Two Words, One Answer.
against machines
 Against the Machine: How the Web Is Reshaping Culture and Commerce -- and Why It Matters $14.00 Years ago I heard someone say that technology is a ride for which we all have tickets but no one quite knows where the ride is going. So, if you are reading this review, then the internet has already done something to shape your life, and by now all of our heads are saturated with this technology's gospel message of convenience, freedom, and fulfillment. But that's the promotional rhetoric of the internet which we now take for granted: the language of its tireless and self-styled 'visionary' promoters who at some point in all of this DO HAVE highly vested interests in the extent to which our daily existence is not only intertwined with websites and blogs, and who intentionally or not would have our thoughts, feelings, and worldviews demonstrably determined by it. Their message is a simple one: since the internet is so big, since it is so multifaceted and of such compelling practicality, since it is a medium that we are told we can control and which will respect our individuality, then we should submit to it and blithely allow it to channel our lives and therefore help us to achieve self-realization. In other words, sit down for this ride and enjoy it because the people who sold you the ticket have assured that you will like where you are going. But if you are not sure about any of this. If you have suspected that those who trumpet the internet's seemingly infinite potentialities for personal freedom and the individual piloting of our lives are themselves advocating ever new forms of techno-bondage and an ultimately dehumanizing conformism masquerading as heroic non-conformism, in short, if you are interested in reading a book about what the internet might MEAN--as opposed to plodding ahead in an existence characterized by our being passively assured at every turn that this pervasive medium is a vibrantly new and revolutionary force in our lives that will alter existing social and political relationships in accordance with the inextinguishable forces of choice, access, liberation, and empowerment--then have a look at Lee Siegel's "Against the Machine". Not everyone will appreciate the tone of this book. It is critical and confrontational. It offers an alternative way of looking at the internet, one that actually 'investigates' in our alleged age of investigative journalism and which actually 'criticizes' in what is supposed to be our unparalleled time of critical thinking. I find that this book itself stands as an example of the 'critical detachment' which Siegel accuses the internet of seeking to eradicate, and it is precisely this perspective, that is, looking at the internet in a broadly SYSTEMIC manner rather than just picking out individual pieces of it to praise or condemn that makes this book so interesting and, in my opinion, the main lines of his argument so hard to refute. Mr. Siegel does not wish to do away with the internet or even to regulate away any of its aspects--he simply wishes that people might actually think about what they are doing with it and what that might mean not just in the selfish terms of our inherently limited everyday calculations but in real and LASTING human terms: How is my often unrestrained involvement with the internet changing the way I think about myself or the way I understand human relationships? Is there a connection between the way in which I think about the internet and any of the wider ways in which I think or any of the ideals I value? Am I becoming a better, smarter person or am I--as Siegel analyzes it--only really interested in becoming 'popular' in the empty statistical manner commensurate with the internet? I personally do not object to any of the ideas or observations contained in this book. I find that everything Mr. Siegel says about the internet and the ways people make use of it is objectively true and worthy of our sustained critical attention. But what is painful about this book for so many people is that in its own way it chooses to deal at a thoughtful level with the gaps and contradictions of the ideologies 'informing' our information-age social orders. The author is asking us to lay aside the internet's mesmerizing convenience and its seemingly infinite capacity for diversion in order that we might seriously ponder the issues of what we are becoming as a result of this technology's often overriding presence in our lives. And, as he contends in the book, what could be MORE democratic than that? Some simply won't care about any potential answers to such questions, or they will regard this book's findings as a pointlessly discomfiting set of reflections standing in the way of something positively bigger and more important because in their minds it not only promises but it also delivers convenience and gratification. But their irritable lack of patience with Mr. Siegel's work is perfectly reminiscent of the difficulties experienced by the characters in what is undoubtedly our own time's most characteristic parable--the emperor's new clothes--and, because we live in an information-dominated, post-industrial society, the author of "Against the Machine" has that largely thankless task of reminding us that, contrary to the internet's own ideology of unlimited 'prosumerism', we are even now more (and not less) susceptible to the manipulations of the few who still claim to be operating on behalf of and for the benefit of the many. But, as Mr. Siegel quietly argues, just because many of us have convinced ourselves that the internet is an unalloyed vehicle for our personal fulfillment this does not mean that it is in every respect beyond examination.  Best of Rage Against The Machine - Signature Licks Guitar - Book and CD Package $23.80 Guitarist Tom Morello's groove-heavy riffs fuel the rhythmic fire of this angry, politically active funk-rap metal band. In this cool new book/CD pack, Troy Stetina provides a step-by-step breakdown of Tom's unique styles and techniques through a hands-on analysis of a dozen of RATM's best songs, from their self-titled album, Evil Empire and The Battle of Los Angeles: Bombtrack - Born of a Broken Man - Bulls on Parade - Calm like a Bomb - Fistful of Steel - Guerrilla Radio - Killing in the Name - Know Your Enemy - People of the Sun - Revolver - Testify - Vietnow. The CD features full-band examples plus slow guitar demos, and the book also includes an introduction, photos, and notes on the songs and tunings.  Rage Against The Machine - Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium $11.98 They've done a good job of capturing the spirit of this last concert. The sound quality is very good and the video clarity is also very good. The stage is relatively plain with no revolving set pieces and the camera work tries to be too flashy at times. Excellent set list and reproduction of the albums. |
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