The Jolly Green Avatar - are you sure you know what you're supporting?
If you're on Twitter and follow anyone with much of a social / political reckoning, chances are you've come across the call for #greenavatar . Chances are you've also picked up on a few Tweets about Iran where there may have been a democratic election. Or there may not. And there's the rub.
Yeah, yeah, Middle East in turmoil - same old, same old; but what about this green avatar malarky, Dan? Wagwan?
Well, the idea is you edit your avatar to become a plain green block (or green hue your exisitng photo with iPhoto) to show your support for... er...
Well, here's my problem. What is this green avatar a symbol of?
The black (blackout) avatar on Twitter made sense. It was a political statement using an apolitical symbol. A person could indicate their protest at the New Zealand government's decision to ban users from the net for suspected file-sharing (without trial), and blackout their avatar. It was a display of digital solidarity - day by day more avatars went black; not all by any stretch, but enough to be noticable and eerie. Something was up. Something wasn't right.
The real win was that black avatar meant one thing and one thing only: a protest at the New Zealand Government's policy. THAT policy, right there, right then. Not the whole NZ government, not their health care policies (afterall, who outside of New Zealand was really across all of these issues?), just that one thing we could agree wasn't right.
A black avatar had no other affiliations. It wouldn't be mistaken for support of another political party, another campaign, (ok maybe the Goths, if they were running for High School Presidency...); but whether you were conservative, liberal, eco-warrior or bible fanatic, you could black out your avatar to make THAT statement of protest and know that that was the only statement you were making. It represented a single (common) intent.
The green avatar has none of that assurance. It's ambiguous at best. Why? Because green is the associated colour of Iran's unelected opposition coalition party in these contested elections. So when you paint your avatar green there are inferrences that can be drawn beyond support for 'democracy', 'liberty', 'freedom of speech'. The green avatar is consciously linking to the Iranian opposition reformist coalition party - and do they really offer any utopian dreams? You probably know that many people are furious that this party hasn't got into power through this election, but what else do you know? Yes it all looks pretty dubious in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Julian Coles presents an excellent analysis here), but what do you know?
Just because a political party stands against an oppressive, (you might say) dangerous, insular regime, it doesn't automatically mean that party stands for everything you'd like it to. I hear they're reformist, they're progressive...
It feels like 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' - is the logic blithely at play here. Coincidence that it's attributed to an old Arabian proverb, but there's an awful lot of assumptions being made in this.
Just because a political party stands against an oppressive, (you might say) dangerous, insular regime, it doesn't automatically mean that party stands for everything you'd like it to. I hear they're reformist, they're progressive...
It feels like 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' - is the logic blithely at play here. Coincidence that it's attributed to an old Arabian proverb, but there's an awful lot of assumptions being made in this.
President Barack Obama, when being pressed to condemn the election result and the Iranian regime's response to protests (and support the opposition), has stated:
"It's important to understand that, although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised. " source: Daily Telegraph 17 June 09
Let me present an exchange I had on Twitter today: I asked @NickDonnelly (who if it was #followfriday I would recommend you follow) why he had changed his avatar to green.
Nick: @Article_Dan supporting democracy / showing solidarity for iranians... #greenavatar #iranelection
Let me present an exchange I had on Twitter today: I asked @NickDonnelly (who if it was #followfriday I would recommend you follow) why he had changed his avatar to green.
Nick: @Article_Dan supporting democracy / showing solidarity for iranians... #greenavatar #iranelection
Nick: @Article_Dan Point Taken. If you support democracy id say yes, you do support reformist party, specially if alt is do nothing #greenavatar
My interpretation of this is that it is better to side with the opposition reformist party than not take a side at all and let democracy fall beneath a jackboot in the Middle East. But, like Obama, I wonder about that. Haven't we taken sides before in similar situations and found we've backed an equally bad (or worse) bunch? Didn't the US arm Afganistan rebels against the Russians? Didn't Western governments supply weapons to Saddam Hussein when it suited us? Because they were the enemy of our enemy?
I know these are extreme examples, and hardly the same as adding a tint to an avatar - and I certainly don't equate Nick with US Foreign policies! But it's illustration of how we can get it wrong thinking we're stopping things going wrong; how our interpretation of life doesn't necessarily marry up with the reality of life in a very different culture; how imposition of Western perspectives on the Middle East can lead to distorted conclusions and misguided acts. It's hubris. And hubris never ends well.
Please, don't stop showing support / fighting for democracy, for freedom, for human rights. That's not what I'm after here. But can we find a different colour or symbol for it? One that won't leave me feeling queasy about my blustering niaveté in a few years' time...?
Keep th' faith,
Article Dan
NB: Nick Donnelly's comments are represented with his kind permission.
Keep th' faith,
Article Dan
NB: Nick Donnelly's comments are represented with his kind permission.
PS - The comments system on Posterous is sometimes flakey. If you try to leave a comment and it doesn't let you, please let me know on twitter @article_dan or email articledan@rocketmail.com and I will repost (providing it's not abusive).
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