Internet politics are giving more power to the people by allowing their voices to be heard. When they like a law that has been passed, the lawmakers will know. When there is overwhelming opposition to a law that is going to be passed, the lawmakers will know. SOPA and PIPA are perfect examples of this. When the bills were being discussed, the public showed their discontent online. Reddit, Wikipedia, Google, and many more popular online destinations spread the word. Guess what? The people heard and took action. E-mails and letters were sent to congressmen, articles and blog posts were written in response, and even statuses were updated to attempt to stop the bill in it's tracks. And guess what? It worked.
Another great and current example is President Obama's newly proposed budget that has been "dissected" by blogs on both the conservative right and the liberal left. On Politico, Tim Mak writes:
"Conservatives in the blogosphere found much to pick at in the President Barack Obama’s proposed budget, objecting to specific items such as subsidies for the Chevy Volt, the lack of money for the D.C. education voucher program, funds for social security “program integrity” and special interest tax credits."
He later notes that the leftist blogs supported the budget:
"Meanwhile, liberal writers took to their blogs to praise the president’s initiatives on things like space exploration, the arts, LGBT rights, and cutting oil company tax breaks."
Not that the Internet is going to change everything about our political system, I mean the left and right wings are still going to bicker (see above), but I think we are in the middle of a new age of politics. When even the smallest of the "little guys" can voice his/her opinion, those in charge need to be aware that they are serving rather than ruling. After all, they are elected officials. It is like Benjamin Franklin said, "In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns." I believe the Internet is pushing our nation closer to the initial idea of popular sovereignty on which it was founded. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes would be proud.
I agree that the internet is a great advocate of personal sovereignty. Think about the affects Facebook had in Egypt not too long ago. The SOPA and PIPA controversy mentioned above. Even MEMEs made of the police officer pepper-spraying college students protesting budget cuts. Even the things intended for humor provide a great social commentary and really get people questioning those in charge.
ReplyDeleteBoth the magic and the downfall of the internet is that is exposes you to what's going on around the world, whether you're trying to see it or not. It creates unprecedented accessibility, but also a sense of inescapability. Although this inescapability and overexposure can be seen as nuisance, we have to remember that it applies to everyone. Sure you might get bombarded with information you don't care to see, but then again so do those in power. They can't say they are oblivious to X, Y, or Z because the internet puts everything out there and gives the average joe some political leverage.
I too agree that the internet is a great advocate for personal soverignity, the SOPA and PIPA walkouts by the worlds most visited websites was a great sign that the internet should be a space of free expression free from any regulations from any government.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can see why certain government in specfic countries such as China and Iran have put filters and firewalls in there countries cybernet so that they could prevent the rebellion that happened in the Egypt and Libya. Though Social media is a great tool for a social movement, many countries have blocked free access to social media to prevent that from happening. I believe that should change and that we may need universal regulation, from say the United Nations, that would open up the internet as free access to prevent current regulation by countries that block free internet access.
In response to The Author's comment above, regarding what you wrote about the internet being inescapable, I have noticed that that fact about the internet has made it almost obligatory to be constantly updated. I'm sure everyone knows the feeling of when a friends asks you if you heard about such and such and you respond no, and then they look at you incredulously. Even with the amount and ease of getting information humans are just as capable at ignoring what they don't want to see. The internet has almost made people better at sifting through the stuff they wanted all along and leaving behind that which doesn't matter, even if it is a major global story. There are blogs dedicated to very specific topics that might allow you never to pick your head out of one topic. Maybe this is one negative aspect of the amount of information and opinion generated and accessible today. Even more time can be devoted to one single topic because of how much there is to read about it.
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