Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus

Some days I look around and think to myself, “What in the world is going on, AND how can things get fixed.” I’ve always had a strong intuition that the world around me was a little off, and have continually ventured to understand the systems at work. While I have come to know the work I personally need to do (and sometimes that’s all the matters), some key reading has helped me discern the systems that are active around me. Most recently this offering from Douglas Rushkoff (@rushkoff) was most compelling.

Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus retraces the advent industrial norms like centralized currency, monopoly corporations, and the growth mandate, and explains how all of these mechanisms are currently being amplified by digital technologies. Rushkoff isn’t a doomsday preacher, though. Seeing digital technology as neutral platforms, rather than inherently good or evil, Rushkoff offers a vision for a more distributive future. That’s what got me excited. All the tools are there to bring communities together, engender trust, and distribute power and wealth via the community itself. The world is changing, for sure. Here is one concrete vision of how it might change for the better.