The Northern Agrarian

I don’t think that last sentence is entirely accurate.

“Living as free of technology as possible”… you realize it is possible to live without a cell phone, much less the very sleek smartphone that you have.

Also, we both went to see Watchmen, one of the more objectively vulgar (sex, violence, etc.) movies I’ve seen in a long time. Just sayin’.

In what way, exactly, would you not be able to carry on without a cell phone? People did it for many years, after all.

And landlines are significantly cheaper than cell phones, even if you got your phone for free. The monthly bills are much less.

Seems to me that the person truly hoping to escape technology would rather have a traditional phone in their place of residence than a brand new blackberry in their pocket =).

So your social and professional advantages take precedence over technology’s degradation of society?

So you want other people to live the way you think people should live, but not yourself?

I apologize for the probing questions, I’m just trying to figure out when exactly you’re willing to sell out your principles to get ahead in life. Oops, I mean, “get the message out”.

Ah, but you claim that you wish to be as unencumbered “as possible” by technology. That doesn’t mean that you can’t live without technology, but it does mean that you live without technology that it is possible to live without.

Unless you are arguing that it is, categorically, impossible to live without a cell phone, laptop, and desktop computer, then you are not, forgive me for saying it, living as free of technology as possible.

And if you are not living as free of technology as possible, then your “About me” section is incorrect.

Fantastic semantic argument.

Doesn’t the history of the DC punk scene actually offer some interesting insight into this argument? A band lioke Fugazi certainly wanted to “get its argument out.” And to do that to the fullest, it could have made videos, appeared on TRL, worked with TicketMaster, etc. But it’s commitment to a different worldview precluded that approach. So the band “suffered” with less exposure than it could have had., And reached far fewer people. But in the end, the message it conveyed was more “pure.” Right? So if a commitment to living free of technology is really one of the core values… doesn’t a Smartphone and a blog kind of… run counter to that?

I guess the question is, when does the quest for technology become slavish and degrading? Do you have a sense of when that happens or why? I think the Amish might hacve some interesting insights. They actually use phones, you know. They are just not allowed in the house.

So it seems that you are not alone with this conundrum. But I think it might come doen to a question of wording. TO say that you want to live “as free of technology as possible” can seem kind of obnoxious, especially when typed onto the interwebs. That sounds an awful lot like, “I hate technology, except when I don’t.” Perhaps a more accurate assessment is that you want to keep certain spheres of your life separated from technology? Or that you hope to cordon off certain places/times where you can escape from it?

Sheesh. Even Henry Rollins has a beer from time to time, I think.