Society #25 #cong20

 I’ve written a poem this year so a summary of it could result in a higher wordcount than the poem itself!  It’s a stream of consciousness of my fragmented thoughts on a dispersed and fragmented society.  As for what Society 3.0 will be, the poem reflects my uncertainties of what society is at all, how it changes, who changes it and the forces within it; technology, politics, the masses, the minorities, the individual.

Total Words

Reading Time in Minutes

2

1. I was struck by the idea that society is everything and nothing.  It’s an artificial collective, a human construct of an idealised movement by the powerful.    The very word is laden with arch last century terms like ‘polite society’ and ‘high society’.   The origin of the poem is in the countless word associations of society adjectives, synonyms and metaphors – each grappling to make sense of it.
2. Society allows for abdication of responsibility.Society should do this, society must do that, its society’s fault…who is society?  Is it everyone or no one or just everyone else? (Hence, “Society’s you…, society’s me”.  I couldn’t bring myself to write the manifesto of the new normal society when I can’t decide if it’s occurs by accident or by design.  Are we the masters of society’s destiny or does society master us, are we caught in its current?
3. In this most uncertain chaotic year when the tendency is to grasp for certainty and grab at order, I was unable to get to grips with this Society “design” challenge. We’ve talked all year about how we are ‘together apart’.  Maybe I’ve bypassed together and moved straight to apart, detached from society and social engagement and for now it feels too far away to discern its shape.

Joan Mulvihill – long time member of the Congregation.  Blow-in member of Mullingar community. Sometime joiner of the artist community.  Recent member of Siemens Ireland having joined as Digitalisation Lead in February 2019.   She is as likely to talk to you about poetry and art as she is to talk about technology and society.  She is annoyingly happy right now so you’ve been warned!  For someone who says she’s not a joiner, she seems to find herself in a lot of things!!!.

You can follow Joan on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

By Joan Mulvihill.

Society? Anxiety

Dis-ease, Unease

Social Media

Retweet Please

A bot, a troll

A Russian spy

Machine Learning

Smart AI

Nothing’s real

All fake news

Hack my profile

Walk my shoes

Sometimes high

Extreme polite

Thin veneer

Shine the light

Underbellies

Darker sides

Live in hope

Of turning tides

Fabrics ripped

Colours worn

All a cover

Now its blown

Just a word

Do what’s right

All can change

Voters might

Crowds roar

Placards care

Rocking boats

Who would dare?

Such decorum

Tidy, neat

Agree with all

Safest seat

Powers shift

Sands too

Time’s up

Society’s you!

Undecided?

Still at sea?

Now your time’s up

Society’s me!