Visibility of protests gives them power

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Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard about the recent protests in the Arab world, from Iran in 2009-2010 to those in Tunisia that toppled an authoritarian government, to the current protests in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and more. The protestors are largely non-violent, but are having very large political effects.

Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

Can you imagine this sort of thing happening 100 or 200 years ago? I can’t. I imagine a lot more violence from the state. And pitiful attempts at retaliation by the poorly armed protesters.

I think the success of these movements is due to two big changes: visibility and human rights.

Things like torture and slavery used to be commonplace and, while no one wanted it to happen to them, hangings and burnings were entertainment. The idea that some people were worth more than others because of the circumstances of birth/religion/color was essentially unquestioned for a pretty big chunk of human history. While we clearly aren’t completely past such things, there are few people today who think torture and slavery are good or normal. Most people think that humans have certain rights and freedoms, even if they don’t completely agree on what those rights and freedoms should be. So, the slow acceptance of human rights means that people around the world would care if the Egyptian government started indiscriminately slaughtering large numbers of protesters, they care that the state’s response has been violent, they are bothered that the Egyptian government is trying to control information about the protests. But the change in international attitudes about human rights in the last couple hundred years, and especially the last 50 or so years, is only part of why these protests are possible and are having any political impact.

In the past, the flow of information was much slower and much easier to control. Not so long ago, the Egyptian government could have just killed a few hundred or a few thousand protestors and returned to business as usual. Even if the rest of the world found out about abuses and cared, it would have been far too late to interfere.  But now people around the world see what is happening in Egypt right now because of technological advances. Sure you could do the same thing with radio 50 years ago, but you didn’t hear the multitude of voices you can with something like twitter. You could see what’s happening in Egypt on TV, but you didn’t have thousands of people taking pictures and videos of their own experiences and putting them on facebook and youtube. And while it’s relatively simple to take over a couple radio or TV stations as a government, it’s awfully hard to shut down access to the internet – and it’s nearly impossible to track down and eliminate offending information. Even if you can shut down information flow in your own country, you can’t do it to the rest of the world. The international community can see, identify with, and feel like they are participating in these protest movements because of the flood of real-time information normal citizens are giving us. And between protestors and the resulting international pressure, things can change.

Visibility, the free flow of information, protects us all. The US is a pretty good place to live, but one day it might not be. One day, we might need the pressure of the international community to get us back on track or we might be cut off from information the government doesn’t want us to know (like how the US supported the Egyptian government and its human rights abuses).

Worryingly, the US is slowly but surely moving us towards an internet that is a lot more controlled than today’s. If we don’t work hard to protect our electronic freedom, we might find ourselves unable to communicate our government’s abuses with the rest of the world or to support people fighting for their rights and lives elsewhere.

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Grad School Rejection Weekend

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Last week I shared the good news of my invitation to a grad school recruitment weekend. I’m still thrilled about it and am grateful for all the good advice I’ve gotten in the comments. I’m looking forward to recruitment weekend, but this weekend is rejection weekend.

The program I was most in love with, that ties in perfectly with my interests and goals, that sounded so fun and exciting, rejected me. I found out this afternoon and am pretty miserable about it. Telling me that I may be one of the “fine applicants” they had to reject because of funding and space limitations doesn’t actually soften the blow.

But, as I’ve said elsewhere, I’m not going to let myself wallow for long.

All the news today wasn’t bad – I heard back from a professor at the 4th university I’m planning to apply to. I thought she wasn’t interested in me, but she’s actually just been busy with some rather exciting things and even had some very nice things to say about my prior research and undergrad record.  We’re going to ‘meet’ online later this week and talk in more detail about potential projects.

So, tonight I’m going to whine and complain and maybe even cry a little (math and ecology and soup? You’d cry, too). But tomorrow I’m going to dive back into that 4th-university-prof’s papers and come up with some good questions for our meeting.

Light and Shadow

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From Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy:

“It’s this, don’t you see,” said Stepan Arkadyevitch, “you’re very much all of a piece. That’s your strong point and your failing. You have a character that’s all of a piece, and you want the whole of life to be of a piece too – but that’s not how it is. You despise public official work because you want the reality to be invariably corresponding all the while with the aim – and that’s not how it is. You want a man’s work, too, always to have a defined aim, and love and family life always to be undivided – and that’s not how it is.  All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”

You must have Asperger’s

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I’m an introvert. I’m also somewhat reserved and emotionally careful. By emotionally careful, I don’t mean I have a hard time trusting or loving people. I mean that when I feel something, I think about why I feel that way, and that why shapes my response.

These particular aspects of my personality annoy or frustrate some people. A number of those irritated people have told me that I must have Asperger’s. They usually phrase this in an accusatory way and use it to try to convince me that my response to something is atypical, and therefore wrong.

I don’t think I am an Aspie, but it doesn’t really matter.  Being “accused” of having Asperger’s when someone doesn’t understand my reactions is offensive – not because having Asperger’s is a shameful thing (it most certainly is not), but because 1) it derails meaningful discussion and 2) it’s cruel to people who do have Asperger’s. On average, people with Asperger’s might respond differently to a particular situation than  neurotypical people, but that doesn’t make an Aspie’s response insincere or wrong – just different.

Whether or not someone has Aperger’s, telling them that they do doesn’t help the situation.  Instead, people should just ask about whatever response is upsetting or confusing them.

Paul Gosar (or his email writer) is an idiot

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Paul Gosar used to be a dentist with some wacky political views. Now he’s my Tea Party Congressman. I used to think that politicians that seemed like idiots were merely pandering to the idiots that elected them. But I recently received an email that casts doubt on that view.

I emailed Gosar several weeks ago about one of the many crazy positions he’s taken and received the following poorly written non-response:

Dear Ms. ____,

Thank you for contacting my Washington, D.C. office.  I appreciate hearing from you.

The office is has been experiencing a high influx of incoming mail since the beginning of the year, and we are working diligently to answer each and every letter the constituents of Arizona’s First Congressional District are sending.  Please bear with us as we work through the queue, and know that I am personally addressing many of the letters I receive.

If you have a situation that requires immediate assistance, please do not hesitate to call one of my offices listed below.

Notice the bad grammar and redundancy I’ve emphasized.

Considering Tea Party support for making English the official language of the US, you’d think Gosar would have a better command of it. Of course, it’s unlikely that he actually wrote the email, but he could have hired one of the many intelligent and well educated professionals swelling the ranks of the unemployed instead of the careless/stupid friend of a friend he appears to have hired.

More on Gosar

Grad School Recruitment Weekend

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I heard back from one of the grad schools I applied to – I made it through the first round and they want me to come interview! Interview isn’t quite the right word – it’s four days of socializing and meetings under a microscope benignly termed “recruitment weekend.”

I’m somewhat terrified. I know as an intervert it’s going to be exhausting for me. I’m going to have dinner with the department while still drugged (and stupid) from my flight. But I’m also really, really excited. Grad school interviews (at least in my field) are two directional. I’ll have a much better feel for the program and professors after the interview. Plus, I’ll get to meet and talk science with lots of awesome people – even if I don’t end up at a particular school, I’ll get to know more people in my field, which will be handy when I run into problems and need advice or want to collaborate.

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