Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Amazon's Cluelessness

Author:Joshua Allen
Posted:9/5/2000; 8:35:50 PM
Topic:Amazon's Cluelessness
Msg #:20899 (In response to 20895)
Prev/Next:20898 / 20900

It could be so much better. I can imagine a world where people can vote through their television sets, approve ballot issues through television, debate, etc. I wouldn't claim to have thought through everything, but it is safe to say that the Internet ought to have at least the same capability to revolutionize democracy as it does business. Things like campaign finance, soft money, special interest influence and corporate lobbying are all concerns. On the one hand, national governments are ceding sovereignty over more and more issues to international bodies such as the U.N., WTO, and such. On the other hand, multinationals are becoming more sophisticated at shaping other parts of government policy. Not that these are bad things, I point to these only as evidence that the world within which government operates is changing. Better that government embrace the change and figure out how democracy can be strengthened by the changes than for us to sit by paralyzed as the world outgrows a system created before the advent of ubiquitous communications.

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