Bridges Web

Here is a website, bridgesweb.org, that is a platform for stories.

What they do is go out into all corners of the globe, and give people digital cameras... then teach them to tell their stories. The stories then get put on this site.

Brilliant.

Stuart and myself attempted a documentary of sorts in our final year of university. It was about 4 hours long and a lot of fun putting it together. It is very badly, if at all, edited and unlikely to be regularly watched. I did get it cut to dvd though. One day, I hope to learn to edit it myself and put together something more watchable.

I think it is awesome that the tools are almost available for all of us to tell our stories. Digital cameras and cell phones with digital video make all of us journalists. It becomes far harder to hide or control the truth.

As an example, a Chinese colleague told me that the Tibetan monks were slave owners and the society very unpleasant when the Chinese went in to `free Tibet'. The Western versions are somewhat different. Back then, there was no story telling or documentary tools. Both sides heard one version of the story. The colleague also told me that the Dalai Lama was in Beijing at the time of the takeover, and left by his own free will. The Westerners claim he had to dress up and be smuggled over the border on Donkey's back. Two stories.

I think going forward there will be so much documentary evidence through photos, video clips, verbal and written accounts that it will be far harder to create truth without limiting access to alternative versions.

The world may be noisier, and we will have to get better at filtering, BUT I think that with only two versions of most histories it is far harder to find the truth.

Exciting stuff

Nationalism = Apartheid?

I have long being a supporter of Nationalism, and have just recently started to question it more. So when my sister-in-law said at breakfast this morning that Nationalism is no different from Apartheid, my initial reaction was not agreement...

But... though my facial expression made her think I disagreed, the cogs in my mind went into overtime and before I had said anything I agreed. This is the advantage of being a member of a family where you have to confidently interupt if you want to be heard. If you aren't confident enough in your opinion, and hesitate for a second... you are forced to think it over.

I think she is right. Apartheid simply means Seperateness... forced seperation of people, while allowing some people who can contribute economically in and out. Isn't that exactly what the creation of nation states is?

Some are more explicitly created along racial lines such as modern day Israel... but any nation state by defining what it means to be South African, American, British etc. by default creates a seperate class of people who are not welcome.

This is a problem.

Another problem is our obsession with historical significance of land. Go far enough back and no one had an intrinsic right to land. Go far enough back and every single one of us is descended from someone who forcibly removed someone else from their land, killed the men, and raped the women. We need to get over it.

If people are really so concerned about a Tibetan State, why doesn't everyone chip in and buy land in America where all the Tibetans can go live happily. All people of all nationalities moved from somewhere at some time... why can't they do it again?

I am mixing ideas here, but perhaps the sooner we realise that skin colour, eye colour, hair texture, language and religion are not sufficient reason to kill each other, and we can all live anywhere as long as we obey certain ground rules... the better.