Ground control to Major Tom

Thinking of the Internet in 2050 is kind of freaky. What are the boundaries of innovation ? No boundaries. That's why, I prefer talking about what the Internet of my dreams would be.

I think it would be fantastic if the mankind was able to jump into the screen and then wandering around the pixels and the colors.

I think it would be great to have a social network only for dead people. Maybe for those who believe that souls are eternal people would communicate.

I think it would be wonderful if we can enter in some websites.

I think it would be fantastic if all the cities were named "Internet".

Friday night, in the kingdom of doom

I must admit it : I am looking forward to the end of world in 2012. I think that many problems will be solved if many natural distasters happen. That's why, world in 2050 will be better. Maybe there will be just 100 people living on earth. Yes, just imagine a world with only 100 people. Only 100 survivors. The best people. No wars. No killers. Nothing. Just 100 people ready to share projects and to fulfill themselves without hurting anyone.

Our world is in a utter mess, and I do have the desagreable impression of listening the word "Crisis" all day long. We do no longer have hope and we do not believe in anything, except in despair. We spend all our days complaining, thinking of what tomorrow will be. Even music we love sounds dramatic. All the things we do have a bitter taste, we do things like automats. We have lost our senses and our wills.

I do believe that 2050 will be like a no man's land. But this no man's land is linked to our pessimism and nihilism. Maybe we will have to pay the price for our selfishness and our lack of hope. Someone said one day : "Let it be". Oh, wait.

The future is coming on, is coming on

It's very difficult to imagin yourself in the future.  Nevertheless, I will try to imagine what I could be, just for my english teacher.

- First, in theory, i would really love to be an imitator. I love making fun of people I know in my everyday life and to be honest, I think I am quite talented for that. So, it would be really great if i had the opportunity to be selected during a casting. But the best thing would be to make it on my own way and to be a kind of "self-made woman". Nevertheless, I am too shy to dare and I am now reflexing on an original way to be successful.

- In practice, I think that I would be unemployed. Because if I had to choose, I would rather search for something I really like instead of doing something I don't really like or, even worse, for some I don't like at all. I prefer working at MacDonald's instead of  being the head of a department communication in a company. I do not have any ambition.
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- The only solution then is to win at Loto. To be rich. Then, I could have spare time to read all the books I want, listen to  the music I want, and do whatever I want. Yeah, I am kind of nihilist you know.

Why I love shopping online

To be totally honest, I'm not inspired at all about "e-commerce". Even if, I must admit that I regularly shop online, especially for clothes. And especially, when I do have money. So, I am going to explain you why e-commerce is great.

1) Shopping online means gaining time
2) Shopping online makes you feel powerful
3) Shopping online makes you feel rich, as if you could spend all your money
4) Shopping online means being faster
5) Shopping online means also taking your time
6) Shopping online means not seeing crazy people
7) Shopping online is being less stressed and less tired
8) Shopping online means having more choices
9) Shopping online means being free
10) Shopping online means having fun

Privacy versus security : round number 1

In the aftermath of the 11th September, the quest of security has almost became at the core of the political debate. In fact, most of the governments have became wary that everyone could threaten nation's security. That's why, a lot of measures have been implemented often at the expense of civil liberties. Does our world look like Big Brother ?

Most of the governments, apalled by terrorism, have challenged privacy, deeming that safety prevails over civil liberties. In fact, many countries have pushed through repressive laws, America and Britain are relevant in that respect. Agents can eavesdrop on private phone cells, read emails, impinge into medical records, bank statements in order to detect a supposed terrorist. Technology's progress has actually enhanced the efficiency and the novelty of means.

In fact, the convenience of technology seems to encroach upon the private sphere. Closed-circuit cameras, for instance, peer at citizens from street corners, in banks, in airports. Anywhere. Anytime. Now, personal date are stored, analysed to discover patterns and to predict future behavior.

Besides, cities are full of cameras and unfettered surveillance has been implemented in all the areas. For instance, DNA has became a popular tool to help detecting terrorists. In Britain, DNA is taken from everyone and it is arrested and recorded for life even if the person is aquitted. Though TV show convey the idea that it is an efficient mean, it remains dubious. Companies have access to amounts of data about people and they do not realize about information they provide when they use their credit or shop loyalty card.

Riots in Britain

In 2001, a racial riot has taken place in Bradford, a nothern industrial town in Britain. Can we link it to multiculturalism ?

The riot in Bradford is part of one in a series, following the same pattern and involving the same actors, Asian and white young people, and the police, as the previous ones. The causes are the heat wave, the provocative attitude of a few extremists but there are also racial, social, economic and historical ones.  The riots do not testify to the racism of the British society : they are the consequences of a multicultural policy that finds support across the political spectrum and that has made assimilation a taboo subject.

The social policy of the governement has promoted the right for difference for minorities, disregarding the fact that some degree of assimilation alone can avoid a racial divide. Lord Ouseley, in a report on Bradford, pinpoints the problem of housing segregation, whereas Ceri Peach establishes a parallel between the black and Asian communities that reveals the will of the latter to remain alone. 

Maybe the multicultural policies implemented in Britain should have put less emphasis on minorities' duties than on their rights. Nevertheless, if the black community has managed to integrate, it's thanks to this multicultural policies implemented in the 90's by the conservative government. After the 1981 riots, decisions had to be taken to prevent the racial gap from widening and to prevent young blacks from becoming outcasts. 

Obviously, the multicultural policy has succeeded with the black community and it is to be hoped that it will eventually succeed with the Asian community. There are no limits to the multicultural doctrine but there would probably be more dangers in not accounting for a whole part of the British population.

The end of ideologies

Ideologies used to help the electors to differentiate between the different parties and allowed the latter to define their political platforms during election campaigns or account for their policies once in office. However, people are wary of ideologies and are no longer interested in abstract theories but in concrete facts and actions. They want concrete results more than ideological guidelines.
Does it mean that the time of ideologies is over and that politicians should try and meet their electors' demand of pragmatism ?

In many Western countries, ideologies and the polarization they have induced in politics have fallen short of people's expectations. People are wary of shop-worn ideas and ideologies that have failed to meet their demands and don't solve their practical concerns. For them, pragmatism seems to be the only way of coping with reality. Hence their weariness of traditional parties and ideologies.
The Americans now look back with suspicion on the mantras of famous ideologically active committed politicians, whether Kennedy's New Frontier, Johnson's Great Society, Clinton's Bridge to the 21rst Century or George Bush's Compasssionate Conservatism and War on Terror, and they sometimes make a bitter assessment of their records.

The collapse of George Bush's approval ratings just before the midterm elections testifies to their negative assessment of his ideological zeal, now perceived as inefficient, misleading and full of contradictions.