Technoslave

Adbusters Magazine has a wealth of resources that capture the meaning of our fast moving culture in pictures and narrative. Although I do not subscribe to it, I often read it over coffee and my favorite book museum at the mall.


This morning I was reading through some old notes I had written in spring of 2008. I had forgotten about an article I read in the May/June 2008 issue of Adbusters.


The title of the article was Technoslave by Eric Slate. He writes....


"Once, while I was riding on a crowded bus, the man sitting next to me threw his cell phone out the window. When his phone rang, instead of dutifully answering it, he casually tossed it away. I was stunned. He looked at me, shrugged and looked away. I had no idea if it was his, if it was stolen or even if he knew what a cell phone was. But in one seemingly careless motion, he managed to liberate himself from something that has completely consumed me."


All of this has caused me to think. That is a haunting phrase..."He managed to liberate himself" from something that "completely consumed" him.


I wonder what would happen if we were "liberated" from things that completely "consume" us?  I wonder what our lives would look like if we were not consumed by our calendars, clocks, commitments and confusion?


What would happen if our lives were not "consumed" by our kids sports schedules, the sales at the mall, coupons, appointments and busy-ness?


What would happen if we "threw away" all of those things that ensnare us and lived "liberated" lives?


Back to the story...


Imagine walking along the sidewalk and seeing a cell phone hurtling toward you from an open bus window. If that ever happens to you, I am hoping that it is someone being set free from the "tyranny of the ought" rather than someone who is angry with you and wants to settle it by throwing a cell phone.


Either way, the person is "liberated!"