My letter to the New York Times RE Thomas L. Friedman's "Facebook Meets Brick-and-Mortar Politics "

RE:  Facebook Meets Brick-and-Mortar Politics
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/opinion/sunday/friedman-facebook-meets-brick-and-mortar-politics.html?_r=1&ref=global

Dear Editor,

Regarding Thomas L. Friedman's "Facebook Meets Brick-and-Mortar Politics "... It is not facebook but the internet in general with its echo chamber tendencies which has become "an addictive substitute for real action", as well as a source for manipulative misinformation and bad advice for many naive and gullible people.

And the effect is not limited to far away conflict zones and people living under authoritative regimes: One can be a graduate student of Public Policy at Harvard University and be every bit as out of touch and unable to influence any one beyond a small closed circle of  like minded  "activists".  Unhampered by reality checks and any sense of accountability internet bullies tend to be full of  "sound and fury, signifying nothing".

That is not to say the internet is useless or even counterproductive. Building civic muscle is a slow process, and a serious process best shaped by competent, intelligent, connected people who know there is much more to life, and to political power, than adolescent howls and echo chamber antics.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Hussein Ibish: Clarifying why Arab and Muslim Americans should be smart rather than stupid

Ziad Asali: Learning from the Nakba "The only way to honour our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and a State of Palestine.

... to be an authentic voice...

To Rise to the Challenge

To Build A State

A Tool Box

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Eleanor Roosevelt