Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz, hour unknown
Meet Aaron Swartz, American programmer, entrepreneur, writer and political activist.
Ever since Swartz was a kid, he had an incredible talent and passion related to
Aaron Swartz hanged himself in his apartment on 11th January 2013. Unfortunately, I don't have his birth hour, but his life story is such an incredible reflection of the Millennials' struggles that it's still worth to analyze his chart. Swartz is also an example of the transitory Millennial with Uranus in Sagittarius and Neptune in Capricorn.
Early years
Swartz's father designed computer software, thus young Aaron was growing up in an environment filled with technology. His childhood helped him to develop his talents without any obstacles. And to be honest, Swartz was incredibly talented, he learnt to read at the age of 3 and was already reading novels while being in the kindergarten. Little Swartz also participated in many religious rituals (father professed Judaism), but with age stopped doing so, claiming he didn't believe in God.
Swartz didn't like high school with its bureaucracy, stupid and pointless rules. And if that's the case, why even waste time for it? And so Swartz left high school, deciding to go for an alternative educational path that would give him more freedom of choice, i.e. college. Here's what Lawrence Lessig, Swartz's future co-worker, has to say about Aaron's personality1:
“Books he was reading, books he was writing, theories he had. He started writing a bunch of different books. One was a novel, there were books on social theory—he didn’t finish any of them (...) He was freed of all the disciplining experiences of life ...”
At the early stage of life Swartz confronts the dilemmas typical of the Millennials - freedom or structure. Aaron's strong Scorpio sign explains the extremity of his reactions and life choices, especially related to education (Mercury in Scorpio) and life goals (Sun in Scorpio). There was no place for compromise, the external rules imposed by the society (education system) were unbearable for Aaron, and because of that he chose the kind of education (college) that gave him the choice of what subjects he should study. Dropping early out of high school helped Swartz not to become a product of education (rigid, deprived of individuality), although bypassing the phase of "school grinder" meant that he had to learn by himself how to bring smaller, less important matters to the end in order to go further in life.
This types of dilemmas are very common for the Millennials (especially the Capricorn type) as trying to fit into patterns makes them lose their uniqueness and sense of freedom, though teaches discipline. Aaron Swartz with his Uranus in Sagittarius chose the path of freedom, rejecting any "typical" (acknowledged by the masses) principles and learned how not to do the stuff he didn't want to do. It's just that pursuing dreams and manifesting one's ideals (Neptune in Capricorn) requires tedious and boring work. Otherwise, all the ideas stay in the head.
Now with Neptune in Sagittarius this wouldn't be as big of a deal, as Sagittarius values the flow and movement, the process of spreading the will. For Neptune in Capricorn, movement is not enough.
An approximate chart for the time Swartz (15-16) dropped out of high school
At a time young Swartz realized the limitations of the school system, transiting Saturn and Pluto aspected one of his "millennial planets" - natal Uranus. The influence of these transits ignited Aaron's desire to be free from what he considered stuffy and not serving further self-development (according to his vision of independence). The presence of Pluto makes these events more dramatic than they may seem, as the circumstances during this transit always involve transformation on the deepest levels and truly leaving behind (and destroying) outer circumstances to make space for something new. Plutonic periods tend to surface what is directly blocking the flow of one's energy in order to eliminate the blockages preventing us from getting in touch with our spirit. Pluto is a painful process of building space for our true selves.
Generally, this period of Aaron's life could be called the "teenager's rebellion", although the effects of it had a larger (global) scale, preparing Swartz to become the person he would be in the future.
It is worth mentioning that a year earlier (transit Saturn in opposition to the natal Saturn) Swartz started working on the RSS, which later became the basis for his further career and position in the world. Astrologically speaking, this particular transit meant that Swartz did not want to be a child any more, but becoming independent equalled working on his own and for his own benefit. The result of this maturation process was the RSS.
In 2004 Swartz decided to start studying at the Stanford University. During the first year of studies, he heard about the Summer Founders Program designed for talented young people. For the sake of the Program, Swartz created Infogami (something similar to wiki-type databases). Ultimately Swartz decided to leave college to continue working on and seeking funding for Infogami. Unfortunately, he did not find sponsors, but got an offer to merge Infogami with another project, Reddit. The "fusion" took place in November 2005 and as a result the Not A Bug company was created, with the single purpose of promoting both projects.
The beginnings were difficult, but over time Reddit gained enormous popularity and in October 2006 Not a Bug was bought by one of the (big) companies owned by Wired magazine.
Swartz proceeded to move to San Francisco to work in the Wired office as this was the condition of selling Not a Bug. But Aaron hated this city, which was too loud and the people were too shallow. And most importantly, he did not like his job1:
"The first day I showed up here, I simply couldn't take it. By lunch time I had literally locked myself in a bathroom stall and started crying."
An approximate chart the time Swartz moved to San Francisco to start a new job
The constraints of the corporate life were unbearable for Swartz. He could only use previously accepted by his employers software (on his own computer) and the employee's regulations made him furious. At this moment of his life we see another inner confrontation - the vision of the ideal world vs. structure and organizations. Engaging in interesting projects and entering the beaten career track (corporations) resulted in feelings of isolation and loneliness. Aaron, as a Millennial, was unable to cope with his individuality being crushed ...
This stage of Swartz's life is very intense in terms of planetary activity:
- transiting Uranus conjunct natal Jupiter and square natal Saturn;
- transiting Jupiter in Scorpio (significant improvement of his living status, i.e. 7-digit earnings);
- transiting Saturn square natal Mercury and also tr. Neptune conjunct natal Mars.
Discussing all this would take too much time and the goal of the series is the Millennial Generation, so I will mention only the most interesting transit - Neptune to Mars. Swartz had to be so emotionally overwhelmed (Neptune) that he couldn't make a decisive decision (Mars) to leave the uncomfortable working environment. Instead of making a decision regarding his carrier, Swartz left for Europe after just a few months of work while struggling with the intensification of his illness - ulcerative colitis. Eventually Aaron was fired; his mother later commented on a unpleasant conversation with his immediate supervisor, who expressed his great concern for Aaron’s welfare but then turned around within minutes and fired him. During the Neptune transit many decisions are often beyond our control and expectations.
The Millennials' calling
Since 2008 Swartz has become increasingly involved in politics in order to one day become an actual activist. One of the biggest cases he was involved in was preventing SOPA (The Stop Online Privacy Act) from coming to life. It was said this act was supposed to fight against the copyright violations, but in reality it provided the tools for the US government to easily block entire web pages based on a single copyright complaint.
However, no initiative brought him lasting happiness and satisfaction, because none was important enough or had the chance to successfully change the world (Sagittarian scale of thinking). Aaron continued to find new initiatives to quickly and fully engage in work and research again. The question of finding the mechanism of how changes proceed consumed Swartz. How should you write a petition or design a website in order to encourage people to engage or donate money? How does the Congress work? What made the bill pass? Swartz found that the impact of money on American politics was so great that no problem could be solved unless the importance of money changed. Aaron's attitude reflects the strong Scorpio energy, determined to delve into the subject of true authority (in order to transform the world), while simultaneously coming to grim conclusions about the motives behind those in power.
The absurdities of power fascinated him, but the irrationality of activism was unbearable. For Swartz, many non-profit organizations have genuinely devoured the donors' money without actually doing anything to change the policies. Swartz, as a Millennial, had a vision and wanted to unify all organizations into a one, central entity that would actually introduce changes (Pluto in Scorpio and Neptune in Capricorn). However, his views began to radicalise; his own conviction about the validity of his innovative ideas (Uranus in Sagittarius) made him regard smaller initiatives as "depriving the oxygen" from his future organization.
Swartz's situation perfectly reflects the process of manifesting the higher visions and consciousness of the Millennial Generation. In my opinion, one of the main goals of every generation is to recognize the divine aspect of their existence and bring this divine energy into manifestation e.g. according to the positions of Uranus, Neptune (and Pluto) in the signs and houses of each individual. As I've mentioned before, everyone has these two planets in his/her chart, but the Millennials (as a generation) have Uranus and Neptune together, so the urge to go through this process keeps on reappearing in their lives.
Imagine there's a wall blocking
you access to a beautiful lake, forest or any
Uranus, Neptune (and Pluto) could be the tools of breaking the wall,
although often each planet falls in different zodiac signs, thus the tools are
used for different parts of the wall. But if two of those tools are used
against the same spot of the wall (two planets connected to each other via a
zodiac sign, aspect or house), it's easier for the crack to appear. Many
Millennials will not be aware of those cracks appearing and will not understand
why the wall (the structure of their life they identified with) keeps being
damaged.
form of blissful nature.
Each Millennial type will have to
go through the process of manifesting the higher visions and consciousness,
although each type has its own approach
to this process.
Millennials with Uranus/Neptune
in Sagittarius have their will and feelings of aliveness affected by the
development of this process; the ability to do physically well in the world
will be affected when it comes to the Millennials with Uranus/Neptune in Capricorn;
and the mental prowess and power to create communities and experience union
will be affected when it comes to the Millennials with Uranus/Neptune in
Aquarius.
The transitory Millennials ...
they are up for a ride, having to reconcile two approaches. And Swartz was trying just that - to feel alive (Uranus
in Sagittarius) while having the need to find something that could tangibly
bring change (Neptune in Capricorn). Torn between two big forces, he got stuck.
The Millennials' disappointment
In his last years, Swartz stated he didn't like programming, computers are horrible and in life there's more than fighting for the freedom of information (Mars in Aquarius). If he could, he would like to completely abandon the computers. In the summer of 2009 he even spent an entire month offline, without computers nor telephones while mostly reading in the apartment. He always described this month as the happiest of his life, but when his ex-girlfriend suggested him to take more breaks or do something that made him happy, Swartz said that "he does not care about being happy".
Quoting Holden Karnofsky, Swartz's friend and co-founder of the charity evaluator GiveWell1:
"There was not a cause that was dear to his heart. There wasn’t. Except for the big one: ending suffering, maximizing human empowerment, making the world an awesome place—that is what he cared about. I think any cause that you can come up with that’s smaller than that, like freedom, you could find a situation in which Aaron would go against that for the broader cause.”
Aaron Swartz is an example of a Millennial who liked the broader ideals and intensively (Scorpio) lived for them, not being able to function differently than what his emotions told him.
I'm practically writing the whole of Swartz's biography, because I think he took an extreme direction in life and had to deal with the consequences of his decisions. He picked a vision while simultaneously being in such a total opposition to the structure. Swartz's disappointment of the world's technology is a very serious thing, given the fact of his earlier passion and the scale of personal accomplishments in the computer/Internet field! Aaron wanted to create a better world (the Millennial vision), but his contact with the reality made him realize that technology doesn't physically (the disappointment of Neptune in Capricorn) lead to the fruition of his dreams. Swartz realized he pursued something "outer" instead of focusing on what had a true meaning to him - an ideal, for which he was willing to sacrifice (Neptune) his future based on computers.
Aaron had Uranus in Sagittarius and Neptune in Capricorn. Practically it means he had two separate ways of expressing his ideals. On one hand, he wanted to highlight the human's individuality, to inspire people and give them a free access to information and culture (Uranus in Sagittarius), but this vision of uniting people (Neptune in Capricorn) required his commitment, work and practical skills, e.g. when dealing with law acts or being close to bodies practically responsible for creating the policies (Capricorn). This divergence, along with Aaron's other personality traits, were destructive and ultimately paralyzing, because he was focused so much of the Uranus' meaning that we didn't have enough persistence to make the Neptune dreams come true on the physical realm.
End of the line - suicide
On 25th September 2010 Swartz downloaded public court documents from the PACER system in order to publish them on the Internet. The PACER administration advertised itself an a publisher of public documents but the access to them was available only for those with a piece of plastic called "MasterCard". This hacking stunt got the attention of the FBI, although they didn't press charges as the PACER documents were, in fact, public. As it turned out, the court systems have seriously violated the law by demanding payment for access to the public information and later were forced to change their policies regarding the flow of information.From the night between 5th and 6th January 2011 Swartz was arrested by the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) police and Secret Service (!) agents for downloading a few millions of articles from the academic data base JSTOR. 16th December 2011 the prosecutor withdrew its original allegations only to file new charges in September 2012. This time the indictment had 9 additional crimes and a proposed 50-year prison sentence along with one million dollars fine. During the negotiations with the lawyers, the prosecution proposed a settlement - 6 months of prison for pleading guilty to 13 crime charges in total.
Swartz declined the offer and decided to go to the court. At the same time, Swartz's mother was seriously ill and his father had to devote all his attention to take care of the sick woman, thus not being able to fully dedicate himself to support Aaron.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz; hour unknown
At the end of 2012 Swartz realized he had ran out of money to pay his lawyers. He knew he'd have to ask others for the financial help and that scared him greatly. Nothing was going Aaron's way, including his desire to fight the government without the flashing cameras (Scorpio likes to keep secrets and needs privacy). His strategy was a complete failure as the MIT hired a PR agency to arouse the public's rage before the court process.
Quoting Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Swartz's ex-girlfriend1:
We were talking about the money and about how much debt it was reasonable for him to go into around the case. I was saying, “You can get a half-million salary a year as a C.T.O. for some tech company.” And he said, “I would rather sleep on friends’ couches for the rest of my life than take a job I don’t want.”
Swartz committed suicide on 11th January 2013. After his death the prosecutors withdrew from the case. Many people (including Swartz's parents) are convinced he would never commit suicide and the state purposely wanted to destroy Aaron.
The government was to make an example of Swartz to never challenge the state and its power. Before Swartz downloaded the files from JSTOR, the police found a laptop he was using, but instead of disconnecting it, they left the laptop intact and installed a camera to catch the person responsible for the deed. Another argument for the government's abuse of power was the scale of the punishment and the fact that it was the Secret Service that would deal with Swartz. The government treated a hacker downloading academic articles like he was a criminal threatening state security.
What is the truth? I don't know, but what I do is at that day the world has lost one of the brightest and progressive minds of the young generation. Swartz's natal chart puts emphasis on Pluto and the sign of Scorpio, thus many information regarding the fight vs. the state will probably never see the light of the day.
Actually the whole year of 2012 was difficult for Swartz as indicated by Saturn transiting the sign of Scorpio. The transit left Aaron without self-confidence, energy and faith in one's success. Saturn meant confrontation with the colossus that the state is, a block of concrete that cannot be reasoned with nor avoided. Aaron loved freedom and the government drained him of his money completely while pounding his head with a vision of jail time. The end result was obvious, Swartz had to retreat more and more, until he was afraid for his life or of the future with felon's label, which would stop him from changing the world as "no criminal has ever entered the White House".
What can the Millennials learn from Swartz?
For starters that implementing the visions is worth the efforts. Swartz's contribution to the Internet and its society is huge - groundbreaking software and the series of licenses the majority of free web pictures, photos or other creative contents use. All of those achievements are tangible and used till the present day. Aaron was inspiring others through actively protesting against the restrictions of liberties in the Internet and actions promoting the idea of free and accessible information for the whole society. Reading his biography was worth every minute of my time.
Whatever we can say about Swartz's life decisions, one thing is certain - he was an idealist and did not agree to submit to the structures and the traditional models of functioning in the world e.g. through working in the corporation. He picked individuality, but the issue of such approach was discipline. Aaron's noble idea of doing something great and critical for the world was an inner desire he couldn't satisfy, as none of the projects/social initiatives had a big enough impact on the reality. Just like Swartz couldn't finish any of his books, so his ideas were never really brought to an end i.e. practically implemented. Now Aaron had achieved much already, but what interested him the most was the actual change of the system "from the inside", as only that in his mind led to the better world (Millennials of the Sagittarius type think broadly).
His decision of leaving behind the boring education turned out to be an excellent choice as he could focus on projects that really fascinated him and ultimately brought him fame. Would Swartz have more discipline had he decided to fit into the society's ramifications? Or would this make him not aim so high with his goals? These questions remain open.
The Millennials choosing the vision and being simultaneously in such an opposition to the structures will need something to ground them. The thing about structure is that it's perfect for grounding purposes as the person learns to concentrate on those (often boring) trifles, but in the process learns about discipline and what the actual needs of the society are, be it even trivial matters.
Aaron Swartz, without being grounded, was practically "with his head in the clouds", constantly seeking a newer, better and wider vision in order to fulfill the potential of the Millennial Generation. Without this anchor in the shape of the boring reality, Aaron could and has risen above to the top, but he lacked not only the floor, but also the walls and the ceiling, which resulted in issues with manifesting the vision.
It's very symbolic that computers (with their potential to unite people) become a curse for Swartz. As a Millennial he was recognized and respected thanks to them and yet the technology (Internet) hasn't been what Aaron was looking for to serve people. In my opinion, Aaron rejected the outer labels he was put into thanks to his professional success, fans just so that he could do the things he thought were right for him.
I'm mentioning all of this as many Millennials (and not only them) seek self-recognition in the outer world and its titles, wanting so badly to achieve something. Swartz with all of his success discarded the splendour and money his talents could have brought him. Think many Millennials started their climb, reached (or will soon) the top of the mountain, look at the view themselves only to realizing they have actually lost the passion for climbing. Some will think "Hmm, I'll be happy with what I have" and continue doing what they know how to do; some (like Swartz) will go down in order to start something new (maybe another climb). It takes strength and courage to change one's life like that, but Uranus and Neptune mark the unusual circumstances and changes in our lives AND give the strength and perseverance to transform.
Sources:
1. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/03/11/requiem-for-a-dream
2. http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-05-07-n78.html
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
Millennials of the Sagittarius type - summary
One of Sagittarius' key-words is philosophy which is translated (Wikipedia) as: the love of wisdom; a study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence and values with the purpose of understanding the essence of life. Now the modern philosophy could instead question the (moral) rules behind the law and its codes. What makes one act just and other not? Where's the line? What is just?
The life of the Sagittarian Millennials will positively change once they start to think about and question the beaten paths, labelling and other dogmas. Their will to make the world a better place will guide them. The sign of Sagittarius has the curiosity but not of the mind but of the intuition, that encourages them to search for alternative solutions that help them find something valuable - the future and hope.
Not every Millennial will achieve a success on a scale similar to that of Aaron Swartz, but it's not the titles that are the most important, it is the inspiration. What could have Swartz's battle over the free access signify?
Well, for example Jack Andraka (a Millennial born in 1997) at the age of 15 has developed a potential method for early detection of cancer (especially pancreatic one). Andraka himself claims that the Internet, Google search engine and YouTube helped him a lot, as he had to use every bit of possible free knowledge available. Andraka's main problem was finding scientific articles, but the good ones were a part of the online databases that charged 35$ for the access. Not to mention these articles had only 10 pages. How much more he could have achieved with the full access to the information?
Swartz and Andraka never knew each other, but often the Millennials' ideals travel in various and unimaginable directions. The Sagittarius understands the little things can lead to big things. In my opinion, the most valuable trait of the Millennials of the Sagittarius type is their ability to see and draw out the best in people.
The Millennials and Pluto
One might wonder, why was Aaron Swartz's life so painful and intense? Was it the potential of the "millennial planets"? Sure, the influence of Uranus/Neptune can make for struggles in life, although in Aaron's case it was Pluto (alongside Uranus and Neptune the third of the universal planets,) that left the biggest mark on his life in the society.
Now in my series I've decided not to write about Pluto, although its presence in the signs has equally big impact on the Millennials as Uranus and Neptune does. In some natal charts, Uranus/Neptune will not be emphasized but Pluto will and the challenges of these Millennials will have a different dynamics than what I've been describing so far. Aaron Swartz was an example of a Millennial with an evident emphasis on the Pluto-type experiences, as his natal Pluto in Scorpio is activated by personal factors, i.e. Venus and Sun, both aspecting (conjunction) Pluto.
Pluto in Scorpio (1983-1995) in terms of the generations indicates survival and the need to learn how to handle the manipulations and the overwhelming mental (or physical) pressure. The lives of the Millennials with an emphasized Pluto will be full of extremes and polarities "you're either with (our traditions of way of doing things) or against us". Such was a case with Swartz who had to face the whole state with the full extent of its law enforcing procedures. He also did way more than just standing against the government (a symbol of power and control), his decision involved entering into a direct combat with it and having to endure hell.
Many Millennials with Pluto's influence will feel trapped in fear, anger or everything related to their woes e.g. the prospects of the future, just like Aaron feared the future of the Internet and society. Pluto in Scorpio indicates the confrontation of unconscious and instinctive reactions of one's inner world AND in some cases, the confrontation of the unconsciousness of others. Another common theme will involve the misusage of power and money (e.g. by the authorities), manipulation of one's emotional outlook on the society or generally confronting structures or important figures seeking to threaten or use force in order to stifle any force opposing their ambitions to have power.
The Millennials with Pluto in Scorpio that deal with certain society's issues, e.g. poverty or the laws of the minorities, will be the ones having to delve deep into grim subjects regarding the human nature. But the prize for going to the "underworld" and emerging to the surface will be transformation of Self, which in return will transform the world.
The Millennials and the society
Aaron Swartz did not agree to
being unfairly treated by the state and its law. Such an attitude was a signal
for people of all generations to rise above (Sagittarius) these regulations.
Being satisfied with obedience to the law, tolerance of injustice or mere
modifications of the law, was out of question.
Being a Millennial is not only
about at one's individuality; it's about the way one is seen by the society.
The Sagittarius' expression can be perceived as self-righteous just because it
believes certain visions are the correct ones and represent the Truth. Now when
a whole generation will be so unquestionably certain of their convictions, we
can be sure other generations will react to it. These Millennials are
especially prone to be seen by others as presumptuous with a sense of
entitlement. The more conservative people (mainly of the old generations)
perceive the Sagittarius as the alpha type people who (sarcasm) have all the
wisdom of this world, knowing exactly what you need and how to get it. But the
Millennials of the Sagittarius type just live out their own Truth and sure,
they expect something from the world e.g. higher awareness or not to be a
victim of imposed behavior patterns.
In a nutshell, the Millennials
are either detached from reality idealists (Sagittarius type), madmen requiring
human standards at work (Capricorn type) or total freaks with their brains
fried by the Internet (Aquarius type).
The importance of culture and the Internet in Millennials' lives
Every person has a specific approach to the intellectual property and
creativitycontent like music or images. It would seem that generations don't have a specific taste/approach, but I've noticed the Millennials have a great concern over cultural products or at least a fairly concise approach to culture. The Millennials subconsciously seek the experiences associated with community and collective and there's nothing better to unite and charm everyone than culture. Culture connects people regardless of their views or material status and this is what Uranus and Neptune are all about.
Let's get back to Aaron Swartz
once more. His history shows the public was largely uncertain how to treat
someone who hacks to the state systems, downloads data and publishes it for
free on the Internet. On one side, there's the state with its rights and rules
(tradition) and on the other there's the voice of people that demands free
access to information.
It's the same situation with culture, many Millennials treat
intellectual property not as the property of a single person (author), but as the property of the society. For many of them, the access
to culture should be free, just like with information. Both Uranus and Neptune
can't stand boundaries or attempts to belittle their significance. Uranus and
the sign of Sagittarius especially need to have the freedom of movement and
action, just like fire needs open space to burn.
Here is a fragment of a post from
Swartz's blog about culture and piracy (the illegal download of files while not
paying for them). Every quote is Swartz's response to Nick Bradbury's statement
about how much money the piracy of his software cost him1:
"Nick has no innate right to have people pay for his software, just as I have no right to ask people to pay for use of my name. Even if he did, most people who pirate his software probably would never use it anyway, so they aren’t costing him any money and they’re providing him with free advertising. . . . Yes, piracy probably does take some sales away from Nick, but I doubt it’s very many.""Stealing is wrong. But downloading isn’t stealing. If I shoplift an album from my local record store, no one else can buy it. But when I download a song, no one loses it and another person gets it. There’s no ethical problem. The evidence that downloading hurts sales is weak, but even if downloading did hurt sales, that doesn’t make it unethical. Libraries, video rental places, and used book stores (none of which pay the artist) hurt sales too. Is it unethical to use them?"And a fragment of Guerilla Open Access Information Manifesto with Swartz being one of its main creators2:
"Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world’s entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. . . . Providing scientific articles to those at elite universities in the First World, but not to children in the Global South? It’s outrageous and unacceptable. . . . We can fight back. Those with access to these resources—students, librarians, scientists—you have been given a privilege. You get to feed at this banquet of knowledge while the rest of the world is locked out. But you need not—indeed, morally, you cannot—keep this privilege for yourselves. You have a duty to share it with the world."
In my opinion, the topic of free
access and the quality of the access is the quintessence of the Millennials of
the Sagittarius type and their lesson to the society.
To fully understand the sign of
Sagittarius, one needs to look at its opposite sign, Gemini. These two signs
together deal with the information
that on the Gemini level needs to be analyzed, understood and left in peace as Gemini's
curiosity encourages to learn about yet another thing. On the Sagittarius
level, this information gains a
broader meaning to serve the collective and ultimately becomes a part of the culture.
When you look at the zodiac as the road of development (from Aries to Taurus,
to Gemini etc.) on the Sagittarius level one has already understood the basic function
of the information and now it's time
to look at it from a bigger perspective, as even the small matters are the
reflection of a Higher Purpose.
Now the presence of Uranus/Neptune
in Sagittarius makes the Millennials very sensitive to attempt of controlling
the information and its flow. This type of Millennials will resist (Uranus) any
forces that try to stop the information from rising to the status of culture. These
forces would like the information to
stay at its basic Gemini level, burning the knowledge to speed through the
information highway. How many modern shows have no value whatsoever? How many
news services promote only fast knowledge without thinking about the deeper meaning
of the information?
Now that the Saturn is transiting
Sagittarius (affecting all those Millennials), have you noticed the rise of a
topic called fake news? The scale of
fake news hit many Millennials' soft spot, especially those with Neptune in Sagittarius.
The potential of Neptune is misused, as the information
and culture is being designed to deceive people instead of offering a passage
to the higher understanding.
Swartz understood all of this,
and with his strong Scorpio sign he also understood the meaning of Pluto (the
third universal planet) in Scorpio - information used to gain power. It's also
interesting to see Swartz making a distinction of stealing and downloading. Sagittarius
with its abundance mentality highly values sharing, as it
believes the more you give, the more you will get; perhaps the phenomena of
downloading is an extension of this abundant way of thinking? I don't know, but
it's a food for thought :-).
The Internet and the culture
To end the topic of the Millennials of the Sagittarius type, I would like to present the results of a small survey by LaunchLeap, which asked American millennials (18-35) about the movies/series they watch in 2017. Do they use legal means of obtaining the movies or are they paying for such services?
This survey hasn't got a big enough sample size to make any useful conclusions, not to mention the age range includes every type of the Millennial, thus the motivation behind one's actions will be different. But based on the answers we can assume many Millennials tried using illegal means to watch a movie or TV show (the products of culture) and surprisingly only 7% of these people seem guilty about doing so.
It would seem that the majority chooses illegal methods because they don't need to pay for it and don't wish to wait to watch it comfortably at home when there's a DVD release.
Generally the survey told me the Millennials prefer illegal streaming than actually having a "physical" file through downloading. It wouldn't surprise me if the Millennial types with Pluto in Scorpio would prefer "safer" methods of watching the movie and illegal streaming means one is only browsing a website. If the website is illegally publishing the movies, it's not my (the Millennial) fault. Now having the files means you're traceable and punishable and responsible for downloading.
Generally I think the Internet has become the substitute of a "collective", it's a place where everyone can experience "something broader" while in life the Millennials are surrounded by people who don't get them. Swartz did a great job describing the Internet's nature of a place of liberty and freedom to present one's thoughts, but also the place for stealing data and many other crimes and violations of privacy. One cannot exist without the other, because that is the nature of the Internet which has its perks and flaws. It will be up to the people to decide which aspect of the Internet becomes strong enough to overwhelm the other.
I think the Internet is the Millennials' main arena. Some people will gravitate towards the union offered by New Age movements and spirituality, some will identify with the on-line collective. Or both. The Internet has no traditions to base upon and it will be up to the Millennials to help in shaping e.g. the society's attitude towards the culture of the collective and the aspects of private and shared (information).
Sources:
1. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/03/11/requiem-for-a-dream
2.https://archive.org/stream/GuerillaOpenAccessManifesto/Goamjuly2008_djvu.txt
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