The changes at Twitter have me thinking about Ursula Le Guin's story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and N.K. Jemisin's response "The Ones Who Stay and Fight". Over the last several weeks, I've seen a number of arguments for people to stay and fight for the survival of the platform, and others to abandon Twitter for other platforms.
I have been at best an occasional contributor, but have seen a number of good conversations across many communities. There are many alternative social platforms that people are considering, and the choosing has been chaotic. The dispersal of Twitter communities to many sites would make it more difficult to cross-pollinate conversations. I also understand some of the reasons why people would want to leave.
I'm personally continuing to stay on Twitter, until the conversations I read and am a part of have all migrated elsewhere. At the same time, I'm also exploring the other options. This post is a test of MastoFeed to see whether it correctly posts this to Mastodon. (I've used dlvr.it for years to send posts to Twitter.)
I'd never heard of that Le Guin story (because I'm not very familiar with her work -- I know, I need to get cracking!) -- but reading the plot synopsis on Wiki made me realize I watched it on the new season of ST:SNW. There's even a reference on the Wiki page, pointing to this recap: https://trekmovie.com/2022/06/09/recap-review-star-trek-strange-new-worlds-gets-thoughtful-in-lift-us-where-suffering-cannot-reach/.
ReplyDeleteFurther into the Trek universe, I'm also reminded of Spock's oft-quoted quote: "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” The funny thing is...don't we live this every single day, of the sacrifices of the less fortunate in aiding the revelry of the more fortunate? I mean the smartphones we hold, the cars we drive, the TVs we watch, the soccer matches that have been going on over there in Qatar for the last month...you could make the case that very few of us walk away from Omelas. I certainly have not, knowing what I know. As another oft-quoted quote goes -- life isn't fair. :(
Yes! I haven't seen ST:SNW, but I recall seeing discussion of that episode and its influences. I would highly recommend The Wind's Twelve Quarters as a starting place with Le Guin. It's a short story collection, so you get a good introduction to a variety of her early interests.
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