Do you think our (the USA) influence has encouraged the uprisings in the Middle East?

chimdogger · Post by **chimdogger** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:16 pm

Iraq, Afganistan, somewhat democratic elections in those countries, Facebook, Twitter etc....

I'm no George Dubya fan but he did mention our western influence, democratic ideas, are going to change the Middle East in one of his speeches if I remember correctly.

JawZ · Post by **JawZ** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:28 pm

chimdogger wrote:Iraq, Afganistan, somewhat democratic elections in those countries, Facebook, Twitter etc....

I'm no George Dubya fan but he did mention our western influence, democratic ideas, are going to change the Middle East in one of his speeches if I remember correctly.

It's the information age. Human awareness is the highest it's ever been. People won't allow themselves to be oppressed once they know that other humans are living free. I credit the internet with the immediacy of real time news. As people become more aware, they transcend. It's a ****ing beautiful thing when potential meets action.

Lefty · Post by **Lefty** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 1:35 pm

I agree with Jaws, it is the web that has made all this possible. Real time communications everywhere (almost) is a powerful tool.

JawZ · Post by **JawZ** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 2:22 pm

Let me say this though, technology could be our undoing if we are not careful in how we employ it.

A couple of my favorite quotes regarding technology:

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. ~Albert Einstein

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. ~Isaac Asimov, Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations, 1988

The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men. ~Havelock Ellis

Easto · Post by **Easto** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 2:40 pm

Although I think it's opened a lot of minds and doors, I think the rush to democracy needs to be tempered and thought out by those seeking change. It's easy to get caught up in other's thoughts and beliefs without assessing how you really feel and it's impact on your life.

As far as the immediacy issue goes, I'm all for keeping as much information as possible available to the public, but the belief that "we have a right to know" does not include or should always involve "an immediate right to know".

loop2kil · Post by **loop2kil** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:16 am

JawZ wrote: The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men. ~Havelock Ellis

Skynet

blebs · Post by **blebs** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:13 pm

The Matrix.

CiscoKid · Post by **CiscoKid** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:04 pm

many of the uprisings came about mainly from cables released on Wikileaks...I was talking to a pretty good friend who swears up and down that wikileaks was and still is a CIA sponsored operation. Listening to him tell the story makes you want to buy his bridge in Brooklyn.

Release enough information about foriegn leaders, let their citizens see what the international community thinks about him and discover the full scope at which they're kept in the dark...it becomes a matter of time in todays digital age.

David · Post by **David** » Mon May 02, 2011 10:17 am

JawZ wrote: The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men. ~Havelock Ellis

The where lies the barrier between enslavement and reliance. We build tools to do what cannot.