Is the black race really in an ideological war with other races, or are we in a virtual war with their technology now?
Some may say that it is very possible to be in two wars at once, so before you take that stance, which of the two is more detrimental to our progress at this current moment. I think ideological wars can only be possible if there’s a technological superiority on one side. I say technology makes it possible to spread ideologies to a group of people that would normally not go along with it because of their harmful effects on their group. Just think, if you cannot circumvent their technological means of spreading it or enforcing it you are now at war with the technology.
I’ve read books like The End of Work by Jeremy Rifkin that showed how groups of people, specifically black people, can be affected by technology getting too far ahead of them. I’ve heard historians like John Henrik Clarke explain how, throughout history, black people have suffered the most because of our lack of technological advantages and advancement compared to the intruding groups. Not only that, but I’ve heard psychologists that have studied the plights of the black race like Amos Wilson say that our poor control over our own psyche is because of our inability to get out in front of technology.
In short, technology is power, and either you can use technology to gain power over others or you can be the side fighting against it, and a quick study of history will tell you what side you should prefer to be on. Man has thrived on earth and has become its greatest apex predator because of our technological advances over other animals and even over the environment sometimes.
Though ideals are just as powerful to the existence of man, ideals are made tremendously more powerful once it’s paired with technology. Technology advances in communication allow ideals to be spread in such a way that a single person communicating it in a one-to-one manner could never compete with. Technology advances in weaponry allow one side to physically impose their ideals on one’s side if need be. Guns or bombs have no ideals, only the person pulling the trigger or pressing the button has that, and depending on the technology you possess, you’ll either become a victim or a victor over their attack.
So now that we are in the computer age it is easy to say well everyone has a computer at home and a smartphone that they carry around with them so that technology differential has to have corrected itself by now. But if you think that then you would still be wrong because being in possession of technology, as good as it may feel to own, it is not the same as creating the tech and owning the right to the technology or even the ability to build it. Studies as late as last year show that blacks have a very small presence in the tech industry, so that would mean that if today’s war is based on economics and our ability to thrive in markets, then we are currently losing the current war with technology.
In conclusion, we have to get in front of technology and not be just a user of the technology because in theory that would make us slaves again. It’s just that this time it’s slightly more comfortable because we are slaves to technology when it should be the other way around.
Could you come up with some ways to finally gain some ground in this war with technology that we are currently losing?…
