Five and ten year anniversaries are treated as being more special than other anniversaries. And that is what we have this year during the month of September. On September 11th, we had the silver anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. While on September 17th, we had the 15th anniversary of OWS (Occupy Wall Street). What I would like to cover is one of the most important lessons that we can reflect on from each anniversary.
While many of my fellow activists would like to say that the most important lesson we can learn from our 9/11 is what some Palestinians posted. They try to remind us that our 9/11 is their 24/7. And there is a lot of truth in that when we look at what Gaza has become and how Palestinians in the West Bank are constantly attacked. But that isn't the lesson I am thinking of.
Neither is President George W. Bush's take on the 9/11 attacks. His interpretation that the 9/11 attacks were an assault on our freedoms was wrong. His explanation was a self-aggrandizing interpretation as it showed a blindness to how U.S. policies can cause blowback. Bush wanted us to believe that people martyred themselves in the attacks because we can choose between cheering for the Red Sox or the evil empire--that is we were attacked because of our freedoms.
Rather, one of the most important lesson that we could have learned from 9/11 is that our advancing technology can make us as vulerable as it makes us powerful. That our technology can either be turned against us or can be replicated a little later as we embrace a new technology.
And because our technology can make us more vulnerable, there is an understandable reason for increased government surveillance. That such an increase in surveillance though wrong could be understandable since it is there to protect us. But as with technology, the surveillance that can be used to protect us can become a threat if it were to fall into the wrong hands, such as the hands of the current President.
This lesson about technology should make us think long and hard about advancing AI technology. It can be used to both serve us as well as to harm us. And to mitigate the latter, government regulations and self-restraint by the industry is much needed. We should note that self-restraint is not one of the fortes of our current President. And because of that trait, our midterm elections become even more important than usual since our current President sees that lack of self-restraint and raises a seemingly insatiable hunger for power and recognition.
This lesson about technology is a lesson in tradeoffs. That is that with each decision we make, there are both costs and benefits. Those who would deny such a truth are usually salesmen and/or politicians. Those who wish to pursuade us to thoughtlessly embrace AI without regulations are doing so because they have something to gain from us while wanting us to ignore what we have to lose to others.
What can we learn from OWS? Some would say nothing because they believe that OWS's short-term existence proves that it has nothing to teach. Such people forget that the Old Testament prophets often experienced harsh rejection by those in authority and the people. And those prophets were not failures with nothing to teach.
OWS gave us a chance to change course. In particular, the decision making process of OWS provides its greatest lesson to us. That process consisted of decision by consensus where one firm objection could table a proposal. The purpose, or perhaps even the goal, of such a practice was not just to prevent a tyranny of the majority, it was to foster respect for all participants and views.
Certainly the tactic used by OWS to promote such respect is not feasible in a heterogeneous population like that of our nation's. But the goal is a worthwhile one to aim for. And having such a goal would give our nation a better chance at living as the United States.
As it stands now, the polarization in our nation is based on a certain belief by those groups that wish to elevate themselves above others. Those groups market themselves as having everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them--to borrow a MLK phraseology. When any group believes that it has everything to teach others, it naturally feels entitled to sieze power in order to force its control over others. After all, when anyone has everything to teach and nothing to learn from others, whatever is said by others can only corrupt what is taught and practiced by the one who has everything to teach. And for those of us who are Christians, we need to note something else here. That those who believe that they have everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them are displaying arrogance. And arrogance is never smiled on by God in the Scriptures.
And so our nation (a.k.a., 'we the people') should make it our goal to include multiple perspectives and isms in whatever legislation is proposed, passed, and signed into law. We need to demand that of our politicians. And we should only elect politicians who are willing to listen to and incorporate the ideas of others into their own proposals.
Under the leadership of our current President, our nation is spiraling downwards and not just toward an authoritarian abyss; we are on the verge of experiencing a social and economic collapse. And for as long as we the people practice tribal politics in what we demand from our elected officials, we increase the speed of that trajectory. And so just perhaps the lessons that we can learn from these two anniversaries can help us to stop and change course.
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