Here’s the neat thing about this week: the whole social media involvement in the #ecca debate is pretty amazing. It’s an incredible time to be alive, because of all the power and possibility that the advance of technology has provided us. Like-minded people now have instant access to each other, and can mobilize in a way that would not have been possible in the past.
But Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. After all, we’re not the first generation who believed themselves to be revolutionary in their ideas. Maybe the difference this time is that we can choose to be self-aware enough to see any cause, even our own, from multiple perspectives.
My dad passed away last year; he was a blue-collar conservative guy, who had been raised in a time and place that valued money and security above more esoteric things, like social justice or civic activism. His number one concern was always money, and he always had a bone to pick with every level of government. Though I hated his politics, having to live with them was one of the great blessings of my life. I’ve learned that no matter what political differences two people may have, you can always find some common ground, somewhere.
When I look to the future, I hope what will make this period of time remarkable is that not only did we use technology to band together, under the intrinsic values we share; but that we won’t make the mistake of becoming blinded by our respective causes, whatever they may be. There’s always another side, Edmonton.
This video is from 1977, and it’s called “Edmonton: Transit in Transition.” (I know what you’re thinking: who would want to watch this? But it was the 1970s. What else were they going to watch, youtube?) For some reason, I found it incredibly humbling to watch an 8mm film online, while I got ready to post it to my webpage with the touch of a button. This is a world that my dad, who never quite wrapped his head around the internet, couldn’t even have imagined existing when he was my age. I hope we can always remember to find a place for him in it as well.
(*insert fart joke to break tension*)
See you next week, #yeg.
Photo by Ryan Engley
