CBrajkovich Ramblings

Surveillance is a topic that has been around as long as we humans have. We’ve used its capabilities, claiming that it’s for our best interests. And yet, whose interests are really reflected in such a bold statement? Why are those people who say this statement even entitled to make these claims? And for what purpose?

By its very nature, the act of surveillance has little to do with honesty, as it is based on the darkest of deeds. The act of surveillance has always occurred as a clandestine affair. Though it was always used in the form of protection when developing public “policies”. Yet, is it any wonder that all of our artistic interpretations of surveillance have left us with a definite sense of unease, even fear? There are very few who do not fear the shadows. Mostly, because we know roads we humans are capable of traveling down, simply by looking at our histories. They have never ended with good results when the act of “watching” has been incorporated into our daily affairs.

How did “Seagulls” by Mato Atom make you feel? It’s pretty amazing the amount of emotions he’s able to extract from us in under 5 minutes. THAT is the nature of surveillance. It’s not a matter of “If you’re not doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to fear”. Yet, is it any wonder that we still fear?

“Control your destiny or somebody else will.”  – Jack Welsh

p.s. Do check out the Wiki page on surveillance to see just how far we’ve come in the 21st century. Fear can push us into insanity, if we let it…

And people wonder why so many are disgusted with the status quo:

So, did you read the news about the stolen Banksy mural that turned up for sale in Miami? Artwork that was a public statement given by a most prolific graffiti artist in England can be seen as a real world example of the theft of works in the public domain by our out-of-control copyright system. The fact that the art auctioneer is claiming that a “well-known collector” signed a statement showing that it was obtained in above-board methods shows just how far removed we are from the concept of true morality within this false world of legality we claim as valid.

Some of us feel that ownership is a form of brutal dominance where the strongest can simply strip possession from others through “claims”, whether they show legitimacy or not. Legality doesn’t even enter into this conversation since Banksy’s works have always been a statement against the legitimacy of our systems (legal and otherwise). So when his stolen work shows up for sale at a nauseating amount of money simply because he is well-known shows how far removed we are from the true purpose of creation.

Theft comes in many forms, but theft from a public domain for private gain is a truly ugly way of devaluing the act of creation. The fact that we have to put a price tag on everything around us devalues the true worth the act of personal creation. This is a real world example that proves that we’re so far off the right path for humanity that it’s no longer a laughing matter. We have entered dangerous waters. How will we get back on course to the greater good? How will we force the law to see again so that it is no longer blind to the injustice that is now inherent in our society? I sure would like to know…

Yes, here’s what real theft looks like in all of its demoralizing forms – this is the real face of piracy stealing from the minds and hearts of us all.

This incredible dialogue was shared by Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing, and I really wanted to share it because of its message:

If you’ve been following Cory’s scholarly work (ok, books), you know that this conversation is going right down the middle of his alley. Jacob Applebaum is a fellow digital protector who is intimately embedded in this domain (considering all of the things that he works for), and who the domain needs millions more of. Though these activists have been working hard in their roles for many, many years, most of us are only recently becoming awake and aware to the eye-opening realities that should make us all think long and hard about what we consider to be “acceptable”.

Jacob poses an important question that I hear everyday, and one that I have been addressing to myself for quite some time. Politics only covers one side of the equation, but rarely has intelligent conversations on the effects that our votes, our actions, and our denials have on the rest of the world (as well as on us). All of us work in jobs and interact with people who force us to make choices that make our insides quiver with discomfort. If you know who you are, then you’ll understand the meaning of these inner quakes. Whether you do something to calm these tremors just might show how willing you are to embrace the “real” you and the world you yearn for. Clearly, we each have much to offer in The Department, the World.

So, what is that question that Jacob means? You’ve heard yourself and many around you state that it’s “not my department”, when they’re asked why they didn’t react to a situation that derails. But who defines what their department looks like? If you’re only considering your job description or your boss’s instructions, then you will be missing the key connections that link through other people’s departments who will be affected by your decisions. No matter the circumstances, you’ll have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask if you can live with your decisions. At the end of our lives, most of us would like to be able to accept the majority of our decisions as “good” at that moment in time…though it might be less equitable much later on in hindsight. Continue reading →

The moment of truth, I find a quote that fits my life:

So, what has this week of quotes meant to me? Well, change is afoot and I am trembling with anticipation of walking down a new path. Mainly because sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option. The small pushes I make are no longer enough, because I want to fit into the skin that I wear so clearly, and because I see the potential of a new world that so many of us are standing up and shouting for. It’s hard to keep up with the same “rinse and repeat” actions when you see that they are not doing anything useful for the collective “Us”. Nothing is ever finished, as it can always be made better through the lens of experience.

NYTimes ran a magazine piece, “Why Would You Ever Give Money Through Kickstarter?” , and it’s one that I saved because the message expressed so much of what I feel about Kickstarter and the Internet in general for collaboration. I actually went back to the online version (I read it in the weekend paper version), and found an amazing comment for a Kickstarter named Sarah that speaks of the selflessness of people who believe in dreams. Here’s the part that got to me:

So I’ve decided to do something to take the stress out of things: however short you are of your goal at, let’s say, two days from the end-date, I’ll throw in an additional pledge for whatever is needed to reach your target (and, of course, deliver once it’s been reached).

That way, you know the funding is going to happen. You can concentrate on what you’ll do with the funds rather than sweat on whether you’ll get them.

Please don’t fuss about why I’m doing this (from this distance, psychological satisfaction is mostly all I can ask for). Even I couldn’t really tell you “why”. It’s not like $1,400+more is small change to me (though I wish it were) if that’s what I end up sending. It’s more that, for reasons I can’t quite explain, I have a strong desire for this to end well for you and for the communities and people you’ve been working with.

The article’s writer, Rob Trump, sums it up perfectly in one sentence:

“Kickstarter as a phenomenon is made much more comprehensible once you realize that it’s not following the logic of the free market; it’s following the logic of the gift.“

I’m constantly reminded by others to look after No. 1 (me). But if I’m so busy doing that, aren’t I missing the chance to make the world around No. 1 even better so that I’m happier, as are others around me? It’s this reasoning that explains how I’ve always made decisions. By not looking out for No. 1, I actively make a choice to put others ahead of me. Sure, it’s not an easy position to hold, but it provides me with satisfaction that I am providing my best to get the best in return. Not because I expect a return, but because others want to reciprocate in kind. To me, this reciprocation is what makes us stronger…the act of collaborating for the greater good.

You’ve all seen the footage by now, but I found it amazing when I stumbled on it on Reddit last night. To see a meteor coming into our atmosphere and land is simply mind-blowing. And a reminder and a wakening to all of those skeptics (and believers) of science and nature out there that the universe is a really big place, and we only are a speck in it. No matter how far we come technologically, we’re still infants in the terms of life span of the universe that we’re part of (and the countless others all around us). Maybe now, people will start to think twice about defunding NASA and other scientific organizations who do important work!

Don’t you love when you get your second wind? That’s the moment in time when possibilities seem endless. You just have that drive to keep pushing for the goal you’re aiming for. Every time I get my second wind, I try to remember that feeling, so that I can use it when it’s no where nearby but I need it. Most of us won’t be able to repeat this with predictability, and that is what makes this force one to be reckoned with. It’s not about other’s expectations of you, but what YOU expect from yourself. You’re always there in your head, and are closer than anyone else will ever be. It doesn’t mean that you can become an island, because how realistic is that for social creatures such as ourselves? But when times get rough, your internal cheering squad is there when you really need it.

Doesn’t the saying go something like this: Nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough? Possibility is shaped by us, and what we have in our possession. While you may not get the glittering dream you cherish, you can build one that will be even better because it was made by your own determination. And that’s pretty motivating if you ask me!

We’re reaching the end of the week, and yet this one flared my inspiration. There is a lot of invisibility in our world that needs to be uncovered, simply because that is where our attention needs to be.

Here are some articles that hit home:

• Homelessness – No One Sees Me on Alternet
• Military-grade equipment reach local law enforcement –  Atlanta Journal-Constituition
• 75-year old Indian Soybean farmer is fighting Big Money –  Guardian
• Raytheon’s Riot Spyware –  Guardian

Ok, so these are all scary titles, and who wants to read such demoralizing stories? I was even told that you should be optimistic as a writer so that you can be a solution-provider. But seriously, optimism isn’t some 24-hour condition that most of us are capable of holding. When it comes down to it, it’s the action that you do when you’re down that shows whether you really can push through the chaos into the light.

And how do you feel the chaos? Take this scenario: you’re driving along your local freeway, when some Sheriff’s department drives by you in a vehicle that looks suspiciously like a tank. How do you think you feel about a vehicle of war in such an incongruous place? This is the type of invisible that can become insidious if you ignore it. It’s the behind-the-scenes connections that you have to question. Having blind trust in figures of authority will never be a logical choice. I’m sure the people in the French Revolution and other people’s uprising will tell you about their feelings of betrayal from their leaders. But out of bad can come good. Remember those mistakes I spoke of? Well, some of them build upon one another until they take a life of their own. Facing those invisible forces is not a bad thing. It brings the truth out into the open so that we can build a consensus on how to build possibility out of the destruction. Because destruction isn’t always noisy and big. Sometimes it’s an undercurrent that gains in momentum until it demolishes everything in its path.

So, for me, doing the impossible is the act of building bridges. Whether it’s something as tangible as one of wood, or as nebulous as stringing together words into a scene to enlighten, the impossible is building an alternative that gets a large group around an obstacle. Putting out ideas, new and old, to stimulate the creative process of building a future that we can all be proud of.

We’ve all made them. Mistakes, that is. Sometimes they feel inconsequential, and sometimes they can become train wrecks. But they are always around, and we really shouldn’t fear them. It’s when other expect too much that mistakes can feel so burdensome. But you know what, no one is perfect. I really love this quote by Neils Bohr, because it really does reflect the reality of expertise. You can only become an expert after you’ve done it all, wrong and right. Not OR, but AND. If someone tells you they got it right on the first try, then someone else will be waiting to sell you that amazing bridge they have. Naivete is thinking that you’ve reached the end of a quest. Reality is seeing that fork in the road that will bring out new ideas. So, while the field (work) might be narrow, the field (landscape) is a wide as the sky. Take a chunk of it, learn as much as you can, and then keep moving forward. Accept that mistakes are part of your landscape. Because they’re sure a part of mine (and everyone else’s).

And by all means, enjoy the ride. There’s joy to be found in knowledge!

I seriously have not had the opportunity to write MY stuff in such a long time. And it’s like wearing a strait jacket at times. But thankfully, Great Minds Quotes is here to make my week. So here it is, a week of my thoughts as motivated by other remarkable people. And this one really seems to be at the root of all of our problems, isn’t it?

Why are new ideas so repugnant to many? Is our comfort zone really that tight? Well, then maybe we need to broaden our horizons more? New ideas helped a man walk on the Moon. It has shown us the mysteries of the deep. It has even allowed us to soar over our world as free as birds.

Did that just give you an idea? Or perhaps it jolted you from your comfortable corner of the couch? If it lit a fire in you to do something, anything, different than the usual (it doesn’t have to be daredevil stunts like this, you know), then you’re already on the path to a wondrous journey. Stay on that path, until it branches off into the unknown. Then you can veer if you want. Because, there are some truly amazing things to find in the wilderness. Why let the animal kingdom be the only ones who commune with beauty? We’re also part of the community of Earthlings. So, let take advantage of the inspiration that our planet provides and roll around with some new ideas. It just might change your life.

p.s If you want to find out more about Alexander Polli, then check out his incredible experiences at his site.