, and autocratic government is the norm.

As is usually the case in the west, we were all astonished to see the young, angry masses taking to the streets in Tunisia, Egypt and beyond.  We don't expect revolution in such lands.  Now that it's begun, some welcome it as hope for change and eventual democratization in a region where dissent and free thought have been suppressed by military, authoritarian and clerical rule for so long.  Others fear it as the beginning of a still more repressive form of society that may become a breeding ground for terrorism and regional war.  Only time will tell.  But, if one dictatorship can be overthrown, why not another and another?  The important thing is that a spontaneous explosion of dissent among an oppressed, young and restless population happened, seemingly in the blink of an eye.  A very basic, very human form of minimum critical mass, triggering a chain reaction that hasn't stopped yet.

So, what happened?  It started in Tunisia, with one young man who, in the course of rebelling against a simple injustice, a blow to his dignity, committed the ultimate act of defiance:  He set himself on fire.  The news of it, the potency of the image, the young martyr's pain, the event itself spread as fast as the flames.  Because, of course, we live in the age of cyberspace.  A medium that links the youngest children across oceans.  Nothing happens in this world that is hidden from the eyes of the people, especially the young, and there is nothing that a tyrant fears more than the light of day.  That's why the tyrants of this world would love to control cyber space.  The Red Chinese try to, but only with limited success.  The Egyptian regime tried to pull the plug on the whole Internet when dissent broke out in their country, but the simplest cable connection foiled that attempt.

Some say communication is the beginning of civilization.  And, some say revolution is the first step toward all forms of real progress.  One always fuels the other.  The communication networks of today were science fiction a generation ago.  Some say the progress of the last generation has been limited to instantaneous communication, while social progress has lagged behind.  But, recent events remind us starkly that what happens in the real world enters cyber space and emerges a billion times stronger.  Enter the right combination of human energies, bright and dark, and the explosion that may result may shake the world.

Technology only serves the tyrant when it is controlled by the chosen few.  Once it is everywhere, linking people the world over, it sets the people free.  Whether these revolutions lead to good or ill, we may be witnessing a moment in history in which the people glimpsed the light of a power they had within themselves the whole time and never knew.  Like the first humans to see the spark ignite the fire, this could be the beginning of a bright new age.

Suburban Vampire; Beyond Romance

Check out a couple of very interesting blogs for lovers of unusual fiction:  

For lovers of the undead denizens of the night:  Suburban Vampire:  http://suburbanvampire.blogspot.com/

I'm guest blogging there now.  Enter a comment on the Suburban Vampire blog site before Friday 1/14/2010, and win a free pdf of my vampire novelette "Unholy Alliance."

And, for lovers of offbeat romance literature, often involving the bizarre:  Beyond Romance:  http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/?zx=d74325b0064297e8  - I'll be guest blogging there starting Saturday 1/08/2010.

SCIENCE FICTION - NEXUS - Coming soon from Phase 5 Publishing

  Looking for way-out cosmic sci-fi?
  Time travel?
  Intergalactic odysseys?
  Alien societies of the future?

  Check out Phase 5 Publishing--

The first installment of my science fiction novel "Nexus - Dissent" is now available online at Phase 5 Monthly Review:

http://www.phase5publishing.com/

Nexus is the story of a dangerous forbidden love set in a galactic society of the very distant future... composed entirely of women.

Starship combat.  Alternative societies.  Time travel.  Artificial intelligence.  Desperate escapes and political intrigue in a universe beyond time!  Get a taste, and learn how to order the full-length novel, Book I in the Nexus series, as well as many other great works of unusual fiction from Phase 5!

Purchase Offers

http://www.lillibridgepress.com/book/Flags 

http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781770650343

http://www.lillibridgepress.com/book/Meeting

When did we forget how to dream?

When did our nation forget how to dream? When did we lose our sense of wonder, our belief in our ability to reach for the stars? Our belief in our ability to be more than we are? Some say it died on 9/11. Some say it declined with the economy. Anyway, at some point, we woke up and found ourselves a nation of cynics.

Science fiction is the avatar of our ability to dream of soaring to distant horizons, of proving there is no limit for us save our willingness to try. Since the days of Jules Verne, scientific speculation and flights of fancy have inspired the human race to reach for the unreachable and expand our frontiers, both internal and external. In the turbulent but hopeful era of the late 1960's, Gene Roddenberry introduced us to the world of "Star Trek" a dream of a future in which war and petty divisions were but unpleasant memories, and a unified, enlightened human race reached out to boldly go where none had gone before. In those days, we dreamed of going to the moon, and we made it.

Where are our dreams and hopes now? Where is that starry-eyed calling to move forward into a better world through our own ingenuity? Where is the determination to invent electric cars, solar technology, orbiting microwave power satellites, magnetic bullet trains and other inventions that could free us from Arab oil and greedy, ecologically destructive oil corporations? Grubby, self-serving politics and accommodation with special interests has killed carbon emission regulations, along with all meaningful incentive for green technology innovation. And, the most tragic part is that there is little or no outcry from the public. They're too busy voting for conservative politicians who reject change in any form, whether it be universal healthcare or clean energy.

Is a nation in decline when it abandons all hope in a better future? I think so. You can see the sad evidence in today's science fiction. Or, rather, the lack of it. Where today are the Captain Kirks and Mr. Spocks, the futuristic heroes who inspired us to dream of better days and grand adventures through invention and enlightenment? Science fiction has dwindled, reflecting the flagging spirit of a nation that has lost its will to dream.

Once, we dreamed of flying to the stars. Now, we fight for maintaining the status quo. Once, we dreamed of gleaming futuristic cities on the moon. Now, we march wearing the costumes of 230 years in the past. Once, we aspired to greatness. Now, we aspire to smallness. Once, we dreamed of a future where diseases were conquered and everyone was equal and healthy. Now, we scoff at dreams of self-improvement and ask to see each other's passports. We don't want to move forwards anymore, it seems. Only backwards.

Is there a Gene Roddenberry out there somewhere who can remind us of how to dream?

When the Apocalypse arrives...will anyone notice?

Science fiction films like '2012' and 'Day After Tomorrow' and science fiction stories like my novelette 'Meeting' depict apocalyptic futures involving mass flooding due to global climate change. In the real world today, science fiction is fast becoming science fact. Devastating floods continue in Pakistan and China, record breaking heat waves have triggered massive forest fires in California and Russia, as well as lethal droughts in Africa and Australia. An ice berg the size of Manhattan Island has broken off the polar ice cap and is drifting out to sea. Unprecedented events, these, and almost biblical in their devastating effect. But, not unexpected. Climatologists predicted decades ago that such things would happen, and they are right on schedule.

What is being done about this? Not much. The only meaningful legislation intended to fight climate change to pass through the U.S. Congress, after a long, bitter political fight has gone down in flames, essentially killing any hope of legislating reasonable emissions standards to slow global warming in the near future. The reason? Petty political bickering and entrenched special interests (namely, big oil) and politicians who value their own careers more than they do the world their children and grandchildren will inherit. So, as present trends continue, what can we expect to see in our daily lives? According to EPA studies: "longer heat waves that harm the sick, poor, and elderly; extreme weather events that can lead to death and injuries; and increases in ground-level ozone linked to respiratory illnesses like asthma."

So, the obvious question: Why does the public, even in the face of overwhelming and obvious evidence, remain skeptical that this world is rapidly running out of time? The obvious answer: They simply don't want to believe it. It's too difficult, and too inconvenient for the people to rise up and force the corporations to clean up their act and stop polluting our atmosphere with
CO2 and other dangerous greenhouse gases. After all...it might lead to more people getting laid off. As long as one can at least try to believe that the end is still a way's off...that "I'll be safely in my grave by the time the apocalypse comes" ...we can continue to live our lives comfortably watching reality TV, driving our gas-guzzling autos and blaming the Obama administration for everything.

So, what could we do, if we had the collective will? Plenty. According to leading scientists, the energy used to power, heat, and cool our homes, businesses, and industries and the fuel we use for transportation are responsible for more than 80 percent of global warming emissions in the United States. The major renewable energy alternatives (wind, solar, geothermal, bioenergy, and hydropower) combined could generate many times the amount of electricity the nation now needs. Several renewable energy technologies are available today, and others are projected to become commercially ready in the next twenty years. Wind power has the greatest near-term potential.

In short: It's not easy to convert our destructive civilization to a more ecologically benign one, but it can be done, and without destroying our economy. All it requires is the will of the people to speak out and motivate our legislators to do the right thing and stand up to the big-money corporate interests. The potential is there. But, time's running out.

I hope the epitaph of our civilization won't be: "We had other things on our mind."

New Age of Darkness?

"Flags" a science fiction novelette published by Lillibridge Press and now available on Amazon.com - paints a grim picture of a future in which the human race is one step away from destroying itself over racial, religious and ideological divisions. In real life, how far are we from this, here in the land of the free, where all men are created equal?

The growing hysteria over immigration in this country is becoming truly frightening. Gone is the America embodied in Lady Liberty standing tall and proud with her torch upraised, a shining beacon of hope and opportunity to all the world's peoples who hungered to breath free, unshackled by the tyrannies of the past. The America we seem to be degenerating into is one retreating behind a wall of fear and intolerance. Our growing chorus of reactionary activists envision a ridiculously huge fence sealing our immense border with Mexico, stretching out like the Great Wall of China. Impossible to build or maintain effectively, of course, but conservative politicians and demagogues continue to advocate it to appease the terrified masses. What next? A vast army sent to guard our Great Wall of Texas? Machine gun turrets? Mine fields? High voltage wires? How far are our conservative elements from advocating extermination camps for illegal aliens?

Sound far-fetched? Think about it. Some conservatives today are advocating deportation for anyone born in this country to a parent who was an illegal alien. One has to wonder how many generations back they would ultimately take this. Are any of us safe? And, of course, they would require everyone to produce identity papers. We seem to be slipping closer and closer to something resembling Nazi Germany. And, have you seen the political platform of the Texas Republican Party? It includes "Opposing all criminal or civil penalties against anti-gay activists and any actions they may take to oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values." If taken literally, that essentially means it would be legal to kill gay people at will. And, of course, the Texas GOP wants to get us the heck out of the U.N. Their platform can best be summed up as: "Attention foreign devils and anybody different from us, get out or we'll kill you." This platform is nothing new, of course; The Texas GOP has maintained it for years. What's scary is that the National GOP will not condemn or oppose it.

America is fast becoming a nation of xenophobes who want to close our doors to the outside world and reject all races, cultures and lifestyles that differ from our safe, comfortably familiar norm. The Islamic civilization took a similar turn back in the middle ages. Like us, they were once an open, enlightened, progressive society. Once they turned to xenophobia, their once vibrant culture stagnated, and they've been stuck ever since in the 10th century. That may well happen to us if present trends continue.