I’ve been ready through @doctorow’s “Makers” for the past several weeks. (I stopped tweeting about it once I was a good way in because joining part way in is very hard).
Tonight, watching the world burn, I struggled with “do I read or do I admit I’m broken??”
1/n
Tonight, watching the world burn, I struggled with “do I read or do I admit I’m broken??”
1/n
@doctorow Thing is, I had to ask myself, if I didn’t go online and read, what was I going to spend my night doing? Scrolling thru Twitter? Playing Animal Crossing? Both? Probably both. That doesn’t exactly put anything positive into the world.
It is privilege to sit & do nothing.
2/n
It is privilege to sit & do nothing.
2/n
@doctorow So I did the adult thing and ate an entire pizza and then shovelled myself out of my chair and went to the studio to read.
Tonight we were starting part III of this novel. I had no idea what to expect. The gap between Part I and II and been years.
3/n
Tonight we were starting part III of this novel. I had no idea what to expect. The gap between Part I and II and been years.
3/n
@doctorow Part III starts with a white exec of a major corp triggering a the police attacking people doing nothing but trying to understand why they’re locked out of their place of work and an amusement they adore (trying to avoid spoilers).
It was a hard read. It was too prescient.
4/
It was a hard read. It was too prescient.
4/
@doctorow Makers was released in 2009. I’m guessing that means it was written in 2008 and earlier. This was the very earliest days of the modern citizen science age. The earliest days of the maker movement. Obama was president and it felt like the nation was at a turning point.
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@doctorow The Q was - would we hold it together & stay on course to a future where we escaped the bondage of healthcare enslaving us to jobs. Would we quell the rising tide of racism & purposeful ignorance (hello antivax, hello flat earthers). The nation was divided. Could hope win?
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@doctorow While Part III started with an rich-white man induced riot of the police against the youth and the have-nots, it went on to show how love still exists in the horror. It showed how people can come together to carry each other. It showed how together we can endure.
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@doctorow Part of me is like “What sick headspace does @doctorow have that he foresaw the horror we’re seeing today?” (Although at smaller scale & with less horrifying reasons)
The other part of me is like, Makers is the story we need today, as a guidebook.
craphound.com/category/maker…
9/
The other part of me is like, Makers is the story we need today, as a guidebook.
craphound.com/category/maker…
9/
@doctorow Lesson 1) We must learn to love fellow activists & accept these people are only here in this moment for this cause. The person beside you is your family, & if you see them only once a year or once a lifetime, they are still family. We must part & return w/o it being weird.
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@doctorow Lesson 2) No one owns an idea, and together we can create something greater than any one person can create alone. It is through collaboration & giving people freedom to tell their story that great things can be born. All our stories together can build a new world.
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@doctorow Lesson 3) There is a place for all voices. From the survivor of poverty to the man privileged by generational wealth & education, everyone can have a place if they share a common goal of creating something new that benefits everyone.
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@doctorow Lesson 4) While there is a role for everyone, it is going to be harder for some to participate, because just being alive is harder for some. Lack of health care, lack of access to high quality food, lack of education, lack of transport to jobs, lack…
makes it hard.
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makes it hard.
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@doctorow I’m glad I read tonight.
But it was hard.
This wasn’t an easy escape. But it was needed.
I don’t know how I can help the world today. I’m trapped in my house by bad lungs.
Maybe I can help with words, with retweets, by lifting voices.
14/
But it was hard.
This wasn’t an easy escape. But it was needed.
I don’t know how I can help the world today. I’m trapped in my house by bad lungs.
Maybe I can help with words, with retweets, by lifting voices.
14/
@doctorow The revolution is here.
People are dying in what are being called riots instead of battles. Whatever you call it, the front line isn’t safe.
But there are supply lines, comms lines, & sometimes a white women just needs to grab a Karen by the digital collar & say Sit Down.
15/
People are dying in what are being called riots instead of battles. Whatever you call it, the front line isn’t safe.
But there are supply lines, comms lines, & sometimes a white women just needs to grab a Karen by the digital collar & say Sit Down.
15/
@doctorow I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. This is a dark time for our nation. I am here to lift the voices of people speaking the truth to power.
And to science. When you need to escape, I will bring you science.
& there will be binge eating, because <flail>.
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And to science. When you need to escape, I will bring you science.
& there will be binge eating, because <flail>.
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@doctorow Right now is when each of us must decide who we will be, & how we will act to ensure we have a world we want to live on in the years to come.
Read. Think. Sleep. Act. Make the world you want by contributing how you can. Not action is too small if it is done with intention.
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Read. Think. Sleep. Act. Make the world you want by contributing how you can. Not action is too small if it is done with intention.
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@doctorow We can somehow get through this. We will somehow get through this.
By loving one another passionately, if only for today, so that we can change the world as we work together to do great things through actions large and small.
I love you. Let’s change the world.
Fini/
By loving one another passionately, if only for today, so that we can change the world as we work together to do great things through actions large and small.
I love you. Let’s change the world.
Fini/
