Terrorism?

Terrorism is arguably the word of the decade—at least for the politically inclined. But what does it mean and when is it applied? That is, what events, circumstances, acts, or conditions can be categorized as terrorism? In popular culture terrorism is defined as the murder of civilians in order to instill “terror” to a particular group.

This definition is too narrow for my taste.

How about poverty as a form of terrorism? Are poor people being terrorized everyday by the fact that they are surrounded by abundance? The feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, shame, inferiority, jealousy, et cetera are forms of terrorism.

This argument can be extended. Are minorities being terrorized everyday by the feeling of powerlessness? Are the majority being terrorized everyday by the constant fear of being perceived as domineering? Are homosexuals being terrorized by living in a society that perceives them as abnormal? Are women being terrorized everyday by living in a man’s world? I guess in one way or another we are all being terrorized everyday by one another.

Maybe that is why we work our asses off to climb the “social ladder:” were tired of being terrorized.

Dancing Fever

Life has stages: from being a baby, to becoming an elderly person, and everything in between. Some of us can also go through phases. Some people have years in which they rebel, there is the classical mid-life crisis, and plenty of other phases.

Personally I would like to be more experimental. Though I’m not crazy enough to do outrageous or dangerous stuff I would like to do things I have not done before. This can range from listening to different music to making different friends.

Aoba, a person I met recently, invited me to go to a techno club that is supposed to be one of the hottest in San Francisco. I went.

The line to the club was long but luckily Aoba purchased tickets in advance so we got in easily. The club is divided into the main dance floor, a smoking room, and I believe (though I did not see it) a smaller—more intimate—dance room. The main dance floor was awesome. The first thing you notice is the exotic dancers who occupied parts of the stage, cages up high, and the disco ball hanging—I believe that helps people go into a deeper trance. Of course there were a lot of people and you can imagine the dance floor.

I spent the first thirty minutes observing, then the music took over. For the next three hours—with a couple of breaks—I was jumping, swerving, bending, gliding, and waving. I let the music move my body which ever way it was destined to go at that precise moment.

For my anti-structurist friends this form of dancing is an example of pure rebellion. Unlike other dancing forms this has no rules. The only rule is you do what the fuck you want, except interfere with another person’s space. Though you occasionally do interfere with another person’s space—bumping, stepping, or rubbing—but that is an acceptable and understood part of the activity. Additionally, for those people who don’t know how to dance this atmosphere is perfect.

Will I do this again? I don’t know but I’m glad I did it.

"The People"

I hear a lot of individuals using the term "the people." For example, the politicians don't support the "the people." Who are the people? Who gets to be a member of the "people." I generally understand this term to mean poor, working class, and middle class individuals. I wonder if this is right?