Politics is a sticky issue for me. I have massive left/right internal conflicts, but tend to take a libertarian view of the world. Sometimes borderline anarchistic, but not in a bad way, in the best way.
I feel like I had to explain my stance before I begin to write what I’m about to write…
Is the internet a good vehicle for democracy and ‘the voice of the people’? I don’t think so.
Before you scroll straight to the comment box, let me explain.
By opening up politics, you’ll bring in too many voices. Everyone’s opinion is slightly different, and trying to reach a common goal will still leave each voice slightly disappointed. Giving power to the people will only result in mass disappointment when that power is given to someone in power.
You can’t please all of the people all of the time.The Internet won’t appease all of the people all of the time.
The only way that the Internet could represent a powerful vehicle for change would be if there was a seismic shift in our definition of government. Decentralisation, distilled into a super-local level would still be too far from our expectations if we’re promised total democracy.
I need to work these thoughts up more, but I’m finding that I use my blog more and more as a memory dump.