This week, I found the notion of nationalism that Jason discussed to be an interesting concept. I was never aware of just how young the idea of nationhood actually was, so I never considered why we hold such passionate affinities to what Benedict Anderson calls ‘Imagined Communities’. It is apparent that we collectively embrace so called ‘Australian values’ in order to feel part of something greater, to feel united with like minded people who we will most likely never even meet.
This train of thought also got me thinking on where this indoctrination occurs. One only has to watch an episode of ‘A Current Affair’ or ‘Today, Tonight’ to realise that just about everything unpleasant isn’t just undesireable, it’s un-Australian. It appears the education system isn’t the only place where we learn ‘Aussie values’.
In terms of the readings, I found the ‘Californian Ideology’ the most interesting because of how it showcases the way that Left and Right political factions both have vested and conflicting interests in the burgeoning technological sphere. Relative to this weeks lecture, Kelly’s reading showcases that technological determinism and utopian ideas of the internet are not the first, and will not be the last ideologies that speak of a unified and utopian world.