Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All

Thursday, March 05, 2015

Mistaking the Cart for the Horse

Cyberlibertarians cheer that we just need to spread "the internet" to all the places that don't have it yet to achieve democracy everywhere. Quite apart from the fact that places that "have the internet" (whatever that is supposed to mean, finally), are prey to quite as many anti-democractizing dangers as they are democratizing promises, the whole argument is akin to saying we will achieve emancipation if we just build more streets since resistance comes from the streets. Change comes from human education, agitation, organization, legislation, in classrooms, assemblies, legislatures, streets, online... Its substance is human. The People do not arise from The Internet, what passes for the internet arises from the struggles of people.

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