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My pet theory is that consciously or unconsciously, democracies are being forced into identifying individuals behind speech online and controlling certain ideas
by cedws 8mo ago
My pet theory is that consciously or unconsciously, democracies are being forced into identifying individuals behind speech online and controlling certain ideas. The status quo is a vulnerability, it makes it too easy for adversaries to manipulate public opinion and sway elections. China and Russia have no such vulnerability. No doubt social media for children is a bad thing, but this is just a convenient excuse to make you hand over your ID.
- iamnothere 8mo agoIt’s called “managed democracy” (or guided democracy apparently) and it’s what happens when a democracy decays into authoritarian governance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guided_democracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guided_democracy There is also the related term “defensive democracy”, supposedly different but in practice the end result is the same. In both cases the democratic process is failing to achieve the results desired by those in power, so forceful intervention is used to steer future results.
- cedws 8mo agoThanks, I wasn’t aware of this term.
- robocat 8mo agoVoting em out: I reckon the hidden key to democracy, is being able to vote disliked politicians out. Managed democracy seems fine so long as you can remove the bastards if they become Putin-like. There's a lot of hot air about democracy being voting for parties or politicians for the policies we like. Personally I have never felt that I've ever positively influenced policy with my voting. I have voted against a party because I disliked their policy, but that counterfactual is harder to judge (either my vote loses, or the policy doesn't occur : either way it is unclear if my vote mattered?). I'm rather cynical about democracy - it feels mostly like children's participation awards (which are great!).