4 ms·

Do we use politics or technology to fix this?

• bsbechtel 13y ago
  Politics doesn't seem to be working. I'm thinking technology. Our Primary Election system seems to be broken. It's dominated by extremists from both parties, and rarely reported on in the mainstream media. The media also tends to give the most coverage to the most extreme candidates, because they're the most interesting (and thus get the most viewers). It seems that a system could be developed using social media that allowed you to nominate those you know personally for office (using Facebook, Twitter, etc), and give the nominees a platform (blog, webpage, money-raising features) to discuss their views if they decided to run. This would at least move the vetting of primary candidates to a crowd-sourced model vs the media, which is struggling financially, doing most of the vetting.
  • MisterWebz 13y ago
    I won't comment on the feasibility of your suggestion, but you're proposing to use technology to solve a political problem.
    • bsbechtel 13y ago
      I guess it starts with how we define the problem. Edward Snowden whistle-blowing to the press is a problem, for the NSA. The government using the NSA to spy on us is a problem, for us. The lack of qualified candidates running for office who won't spy on us is a problem, for us. Technology makes our lives better by solving problems. Defining this as a political problem is only limits the solutions we can come up with. Obviously the U.S. Government doesn't have any problem using technology for political purposes. As citizens, why shouldn't we? I'm not anymore sure than you if my suggestion is feasible, but my point is to at least throw some ideas out there.