[Nettime-bold] Life Below 14th Street

[Douglas Rushkoff <rushkoff@well.com>]

Tuesday morning: 

Thanks for all the concern and well wishes. Yes, I'm fine. Thousands have
perished, no doubt, and many of them, I'm sure, were friends.

I live high up, on 9th Street, and watched the whole World Trade Center
disaster unfold from my windows. Excruciating to witness. More on that in
the coming days.

I don't think it's the adrenaline of the moment leading me to believe the
world is a different place, now. This is an event beyond the scale and scope
of Pearl Harbor -- and one that changes everything.

Most likely, it will lead to some startling escalations, particularly now
that the White House is characterized more by demonstrative action than
effectiveness. The dancing in the streets of Palestine isn't a particularly
good public relations move, either.

Brace yourselves. America is at war, and the world is a smaller place.

Love and condolences to all.

--
Tuesday evening:

Things are strange here in lower Manhattan. Word has it the
neighborhood (south of 14th street) will be sealed off by
morning. I assume this means we can get out, but not in.

Media reports have been sketchy, and I can't help but conclude
we're not being told much. One building I know of, far from the
WTC, was evacuated, and the drivers of a truck presumably
carrying explosives were arrested. It hasn't been reported. No
news, either, confirming earlier reports that the Pennsylvania
plane that crashed had been shot down by our own missiles
before it reached its target. Even denials would be nice, but no
one is asking such questions.

Perhaps this 'cooperation' by the media is for our own good,
calculated to maintain morale. Time will tell.

I'm also disturbed by the reactions of many friends to the
prospect of going to work tomorrow. Some of them work at
AOL/TimeWarner magazines - recently budget-slashed and
overly corporatized. There's no impulse to 'hang in there,' show
up at work and get the news out. I don't blame them; they've been
mistreated, and the souls of these periodicals have been slowly
killed over the past months. Crises like these tend (and are
intended) to expose the stresses in our relationships to
institutions. So far, they're not pretty.

The images of the exploding and crumbling buildings, as well as
the screams of onlookers on rooves, still resonate. Some
neighbors who made it back describe Private-Ryan-level
carnage -- falling limbs and torsos, burning bodies, people
leaping out of 70-story windows.

People are quite calm, but they're also in shock. I'll be doing
some NPR (national public radio interviews) tonight, but I'm not really sure
what I can add of value. I'll answer their questions.

I received a widely-broadcast letter from John Barlow, who is very
concerned that this tragedy could lead to a willful disintegration
of American freedoms. He believes we will surrender precious
rights that were hard-won. I hope not; nor do I believe so.

I think we'll value the freedom we have all the more, now that we
have a taste of how tenuous such freedoms are in a truly global
reality. And what a terrible demonstration of remote high
leverage points in a networked system. Sometimes people learn the hard way.

It's one for all and all for one, at this point.



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