Internet Politics: Can Blogs Discourage Activism?

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/03/18/Freedom_for_Sale_Trading_Democracy_for_Security

Social networking has been hailed as a tool for revolting against authoritarian political regimes, but can it also be counterproductive to this goal? Freedom for Sale author John Kampfner speculates that the isolated act of blogging "dissipates the galvanizing effect of public action."

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When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Western commentators were quick to assert that liberal democracy and capitalism had won the day. The truth was more complex. Authoritarian governments in China, Singapore, and later, Russia, deftly separated democracy from capitalism, offering their citizens a choice. They could embrace all the comforts of a consumerist society, so long as they surrendered their civil liberties.

Freedom for Sale (Basic Books) is a portrait of a new paradigm of authoritarian capitalism, which is making inroads not just in the East, but in America as well. At this Open Society Institute event, author John Kampfner discusses his argument that this model represents a "pact" between governments and their middle class subjects. As long as citizens consent to stay out of politics and keep to themselves, in return they receive all the creature comforts they desire.

The cost is small, insofar as the average citizen is concerned--but as soon as activists and journalists get involved, the pact has swift, deadly consequences. Crackdowns on journalists in China, detentions of political dissidents in Singapore, and thuggish intimidation and assassinations in Russia are all part and parcel of this system, but even so, the pact seems more popular, and more successful than ever. - Open Society Institute

John Kampfner was editor of the New Statesman from 2005-2008 where he won a number of awards, including Current Affairs Magazine Editor of the Year. He is also author of the acclaimed Blair's Wars, which was selected as a book of the year in 2003 by the Times, Sunday Times and Observer.

Kampfner was a correspondent in Moscow and Berlin for nearly a decade for Reuters and the Daily Telegraph. He later became a political correspondent and commentator for the Financial Times and the BBC. A series of documentaries on the Middle East for the BBC earned him the Journalist of the Year award in 2002 and a nomination for the Royal Television Society awards in 2004.

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[Saktoth]

Silly point really, getting together and ranting about your problems at a bunch of other people in real life is about as effective as doing it on the internet, only the internet allows you to more easily reach a larger audience. Protests and petitions dont do all that much (Say, the largest protests ever being staged before the iraq war- it didnt stop it).

[tHecOmMeNtErSrEtUrN]

That is a interesting concept, I mean there must be several groups supporting the same things, but they rarely combine.

[tHecOmMeNtErSrEtUrN]

@Saktoth Yes but people who are saying you are stupids are more likely to talk against you since there is not social dilemma.

[hasatum]

This has been talked about for awhile actually and it's really scary. If the checks and balances on government (read corporate) power have been diminished, then we can expect it to push ever further past limits previously expected. While this might occasionally lead to fewer but more dramatic outbursts of civil discontent, it could also lead to nightmare scenarios if certain interests proceed at a pace that falls below the threshold necessary for united public action. Very scary indeed.

[suroj]

I love Frenchies Mustard

[ananiasacts]

Suppose we voted in two different ways at the same time. The normal way, and by secretly delegating our vote to someone else; anyone we knew personally who was also registered to vote. We could then get the results of both ways, even though the normal way would be the only one legally binding. But we would get to find out something interesting. I think we'd be better voters if the challenge we faced was only to find someone we knew who could do a better job of representing our interests.

[Shalek]

@robzrob True dat :).

[Shalek]

I think he's right in a sense, although I think the contact offered by the internet allows people to change each other's minds more smoothly than rampant activism does.

[MilanTbay]

@robzrob Exactly. If people wake up and stop working for these crooks, their scam will all fall apart. Money will be tough but time to enjoy life has no value.

[TheVigilante2000]

Interesting idea, but other then his 'gut' feeling, does he have any data to show it? I would argue that the organizing ability of the internet and blogs are not a good thing for totalitarian governments (far outweighing any pressure valve effect).

[LyncisAlsciaukat]

@tHecOmMeNtErSrEtUrN So free speech and association is a load of garbage to you then? This point is silly. Very silly. It is a truth, but what are you going to do about it? That is the question. You can either roll over, not care or keep trying to force everyone to follow your own perception of what should be. It's your choice in the end. Did I just reveal you?

[robzrob]

Hopefully the internet encourages INactivism, ie non-participation in anything at all related to government.