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The Mother Load: grass roots electioneering
by nano Tuesday, Jan 8 2008, 9:14am
international / social/political / opinion/analysis

“That damned internet!” We could hear the plutocrats and media moguls from here (Australia). There is no denying that many ruling interests have taken a severe pounding from the ‘new’ grass roots GLOBAL communications medium. Given the means, many small voices on the net have combined to form a tsunami for "CHANGE" – there’s that magic word again!

Traditionalists and conservatives alike have been characteristically slow to understand or even appreciate the power of this new medium. They do not understand the people’s response to the medium, as has been made abundantly clear by their contractive reactionary attempts to CONTROL the free flow of information on the net!

[Surely it should be obvious to all that attempts to control information would be less successful than failed attempts to control the flow of drugs – compare the bulky nature of drugs to digital information, volumes of which can be transmitted around the globe in a flash! All filtering hardware and software applications are easily circumvented – a law of the net is whatever one person makes/codes, another person breaks/hacks (at speed)]

From the great firewall of China to filtering content at provider (ISP) level in Australia, efforts are underway to harness what essentially is impossible to control, as the formation of an information underground in China has proven. A word of advice; it is far more dangerous to create – inadvertently or otherwise -- a secretive underground movement than an open cultural phenomena. If the Chinese do not relax their draconian censorship measures they will soon face a popular revolt – which is currently fomenting as I write!

In view of China’s costly example, what do you suppose Western powers are doing? Following China’s mistake of course! Visionless, totalitarian contractionists know only control as their pursed sphincters/minds indicate.

However, the greatest social impact the internet has had on Western culture is at GRASS ROOTS level – PARTICIPATION and self-expression is the name of the (NEW) game! The effect of grass roots involvement in the political sphere cannot be denied.

In full view of this new phenomenon only one political candidate in the U.S. has successfully exploited it to his full advantage, Barack Obama. His meteoric rise and success in the race for the Presidency is evidence of the fact.

Note the distinctive relaxed STYLE of his politics and the TONE; and note the similarities with internet communications. Traditionalists are unaware, it flies right over their archaic, ossified heads – it’s a youthful, vigorous and STYLISTICALLY ANARCHISTIC medium.

The free, unrestrained style of internet communications has LOADS of appeal -- compare to mass media stilted dummies and newsreaders, what a laugh!

Vigour and youth will win the day – efforts to suppress digital information will meet with the same failed efforts to suppress the printing revolution. Have the deadhead, ruling cabals realised or learnt anything from history or the current pulse of society? [Rhetorical question!]

The new – already failed -- Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, failed before he started; first with allowing GM crops followed by draconian information controls. He is young enough to know that archaic methods of control are irrelevant and politically costly but he lacks the courage of Obama who is cognisant of the fact that he faces assassination if he chooses to be a representative democratic leader. However, the people may have something to ‘say’ if traditionalists attempt to rob them of THEIR VICTORY.