How Influential are the People?
By Andrew Gonsalves
www.tfproject.org www.andrewgonsalves.com
This is the new media; the user-run democracy based on the passion of the people. Every place you look on the internet lies an accusation of control of the main stream by the corporations who profit from war. Every night there is a new outrage that changes the face of a news article printed the next morning. Every voice you hear demands a change in the government and a change in the flow of information. But everything we see is still only a fraction of the whole.
In the 2004 elections, my website was abuzz with political opinions. The one thing I could clean from it all was that George W. Bush had worn out his welcome and was now the underdog in his re-election bid. The simple explanation for that observation in comparison to the reality was that my site - and most of the internet - is predominantly "liberal." We thought we were heading a revolution when we were really just the other side of a coin. The Republican side landed face-up and we looked to ourselves feeling cheated.
It must have been the voter turnout. The elections were rigged. We didn't have a strong enough candidate. A vote for the Libertarians is a vote for Bush. Boo hoo hoo. I don't think much of that really was the case. In my opinion, we were just staring at mirrors the whole time, chiding ourselves on, mentally masturbating to the ideals we saw everyone around us sharing. In truth, there is an equally large component of people who vote based on an entirely different set of standards.
The new media is definitely strong as we see it, but there are still many people who do things the old fashioned way. It's just the same way city life isn't for country folks. It's no different than following a different religion than your neighbor. People simply listen to different voices.
So as we create internet riots and pat ourselves on the back with every TV personality humiliated and every front page article about a revolt, are we really reaching anyone who isn't already on our side? Are we showing the right face to turn a sternly devout voter onto a new method of government? What if, to them, this all is nothing but a student riot at an Ivy League university; the socially elite complaining about inane - to them - policies that affect no others? How can we appeal to those whose only interest is their family, their country and God?
I'm a bit of an idealist myself. I love the idea of radical change. To me at this point in the cycle, moderate is not enough. I see myself voting for Mike Gravel or Ron Paul, as do many others within this social revolution, but much of the country is tentative about change. They may not see things based on right or wrong like we think we do. Many people - perhaps enough to win the election - are not interested in rocking the boat; they will vote for a smoother transition over someone who is going to turn their lives upside down. Bush's approval rating might be low, but that doesn't mean his replacement will be any better.
While we get back to congratulating ourselves over redecorating our own living room, let's turn our attention to our entire neighborhood. Let's make this less of a confrontation and more of an idea. Let's feed policies that make our lives better, not just those that are different than our opponents'. And let's seek to learn more about the other side of the coin; the side that isn't shouting back... the side that is fine with what they see and doesn't feel the need for change.
DIGG