Why do people put politicians on pedestals?

[Libertine]

It makes it easier to hit them

[High Plains Drifter]

They got the money, power, and fame. And its all tax-deductable.

[polish_aristocrat]

and i was expecting another essay from you...

[Libertine]

and i was expecting another essay from you...

I'm working on one about the digitalization of democracy and the democratization of technology right now. You're welcome to read it when it's done.

[polish_aristocrat]

I'm working on one about the digitalization of democracy and the democratization of technology right now. You're welcome to read it when it's done.

you should write it after your China trip

[Libertine]

you should write it after your China trip

Going to China on May 28, deadline for the essay is June 15

[reynold]

I'm working on one about the digitalization of democracy and the democratization of technology right now. You're welcome to read it when it's done.

sounds very insightful. I'll watch out for that one.

[Libertine]

sounds very insightful. I'll watch out for that one.

It isn't as good as it sounds, really. I basically argue that the ever-increasing role of technology (especially the internet) within both the democratic process and human life in general makes democratic control of or at least influence on technology highly important. Yet, at the same time, the growing complexity of technology and the increasing level of specialization needed to understand specific aspects of technology make it more and more difficult for the general population to participate in the shaping of and control over democracy. Technocracy, therefore, is inevitable. Meanwhile, solutions to this problem, specifically the concept of "deep democracy" proposed by Andrew Feenberg (which involves public participation in the very design of technology), amount to nothing more than a broadening of technocracy, since only those with advanced knowledge of the relevant aspects of science and technology can be a meaningful influence in any technological issue. At this point, "deep democracy" becomes a misnomer, the better term being "broad technocracy".

In other words, complex technology cannot be governed through the democratic process or any variation thereof, however desirable that might be. There is no alternative for technocracy, however, there are different variants of technocracy that can be chosen from.