Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 15:33:43 -0400
From: shawn wilbur <swilbur-AT-wcnet.org>
Subject: Re: Numbers Game Question




Don Socha wrote:

> Shawn writes:
>
> >Back when the buzzword of choice was "neoliberalism," it was pretty
> >generally understood that although capital was to have no borders,
> >borders were proliferating for most of us. The random checkpoint is
> the
> >new boundary, criss-crossing everyday life. Endocolonialism and
> >globalization are not in conflict, practically speaking.
> >
>
> Would you care to provide an example or two of what you mean
> by 'random checkpoint,' or 'new boundary, criss-crossing
> everyday life'?
>
> While I'm not in favor of them, of course, I would like to
> sharpen my awareness of their existence, if possible.
>
> Are there any such borders, for example, that someone as
> critically aware, if not simply as interested as yourself,
> might not recognize as such?

I'm finding that i have two rather different sorts of responses to the
question, given the changes in daily life in the last few years. Once
upon a time, we talked about random roadblocks - to test for drunk
drivers in the US, or to screen for drug smugglers and political
activists in Mexico. (Friends who travelled to Chiapas tell amazing
stories about random stops and harassment, well outside the boundaries
of the "conflict zone.") For some time we've been living in both the age
of NAFTA-style "free trade" and the age of intense border anxiety in
north america. After 9/11 the contradictions are only more pronounced.
Think, too, of practices like random drug testing in the workplace -
clear border patrols of an only somewhat different sort. But i'm also
aware now that, with the advent of "data-mining" operations online and
off, both by governments and by non-government powers such as
corporations, there are an increasing number of points at which one may
be called upon to stand and account for oneself, perhaps even without
your own knowledge.

-shawn

> Of course, I don't disagree that they're there, I just have a
> certain personal curiosity about margins and feel like I
> might get some impetus from you to explore something in
> particular.
>
> Sorry if my motives sound vague.  Please try to indulge me if
> you can afford to, however, and I'll see what I can do with
> it.
>
> Best,
> Don Socha