I learn to focus
we have to care, and we have to fight. I am not tired. are you?
I have been living life in cycles of four. High school. College. Nearly four years at an AI-journalism startup. Nearly four years at Wikimedia. Four years of dating, and now I am engaged. Coincidentally, I am interested in politics, and the U.S. president serves in cycles of four. So, as Trump swore in last week, I restarted my clock.
“What you pay attention to grows,” writes adrienne maree brown, a modern poet-activist. Everything I would want to say about attention and how it relates to social justice is said in her blog post “attention liberation: a commitment, a year of practice”. If we are to divest attention from “anything that isn’t rooted in love”, which I am glad to do, how am I to discern misdirection coming from the most powerful in American society, and how will I, instead, inject curiosity and meaning into public discourse?
the first step
I have started to meditate on my priorities every morning before I rise out of bed and in the evening as I fall into sleep. I meditate on dimensions of my wellness which include mental, physical, and spiritual health and evolution, relationships with family and community, intellectual and creative vitality, my career, and household finances.
Currently top of mind for me is health, finances, and the success of my upcoming wedding. Health is always first because without sound body and mind I cannot achieve any of my goals. In fact my name ‘Aishwarya’ is chanted in a Sanskrit shloka on how there is no wealth without health, no nourishment and fulfillment without the wisdom of detachment. My meditation bookends my days, and I have already felt its positive effects.
My hope is that my personal discipline will help me focus as a writer during a period of mythic discordance between the American public and the ruling class.
Did Elon Musk do the Nazi salute? Are we buying Greenland? How dare they nominate a confirmed rapist and white supremacist as our secretary of defense? Indeed, the headlines incense me, but rage is not curious, focused, or generative.
In fact, the best defense against fear and anxiety is probably ridicule. For example, if I can find the humor in how pathetic Musk is, I can redirect my thoughts towards what I know in my heart; in my heart I know that if we want to dissuade younger generations, especially white children, from becoming neo-Nazis we need to focus on the issues of weath inequality and inflation, high-quality education in public schools, preventing book bans, regulating social media, making cities safer for children to be outside and play with other children, raising wages and improving parental leave so that parents can be present to raise families, and so much more. The issue is not the Nazi salute, the issue is how we are raising Americans kids, and in this matter I have a say, a contribution to make, and a God-given right to engage.
To quote Senator Bernie Sanders, “The less important the issue, the more it is discussed. The more important the issue, the less it is discussed.” So I am reminding myself, and you — be aware of your thought cycles, of the value of your attention, and like water, flow away from social media and into large pools that nourish your community.
we need you to focus
Some days I fall off the horse. I know I need to sleep early, but I watch another episode of Gilmore Girls. I need to practice for a job interview, but I am too immersed in writing my next essay. The occasional deviation from the goal is human. After all, to err is human. But what if the deviation becomes the norm?
In high school I took a memorable Christian Ethics class. The teacher kept a mirror on both sides of his door, so as you walked in and out you saw your own face. Every class he would ask us, who are you before you entered this classroom and who are you after, who are you today and who are you becoming into, for tomorrow?
Those in political power will always strive to misdirect in order to further their political agenda. For example, the Bush White House managed to gin up majority American support for the Iraq War, even though there was no valid reason to invade. Once we failed to discover weapons of mass destruction, 79% of Americans still thought the war was justified. That was 2003. Twenty years later that percentage fell to 36%.
The next four years will be misdirection in hyperdrive. Not only because this is the nature of politics and the expertise of Trump and his ilk, but because technology has modified our behavior into shorter, flighty attention-spans, thus laying fertile soil for power players to manipulate us further. The real challenge of the next four years will be our ability to ask every single day, who am I today and who am I becoming for tomorrow?
And I want to ask the feminist scholars and artists, where will we place our focus? Will it be in support of labor unions? Will it be to remain critical of the concentration of power? Will we focus on the issues of rising sea levels and floods in settled areas, water shortages in six states, fires that burn down homes, the poor communities most impacted by natural disasters, and people’s right to clean water and air?
As a movement, if we do so desire to discuss our sexuality and identity, our personal traumas and tastes, will we find ways to connect these topics to the struggles of working class women? So many of us writers are upper-class women, will we examine, elevate, and seek to unravel the problems our working class sisters encounter day in, day out?
how Tech lost its luster
A lot has changed since 2016. The same business leaders who swore to resist Trump now embrace him. This strikes a chord in me because these leaders are from my industry and where I call home — technology and the Bay Area. They lead companies that once inspired a kind of hope and optimism about a better future. They promised the very best life could offer — I could get rich, have fun with friends, and help the world, all at the same time.
On April 20, 2011 President Barack Obama visited Stanford campus before hosting a Facebook townhall where he remarked:
“…what Facebook allows us to do is make sure… that not only am I speaking to you but you're also speaking back and we're in a conversation, we’re in a dialogue… This format and this company I think is an ideal means for us to be able to carry on this conversation…what makes me incredibly optimistic… is that at every juncture in our history… we’ve always been able to adapt. We’ve been able to change and we’ve been able to get ahead of the curve.”
Those exact same companies which, as a teenager, I was introduced to as bastions of democracy now scare and disgust me, and the Ironmen who would rescue us from Trump instead handed him his crown.
Why did it take you this long, Aishwarya? The writing has been on the wall. Indeed, I have partially been in denial, and partially I am naive. I still believe technology can democratize society, help us make better decisions, improve quality of life across various dimensions, and lessen the conditions of human suffering, but I no longer believe that these companies will be the ones to do that.
Whether that is Google, Meta, Apple, Netflix, Spotify, TikTok, Amazon, or Microsoft, the last glimmer of charm has vanished. This is not to say there are not initiatives within these companies that I can happily back. Google is funding artists to pursue creative work. There are positive projects coming out of Microsoft’s AI for Social Good lab. Apple is trying to bring their net emissions to zero by 2030.
A simple internet search will indicate that these companies are fully capable of positive impact on the world, but the ethical decisions they make along the way do not deter them from the complete market domination they seek. Think of yourself and how you donate money — would you ever give so much that you yourself go broke? We all know how much we can afford to donate, as does Big Tech.
And for the record, let us remain weary and critical of Substack itself. Substack’s fundraising rounds were led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and its billionaire founder-leaders have some views on tech regulation that may conflict with yours and mine (I recommend listening to the full episode to understand their perspective because there were nuances about crypto and fintech that I am not knowledgeable about).
where does this leave the Responsible Technology movement?
The Responsible Technology movement has swelled since 2016 and it includes technologists, entrepreneurs, policy makers, researchers, journalists, and advocates who care to build humane, beneficial technology. Organizations like All Tech is Human have done an effective job bringing together people who can influence tech policy, design, and production, and people power is our engine. The business leaders of our industry have lived long enough to become the villains so who is going to stand up to them (besides Timnit Gebru)? Just little old us.
what is my role?
What is my role in all this? There are several I occupy. As a writer, it is my obligation to more deeply understand language, media, and fascism in order to lift the veils of propaganda. It is my duty to be in the world and of the world, as opposed to online. It is my nature to remain curious about people and critical of power. It is my inclination to commit to long-form and go deep, as opposed to deliver sound-bites. It is my privilege to shine a path forward and imagine better circumstances for us all. It is, possibly, my purpose to give more people the tools they need to think independently.
All this is to say, your activism is needed. Take it and channel it outside your immediate circle and beyond people who easily agree with you. Direct your attention towards those who have less power in society and collaborate with them. Possibly the same people who vote against their own interests, as it were.
We cannot betray younger generations. We have to care, and we have to fight. I am not tired. Are you?
Originally written by a union activist during the Harlan County War, this song is about a 10-year struggle. Whatever issue you are fighting for, be it women’s reproductive rights, climate change, or gun control, the road to victory is long and you, me, we cannot be distracted.