Forget Being Televised: The Revolution is Being Livestreamed
Independence Square, downtown Kiev by Den Didenko
Nathan: So we’re sitting here, in my living room, in Seattle, Washington. But that’s not where our heads are. We’re in Kiev, Ukraine, watching the beginning of a potential revolution and not through the lens of the conventional news. We’re watching a livestream of the protest. We’re watching the events themselves as they unfold in real time. What a concept.
Holden: I can’t look away and something within me feels uncomfortable. I feel like a voyeur. But I also feel a peculiar duty to watch — this is fucking history in the making. This is what they put in a textbook, and there’s a reason: this is world-shaping shit.
Nathan: Have you heard some of the stuff the opposition leaders have been saying? Hollywood must be having a wet dream. Read this. It’s part of a larger thread linked to the livestream.
Holden: “The ukrainian people are begging you, go home, go back to your families, they are praying for you to not spill your own blood, or the blood of your fellow Ukrainians. You are supposed to serve the people of Ukraine, not a mafia government. Glory to Ukraine."
That’s Mel Gibson in Braveheart, that’s fucking Aragorn in Lord of the Rings.
Nathan: Except it isn’t a movie. We’re watching other people’s lives, a country’s future, unfold. If I was revolting against my government I’d want people around the world to be watching. I’d want people to know what was happening.
Holden: Aren’t protests, if anything, a large group of people raising their hand in the classroom of a public sphere, asking for attention? Asking to make a comment on affairs.
Nathan: This is moving past the protest stage:
“After speaking with President Yanukovych, the Opposition Leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk said: "Tomorrow we will go forward together, and if it's a bullet in the forehead, then it's a bullet in the forehead, but in an honest, fair and brave way (source).”
Holden: Way past.
Nathan: This could affect how future protests form. I’m much more interested, and subsequently invested in their situation than I am in others, simply because I can watch it like a football game (with higher stakes and no commercials, obviously).
Holden: We are witnessing a moment in this people’s life where they take a stand; this is their pinnacle — politically, passionately, morally — of sorts. This could be the Boston Massacre, this could be Dublin in 1916.
Nathan: France in 1789 — guillotines and all!
Holden: I can’t look away and something within me feels uncomfortable. I feel like a voyeur. But I also feel a peculiar duty to watch — this is fucking history in the making. This is what they put in a textbook, and there’s a reason: this is world-shaping shit.
Nathan: Have you heard some of the stuff the opposition leaders have been saying? Hollywood must be having a wet dream. Read this. It’s part of a larger thread linked to the livestream.
Holden: “The ukrainian people are begging you, go home, go back to your families, they are praying for you to not spill your own blood, or the blood of your fellow Ukrainians. You are supposed to serve the people of Ukraine, not a mafia government. Glory to Ukraine."
That’s Mel Gibson in Braveheart, that’s fucking Aragorn in Lord of the Rings.
Nathan: Except it isn’t a movie. We’re watching other people’s lives, a country’s future, unfold. If I was revolting against my government I’d want people around the world to be watching. I’d want people to know what was happening.
Holden: Aren’t protests, if anything, a large group of people raising their hand in the classroom of a public sphere, asking for attention? Asking to make a comment on affairs.
Nathan: This is moving past the protest stage:
“After speaking with President Yanukovych, the Opposition Leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk said: "Tomorrow we will go forward together, and if it's a bullet in the forehead, then it's a bullet in the forehead, but in an honest, fair and brave way (source).”
Holden: Way past.
Nathan: This could affect how future protests form. I’m much more interested, and subsequently invested in their situation than I am in others, simply because I can watch it like a football game (with higher stakes and no commercials, obviously).
Holden: We are witnessing a moment in this people’s life where they take a stand; this is their pinnacle — politically, passionately, morally — of sorts. This could be the Boston Massacre, this could be Dublin in 1916.
Nathan: France in 1789 — guillotines and all!
Holden: What effect does our viewership then have? I wonder this in regards to the actual revolution taking place — how it affects both protesters and government forces — but also in how it affects the globe’s subsequent reaction.
Nathan: I’d imagine it would embolden protesters and make government forces uneasy. Part of the reason Syria got so out of hand was that Assad initially shut the world out, no one knew the extent of what was happening. Even in Egypt, we only had limited coverage, and if the military had sided with Mubarak instead of the people… we could have had another Syria.
Holden: Yes, this stream is exactly that mystical and hallowed attribute for which the public clamors: transparency.
Nathan: Dude. The stream’s gone. [1]
Holden: What the fuck.
Nathan: Oy.
[1] This actually happened as we were writing this. I hope the cut was due to technical issues and not the government shutting it down because they’re about to do something unsavory. Other feeds, like this one are still up.
Edit: And it came back, but is spotty. Just goes to show how tenuous our connection to these protesters is.
The best place to stay updated: http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1vwshh/ukraine_revolt_livestream_sticky_post/
Weigh in on the topic below, we'd love people's opinions:
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