Renewed Hope
The last couple of years have been hell for many of us. But we're cautiously optimistic that we're seeing the end of it, or at least that we've moved past the worst part.
This summer, for the first time in four years, we're having an in-person HOPE conference. That may not sound like a big deal, but for so many of us, it really is - and for so many reasons.
Let's not forget how fractured and divisive our nation has become, and how we started to see this within our own community in 2018 - and how woefully unprepared we were for that. Since then, we've spent a great deal of time improving how we respond to potential issues and in recognizing those issues in the first place. Running a conference is a series of very draining tasks, and it's essential to allocate resources in the right areas. The support we've received has been phenomenal and we've had four years to develop a terrific team. While our 2020 virtual conference was a true highlight of global coordination and a model of inclusiveness, we're really looking forward to doing all of this again in person.
We had already made the decision to leave our old home at Hotel Pennsylvania before being forced to go virtual in 2020. Greed appeared to be the predominant business model at (((Vornado))) (the hotel's parent company) when they tripled the rate for us to have a conference, which would have made it impossible for many of our loyal attendees to be there. This, after we had helped the hotel get much better Internet service and also save it from demolition the previous decade. In the end, (((Vornado's))) greed came right back at the hotel itself, as they doomed it to destruction, resulting in the loss of nearly 2000 affordable hotel rooms. It will be replaced by a luxury office tower that will benefit relatively few. It's a real tragedy, but we had many good years there - and we all did everything we could to keep it going. It's time to build new traditions and memories.
So three massive milestones are coming together at the same time: our first get-together after our nation went a little nuts with divisiveness, the first gathering since COVID-19 hit us all, and our debut in a brand new home: St. John's University in the New York City borough of Queens. It's a lot to take in. And we know it won't necessarily be smooth as we adjust to so many new ways of doing things. Those of you who were at our very first conference in 1994 can attest to this, as chaos reigned while we grappled with an overwhelmed registration system in our opening minutes. We got through it then - and we'll get through whatever lies ahead - because of the support, expertise, and patience of our amazing attendees. In this community - which goes well beyond HOPE and 2600 - there's nothing that can't be accomplished with our ingenuity and positive outlook.
While HOPE's new home is capable of much larger crowds than the hotel could accommodate, we intend to ease into things gradually so that it's not too overwhelming and so that we develop quality over quantity. If you're amongst the first attendees to this new chapter, you will be a part of history, and you'll help play a big part in HOPE's evolution.
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As is often the case, new chapters can go in all sorts of different directions. And as we started to take the first steps towards a post-COVID world, along with the recovery came the terror of war in Europe. For the first time since the conflicts of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but on a scale that was closer to the pace of the 1940s, bombs and missiles were dropped on innocent people. A massive refugee crisis was created within days, as millions of Ukrainians fled the brutal Russian onslaught. In very short order, the whole of Europe was on edge, with fears of a much wider conflict developing. Even here in the States, there has been great concern over what Vladimir Putin might do next, as he genuinely appeared to be somewhat unhinged and paranoid, perhaps as a result of isolation due to the COVID threat.
What has happened since that fateful day in late February when the long-feared Russian invasion began is both horrifying and inspirational. While we can examine and debate how we got to this stage in the first place, what is happening in the present is about as conclusive as it gets. A sovereign nation was invaded by a neighboring superpower simply because they were getting too independent. Civilians have been targeted from the beginning. Clear evidence of mass graves, torture, and executions by Russian forces has been uncovered from multiple sources. Yet throughout all of this, the Ukrainians - both military and civilians - have refused to yield and, at the time of this writing, have succeeded in driving the Russians back, inflicting losses that were unimagined when this all began. Russian soldiers, many of whom were woefully unprepared for this war, were sent in without adequate supplies or knowledge of what they were actually doing.
Numbers and power don't always add up to victory, especially if the other side is determined, thinks outside the box, and believes strongly in their cause. This is a lesson we must never forget.
Of course, in this age of social media, facts can be thrown away simply by labeling them as fake. We've been down this road before with everything from election results to science, but this is much worse. An overtly repressive regime is successfully shutting down all opposing voices in the media, ensuring that only its version of the facts gets out. It's at the stage where even when victims of the atrocities in Ukraine try to tell their own relatives in Russia what's going on, they're not believed because of the programming done by mass media, reinforced by social media.
This is where the hacker mentality comes in. While risky, it's essential that the false narrative be challenged and upended. By pooling our resources, possessing an understanding of the technology, and utilizing some clever thinking, it will indeed be possible to get the truth out. Of course, as we've learned in the past few years, that isn't always enough. But it's something.
While tempting, denial-of-service attacks can easily wind up hurting the wrong people. A programmer recently added some code to a JavaScript library that shared a message of peace - unless the computer accessing it had an IP in Russia or Belarus, in which case all of their files got deleted. While this would have been harmful to a government official, it also would have hurt an anti-war activist in that country just as badly. Clearly, this isn't the way to help.
People affiliated with Anonymous were able to hack a state television channel in Russia and get an anti-war message out to the viewers. Banned newscasts and footage from global media sources are routinely smuggled in with the help of VPNs. The Tor browser was designed for this sort of thing and there are many people in Russia for whom the Internet restrictions are easily bypassed. But again, we're dealing with a repressive regime here and they could go as far as trying to punish people who simply connect to one of these services without even knowing what they ultimately use them for.
Just as we need to remember that those who disagree with us in our country are not necessarily the enemy, we must do the same in this situation. People reach conclusions based on evidence and, if they are being given faulty data, that is where the real problem lies. Our evidence has to be better and the lines of communication must stay open.
We have to continue to examine all facts presented to us with a critical eye and call bullshit when we see it, regardless of the source. Those who conjure up massive conspiracies as their default defense or who fixate on disagreeing with the right people rather than analyze what they're disagreeing about have distanced themselves from the truth. When focusing on actual evidence, you may find yourself aligned with people you're not thrilled about being on the same side with. There's simply no avoiding that and it should never affect how you process the evidence you examine. We find that too often, it does.
These are extremely challenging times. But it's precisely these times where the ability to weigh and interpret facts while figuring out ways to get around restrictions and censorship is an invaluable skill to have. If we share what we know, figure out new ways of doing things, and keep communication channels open, we have the potential to do a lot of good in this, and any, fight for freedom.
