Opus 2012-179, DEFCON: How Soon They Forget

Do you ever spend time complaining about the boss?  Maybe you are a boss.  Do you spend time stressing out about the guy you just promoted and now you can’t remember why you did it?  As teachers we sit around complaining about administration.  What always amazes us is that these people used to be teachers and used to understand what we were dealing with.  It seems that as soon as they are promoted to power they experience a type of dementia and forget all that they had gone through before.  What happens?

It is not unusual.  Think of all the people who made a name as reformers, became accepted and soon became part of the power structure and part of the problem.  I remember a man who was running for school board.  He wanted to change things.  He wanted reform.  He had good ideas and presented himself well.  He planted seeds of hope.  People listened and he was elected.  The results?  Same-O, Same-O.  It was like Jekyll and Hyde.  What happened?

Think of the labor movement.  Most people will admit that there has been a place for organized labor.  They would disagree on when and where but the movement emerged because of real problems.  At the same time, most people I know who are unionized would agree that the Unions do not represent their real interests.  The unions seem to be in bed with the corporate bosses and are lining their own nests.  What happened?

I am at DEFCON.  I have been coming for at least ten years.  I am not a geek, that is my son’s role in the family.  I always learn something and grow by being here but I am really an outside observer.  As an outside observer I may not understand the subtle aspects of binary code or the latest jargon of techies, but I do have an overview that sees what they miss.  I have watched with sadness the maturing of the hacker community. 

Part of this is healthy.  They are getting older.  In spite of their wild party mantra they have the same desires as the rest of humanity.  They are marrying, having children and buying homes.  This causes a natural difference in attitude.  Single, poor, immature, outsiders become married, comfortable, wiser insiders.  Priorities change.  Values find a different foundation.  It is the way life is.  That is why we don’t put children in charge of our culture, or at least we didn’t in the past.

Part of it is sad.  The cutting edge of rebellion is dissipating.  And they don’t seem to see it.  They still think they are rebels.  I guess so but it is the same way that my old t-shirt is still red.  It just doesn’t have the stand-out fire that lit it up in the past.  People on panels of the rebel class have spoken in favor of more government regulation and they don’t seem to see it. 

This week I attended a panel that focused on an international meeting that was looking at redoing the agreements on how the internet functioned.  They were really concerned about what would emerge.  They were worried about international regulations cutting into their freedom to follow the joy of their lives.  What hit me was that one of the primary panel members was singing the praises for the U.N. at the same time he was concerned about international controls taking away his freedom.  He praised the U.N.’s peace keeping role.  What?  Are we talking about the powerless blue hats that have been caught in rape and pillage?  Is this the same UN that wants to push an international treaty that will take away our rights as parents?  Is this the same UN that wants to put the resources of the ocean under the control of committees of third world dictators?  Is this the same UN that puts Tyrants on committees about human rights?  Is this the same UN that wants to take away our second amendment?  I wondered what planet he was on.  Of more concern was the fact that there was not even a blink from the “rebels.”

The rebels are growing up and are becoming establishment.  It is sad.  It is human.

DEFCON is celebrating its 20th year.  Maybe it is time to mark them “establishment” and look for the next generation of rebels.

homo unius libri