Literature, Liberty, Politics
I finished reading William Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties again this morning. I originally thought that I hadn't read it yet but I recognized it as I got several chapters into it. The good thing was that I had forgotten enough of the details that it was still a fun read. I also noticed that my perspective on the technology described in the book had changed due to the phenomenal growth of the internet. I also was more aware of what an incredibly talented writer Gibson is. His prose is so evocative.

I think I first realized how poetic his prose was when I read Pattern Recognition earlier this year. Here was a book that had finally broken out from the cyber-punk genre into the mainstream of contemporary American fiction. In retrospect, I now realize that All Tomorrow's Parties had already crossed that line but I hadn't realized it at the time since it was the third installment in the Virtual Light, Idoru, All Tomorrow's Parties epic cyber-punk trilogy.

In all these novels, Gibson prods us to think about the social issues arising from the abstract construct that is the internet. The internet, a medium in which you can be many places at once, challenges contemporary mores. What are the foundations of our ethics? How are they expressed in this bizare place?

Another recent commentator of note on these topics is Paul Graham. His recent essay What You Can't Say reflects upon some of these same ethical considerations. I highly recommend reading what he has to say.

I believe we must think about these issues and discuss them and, most important of all, defend our right to discuss them in public forums or we will soon find that our only choice is to think, say, and do what Big Brother dictates, or else be branded a criminal for our "deviant practices".

Oh, and for fun, go have a look at the Bush in 30 Seconds contest. There are a lot of interesting comments on the current political situation there.