Abstract
Most Canadians today are familiar with the term “the Global Village”. It is a catch-phrase loaded with positive connotations of unity, familiarity, and humanity on an international scale. Through the modern miracle of electronic networks, most now believe that very personal linkages can be created between just about anyone in any part of the world, regardless of the distance. In short, it means that no-one need be a stranger anymore. However, this is a bit of an incomplete reading of what Marshall McLuhan meant when he originally coined the term. While to the modern urban-dweller a village rustles up images of tire swings, porch doors and the time to sit and talk about the “important things” of life, McLuhan would admonish this perspective as mere nostalgia from people who never actually lived in a village. To him, a village is more claustrophobic, people not as caring as one would think. Instead, it is a place where nosy parkers know your business, the crack in your drapes is a focal point for snoopy neighbors, and a non-stop stream of gossip is purveyed at the local post office. To McLuhan, life in the Global Village was a life lived vicariously. He did not condemn this, but just discussed this facet of the future with a sense of inevitability.
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