It occurred to me today that internet 'followers' are, despite being kind of creepily named, a very valuable form of currency. I see it as very much like how knowledge is a form of currency. So I suppose building an online network of interested readers via blogging, tweeting, and so forth might be worthwhile.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how all of this online stuff really changes the game when it comes to Media, as in "The Media". Who controls the media? Well, perhaps we the people can take control of the media by moving viewership onto the internet! Imagining a day when corporate controlled news sources can no longer dominate public discourse makes me happy.
I mean seriously, imagine a town hall meeting that is supposed to be a forum for the free exchange of ideas. Imagine the meeting is designed expressly for the purpose of Democratic government. Everyone is supposed to get an equal chance to consider information, form opinions, and express preferences publicly, before collectively binding decisions are made by vote.
It's hard to imagine, I know. Let me make it a bit easier.
When you show up to this town hall, you find out that behind the scenes, certain privileged people have already set the agenda. These same people have set up an enormous PA system and control the mics. They spend 99% of the time allotted for the meeting expressing their views, giving out information that cannot be verified in short order, and may well be intentionally false and misleading.
Then, during the one minute in which everyone else is allowed to 'speak', everyone speaks at the same time with no microphones as loud as they can. After that one minute, 'discourse' is cut off, and the issues are put to a vote.
Would it really surprise you to find out that participation in such a meeting might be extremely low? Would you really expect anything more than apathy from all but the most optimistic, idealistic citizens, clinging to what little shred of hope is offered in that one minute of panic? Or perhaps those who don't abandon the system cling to some hope, even further lost in my opinion, that some day the setup of the town hall meeting will change. Everyone will get a turn at the mic; information will be verified and considered thoughtfully; everyone will get an equal chance to set the agenda ahead of time; and only then will we vote.
If you think political parties change the landscape in any meaningful way, think again. If anything political parties have simply duplicated the same sham system at the party lodge as a way of deciding who will speak at the big town hall. The political parties are hardly distinguishable from the special interests that back them.
Is it too much to think that the internet might bring that system to its knees? I don't know...what would it look like if a network of tweeters numbering somewhere near 100,000,000 were to tweet @town_hall, demanding certain things on the agenda? What would it look like if something like 1,000,000 bloggers a day were to find verifiable facts and present analysis and opinions relevant to the topics on the agenda?
In my view, the only thing keeping Americans from meaningful participation in government is apathy. The talent is here. The channels are open; it just seems so pointless to try to use them. On top of the fact that each voice seems to be drowned out to nothingness, no one is listening!
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