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�the EPOCH JOURNAL
FALL 2013
VOLUME VII, ISSUE I
EDITOR - IN - CHIEF
Ian Tuttle
MANAGING EDITOR
Evgenia Olimpieva
CONTRIBUTORS
Robert George
Gurer Gundondu
fandi Keum
Chang Liu
Robert Malka
Cem Turkoz
©
2013, The Epoch Journal
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2
THE EPOCH JOURNAL
I
n his bestselling prophecy of doom, After
America, author Mark Steyn proposes a
thought experiment: Consider a man, your
average, no-frills American, living in these glorious United States 100 years ago: the Year of
Our Lord 1913. As of March, Woodrow Wilson
is president. Women do not yet have the vote.
Rosa Parks is just being born. And in the category of cutting-edge technology: The zipper is
patented.
Drop that man, suddenly, in 1963. It's not
just a different countryit's a different planet. Set
LETTER FROM
aside the nation's political
THE EDITOR
and social convulsions.
Just consider the average
house: It has a radio, a vacuum cleaner, a television. If he wants to travel, the nation is now
connected by a sprawling highway system-or
he can hop on a jetliner. Two years earlier the
Soviets sent a man into space.
Fast-forward another 50 years. Different
planet? Not so much. The kitchen, the living
room, the neighborhood look generally the
same-most things are just smaller, handier.
Telephones are cell phones. There is a sleek
television not just in the living room but in every room.
But there is a strange item on the desk: the
personal computer. Fire it up, and inside is the
Internet. Here is, probably beyond arguing, the
great innovation of the last half-century. "There
is no Frigate like a Book I To take us Lands
away;' wrote Emily Dickinson. But she never
had access to Google.
Still, what is the Internet? It's a central knowledge bank, but discriminating between truth
and falsehood is not always easy. It is a global
message board, connecting opposite corners of
the globe-or is it more along the lines of comedian Jon Stewart: "The Internet is just a world
passing around notes in a classroom"? It is a
crucial resource for terror cells in the Middle
East, and home to Buzzfeed "listicles" such as
"9 Reasons the Loon Is the Best Bird:'
Struggling with the Internet's many tensions
is the task of each of this issue's feature articles.
Robert George ponders the Internet's predilection to smut, while Robert Malka and Evgenia
Olimpieva look at the Internet's potential for
bringing democracy to oppressed peoplesand the possibility that the Internet might end
up oppressing them further.
Our student reports take up these same questions-but from the perspective of the streets:
In our case, from the streets of Istanbul, Turkey,
where multiple St. John's students joined millions of Turks in this summer's protests against
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
And rounding out the issue, Chang Liu takes
a look at one of the most censored societiesmodern China-and how, for the first time in
a long time, government policy is beginning to
respond to public opinion.
Information and disinformation, inspiration
and victimization-you name it, there's a website, or thousands of websites, devoted to it. It's
all online, on the Internet-out there, somewhere. The size of the Internet, the scope of its
content, the innumerable possibilities for its application make it a technology that stimulates
and challenges and frightens. That is a good
reason to consider it carefully and cautiously.
We hope this inaugural issue of the 2013-2014
Epoch contributes, in some small way, to that
task . Like every technology, in the end the Internet ought to be man's servant, not his master.
But whether that will be the case remains to be
seen.
-Ian Tuttle, Editor-in-Chief
FALL 2013
3
�THE INTERNET
"He Desired to Look"
The Internet and Obscenity
BY ROBERT GEORGE
Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers
caught up with a childhood friend
living with grizzly bears in the Alaskan
this past summer while visiting
wilderness until he and his girlfriend were
my family. When we were young,
eaten alive by one. Treadwell documented
this friend was the only Internet-savvy
his life with the bears, so their deaths hapkid in my small rural hometown. He was
pened to be recorded on tape. In the docusteeped in and privy to a rapidly evolving
mentary, Herzog listens to the audio, but
Internet culture that I only became aware
mutes the track to spare the audience the
of years later. What did this mean? It meant
experience. However, intrepid audio engithat he knew the best bands, the best movneers have amplified the muted track, and
ies, the best websites. In our secluded town,
now you can go online and listen to a man
we received modern pop culture through
and a woman get eaten alive by a bear.
him. However, hand-in-hand with this
My friend had watched the clip, and he
cultural education came an exposure to
related to me what he had heard: the sound
unusually provocative content. He would
the frying pan made as the
proudly proclaim that he had
watched "Two Girls One Cup" The Internet is bloated woman repeatedly struck the
bear as it devoured Treadwell
(an infamous viral shock-video
with such content.
before turning on her; the iniof women defecating and vomEvery type of violent
tial terror in their voices, foliting on each other) and that it
or sexual pornography
lowed by the awful resignation
wasn't as bad as everyone had
imaginable is accesof their moans. He recounted
said. He would watch videos
. sible for your conthis to me with ease and comof atrocities and deaths, then
relate them to us (not at our
sumption at any given fort. These deaths had taken
up comfortable residence in
bequest). His air indicated that
moment.
my friend 's mind, and he did
he recognized that these vidnot seem disturbed by their
eos were extreme and obscene,
but still he recounted them casually. These
presence there.
I could go on. The Internet is bloated
videos had become an accepted part of his
with such content. Every type of violent
cultural life.
or sexual pornography imaginable is acI wasn't surprised, then, that, seeing him
cessible at any given moment. If you own
again this summer, he had a new video to
a smartphone, a library of such obscene
relate to me. This time, the video was actumaterial is in your pocket at all times. How
ally an audio sample taken from the movie
do we account for the pervasiveness of this
Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog.
material? Why is this what we choose to
In the film, Herzog documents the life of
I
FEATURES
4
T H E E PO C H J O UR NAL
FA LL 2 01 3
5
�show ourselves, to share with each other?
haps, but still easily accessed), and once it
What is it about the Internet that allows,
is there, we vote on it with our views, clicks,
and perhaps encourages, the propagation
likes, shares, and tweets. With these votesof such content?
online expressions of preference-we deAny ·attempt to answer these questions
termine what we expose ourselves to and
would be incomplete without acknowledgwhat we think others should be exposed to,
ing the Internet's myriad faces and funcas well. Following the sway of these votes,
tions. If the Internet were merely a forum
equally accessible material is unequally
for the type of content I described above,
promulgated: Content with the most votes
there wouldn't be much to say about it. Peois promoted over that with less. This helps
ple who desired smut would go to the Indetermine what shows up in your Google
ternet looking for smut. But it is, of course,
searches, on the front page of YouTube, in
much more than this. The Internet has creyour Facebook feed, and elsewhere.
ated a new horizon of social interaction,
So how do we decide what to vote on? It
connecting people across continents and
seems that our inclination to online content
ways of life. These connections have made
is guided by a personal lack. We are drawn
accessible vast, untapped resto material that speaks to deervoirs of information, and
sires in us. Our turning to the
We are drawn to
enabled us to document in a
Internet addresses some permaterial that speaks
new way the human expericeived deficiency, whether it
to desires in us. Our
ence. The thoughts and ideas
is a lack of information or intiturning to the Interthat inspire us have never been
macy, in ourselves or our envinet addresses some
available to so many. Because
ronment. We flock to political
perceived deficiency,
of this, our generation looks
sites, feminist blogs, fetishist
at the Internet with a culmiwhether it is a lack of forums, the Facebook profiles
nating pride: 'We gave manof old friends, celebrity Twitinformation or intikind the Internet,' we declare,
ter feeds, the imagined reality
macy, in ourselves or
patting our own backs. Most
of online video games, lookour environment.
remarkable is that while our
ing for materials that satisfy
pride is probably premature (it
our feelings of deprivation. We
remains to be seen what we ultimately do
spend our time on the Internet attempting
with the Internet), these approximations of
to appease deep, multifaceted, complex dethe Internet's importance and relevance are
sires: youthful curiosity, the longing for hunot hyperbolic. The Internet has changed
man connection amid a lack of community,
and will continue to change the way we
a noble desire to stay informed, the urge to
do commerce and interact, the way we review the obscene .... From our most virtuous
member and think.
desires to our most depraved, the Internet
What has given the Internet such
has content tailored to sate them.
breadth of content and widespread acPerhaps the foremost desire to which the
ceptance? Two things come to mind: the
Internet caters is diversion. If you look at
Internet's openness as a medium, and the
YouTube's list of most-watched videos, you
influence that we as users have over what
are not going to find life-affirming exposes,
we find there. Internet content is equal but
the video blogs of political activists, or othnot equally treated. All material is equal
er testimonials of personal achievement.
in that it has a place on the Internet (illeYou will find sensational music videos,
gal and grossly pornographic content, like
Miley Cyrus twerking, adorable cat mashthat described above, is discouraged, perups, spoof trailers, ironic has-beens, sar6
THE EPOCH JOURN AL
FALL 2 013
7
�castic up-and-comers, and all other sorts
of gratifying time-wasters. The desires for
diversion and community intersect in our
decadent indulgence of You Tube's greatest
hits. Such visual pleasures include us in this
growing society of starlets and wanna-bes,
a community defined by the ability of its citizens to point and laugh at the same thing at
the same time.
A
speech? And isn't there license in it to do
whatever one wants?" And "just like a manycolored cloak decorated in all hues, this regime, decorated with all dispositions, would
also look fairest." Surely the Internet allows
for the same license to express, and offers a
similar rainbow of content. As for the kind
of man who lives in such an indulgent city:
If he has good luck and his frenzy does not go
beyond bounds ... then he lives his life in accord with a certain equality of pleasures he has
established. To whichever one happens along,
as though it were chosen by the lot, he hands
over the rule within himself until it is satisfied;
and then again to another, dishonoring none
but fostering them all on the basis of equality.
ll of this will sound familiar to those
who grew up with the Internet. Indeed, far from being the generation that
gave the world the Internet, we are more
likely to be remembered as the first generation that wasn't given the choice to opt out
of it. However, by reflecting on
At a certain point, says
the mechanics that have beThe I nternefs demoSocrates, permission to satisfy
come second nature to us, the
cratic character makes any and all pleasures makes
Internet reveals itself as a funit and us susceptible to us unable to discriminate bedamentally democratic institution. The classic philosophical the same consequences tween them:
tenets of democracy are identicommon to the demo[The democratic man] doesn't
cal to those upon which the Incratic community.
admit true speech if someone
ternet is based, something like
says that there are some pleathe following: The highest end
sures belonging to fine and good
desires and some belonging to bad desires,
is personal freedom in the form of freedom
and that the ones must be practiced and
of expression and freedom from tyranny.
honored and the others checked and enThe best way to guarantee these personal
slaved. Rather, [the democratic man] shakes
freedoms is to give the citizens the responhis head at all this and says that all are alike
and must be honored on an equal basis.
sibility of self governance. As patrons of the
Internet, we've been handed a similar responsibility for the content found there and
By acknowledging the democratic naour relationship to it.
ture of the Internet, we can begin to understand the pervasiveness of the perverse and
But this means that the Internet's demo obscene material we find there. Uncomcratic character makes it, and us, suscep fortable though it might be to admit, this
tible to the same consequences common to
the democratic community. In Book Eight
content corresponds to desires in us. Its
presence in a public space reflects which
of Plato's Republic, Socrates offers an image
of the life of the "democratic man" and his
desires we have permitted in our own perregime. Socrates' articulation of democrasons. In his recent Friday Night Lecture,
Mr. William Braithwaite provided a forcy's failings can also serve as a critique of a
mulation for obscenity (included here with
culture gone increasingly online. Socrates'
portrait of the democratic city focuses on
permission): Obscenity is eros twisted by one
who panders to our craving to touch the ugly
the pervasive freedom found there: "In the
first place, then, aren't [the citizens] free?
in order to relieve an itch in the soul. The InAnd isn't the city full of freedom and free
ternet is, in part, a record of which 'itches'
8
T H E E PO C H J O UR NAL
desire to look upon the ugly. We turn to the
we seek to satisfy and the ugliness we use to
Internet for connection and for commuscratch them.
nity. We accumulate hundreds of "friends"
And this content is not viewed without
to whom we do not speak, thereby degrad a consequent effect on the viewer. It influing the meaning of friendship. We spend
ences what we permit into ourselves. To see
more time arguing politics on forums than
content treated with such equality teaches
taking meaningful political action in our
us to treat our own desires with a similar
lives. The Internet supplies us with conliberalism. It tells us that any inclination,
tent that temporarily comforts our sense
any fancy, any desire that arises in us is as
of lack, but much of that content is a mere
worthy as any other. When my friend was
image of what might give us real satisfaca young teenager, he desired a sense of cultion. The companionship of a close friend
tural involvement. Since the culture he saw
is not replaced by the agglomeration of the
on the Internet did not discriminate, what
thoughts of every person you
could he learn except an unever met in passing. The intidiscriminating acceptance of
macy of a loving relationship
When will we have
whatever site he happened
cannot be manufactured from
upon? And what could this
looked our fill?
the voyeurism of Internet porteach him but to not discriminography. A sense of place in
nate amongst the desires in
a community cannot be authentically rechim associated with this content?
reated in a video game. Finding temporary
As our eyes grow more accustomed to
satisfaction online for what we lack in our
what was previously considered obscene,
lives only puts off the time when we must
what kind of content will we create to satcreate and discover the means to authentic
isfy our jaded vision? What will we look
fulfillment in reality. •
like when we lose the ability to discriminate between what is highest and lowest
in the world around us and in ourselves?
What will we look like when any attempt
at discrimination is overcome by the desire
to look at what should not be seen? To this
last question, Socrates gives us a possible
answer:
I once heard something that I trust. Leoni-
tus, the son Aglaion, was going up from the
Piraeus . ..when he noticed corpses lying by
the public executioner. He desired to look,
but at the same time he was disgusted and
made himself turn away; and for a while he
struggled and covered his face. But finally,
overpowered by the desire, he opened his
eyes wide, ran toward the corpses and said:
'Look, you damned wretches, take your fill of
the fair sight.'
When will we have looked our fill?
W
e use the Internet to satisfy all manner of itches, not just the misguided
F A LL 20 1 3
9
�THE INTERNET
Power to the People?
The Internet can drive democracy-but also its destruction.
BY ROBERT MALKA
Systems, such as 4Chan-but even those
can identify you by your IP address. As long
as one is plugged into the Internet, there is
no escape from prying eyes.
Yet when one attempts to reveal what it is
governments do, the penalties are stupendous and unprecedented. One need only
look at Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, or Julian Assange to see what sorts
of penalties are being meted out to "whistleblowers" (once an admiring, but now a
ell, suffice it to say that in terms of
pejorative, term). Surely all can agree that
altering the fundamental infrastrucif there is no encouragement towards a
ture of the Internet so that citizens have the
check-and-balance system, then abuse will
advantage, or can serve as a check on the
flourish. Absolute power-and
power of government, the ship
isn't power over information
has sailed. The structure of the
The structure of the
the most absolute form of powInternet is such that privacy
er?-corrupts absolutely.
is a gift of benevolent governInternet is such that
So, in order to counter any
ments; it exists by their grace.
privacy is a gift of bepotential future abuses that
The United States in particunevolent governments;
come from this sort of free aclar has dedicated a massive
it exists by their grace. cess to the world's informaamount of energy to ensurtion, one needs to work within
ing that every smartphone is
the system-or outside of it. To work within
remotely accessible; the NSA can access
means lobbying Capitol Hill and influeniPhones, Android devices, and Blackberry
tial companies; provoking conversation
phones. The servers of a number of major
through media; and funding new technolocompanies-Facebook, Microsoft, and Apgies which might lend privacy a chance in
ple, among others-allow the NSA access
the future. To work outside of the Internet
to certain information at any time. It's even
would be to abandon it. To most of us, either
worse than the average U.S. citizen might
option seems impractical, however much
guess. Per the New York Times:
we care about the cause. And as this issue
The [NSA] has circumvented or cracked
becomes increasingly important in our daimuch of the encryption, or digital scrambling,
ly lives, it becomes clearer that we need to
tha gua ds global commerce and banking
take action rather than make conversation.
systems, protects sensitive data like trade seContact your congressman. Find non-profit
crets and medical records, and automatically
organizations which fight for your privacy.
secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet
chats and phone calls of Americans and othBecause the very thing that allows one to
ers around the world, documents show.
discover and to create is the last thing that
should be suppressed. •
And the drive for more information continues . As communications become less and
less anonymous, it becomes easier and easier to keep track of everyone's footprints. In
fact, virtually no communications are anonymous anymore. One of the last vestiges of
anonymity are anonymous Bulletin Board
fewer total deaths than the amount of gun
violence-related deaths in the United States
alone. (Worse, the term 'Terrorism' is increasingly meaningless: Everyone from Tea
Partiers to labor union bosses have been labeled "terrorists.") And that's not just dangerous-it's lethal. It's an Orwellian dream
not so far from being realized.
So what are we supposed to do about it?
W
I
tent is deleted; and even in our own United
f you paid attention to the "Arab
States, 1.7 billion emails are downloaded
Spring," the domino-like sequence
onto the National Security Agency's servers
of revolutions the Middle East two
years ago, you might recall how commentaevery day, and every conversation over any
form of media recorded and stored.
tors, expert and pundit alike, spoke of social
Governments, malignant or benign, take
media as a key to regime change. It's no suran active interest in social media, and the
prise that we're eager to demonstrate that
the Internet is a democratizing force that
reason is obvious: Social media sites, such
conquers totalitarian regimes: The instituas Facebook and Twitter, have identifying
tion of democracy is our modern Manifest
information that governments can mine. A
Destiny, our way of expanding American
key word in a Facebook post or a dashedculture outside of our borders.
off Tweet can be cause enough
What, then, to make of the
for legal action-and that's if
The sobering evidence
fact that the guide, produced
your country has a functional
continues: As We The
and handed out to willing parlegal system. In other places, it
People have gotten
ticipants of the Egyptian revocould mean incarceration, tormore advanced with
lution by its leaders, said on its
ture, or worse. And, of course,
the Internet is more than sofirst and last pages: "Do not use
our technology, so
Facebook and Twitter"? And
have our governments. cial media sites, Text messagwhat of the fact that the Jasing can be shut down by governments in the event of an
mine Revolution in Iran failed,
"emergency." Emails can be freely accessed
that the Arab Spring was crushed in Bahat any time by virtually any major governrain, that-beyond the Middle East-China
ment (the U.S. is not the only country with
quashes discord with an Internet police
massive electronic surveillance data minforce?
ing programs). A democratizing force, the
The sobering evidence continues: As We
Internet is, indeed-sometimes.
the People have become more advanced
with our technology, so have our governBut it seems, too, that the Internet has bements. In China, microblogs dominate the
come a way to 'democratize' governments'
ability to spy on citizens, whose governvirtual landscape, but the top dissenters get
ments tend to justify such abhorrent behavblocked and jailed, and proxies (computer
ior by calling their enemies and their acnetwork services which allow for indirect
connections to other networks) are monitions "terrorists" and "terror threats." The
tored obsessively-and frequently shut
suppression of citizens' privacy is rationalized by a blanket term that accounts for
down; in India, "depraved or corrupt" con10
THE EPO C H JOURN A L
FALL 2 013
11
�BOOKS
DREAMS AND DELUSIONS
Evgenia Olimpieva
D
rawing upon memories of the Inskeptic.
ternet-organized protests in Rus"Let them tweet and they will tweet their
sia in 2012 1and watching similar
way to freedom" is one of many popular net
events unfold this summer in Turkey and
delusions, and the first confronted by MoroBrazil, I set forth to pen an optimistic arzov. He reminds his reader about the events
ticle about modern technology-and esin Iran in 2009, when thousands of Iranians
pecially about the Internet, and its role in
came out on the streets to protest alleged
promoting democracy. My initial assump fraud in the nation's presidential election.
tion: that freedom of expression and access
News about the protests spread quickly
to uncensored information are not only the
online, owing to the fact that most of the
building blocks, but also the instigators, of
protesters were young people with smartdemocratic change. The Internet-the inphones. Morozov recounts the reaction of
carnation of freedom itself, the megaphone
the West: The general impression was that
for the silent and oppressed, the supreme
a "Twitter Revolution" was happening in
facilitator of human communication-just
Iran. Authoritarianism is doomed, argued
had to also be the right hand of Democracy,
optimistic observers, for people around the
its handmaiden and herald.
globe are now armed with tweets.
In the course of verifying my intuitions,
Never mind that the protests in Iran were
I came across a book called The Net Delupoorly organized, lacked strong leadership,
sion by Belarusian writer Evgeny
and were opposed by a signifiMorozov- an expert on technolcant number of Iranians who
ogy's social and political impli- WORK REVIEWED
thought the elections fair. Igcations. A few pages in, The Net
nore the fact that, as Morozov
The Net Delusion:
Delusion had changed my perputs it, "If a tree falls in the forspective entirely, proved my inThe Dark Side of
est and everyone tweets about
tuitions delusions, and rendered
Internet Freedom
it, it may not be the tweets that
my former ebullient thesis noth- by Evgeny Morozov
moved i "-that is, if the social
ing more than idealism.
unrest is happening in Iran and
In the introduction, the aupeople are posting about it on
thor recounts how he came to be interested
the Internet, it might not be the Internet
in the Internet's role in democratization:
that caused the unrest, just as Radio Free
Morozov, a political activist, once sought to
Europe was hardly responsible for the fall
promote democracy in Belarus by means of
of the Soviet Union. Never mind all this,
the "samizdat" of the 21st century: websites,
and, instead, like Internet guru Clay Shirky,
social networks, and biogs. This processpost on your Twitter account: "This is it.
promising in words, but, as he observes,
The big one. This is the first revolution that
ineffective and even counter-productive
has been catapulted onto a global stage and
in reality-turned Morozov from idealist
transformed by social media."
and firm believer in the Internet's ability to
This sort of thinking, says Morozov, is
change the world into cautious realist and
a perfect example of what he calls "cyber12
TH E EPOCH JOURN AL
utopianism," "a na·ive belief in the emanthe availability of all kinds of free online
entertainment1 from video games to porcipatory nature of online communication
nography, to "dedemocratize" and "depothat rests on a stubborn refusal to acknowledge its downside." Apparently, not only
liticize" their citizens. What do Chinese
and Russian citizens search for when they
neophytes of social movements and liberal
face the abyss of information lying behind
arts undergraduates are susceptible to the
disease of cyber-utopianism. According to
the search bar of Google and RuTubel? As
Morozov notes in the chapter, "Orwell's FaMorozov, the world's top leaders, journalvorite Lolcat", "The most popular Internet
ists1 and political scientists are not only susceptible, but among those most responsible
searches on Russian search engines are not
for 'what is democracy?' or 'how to protect
for the spread of such delusional thinking.
The Internet does not change the envihuman rights?' but for 'what is love?' and
ronment that it is in but, rather, adapts to
'how to lose weight?"' The Internet might
it. It is a tool that can be used
be too big to censor, but there
for both evil and good, de is no need for censorship in soCyber-utopianism:
pending on the resources and
cieties hypnotized by free en"a nai've belief in the
intentions of those who use it.
tertainment kindly sponsored
emancipatory nature
During the Iranian protests,
by their government.
of online communicafew observed that the Internet
Still, The Net Delusion does
tion that rests on a
facilitated communication not
not completely denounce
stubborn refusal to
just among the protestors but
the possibility that the Interamong the authorities looking acknowledge its downnet can spur positive societal
to jail those in the streets. The
change. It does, though 1 call
side."
chapter, "Why KGB Wants You
for an unbiased and thorough
to Join Facebook," discusses how modern
approach to the study of the Internet. The
technology makes our personal informaauthor wants to draw our attention to the
tion vulnerable to misuse and abuse. For
complexity of the phenomenon at hand,
and to the fact that its nature resists cateexample, videos of protests in Iran posted
gorization as either "good" or "bad." "The
on YouTube, meant to inspire and promote
the democratic spirit, backfired: Faces were
premise of the book is thus very simple: To
tracked 1 names discovered, phone calls
salvage the Internet's promise to aid the
traced, and, as a result, thousands prosecutfight against authoritarianism, those of us
ed and imprisoned-dreadful consequences
in the West who still care about the future
due to one video carelessly posted to Youof democracy will need to ditch both cyberutopianism and Internet-centrism," which,
Tube.
Morozov is adamant: The mere introductogether, add up to The Net Delusion.
The future of the Internet depends on
tion of the Internet into a non-democratic
state is not going to magically transform it
our awareness of its complexity and ambiguity. If we are interested in acquiring
into a free and prosperous nation. On the
contrary, as with any strong tool placed in
the power to control, or at least predict,
the wrong hands, information technology
the consequences brought about by the
can just as easily be a means for oppression
Internet, then, according to Morozov, it is
and general wickedness. The Internet has
necessary to have an unbiased and deep
a "dark side." Russian Neofascists use the
understanding of the phenomenon, which
Internet to locate minorities on interactive
demands thorough scientific analysis and
online maps and organize pogroms, while
careful evaluation. •
the Chinese and Russian governments use
FA LL 2 01 3
13
1.
I
�THE MIDDLE EAST
The Right to the City
Yearningfor democracy in Turkey
BY CEM TURKOZ
S
REPORTS
14
T H E E PO C H JOUR NAL
ince the 28th of May, Turkey has or proposed in the last decade suggest, to a
been witnessing nationwide public significant portion of the population, a moveprotests unprecedented in its his- ment towards an authoritarian, anti-progress
tory. The protests, which have escalated into agenda. This has frightened the secular segviolent clashes in some places, reveal the la- ments of the society, especially the Kemalists
tent discomfort of a significant portion of the (supporters of the ideology of Mustafa Kemal
population with the ruling Justice and Devel- Atati.irk, who founded the Republic of Turkey
opment Party (AKP), headed by Recep Tayyip in 1923 and served as its first president). They
Erdogan. For the most part, the protests have fear that AKP is corrupting the fundamenfocused on public concerns
tal values of the republic, and
about a decade-long sequence "Turkey is secular, and that its efforts could result in a
of regulations, legal reforms, secular it will remain." change in the nation's political
and proposals by the AKP govregime-that is to say, a shift
ernment, among them tighter
from a democratic, secular
restrictions on the sale of alcohol and a ban on state governed by the rule of law and foundall alcohol advertising, the removal of restric- ed on human rights, to an autocratic, Islamic
tions on religious schools and Qur'an courses, state governed by the rule of shari'a, or Islamic
and increased government intervention in law. A series of peaceful mass rallies against
family life, from a campaign to ban abortion to the AKP government and in support of a strict
a proposal to ban adultery. Erdogan has rec- state secularism took place across Turkey in
ommended that families have at least three 2007 under the slogan: "Turkey is secular, and
child en.
secular it will remain."
Additionally, the AKP government has been
Yet neither these rallies nor the secular opprosecuting and imprisoning prominent intel- position in general have succeeded in defeatlectuals and critics of the regime, as well as ing the party. Voters have reelected the party
dozens of current and former military person- twice; in each election, AKP's percentage of
nel on anti-state charges. Erdogan's criticism the vote has grown. So it was not secularists'
of various journalists has caused media out- fear that triggered the current protests in Turlets to fire anti-AKP staff, creating a culture key; the failure of their previous attempts had
of self-censorship in the press. The European dulled their assertiveness. Rather, it was the
Human Rights Court received nearly 90,000 resistance of a few environmentalists campcomplaints against Turkey for breaching free- ing out in Gezi Park in Istanbul, who refused
dom of press and freedom of expression in to let the government demolish the park and
2011.
replace it with a shopping mall. That day, May
Almost all of the regulations AKP has passed 28, police forces used tear gas to disperse the
FA L L 20 1 3
JS
�protestors and burned down their tents. The wherein even diametrically opposed ideolomore oppressive the government's tactics, the gies could coexist. It was a place where the
more the protests grew. The more the protests young and the old, the secular and the religrew, the more severe the government's tac- gious, the soccer hooligans, the handicapped,
tics.
environmentalists, liberals, nationalists, hoThe size of the protests increased rapidly, mosexuals, anarchists, and communists slept
largely because of online activists' calls for side by side. Before Gezi, these groups had
support against the police crackdown. The never found common cause. Now they had an
number of sit-in protestors reached 1,000 in opportunity to recognize and acknowledge
Istanbul, and within 48 hours the state was one another fully.
engulfed by protests in several cities. Riot poThe camp had a hand-drawn map, a public
lice turned Istanbul's busiest district, Taksim, toilet facility, a fully operational kitchen, an
into a battleground, using water cannons and infirmary, a library, a stage, and even a veteripepper spray against thousands of protes- nary clinic. Although the riot police violently,
tors. According to the Interior
indeed desperately, endeavMinistry of Turkey, 2.5 million
ored to disperse protesters
The protests were not
people attended Gezi protests
who tried to enter the park, it
just about a group of
across Turkey between May 31
wasn't the police violence that
trees. They were about startled me: It was the perfect
and June 21.
the personal freedom
organization of the protesters
he protests were not just
in the park, their perseverance,
of citizens whose
about a group of trees.
and, especially, their insistence
rights had been taken
They were about the personon resisting, not reacting. All
away, one after anothal freedom of citizens whose
protesters were unarmed. And
er, over the course of a though they reacted as they
rights had been taken away,
decade.
one after another, over the
could by breaking things and
course of a decade. People
writing on the walls, they neiwho cared little about changes to the consti- ther attacked the police nor provoked them.
tution or prohibitions on the sale of alcohol Instead, one can say that the primary weapon
suddenly found themselves protesting on the of the protesters was humor. For instance, in
streets. Perhaps there was something about response to Erdogan's description of the prothe demolition of a park-an area of land set testers as looters (capulcu) demonstrators took
aside for public use-that made tangible the up the name as a symbol of pride, called themwounds that the government had inflicted on selves looters, and identified their peaceful reits people. The freedom to reshape or preserve sistance as chapulling. Penguins were adopted
the city was tied to the freedom to reshape the as a symbol to protest the self-censorship of
individual, and it was obvious to everyone that the Turkish news media that aired, instead of
the government had just usurped the people's reports on the protests, penguin documentaright to their city at Gezi Park.
ries. It was what the BBC called "an explosion
As the protests grew, the incident devel- of expression." Protestors rebuked Erdogan:
oped a number of unique and eye-opening "You're messing with the generation that
characteristics. After police abandoned the beats cops in GTA," a reference to the video
area, protestors blocked access roads to Gezi game Grand Theft Auto. Guy Fawkes masks,
Park against a possible police raid with barri- dust masks, and swimming goggles were used
cades of paving stones, traffic signs, and what- to protect against tear-gas.
ever else they could find. Meanwhile, Gezi
There were no party flags, no party slogans,
had become a kind of utopian dwelling place and no operating party functionaries. The
T
16
THE EPOCH JOURNAL
FALL 2 01 3
17
�demonstrations had arisen from bottom-up
Manifesting that the Turkish citizens had
processes, and, in all likelihood, heterogeneity to have a share in the power of decision-makand the absence of a leading figure was exactly ing was the most important achievement of
what the protestors wanted. They did not al- the entire struggle. They had to because the
low anyone, any organization of any sort, to Gezi Park incident and the following nationlead them, to make decisions for them, even wide protests proved that Turkey is not one
to play the mediator between them and the of those Middle Eastern countries in which
government. In short, they demonstrated that a democratically elected leader can turn into
they did not want to be directed or ruled in a violent autocrat whose word is law. The
the truest sense of the word and in the noblest citizens had to because they had a social and
sense of human freedom.
political awareness that Erdogan had failed
Yet the diversity had a frightening aspect, to perceive. They had to because democracy
too. To me, the combination of circumstances and its fundamental values were inalienable
resembled a war in which young souls from for them. These protests reveal that in just 80
myriad backgrounds, all with
years Turkey's shift to democdifferent origins, different beracy has been completed. Not
These protests reveal
liefs, different ideologies, and
just the laws, but, more importhat in just 80 years
different dreams, pursued
tantly, the people have become
Turkey's shift to deone and the same cause. But
democratic.
mocracy has been
what was the cause? Clearly,
Nonetheless, the protests
completed. Not just
it wasn't to deter the governin Tur key have surprised not
ment from demolishing the the laws, but, more imonly the prime minister and
park anymore. From the slothe AKP government; we, the
portantly, the people
gans shouted, it sounded like
generation scolded as apohave become demoeach group had its own delitical and apathetic, amazed
cratic.
mands, ranging from the canourselves. Masses of students
cellation of some ongoing
proved to everyone, but most
construction to demands for sexual freedom importantly to themselves, that they can acfor homosexuals, for the legal sale of alcohol, quire and develop an active political character
and for an end to Internet restrictions. But all when the circumstances call them to action.
of these demands converged at one point: to
Over the years, Turkey has faced several
frustrate the plans of a deluded leader, to re- military coups. Were they necessary, we might
mind him that he is not a supreme ruler, that now wonder? Or was the self-recognition of
the land belongs to the people living on it, and an entire nation delayed? Perhaps democracy
that the citizens have to have a share in the and its core values were more deeply rooted in
decision-making power, especially when it Turkey than many people thought. It may be
comes to the fundamental rights that underlie the enduring irony of Erdogan and the AKP's
human existence: the right to the self and the increasingly intolerable rule: that its oppresright to the city. These protests demonstrated sion helped Turkey realize a side of itself
that it was impossible for man to distinguish many would not have guessed existed. •
and detach the city from himself. In this case
the city was the site of history, within which
men resided as citizens and actualized their
being. They exhibited the imperishable interdependence between the citizen and the city.
Gezi was not only a park, but a political-now
historical-site.
18
THEEPOCHJOURNAL
CAMPING IN GEZI:
Two
I
PERSPECTIVES
n the last week of May, a small group of
environmentalist protestors camped in
the public Gezi Park in the center of Istanbul. They were there to protest the "reconstruction" that was supposed to happen in the
park: in place of the park, a mall, by the diktat
of the prime minister. There are more than 80
shopping malls in Istanbul, over 30 in the construction phase. By contrast, there are only 20
in New York City. It was clear that Istanbul
did not need any more shopping malls.
On the third morning of this small group's
camping protest the police walked into the
park, burned protesters' tents, and seized
their belongings. It was only after that morning that the entire country became aware of
the plans for the destruction of the park, and
the brutal actions of the police forces against
the environmentalists were all that the country needed to explode.
On May 31 of this year, more than a million
people took to the streets to protest in cities
all over Tur key. Two things were shocking to
all: the brutality of police forces and the absence of media coverage. The mainstream media ignored the protests, but people came up
with alternative ways to spread information.
Social media was used extensively, and soon
enough alternative TV channels started showing live streams from the protests. Because of
the rough clashes of the protestors with the
police, many people were injured and needed
medical help. By the night of June 1, thanks to
volunteer doctors and donated medical supplies, every big protesting area had a functioning health clinic.
Meanwhile, the ambulances were carrying
supplies of tear gas to the police forces.
But people would not leave Gezi Park despite the police violence. On the contrary,
within days the protestors were joined by
folks from other cities, protesting in their local parks. Thousands of the protestors were
arrested. Hundreds were injured. Many were
blinded when police misused gas capsules.
The first death happened on the June 4:
Abdullah Comert, a 22-year-old activist. Nine
others have died since because of police violence. On June 23, Prime Minister Erdogan
congratulated and praised the police forces
for their heroic action.
I was there at Gezi Park at the beginning of
June. At that time, the park was turned into a
communal living area with discussion forums,
art, and food available 24 hours a day. Donations were flowing to the park non-stop from
everywhere in Turkey. For the first time in my
life I saw a free restaurant and free cafes; I
saw health stations unable to accept any more
help or donations.
Apart from camping at the Gezi park, I
joined the marches almost every night, and
experienced the energy of people determined
to fight for justice in the only way left to them:
getting together, making themselves heard,
walking every street of Istanbul, and inviting
others to join the movement. Many joined
every night. Many others prayed for the protesters as they watched us walk through the
streets.
It was inspiring to me that the whole country seemed to be united in the protest. All
through the summer, every night at 9pm hundreds of people would express their indignation with the political situation in the country
by loudly banging the saucepans on the balconies and flickering the lights. Five-year-olds
and 95-year-olds, cats and dogs-all were out
there on the balconies, and this was happening all over the country.
Unfortunately, I cannot say that this summer's protest movement has brought about
FALL 2013
19
�tangible political changes. However, it showed
the citizens of Turkey that opposition exists,
that it is strong, and that people can and are
willing to gather and express their views. For
many supporters of the AKP, the protest was
an eye-opening event; it shed light on the true
nature and intentions of the ruling political
party.
The Gezi Protest was a movement created by the Turkish youth. I am proud of my
generation for their lack of political complacency and their open protest against
the unhealthy political system, which,
unfortunately, persists still in Turkey. •
- Gurer Gundondu
When I set out on my trip to Europe this
summer-you know, the one all semi-privileged kids take as a coming-of-age thing-I
never expected to find myself in the middle
of a violent protest. Alcohol, drugs, promiscuity, kidnapping, prostitution, sure. But tear gas
and water tanks and staying in tents, protesting the unjust Turkish prime minister day and
night, that is another story. That is my story.
Or rather, I am a small part of that story.
I arrived in Istanbul at the end of May, just
as the unrest was growing. Fresh off the plane
from Barcelona, where all I did was party, I
was in the mood for something new. I went
into the city to meet two of my friends from St.
John's College- one Turkish, one Brazilianand when it was suggested that we go to the
protests, I jumped at the chance. Just before
I had boarded the plane, my dad had warned
me over the phone not to go. But my curiosity got the best of me, and so I went, armed
with flimsy pharmaceutical masks and swim
goggles bought for ten turkish liras.
At first it was all good fun, just another
notch to add to my bedpost of experiences
during my trip. Camping out in Taksim square
in a tent, screaming out things that sounded
similar to whatever the Turkish people were
shouting, reading satirical comics about the
20
THE EPOCH JOURNAL
government, blowing my whistle to the beat
of the protest chants (incidentally, the rape
whistle given to all freshmen at St. John's),
dancing to the live music. But slowly, over my
first week in Istanbul, I got to know the words
and meanings of the protest chants, the number of people that had died for the cause, and
how unjust the prime minister, Erdogan, had
been to the Turkish people for the past ten
years. My friends and I had to run from water tanks, fearing our safety. Fellow protesters
told me about how they had been tear gassed
multiple times. I saw the pictures-the ages
and the occupations of the persons that had
been killed in the protests. Suddenly, it wasn't
just fun and exhilarating anymore, and when
my Turkish friend's aunt asked why I was
protesting, I knew exactly why: Human rights
were being violated, and I had both a right and
a responsibility to at least voice my indignation about it.
There were beautiful moments, too. My
friends and I tried to offer our services to the
makeshift medical tents and the food kitchens
at the protests, and our offers were graciously rejected because, according to the people
in charge, they had a surplus of help, both of
material and labor. When I accidentally cut
my foot on a broken beer bottle, the medics
patiently calmed me down (in English), and
mended my injury, leaving me both grateful
and awed at everyone's generosity.
As I write this from the safety of my apartment in Annapolis, there is still great political turmoil in Turkey. Western media outlets
have long since moved on to more eye-catching news about Syria and Egypt and wherever
else. And while I do believe that these countries deserve their spotlights and wish them
nothing but peace, I hope that this bit of writing is received as a small contribution for peace
and justice in the country I fell in love with. •
-JandiKeum
CHINA
The People's Republic
Goes Nuclear
BY CHANG LIU
0
ne day after a rare public protest, Chinese authorities said Saturday, July
13, that they were abandoning plans
to construct a uranium processing plant in
southeastern China, where residents raised
concerns about its safety and potential environmental impact. The quick cancellation of
the 37-billion-RMB ($6.lB) project is surprising, offering new insights into the influence of
public opinion on the Chinese government's
nuclear policy.
A New York Times article on the protest
leaves the impression that the Chinese government was merely reacting to a spontaneous and unanticipated shift in public opinion.
It failed to mention the Heshan City government's role in setting up a series of public
outreach efforts during the pre-development
planning phases as early as October 2012.
These included a visit to an existing uranium
plant in Sichuan by a delegation of officials.
After months of preparation, the government
finally contracted with the China National
Nuclear Corporation and paid 140-millionRMB ($23M) in compensations to peasants
living at the proposed site.
The pre-development phase included construction of a weather forecast station for data
collection (whether this was the beginning of
official construction became a problem later).
The government posted news on the construction plan and even a blog post that welcomed
comments and suggestions on its website, following up with continuous updates on the
subsequent stages of the project. Additionally,
face-to-face meetings with netizens were held
and posters were made accessible to the public, explaining the clean technology employed
in the project.
Yet the government's effort to build public support for the project didn't seem to pay
off. A majority of people found the notion of
"nukes" objectionable and frequently cited
the dangers of nuclear technology demonstrated by Chernobyl and Fukushima. Most
of them ignored the few but knowledgeable
voices in support of the government arguments: increased economic benefits and relief
from energy shortages.
The concern over nuclear technology escalated, when, on July 4, the National Development and Reform Commission posted online
its "social risk assessment," an evaluation of
the risks of key government investments to
social stability. The local mayor claimed, "The
project won't be approved unless agreed by
the people."
Thanks to the growing sophistication of
Chinese social media technologies that have
made it harder for the government to censor
the Internet, numerous "Wei Bo" tweets (Sina
Weibo is a Chinese microblogging service)
called for protests. In response to the crisis,
the government arranged several media conferences in which experts offered scientific
and technical explanations, hoping to alleviate major concerns about the proposed nuclear plant. Those efforts did not stop the mass
protest, and the government gave a firm order
to cancel the project altogether.
FALL 2 013
21
�government risks widening the knowledge
gaps, or losing the opportunity for effective
communication. The French government,
by contrast, had some success in popularizing nuclear energy despite initial protests by
framing the issue in ways that were culturally
acceptable. The Chinese government could
commit more to early public engagement to
achieve effective science communication: Perhaps with appropriate frames and dialogues,
a collective decision could be reached that
wouldn't put experts and the public on a collision course.
evertheless, in this case, the Chinese
government clearly foresaw the potential objections to its nuclear project, then invited expert opinions and media coverage-all
long before posting the social risk assessment,
which is part of a structured initiative for systematically determining public opinion toward government decisions and improving
government transparency.
Unfortunately, this mode of communication still operates on the deficit model. It focuses mostly on disseminating knowledge
to diverse, unengaged audiences. For three
months between signing the contract and
posting the assessment, the expert opinions
reached officials, media, and certain interested citizens. Until the public comment period was approaching its end, a majority of the
people were either uninterested or unaware.
Behind this incident lie growing public
concerns about increasing environmental
hazards created by the China's rapid economic development. I would call the cancellation
a victory for the will of the people, especially
the rising middle class who consider themselves capable of influencing policies. In fact,
the cancellation of the Heshan uranium plant
is not unique: Among the 51,000 key government investments since 2011, over 900 were
cancelled because they presented serious "social-stability risks," and 3,100 were modified.
"The leadership of China decided a while
ago that they would distinguish two kinds of
N
PHOTO BY NBCNEWS
eflecting on the chain of events, it is clear concerns:
1. "I just don't like the prospect of a nuthat the government's constant attempts
clear plant here. No matter how much
to claim authoritative scientific knowledge
you maintain it is safe, Fukushima and
were based on the assumption that, because
Chernobyl told me: The (disastrous) afthe general public knows little about the reltermath can be too serious." This fear
evant scientific matter at stake, education will
reflects the frame that nuclear energy
naturally will naturally dispose them to agree
is a "Pandora's Box," liable to have irrewith any project involving science and techversibly disastrous effects.
nology. This assumption (from the famous
2. "Even though the government claims
"deficit model," which attributes public skepthat this plant is harmless and 100 perticism or hostility to a lack of scientific undercent safe, we just don't trust them ....
standing) is severely challenged in this case,
We're already scared to drink the wawhere presenting pure scientific facts failed
ter. Maybe it will be okay for this gento convince the public.
erations, but what about the next?"
Research in science communication has
Past government mismanagement of
shown that "science literacy plays a limited
environmental and food safety issues
role in public perceptions and decisions."
remain sticking points, making the pubDespite the government's efforts to educate,
lic accountability frame very effective.
and its sincerity in communicating, fear and
distrust in the technology or the government
By adhering to the deficit model, instead of
(or both) dominated the public consciousness,
forming two dominant narratives, or "frames," discerning existing public values and utilizbridging the technology issue and the public ing preferred communication channels, the
R
22
THE EPOCH JOURNAL
protests," an adjunct professor at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong observed. They will
crush those perceived as anti-government or
anti-Communist Party, while telling local governments to compromise on demands that are
environmental or economic in nature, he said.
This might explain the fact why the illegal
protest was not touched at all.
Acknowledging the growing influence of
China's civil society, the government has become more accountable and shown increasing
sensitivity to public concerns in environmental and technological issues. The important
point to note here is that a fuller account of
the events leading up to the cancellation portrays an image that is quite different from a
stereotypically top-down, authoritarian policy-making system, where no protest would
be tolerated (or reported). This cancellation
indicates the slowly growing influence of
public opinion on China's policymakers and
experts- and, what is more, it is a trend to an
extent facilitated by the government. •
[The above article was origi.nally printed at
the blog of the Expert & Citizen Assessment of
Science & Technology. It is available at http://
ecastnetwork.wordpress.com/ 2013/ 07/31/ between-beijing-and-the-expert-is-pubic-opinion-changing-china/. It has been modified for
publication here.]
FALL 2013
23
�.
ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE LIBRAR Y
th e EP.0 CH .
JOURNAL
Fall 2013
l~li~i1 rlil lil~f
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3 1696 01165 4041
VOLUME VII
ISSUE 1
DATE DUE
_ _ _I i
I
"HE DESIRED TO LOOI(:
The INTERNET and
OBSCENITY by Robert George
POWER TO THE PEOPLE?
by Robert Malka
plus DEMOCRACY IN TURI<EY
and A REVIEW of
EVGENY MOROZOV'S "THE NET
DELUSION"
�
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