I hear what you say, but for me--me personally--you don't go anywhere DEEP enough.

Also you assume that literacy is some great revolutionary event. I think the opposite. I see it as alienating us from Nature.

Read The Spell of the Sensuous? It spells it out indepth there.

You talk about the political system, as though it can be put right? Sorry if I misheard you.

Thing is, Douglas, when you really leave the collective sheep and start exploring whats what is when you find the real HORROR of the political process and what is BEHIND it--the secret government. And all of this horror is civilization that is destroying the Web of Life.

You don't mention any of this, so I am sorry, what you say, although spoken passionately, seems superficial to me.

Though I do agree with you that itemizing people into pseudo individuality/brands is a divide and rule strategy. But you fail to notice that that strategy also began right at the beginnings of the patriarchy.

What is the writ down 'holy scriptures' if not the deeper division between 'you'--a 'guilty self', created by the propaganda of war god creators--and your sensual being which becomes denigrated?

What Douglas does here is catalyzing and inspiring. He is a great teacher. The context of the forum, subtitled "Rebooting the System", speaks the language of programming, and Douglas is able to invoke the idea of media literacy as a high magickal art, empowering the individual with tools that will aid in the decoding/recoding of the infosphere.

We dreamt the blogosphere into existence. Now we seek ways to expand on a new era of community, of participation.

Thank you Douglas Rushkoff.

www.newritual.com

The 2008 PDF has been a great source if inspiration. Thanks Douglas.

I "attended" the PDF via Mark Pesce "furiously tweeting" a play-by-play of the event.

I essentially caught the vibe and got the wow of the event as it was happening, via Twitter and Mark while I sat by a river.

Indicative, I feel, of the change the PDF connects to and is encouraging.

 

If the invocation inspired more participation, then well worth the 10 minutes! Most people have been trained to be spectators in their own lives. We need a paradigm shift toward individuals who recognize that it is up to all of us to participate in the world and our lives. Great stuff! I'm looking forward to the new book.

this should be the invocation that all people at all times in all places, grok...this might have been what Jesus, or Buddha said, or Barbara Streisand's..."peeeeeeople, people who need people,ARE THE LUCKIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!!!! I think Rushkoff, speaks much better then brand Obamba. maybe Douglas can read the set to be released Kafka papers, and add that insight to the modern metamorphosis metaphor for the people, to leave the beetle stage, and become people again, once and for all. "let them eat Blog" this is prolly closer to what Marie really said.

is personal Democracy like personal deodorant? because something stinks, not in Denmark.

i enjoyed the invocation

Propaganda Anonymous

This talk was a great synthesis of McLuhan, Robert Anton Wilson, and Doug's own material. Very cool

McLuhan in the sense that Doug is following Marshal's philosophical/sociological contribution of the 'Tetrad of media effects' showing what has been enhanced, retrieved, minimized, and made obsolete during and since the Renaissance.

I like to think that he is holding the flame to what RAW spoke about in his 'Non-Euclidean Politics' viewpoint, specifically the idea of the 'Individualist-Mutualist' political perspective. This follows the line of some early American Anarchist thinkers like Lysander Spooner, Josiah Warren, William Greene, Benjamin Tucker, etc.

As well as a bunch other cool thinkers.

And I see Doug's own process maturing when he builds on the idea of Branding. This is his strong contribution I believe. He is breaking shit down in chunks and bits so all us working at sharping our media studies skills can take this in and digest. Then developing and/or enhancing our own forms of pattern recognition, further adding to more intelligence and free thought. Guided by good use of logic and the appreciation of paradox

Again, Rushkoff Rocks!