Selfe claims and evidence

In Cynthia Selfes essay titled “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution Images of Technology and the Nature of Change” she writes about three narratives or myths associated with technology and its effect on the societal change of the world. The first narrative she writes of is the “Global Village” and the “Electronic Colony” (294). The “Global village” is the idea that technology can connect the world together, thus making everyone equal. Selfe implies in her essay that the “Global village” sounds good to Americans in that it should “erase meaningless geopolitical boundaries [and] eliminate racial and ethnic differences” (294). This sounds good in theory to Americans but she states that this can be “terrifying” implying that Americans would in this scenario, become equal to everyone within this global village. As Americans are part of one the most technologically advanced countries, the thought of being equal to those not as well off as us, causes a breakdown in the global village narrative. Selfe cites in her essay evidence of this “privileged status of Americans” using Negroponte who says that “twenty percent of the world uses eighty percent of the worlds resources”.

From there Selfe goes on to say that due to these social factors that we deal with in our culture, we as Americans are unable to “cope with the changes that the global village story necessitates… unable to relate to the outside world outside our cultural experiences.” (294) Selfe uses advertisements as evidence to support this claim of Americans not fitting in with this global village narrative. This claim is further expanded on by Selfe implying that we don’t venture away from our own “socially familiar contexts” (295). We have a long history of being the dominant power in the world; we see the world and its less fortunate inhabitants as people that need our help, people that we can impart our knowledge, technology and beliefs upon. She uses evidence of this by citing different programs that help the world advance like Lend-lease, Peace Corps, and the space program. This develops her idea that the idea of the global village is actually an “Electronic Colony” (295) This meaning that only affluent countries are actually able to benefit from this connectedness of the world, as she states “Americans are the smart ones who use technological expertise to connect the worlds people.”

She uses evidence of the Global village narrative in an advertisement for Virgin Sound and Records. In this ad it says that “For the world to have a future, we must work together as one tribe”. The same ad though, also supports her “Electronic Colony” or revised “Global Village” narrative. Where the in the ad was shown a man of a unknown tribe with the idea of everyone working together for a common goal the ad also shows in the same breath a man who is “presented as a wandering savage”(296) who is dressed in native garb and is seen as exotic. We feel that he is connected to us as a member of the “one tribe” but is also a world away from us. He is someone who to us is also a foreigner.