Tuesday, April 19, 2005

I think not taking things seriously is a big fat luxury. It's like the old quote that it's tragedy if you get a hangnail, and comedy if someone else falls into a hole and dies. It can be easy for me to say that people should 'lighten up' about being referred to as third worlders, because hey, it's not my country being denigrated. It's a luxury to think humans can do nothing. That's why the people you see saying that humans can do nothing, it's all technological change that changes society are white men. It's easy to say that when you avoid responsibility and possibly a change in your position. The thing is that nothing gets done without work, without 'taking things too seriously', the idea that things can change without people doing anything, that magic fairies will just do the work is probably because we ignore the people who have been working and slaving for us to be free.

I'm too scared to do a lot of things, and too lazy to do a whole lot of other things. But the thing is that lying about it doesn't make it OK. I really hate it when people are just plain selfish and lazy and try to dress it up in pretty words as if that somehow makes everything ok. You know, often people say they don't do a hierachy of oppressions, but I tend to do. Otherwise people would spend all their time on white people's bruised self esteem, and say to the global south "hey, we're using Linux over here to help you". A hierarchy here is important- otherwise non oppressed people take all the resources that could be used to help oppressed people.

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