It's been a great disappointment...

I had assumed that staying off social media would be really difficult for me; it simply has not. Earlier in the week I had the complaint that the one thing I was missing was the collation of interesting articles from the Guardian that Facebook gave me. Turns out I can get a daily email from the Guardian that does the same thing. Problem solved.

So I don't feel that this is burdensome, or difficult. Not really a lot to say about it on the blog, so I don't think I'll bother giving you updates unless something interesting happens. What might be interesting is how I react when it turns February and the doors of Facebook are once more opened up to me. I'll let you know!

Day Three and a normal schedule returns

I’ve now been back at work for a couple of days, and that means I have much less ‘free’ time – time for hanging around when having a look at Twitter seems a good idea.

I’ve found I’ve been out of bed quicker the last couple of days – simply because I don’t have ten minutes of social media to do. Can’t say I’ve really found a great way to use that time yet though. I listen to Radio 4 and drink tea, but rather than rushing for the train I’ve found myself with plenty of time.

On the journeys to and from work I’ve been catching up with the podcasts I didn’t listen to over Christmas, and picking up the German Courses am doing on Memrise. It’s free and is definitely working, although as with all distance learning the lack of a place to practice is what is missing.

I’ve tried a few of the language learning Apps. I actually prefer DuoLingo but Memrise has so much more material and quantity has won out over quality this time. I can’t use the app while walking, but still manage to do between 30 and 50 minutes most days.

In the office we do of course have an IT policy but incidental personal use is OK, so checking FB at lunchtime would be fine – plenty of people seem to anyway. But the temptation just isn’t there – if I have ten minutes there is plenty of proper news (or just look at Wikipedia and follow the interesting links) without needing to reach for Twitter.

I am looking at less news – I’m getting the headlines but not digging into more peripheral things that I would see because someone had shared them on my timeline. This is what I had hoped – because much of that will be ‘bubble’ stories – ones I am likely to agree with or be interested in, because I have selected the people whose posts I see in the first place. It leaves me worried about what I am missing though – is there really so little happening (ex Trump’s latest Tweets*) in the world? It’s the first few days of the year when everything is full of review and resolutions, so it’s possible, but I worry I am missing something. I think I might try to find another news-based podcast just to ensure I’m missing nothing that matters.

* Which I am of course only aware of due to the Main Stream Media

Bank Holiday Blackout

When I wake up in the morning, I put my glasses on, and then reach for the IPhone. And of course this morning was no different, except that Twitter and Facebook have been uninstalled from my phone. So I felt a bit lost. Quick check of the BBC news site to see if the world has ended. But no real desire to look behind the headlines. Wonder what amusing messages post New Year's Eve I will be missing.

It's a Public Holiday today so news is likely to be a bit slow, but equally people have time on their hands so there is probably a lot of stuff which is either funny, or (perhaps more likely given the date) about self improvement. But not for me.

So I put the radio on. Radio is a feature of my work mornings but less often at weekends - it is a news medium for me rather than an entertainment one. It seems a bit pedestrian - is that in contrast to social media or is it actually just a sleepy Bank Holiday? If a social media-free month has driven me into the arms of Radio 4 it probably hasn't distanced me from the metropolitan elite.

Out and about later on, and getting a train down into Kent for a bit of a walk. Waiting for the train it feels natural to check the phone, but I can't. And there is no free paper today. I could stick headphones on and either dive into my backlog of podcasts, or some music, but that seems far more antisocial than the phone. Headphones are a barrier to conversation in a way that social media is not.

In other news I've done a lot of sorting out of my phone (uploading pictures, indexing music etc) largely because it fills the time I would otherwise by Tweeting. That's all done now, so I wonder what's next? Tomorrow is a normal working day so probably a much more representative test for me.

A month without Twitter

In addition to the usual trinity of resolutions* I have decided to give up social media entirely for the month of January.

I’m going to blog about this experience, although given I won’t be able to publicise it, you probably won’t be reading this until the experiment is over.

I am a regular user of Twitter and Facebook. I don’t use anything else except LinkedIn (to publicise a few work-related things). Having decided to abstain pretty much at the last moment, I’ve not done the numbers on how much of my time social media takes up. It tends not to be big runs of time – but it will be a few minutes, several times a day. Certainly more than an hour a day and probably more than two. 

Some quick calculations suggest I tweet about 150 times a month. But I spend a lot  time using both as a news/information source; Twitter through the people I follow and Facebook through pages I like (The Guardian, NPR etc) and which find their way to the top of my news feed. Not all that time is going to be saved, particularly if just I find myself on the Guardian App rather than pulling down articles via Facebook.

Why am I doing this?

Firstly there is that classic ‘alcohol-free month’ approach – just proving to myself that I can stop any time I want. Honest.

Secondly I don’t have a lot of free time and I’d like to think there are better things for me to be doing with it. I’ll try and cover what these might be, and how I get on with them, in future posts.

Third, I am increasingly aware (thanks to the likes of Michael Gove telling me) that I live in a bubble of comfortable ‘metropolitan elitism’ where the news that is curated for me on social media reinforces my existing views. This of course happens with many of the people I meet in real life, but I tend to be far less likely to be involved in political discussions there, and it is much harder to avoid human social interaction. I could have chosen to source my news from Breitbart and the Daily Express for the next month to try and rectify this, but that’s just too painful to seriously contemplate. So this is an attempt to, if not step out of the bubble, at least try to spend a bit less time inflating it.

Finally, the world over the last year or so has been a pretty rubbish place to live. (I mean this in a general sense –  my own life has been really good in 2015/6.) Stepping back from the hate and worry for a month feels like a nice break.

That’s the plan, and 16 hours into the New Year I’m still sticking with it. I’ll post in a couple of days on how things are going.

If you have any views on this, feel free to Tweet me at @rossofpenge. Just don’t expect a reply before February.

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* exercise, alcohol and smoking

Psepholo-babble

I am on a blogging hiatus at the moment, but thought I would jot down some thoughts on last night's election - on the political situation we see, not on what it means for the country in terms of policies.

1. Despite the injustice, the election has produced a majority government. So no chance to a change in the voting system in the next five years. Though I expect Labour 2020 to get pretty close to a commitment to real PR (as win the European elections) in its manifesto.
2. Cameron is going to have a functioning majority of about 9 (after discounting SF etc). Doesn't leave much room for by-election losses or right wing shenanigans. So this government is actually less stable than the last one, despite being a single party one. He won't build a coalition, but will need to keep some potential votes sweet - so expect some policies generous to Northern Ireland.
3. In his favour though is a divided and uncertain opposition. Labour and the LDs need to decide the direction they want to go in, and elect the right leaders to perform in the election, not to please the party. That isn't necessarily done quickly*. Resigning and taking the blame is an honourable thing to do. But maybe staying on for nine months to allow for thinking time might be better. Michael Howard did that for the Tories and they ended up with "Call Me" Dave. You may not like him, but from what they had it was a good choice for the Tories.
4. By the next election the recommended boundary changes will be in, which gives the Tories a 20 seat estimated bonus. And they will be being led by (if he keeps his nose and other protuberances clean) Boris Johnson - who remains inexplicably popular. IF people do start to feel better off, that is a formidable head start.
5. And by then the spectacularly named EVEL (English votes for English laws) will have had to be considered. If we see Scotland (and eventually Wales) as just under 100 seats of anti-Toryness, this will change future election maths hugely.
6. But we should be very worried by the divided nature of the UK - not just the SNP and the very different result between England and Scotland. But Labour is confined with a few exceptions to the cities and suburbs, whilst the rest of the map is largely blue. How on earth do we heal this divided nation?
7. There will now be an EU In/Out/Shake-it-all-about referendum in 2017. That is a massive constitutional headache if for example England votes 'Out' and Scotland votes 'In' - especially given the government's lack of a mandate in Scotland. Forces us back towards Scottish independence.
8. What will UKIP do in a 2020 election? Either we will have voted to leave the EU - and that doesn't leave them with many policies, or we will have voted to stay - and it will be hard for them to stand on a 'neverendum' platform. They have some serious reinventing to do. If they don't that's four million votes that have to go somewhere...

*well, it is for the LDs - it will be Tim Farron - probably unopposed.

I said it in German and Greek*

Thought it was time for a quick check-in. January has been pretty busy, and all good fun but has whizzed by.

I was fortunate enough to perform at a gig showcasing some of the music of the rather wonderful Paul Ayres last Saturday. A choir of forty-odd and a programme with a mix of his arrangements of a wide range of music. Very enjoyable indeed, and with relatively minimal rehearsal time it was something I could fit in to the schedule.

Preparations continue for Voxcetera’s concert with the NLSO at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 28^th April which headlines with the Vivaldi Gloria. Had our first full sing through of that piece last night. As a bass it is lovely to have something with broadly predictable harmonies, so that you have a reasonable idea where the piece is going. Unlike the Poulence Exultate Deo which will be part of the first half, and where the next note at certain points is still a bit of a mystery. Then ‘Vox go mad in Dublin’ is scheduled for late May.

I wrote about my desire to try some new stuff this year, and that the first two would be something around meditation and a MOOC. I have borrowed a book on mindfulness and am currently required to contemplate a raisin. Domestic logistics mean I am contemplating a sultana instead, but I figure that any system of thought which is so prescribed as to specifics of dried fruit that it won’t work is probably not useful. I was described last week as being pretty ‘Zen’ over a kerfuffle with a train, so maybe it’s having an effect already.

MOOC wise I had decided on language learning. For various business reasons I would like to go back and work on my German (which was pretty good 25 years ago) but I have struggled to find a course that wasn't for beginners. So I am going with Spanish. As all the people I work with in Germany speak perfect English, and I would like to go and see some of Spain this year, that feels a much more useful option. I've chosen one which I can download as podcasts so that I can listen anywhere.

I also said I would keep a list of possible new stuff to do later on in the year. All that has been added to that so far definitively is ‘build a website’ but that’s one I definitely want to do. Not, you understand, because I need one for anything, just because I want to know how to do it. I think there may be something around cooking on it too – something I used to enjoy but had got out of the habit of doing anything other than that general one-pot thing that can by magic become a bolognese, chilli, curry or stew. With two under way though and setting myself six non-impossible things to do before Christmas* it will be after Easter before any of these need to be firmed up.

Anyway that’s it for now. I have Spanish to learn. Hasta luego.

* I've gone all Lewis Carroll this week

Nous sommes Charlie Hebdo

I've been writing this on and off for two days. I don't feel I have quite got it right. I think it reads as too apologist, too weak in what it advocates, and probably too cowardly. But I cannot advocate violent retaliation, and will not advocate for people to endanger themselves in some spirit of solidarity.

Let me know what you think.
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This quote from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy sprung into my head yesterday (not fully formed obviously - I had to look it up).

"The two opposing leaders were meeting for the last time. A dreadful silence fell across the conference table as the commander of the Vl'hurgs, resplendent in his black jewelled battle shorts, gazed levelly at the G'Gugvuntt leader squatting opposite him in a cloud of green sweet-smelling steam, and, with a million sleek and horribly beweaponed star cruisers poised to unleash electric death at his single word of command, challenged the vile creature to take back what it had said about his mother."

My point is of course that words do hurt, often in a much nastier way than sticks or stones. Adams, in writing this, however points to the absurdity of over-reaction, here through interplanetary conflict, as the consequence of insult.

What then of Charlie Hebdo?

We in the West of course condemn the killings without reservation. We point to freedom of speech and to the rule of law. 

Freedom of speech is not an unqualified right. Society sets its norms for behaviour, both through civil sanctions (defamation law here) and also the criminal (like malicious communications or obscene publications laws). Not all of us agree with the outcome of these laws - I struggle to see why words on Twitter should lead to anyone being locked up. But if enough of society had a problem with the laws they would change. And they will change as attitudes change. 

If we do not like a law, it does not generally exempt us from following it. The state would prefer that we lobbied for change, whilst complying with the law that is. And sometimes people don't want to do that - probably because they feel that they will not be heard. The examples of Gandhi and Rosa Parks will be familiar to many of you. Non violent direct action is the catch-all phrase.

If words, or pictures, hurt me, I have the right to be offended. I have the right to protest. I may not have the right to occupy the offices of the publication concerned, but if I did so in a non-violent way the legal sanctions would be limited.

I do not have the right to terrorise, to maim or to kill. And neither does anyone else. 

That's the easy bit. Unfortunately the difficult bits are, well, difficult.

What are we as society to do with those who do not accept these norms? And who seek to impose their views by force. Do we attempt to impose our views on them by force? Do we exclude those who approve of violent reaction from society? For what Orwell called 'thought crime'. Even if you think we should (I do not) then how do we police this? How do we address the dozens (hundreds? thousands?) who think that insulting their religion does justify violence? How do we know who they are? We can educate, we can build bridges. But oppression is a perfect recruiting tool for extremists. To move down that route is folly.

And what of those who seek to retaliate, not against the perpetrators, but against the religion? The fire-bombers of mosques etc. We must react with the full force of the law for those who do it, but do we also criminalise those who think of it? No, we should not and cannot.

It feels that the West, which has known freedom, peace and prosperity for 70 years now, so that none of us really know much different, is on the edge of an era where we have none of these things. This worries me hugely, and it should worry you. But the price of peace cannot be the removal of freedom. 

We should look to the example of Norway, of the grace and dignity with which it handled the aftermath of its own recent horrors. And we should try to be the same. 

Do we continue to criticise Islam? This is the truly difficult point here.The answer cannot be 'No'. It cannot be that the gun can silence freedom. But by answering 'Yes', we have to recognise that these will not be the last deaths to follow.

The press, at least in the UK, have declined to publish the cartoons when many felt that would be a show of solidarity with their fallen colleagues. I do not see this as cowardice. Any of us may feel that we are willing to lay down our lives for a cause. But none of us should feel the right to lay down the lives of others on our behalf. Publications are right to protect their staff from this sort of outrage. Not only are they are legally required to do this, but morally obliged also.

The press is in a difficult position here. They face the same issues as all of us, but in the public eye. They cannot give in to terrorism, but the individuals within the papers are humans, with human fears, and we cannot condemn them for that.

There are no easy answers. There is no magic switch. We can speculate about whether Western involvement in the Middle East has caused or accelerated this, but such speculation does not solve the problem.

There will be more terrorism as the months and years go by. We have to cling to what we hold dear, to freedom, and to law. We must remember the bravery of the staff at Charlie Hebdo, and not let it be in vain. But martyrdom is surely too heavy a price to pay.