[image source: worldbike]Since 9-11 and starting college, I began to pay more attention to the media. I noticed the reoccurrence of certain terms or themes loosely describing Americans as “ethnocentric, capitalist, world-policing monster-consumers who are so busy over-populating the planet’s fattest nation and one-upping a neighbor’s credit-purchased idiot box, that they’ve overlooked the toxic landfill’s avalanche of Starbucks cups which buried their prized McMansion.”
Did I cover all the categories? Oopsie, I forgot to reference school shootings and the Katrina debacle. OK, so I am exaggerating a little. I don’t intend any disrespect to the aforementioned trends and events. I’m just slightly discouraged by my observation of what fills the air waves and internet. My limited experience with blogs seemed to bolster this observation. I thought blogs were just digital ranting--full of opinion and emotion. This didn't sit well with my background of fact-focused writing for the high school newspaper.
Until recently, my life’s struggles and a depressing stream of news coverage had slanted me toward skepticism and pessimism. Since starting the Social Design class, I am freshly encouraged. Both research and a well-chosen reading list have given me a new perspective. In fact, after some resistance to the blog concept, my professor and a fellow student said, “Maybe you’re reading the wrong blogs.” Needless to say, I've been won over. What an effective tool for sharing ideas and information.
Also, this weekend’s visit to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York has shown me tangible examples of hope. “Design for the Other 90 Percent” highlighted the work of designers enriching the lives of those who “have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted.” (See:
http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/about/) I will discuss this topic in greater detail after some much needed sleep.
