Geek As Citizen

Geek As Citizen: Imagine There’s No Heaven

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Sky Clouds Heaven

When discussing Geek Citizenship and our involvement in communities, there’s something that comes up again and again – and not just in geek citizenship. It’s an issue that pops up repeatedly when you’re dealing with issues of people being part of society versus cutting themselves off.

The desire to Get Away To Where Everything’s Perfect.

It’s the idea that we’re going to someday be rich enough nothing will bug us (even if some things should bug us). It’s the idea that we can get away from those people or maybe even, you know, get rid of them or isolate them – and then the world is perfect. It’s the idea that there’s something out there that can solve everything and make everything great forever, and if we just keep at it and give up everything else we’ll get there.

It’s an idea of Heaven, and it’s not so much a theological concept as the idea that somehow we’ll reach a perfect state where it’ll all be OK.

This idea is not just B.S. on many levels, it’s pathological because it leaves us always running and manipulating and cutting ourselves off. In short, I’m saying Heaven is a pretty terrible idea, even when we gussy it up with economic talks and technology dreams. In fact, it makes us worse citizens, and I’d like to think we can do better.

Not Perfect of course. Perfect Is The Problem.

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Geek As Citizen: Ties To The Community

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Saint Nicholas Charity

I’m sure you’re familiar with the issues of “techies” in San Francisco and the surrounding area. They’re supposedly obnoxious, driving up home prices, Google buses are getting a free pass and blocking traffic, the startup ideas are stupid, etc. If you haven’t heard about it . . . well I live in Silicon Valley and I hear a lot about it.

Though admittedly being south of San Francisco, some of it is probably a sort of bias – there seems to be a kind of SF/San Jose area split here.

Now there are issues of changes in San Francisco and the surrounding areas, but in reality none are as simple, clean cut, or frankly tech related as many people may think.  A lot of attempts to cover it are sadly over simplified and over generalized.  I myself have my own issues with some of what’s going on in San Francisco, but feel a lot of it is blown out of proportion – and population shifts, economic changes, and the like are part and parcel of big cities.

That being said, there’s concerns – and when you get a lot of people moving into an area there is going to be a sense of distance and alimentation. The new population could be totally great people, but they’re still outsiders – and that’s not helped when money and expense is a major issue, and even more so in this economy.

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Geek As Citizen: Change In Your Geek Job Guru Routine

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Time Moves On. As A Geek Job Guru You Need To Move With It.
Time Moves On. As A Geek Job Guru, You Need To Move With It.

For the last week I’ve been posting on how you could do your own geek job guru work and help your career and how it’s a good part of geek citizenry.  It is my true hope that you, my fellow geek, will seek to help others in their careers and indeed in their lives. I’d like you to coach, speak, and be a role model.

I want you to be the kind of person you could look up to if you were younger than . . . er . . . you.

There is, however a problem.

Also at some point you’re going to have to realize you’re going to have to change what kind of geek job guru you are. This is because no matter how good you are, smart you are, and helpful you are, the inevitable march of time is going to alter the value of what you know, how you communicate, and how relevant you are. When this change happens you need to catch it, or you’re going to end up giving the wrong advice and setting the wrong examples.

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