DESKTOP MASONRY

News delivered instantly has produced a feeling I am being rushed to keep up.  I can't tell you what it does to the struggle with awareness. Being defined as priviledged isn't helpful when changing contexts are being aimed at me to engage in the resolution or consequences of conflicts. It isn't an ideological link but solicitation of donations. All the while, those pesky Nigerian Princes continue to contact telling me about an huge unclaimed inheritance waiting for me in exchange for some personal information.  Oh joy. It is getting harder to fall back into ideological slumber, not counting religious zealotry.  How I ask, is this different from the thinking for any Athenian?  Aren't I responsible to participate in electing representatives?  It is hard at times to sort out accountabilities to validate information but aren't I able to make informed decisions? So many of our secrets are hidden in dense information forests waiting for erudite researchers to follow data chains.  Machines have all but replaced the need to store information in the recesses of memory. For all the advances we share today in the 'information' age the way we use libraries depends on appetite.  Against skewed odds, some people are finding ways to gain access to information and turn that information into a better standard of livilng.  Twenty-first century finds the west dominance measured by exploitation in a secular society. So of course we have to wonder if or how values and ethics are shared in a global community. Cynicism is the new optimism. Protect your interests by doubting and questioning. We don't dress like Athenians. We don't condone slavery anymore. We don't elect our generals, but here we are holding power to accounts by assuming our responsibilities as citizens. Time allows us to scrub away private conversations.  Hindsight allows us to use what we learn. For the better?