This month, as part of our ongoing series about how technology is transforming civic life, we asked readers to share their own thoughts on two important questions: Is technology hurting democracy? And can technology help save democracy?
One reader, John, worries that passively expressing support for causes online can create an “illusion of action”:
Without even a phone call, people can feel as though they’re engaging in civic action, but it is most often at an extremely superficial level. What is needed is an emphasis on real-time action—effective protests, voting, and phone calls in order to keep an engaged and active public within a healthy democratic society.
On the other hand, Kate, a progressive voter in South Carolina, asks:
What the flying thunder CAN I do to feel as if my political ideas matter?!!!!!
Living in a beyond-change-
in-my-lifetime red state, one needs a few moments of active hope. I do make phone calls, but S.C. pols are pretty much oblivious to any sort of progressive reasoning. Calls to congresspersons geographically beyond my voting purview are accepted, but not (necessarily) tallied for opinion, i.e., largely a waste of time. It’s not as if magazine/blog/e-zine writers return phone calls—unless one is either wealthy or socially well-placed, one’s thoughts are disregarded. Thus, the illusion of positive action via online petitions is valuable to those of us stuck in places in which our votes don’t count.
As George points out, that sense of personal significance might translate to political power after all:
The value in getting people to march or attend a rally or sign a petition is that it gives them a stake in the issue. Are marchers in pink caps going to change the president’s mind? Hardly, but those who marched and those who followed their actions closely are now invested. The arrival of another online petition is a ho-hummer to the recipient, but the signers and especially the organizer are now on record and are more receptive to calls to keep the fire alive until Election Day.
And another reader, Barney, offers four steps for making a difference:
If you feel that it is useless for you to speak up because what you say does not matter, there are things you can do.
from Technology | The Atlantic http://ift.tt/2r9m796
