The only thing we have to fear is fear itself...

...nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes. (Of course, these words come from FDR's famous first inauguration speech in 1933.)

I am truly and deeply depressed by the palpable sense of fear that has run through so many of the thoughts, comments, and posts during the last two units of our course. Perhaps the current debate around Bill C-51 and any number of other almost Orwellian things happening at the moment has heightened my sensitivity, but I truly despair for civil liberties and personal freedom of thought at the moment. Then again, it just may be the wild oscillations of the pendulum which inevitably seem to accompany significant social and technological changes and innovations.

I refer, of course, to the great fear--verging on some sort of hysterical moral panic--about the bogeyman of social media and the evils they stand poised to wreak on our (professional) lives. We need to remember that "social media" as we have come to know, love, loathe, and fear them are less than a decade old--Facebook (being abandoned in droves by young people as it becomes the domain of creaky middle-agers), Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, and all the others have only existed for a handful of years. Still, they seem to have followed an all-too-familiar trajectory. First, there is the utopian discourse about their astonishing potential to make our lives unimaginably better, empower the dispossessed, speak truth to power, and so forth. And now, we have reached the "cautionary tale", profoundly dystopian phase, in which all we hear are horror stories about how they will destroy our lives. The truth, as always, is not only in between, but probably terribly mundane and boring.

Nevertheless, I am truly and deeply troubled by the fear, paralysis, and aversion they have provoked. Yes, there are indeed idiots out there who happily post and share wildly stupid things--things which may indeed come back to haunt them in some way, shape, or form at some point down the road. (Or they may not. The EU has recently decided that people have the "right to be forgotten" on the internet, and to have Google search results removed--although how this can possibly be implemented is an entirely separate question.) Yes, potential employers and others have become aware of social media and often conduct at least cursory searches of candidates' online existences (although few, if any, employers have developed HR policies or their own professional codes of ethics about this area). But that does not and should not mean that reasonable people become terrified, paralyzed, and--by FAR the worst of all--self-censoring.

Whatever any of us do for a living, we are also human beings--creatures with profound social needs, and persons with ideas, interests, and passions. These may be quotidian things (food, hobbies, etc). But they may also be much more substantial--social, cultural, and political. Personally, I happen to fall into the latter camp. Perhaps because of my former career as a journalist, am am still very interested in, and care deeply about, "current events". I am, today, appalled by the wanton destruction of priceless historical artifacts and manuscripts by ISIS idiots in Mosul. I am also passionate about the FCC decision regarding "net neutrality". I care deeply about the potential implications of Bill C-51. I am infuriated by Alberta's continued reliance on unsustainable non-renewable resource revenue to fund the public purse. I'm also interested in things much more "trivial", like popular culture and whether a dress is white/gold or blue/black.

I have, for several years, posted, shared, tweeted, retweeted, and even sporadically blogged about all kinds of social, cultural, and political things. Sometimes those various activities have included rants, profanity, sarcasm, vitriol, and potentially "inappropriate" comments, humor, and who knows what else. They OFTEN include strong opinions. But they are things I find interesting and/or care about. I don't post naked selfies (or any other kind of selfies, really), drunken stupidity, pictures of cats or food, or mindless platitudes or affirmations. So perhaps I engage in some form of "self-censorship". But I do not--and will not--self-censor my thoughts, nor will I particularly trouble my pretty little head with hopelessly feeble and essentially pointless "privacy settings". (Anybody who is half-decent with computers and who has even the slightest desire to do so can easily circumvent those; and besides, official, pseudo-official, and downright covert state apparatuses are surveilling everything anyway--Hi, NSA spooks!) Could some of my social, cultural, and political personal expression online come back to haunt me? I suppose it's possible, but that's a risk I'm MORE than willing to take. I can rest assured that I am not terribly likely to be offered a job by the Conservative Party of Canada any time soon, but that's more than fine with me, as long as I'm not also hauled off to jail for something I tweeted (which can and does happen in many places around the world).

This is why I found Michelle Clark's TEDx talk particularly depressing and chilling. She, like so many others, has already succumbed to and completely internalized the mistaken belief that we must censor what we say and do online--which is so perilously close to censoring what we say, do, and think offline as well as to be utterly terrifying. THAT is what strikes fear into my heart--the internalized fear that results in self-censorship. We cannot simply succumb to the Thought Police. I don't want this to sound like the demented ravings of a tin-foil-hat wearing conspiracy theorist, but when we become so paranoid that we start to self-censor not only deeds and words but even thoughts, then we have entered a world that is truly frightening.

And now for something completely different

(Sorry this week's blog is late...I've been battling a bug this week, and just haven't quite been able to keep up!)

I always use "Black Friday" as an opportunity to discuss consumerism with my ESL students. It usually coincides with one of their presentation assignments. Last year, their assignment came in two parts. The first was to analyze a TV commercial (I provided links to several sites on YouTube where they could find collections of commercials). The second part was to create a commercial of their own for a fictitious product. They had to understand the various techniques and rhetorical strategies used by advertisers, and then use various techniques themselves. They came up with some very clever ideas!

This year, I'm thinking of trying something different with a different (higher-level) class. I've compiled a list of 10 songs about consumerism. Their assignment would be to analyze the song and discuss its critique of consumerism. But I'm definitely open to suggestion--about different songs, different approaches to the assignment, etc. So feel free to make suggestions!

And here, for your educational thinking, as well as your viewing and listening pleasure, are the 10 songs I've thought of so far. (Lyrics for all songs are available at musixmatch.)

References:
Duran, C. [Charlie Duran] (2013.06.04). Jonathan Richman - Rockin' Shopping Center [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb0KcCIsGkE
Lorde. (2013.05.12). Lorde - Royals [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFasFq4GJYM
Alexm799. (2009.03.15). The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrEAWcAvRg
DaveClark5Hits. (2009.11.24). Rolling Stones: "Satisfaction!" [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoxRFOr_sQ0
Chaine de DiapoRetro. (2012.03.10). Janis Joplin-Mercedes Benz(original) [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qev-i9-VKlY
DivisionIsTheNWO. (2010.08.20). BILLY BRAGG - The Busy Girl Buys Beauty (lyric-italiano) [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45m98bGBoy8
AllModConsTheJam's channel. (2011.11.24). The Jam - Shopping [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXnX1AKUqXU
laurynhillvevo. (2013.10.04). Ms. Lauryn Hill - Consumerism (Pseudo Video) [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFPhKf_dg7g
emimusic. (2009.02.28). The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyu1KKwC74
billyjoelVEVO. (2013.04.09). Billy Joel - Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (Audio) [video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJtL8vWNZ4o
Musixmatch - The world's largest lyrics catalog. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.musixmatch.com/