Future risks and the challenge to democracy

As we prepare for the emergence of the next generation of apocalyptic weapons, it needs to be acknowledged that the world’s democracies are set to face their gravest challenge yet as viable and ongoing political options.

...

Complete entry

Posted by Paul Hughes  on  12/26  at  03:59 AM

Hi George,

I'm a surprised at your recent pessimism reflected in this piece. It reminds me of something I might have written a few years ago in the early wake of 9/11. However, in that time we've seen our society and it's politicians go from one that was highly reactionary and willing to go along with just about any authoritarian proposal (ex: The Patriot Act, etc.), to an increasing call for political reform (i.e the closing of Gitmo, the end of secret rendition, and renewed action against telecom immunity, etc.) Despite the action of leaders, the overall trend in the general world population has been moving towards equality, social justice, and personal freedom. This is true of places like China and India, but most especially in places like Iran, Saudia Arabia, and the more affluent regions of the Middle East.

This is not to say that we won't see another general trend towards more transparency, surveillance and monitoring of citizenry, which seems to be happening naturally and voluntarily as people digitize more of their lives (twitter, facebook, location-based services, etc), or as you mentioned a participatory panopticon.

Perhaps I am more optimistic than you, or perhaps I became far too pessimistic in the last few years, and I'm feeling that way in relation to where I was.

With Warm Cheers,

Paul Hughes
http://www.blissful.co.nz/blog/

---

Add your comment here:

Name:

Email:

Location:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image below: