Will nationalism or technology be the winning force for human civility in the future?

Seems to me, unfortunately, Apple and Facebook are certainly doing a better job of seeding a unifying democratic message than the United Nations…Not that it’s really the job of the United Nations to seed democracy, what are they supposed to do again…?

Incredibly, Apple, Inc’s mobile iOS may be the most desired, aspirational and unifying language for peace on the planet right now. As at its core, the Apple brand message is really about technology empowering a better life.

I’ve been saying for some time now that nationalism is an anachronism. At its most basic; The idea that my historic chunk of soil with its flag and lines on a map is somehow better than your chunk of soil with its flag and lines on a map; and that we should kill each other over the flag and those lines is schoolyard crap.

Is it really going to take we, the idiots of the west, X number more generations to get past this? To move past currency markets, fuel trading and watch as the least progressive relic of failed 20th century Communism laps the rest of the planet in infrastructure, energy production and possibly even communication because it DOESN’T have to answer to its own people? C’mon folks…Call me a ‘Trekkie’ but between Earth Day and listening to Hendrix live at at the Filmore East in 1970, can’t we all just live together and more importantly work together?

Listen to more Band Of Gypsys at Wolfgang’s Vault.

In my opinion, we’re in a race between the old notions of nation-states, resources and wealth and the new notions of technological empowerment of civility for the human race. And right now, regardless of whether I’m going to be buying my PV shingles from China or the U.S., it looks like tech is winning. Call me a dreamer.

Between the U.S. Department of State working with FACEBOOK to help keep channels of communication open in the Middle East and Apple sales in China growing to a staggering 400% year over year; The ubiquity of these technologies is now seen outside their respective users’ nationalism by people all over the world as their gateway to a better life. The proverbial genie is out of the bottle.

This is just the tip of the ice berg, I can only hope that technology continues to drive democracy and ideally the creation of new infinitely available resources to help end the still far too prevalent hunger and violence still happening in our collective orbital house.

After 10 years of war correspondence Oscar nominee Tim Hetherington, who died this week, made this short late last year. It now stands as his last message in film. While “Exit Through the Gift Shop” was the more accessible documentary as a story vs. Hetherington’s “Restrepo“, with today being Earth Day, I can’t help but look at this video and think we all may have and continue to miss the point of his work.

While it’s not enough, it’s at least something that each year on Earth Day we’re reminded of how our dis-connected and frankly dis-interested western entitled class of which I’m a part is bumping and rubbing against these forces. In my opinion we need to take the wheel, press down on the accelerator and drive right at our problems. Think globally, and act locally, which for me today means sharing Hetherington’s video with anyone who will watch and trying to do a better job of minding my children.

_Bouv.