Listening to Duke Ellington quote Marshall McLuhan, making the incredibly deep thinking of the cultural philosopher accessible to his audience is priceless. In “the whole world is going oriental” the Duke found inspiration to create some of the most advanced jazz fusion of the 60’s by unifying themes from around the world without concern for the remix of cultural patterns.
When McLuhan made the original statement he was talking about the process of westernization of the East and orientalizing of the West:
The entire Western world, McLuhan argues, is now turning inward upon itself—in the old Oriental pattern—while the Orient “has been increasingly engaged in an outer trip, aided by Western technology.
That was back in the 60’s. More recently we could argue a very similar process has been evolving when around 200 million migrants find a new home every year. In immigrant population and the south in the heart of the north I’ve documented some of the facts and figures of this process, but what interests me today are the methods that migrants use to cope with the sudden disorientation that results from trying to build a new way of live in an unknown city.
Meet David Sasaki, a true global citizen migrating from the North to the South and finding refuge in technology:
Two months ago I was back in my old stomping grounds, Encinitas, California. [...] More than anywhere else, this was home. I still knew the names of the best surfers bobbing up and down in the Pacific as they waited for the right set of waves. Years later, and I still knew all the best running trails, the most articulate columnists, the best plates at the best restaurants, and the history of nearly every beach and every block up and down the ten or so miles of coast that make up Encinitas. Subconsciously, throughout the years of my youth, I had built up my own personal Wikipedia of the history, institutions, culture, and sub-cultures that make Encinitas such a special place for so many people. I have also witnessed the changes endured by the community as home prices have tripled from around $300,000 for a coastal bungalow in the mid-1990’s to over a million dollars today. I know that I will never be able to afford a house where I grew up. Which has brought me here, to Buenos Aires, one of the few cosmopolitan cities where it is still possible to buy a house or apartment without committing oneself to eternal debt. Unlike my comprehensive knowledge of Encinitas, however, I know next to nothing about Buenos Aires. I am an immigrant here. And each new block, every cafe, every neighbor greeting me with a silent nod of the head is a story to be discovered.
His unusual journey from North to South is supported by an array of technical knowledge that will likely translate into a better integration to his new city. Not only he carries the experience from proven methods and technologies, but he is going to be in a privileged position to influence others around him that will take for granted his expertise in the area. The exchange that will result from his interaction with his new community somehow reminds me of the action of the “Orient” looking outward aided by Western technology, with the only difference that this time it will be a very curious and receptive “South”.
If only all migrants had this kind of advantage in their journeys.
[...] is the theme of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. For a few weeks the whole world will be going oriental as McLuhan once said. Tourists impressed by the sights of a transformed Beijing, spectators [...]
Is there anything Marshall McLuhan didn’t say?
is that mean we are going to the old proverb that i hear long time ago..?
“from east to west and back again….”