:: فارسي ::

As usual, I am writing this article at the very last minute, it’s an odd feeling to see all the effort we put into preparing the magazine is on hold only for me to finish this page. I feel powerful and powerless at the same time! It is not about overlooking the deadlines, but about having a lengthy to-do list that doesn’t stop extending.

 We finally got into the serious phase of the year after a fairly long New Year holidays. Though New Year’s holiday is officially 5 days in Iran but we, Iranian, still enjoy our one month looseness in a feasty fashion. I have to admit that I like this vogue very much because its first message is “there is no rush to get back to the so called normal life cycle”

After Internet outburst, the life speed is so fast. We even walk so fast that we don’t have time to pay attention to the beautiful flowers growing in the sidewalks in this fabulous spring. So I think this one-month-pause is really necessary and helpful to look back to our real old school needs. Just relax!

 Talking about Internet, I was asking myself that “Is Internet considers being a necessary tool in Iran? Why the percentage of Internet users in Iran is so low?” I know we proved to be so good in catching up with the new technologies, so “how come we use more text messaging than Internet, whereas Internet is really cheaper?” The Internet is relatively the cheapest global communication medium available and it's getting cheaper, thus I think the percentage of Internet users could be really higher even if we wanted to use it as an entertainment-only tool, yet the potential of the Internet is virtually limitless.

 It occurred to me that an important obstacle in the way of expanding this service is the wrong inception and not having a real perception of Internet. Some people still think of the Internet as a weapon because it can hurt people; especially youngsters. I think a knife is not necessarily a weapon. It is the user of the knife who defines its purpose. The fact that your so called enemy creates a knife does not necessarily make it destructive to you or useless to you. We have to begin to see the Internet as a tool, nothing more, nothing less. A very important tool which could be used in revolutionary and rewarding ways for the benefit of the world's population. But a tool nevertheless. As such, if it is to be of any value to us, whichever aspect of it we choose to use must be brought entirely under our control and suitably adapted to serve our purpose and aid in our quest for self-determination.

So, how do we survive our conditioning, this double-edged dagger which causes us on the one hand to joyfully swallow the poisoned blade of consumerism just because the Western offers it or on the other hand, to turn our backs and dismiss as deadly, everything they touch, including that which was originally created by us or belonged to us? How do we make it work for us?

The knife will not cut the hand holding its handle. So it is our duty to grab the Internet by the handle and make good use of it. We have the power. We are the power. Let us use the power.