Muddled mob metaphors
Mar 02
government, networks, pragmatism, realist manifesto, social networking, technology No Comments
Oh my god, I’m back again…and I’ll do my best to keep the pop culture references to a bare minimum. So much has happened since we last danced, so I’ll try to keep pace with all of this change.
I attended Volunteer Toronto‘s free screening of Us Now, a quaint UK documentary about the effectiveness of the latest iteration of mob rule thru technology – crowd sourcing. Collective decision making and moderation by a community of like-minded individuals are demonstrated to have some measure of success, so naturally, can the same work for government?
I use the word “quaint” because of the inherent failure of documentaries trying to capture the new, fast paced media of online social networking tools. It’s like pre-fab Top 40 pop songs – it has a hook that pulls you in slightly, but you quickly realize that there’s not enough substance, not enough meat to sink your teeth into. Like Heraclitus’ river, things are constantly changing and it’s nigh impossible to adequately capture the zeitgeist of the information age in an antiquated media format.
(Disclaimer: I love documentaries as an art form, but they work best for me when I’m detached from the subject matter, or have at least a superficial understanding of the topic. Like base jumping, Antarctica, or Iran’s underground culture.)
But back to the question: are we ready for the beta launch of Government 2.0? Don Tapscott certainly thinks so, but where I differ from him is that social media doesn’t put it within reach. In order for a reality where every citizen places value in their ability to contribute to decision-making, we need to upgrade the operating system. I’m talking about a full blown, rewriting of the basic underlying software that governs our social interactions.
Our code is buggy, a patchwork of faulty logic covered up with security updates, where inputs rarely result in the right output and where hackers are gaming the system. I’m no programmer, but I see the system we have now akin to the Windows OS – it works just enough so that everyone who uses it is mildly satisfied.
It’s here that I agree the basic argument that the film makes – that trust in your peers is the building block for smart decisions that place the common good above the individual. I trust that your contribution is a sensible one, that you’ve based it on measured thinking and your thought through the eventual impact of your actions. By thinking of everyone, I help myself.
A new social contract has to be written, to reshape our attitude towards one another. Once that is done, only then can we begin the Government 2.0 project. And it is possible – in the world of capitalism, thinkers like Peter Barnes and Umair Haque are charting out a roadmap that might haul us out of the quagmire we find ourselves in. The application may be slightly different, but the sentiment is still the same – the rules are changing, and if we don’t respond in kind, humanity = FAIL.
