So, welcome to my blog! Here I'll be discussing what's always creeping into your life, and what affects almost everyone on here: politics! Isn't that fun? You all definitely don't get enough of it on the news, so here I am, giving you some more of it to think about. No, wait! Don't go yet!
I'm not here to take a stance on either side of any topic (although, believe me, I usually do), but to instead explore how exactly the Internet has affected politics in our government. Who here hasn't seen a heated 'argument' (if they can even be called that) on a news-site comment thread, or a sidebar ad to elect someone-or-other to office (or impeach them, as the case may be)...or even an ad to "Test Your IQ against George W. Bush!" Politics on the internet includes everything from petitions to cyber hacking and warfare. But right now, I want to focus on the human aspect of things, because the human side of things is what got me into this topic in the first place. Us, sitting here right now with our laptops and smartphones, browsing here on this blog.
What I feel is that political forums are only widening the gap between partisan parties. Some might say, "Well, of course," but I think this is going beyond the Internet. Whether political figures with strong viewpoints are influencing commenters, or the other way round, we're digging ourselves into a deeper hole than we can get out of. If we lose a debate online, we just go and surround ourselves with people who hold the same beliefs we do, and they can assure us of our moral or intellectual superiority. The obvious problem with this is that our ability to effectively argue is declining. Where we used to actually listen to the viewpoint of the other person when it was their time to speak, we now wait eagerly for them to pause for a moment so we can interject our own viewpoints, while ignoring what the other person just said.
Even more disturbing is how we’ve somehow simultaneously fallen into an era of ambiguity. On news forums, if someone slips up, we can immediately call out their fallacy and exalt our own viewpoint…and if we slip up, we can immediately backtrack and claim we meant something different. We are stuck between being so determined to stick to a cause that we can’t see another person’s point of view, or being so malleable that we never specify exactly what it is that we want.
Our politics on a national scale are mirroring this. Our current presidential candidates are not stating directly and clearly what they intend to do if elected, showing the ‘malleable’ end of the scale. On the other end of the spectrum, many of our current politicians are so unyielding in their beliefs that it’s become near-impossible to get anything done – which we saw in the looming government shutdown. Cooperating only when a disaster is coming is no way to run a country – yet neither is refusing to have an opinion.
This might be a long shot, but I believe that if we put our own opinions in order, with respect for the other side of things (and staying away from any beliefs we don’t believe in, but support anyway because our parties do) we could change the way that politicians work. They would no longer be trying to appeal to sides that are all for one issue, while assuring the ambiguously-opinioned people that they won’t do anything extreme. If we are a real democracy, then we should be able to change the way our politicians work, and finally get somewhere in the government without getting hung up on partisan politics.
Thanks for reading – more to follow!
Now that we are about one year away from the next presidential election season, I feel this blog is extremely relevant to the young adults of our generation. Technology truly is a crucial part of a political campaign, and I fully support your argument that political forums do seem to further divide partisan parties, particularly as elections grow nearer.
ReplyDeleteI'm most interested in your statement that our "ability to argue is declining." Never have I thought that debates on political forums would ultimately hinder our generation's ability to debate, but I see your point clearly with the evidence you have provided. I do feel forums are a good way for people to share their political opinions, but I also wholeheartedly agree that the tendency to ignore another's viewpoint is definitely a more widespread problem today than it was even just five years ago.
American politics similarly continue to show these tendencies of ignorance and ambiguity; I think the most important way to salvage these problems is to inform people of the risks of falling for ambiguous arguments and encouraging them to take their own opinions while ensuring they also consider the counter opinions of others. I strongly believe that your blog has the potential to inform people of the impact of politics on the net and help change their views about politics in the coming year. -Lauryn
You have a nice breezy style that suits the blog medium.
ReplyDeleteYour hypothesis is comforting but very optimistic. It focuses on “changing the way our politicians work.” Are they the source of the problem or the symptom? Maybe it’s the way the media work and the politicians are just following along. Or maybe it’s the way modern American culture works (in terms of things like impatience for complexity and desire for short-term gratification) and both the media and politicians are simply reflecting what “the people” want.
It will be very interesting to see your follow-up posts that put some grounding under the general opinions you’ve expressed here, both in other people’s discussions and in analysis of events.
Good start!
--t