“Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest
of God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.”
Freeman Dyson
Back in 1981 MTV signed on the air, and the first video played was appropriately titled “Video Killed The Radio Star”. With the advent of MTV and VH1, the premise of the Buggles tune was made sure. Video technology added a new requirement to pop music stardom, not only did you need to sound good, you needed to look good on video. Mama Cass was replaced with Britney Spears, The Moody Blues with The Backstreet Boys.
Technology has a way of doing that. Often along with the gains, we lose something. If technology is in fact a gift of God, like so many other of God’s gifts, the Devil regularly borrows it. We become nostalgic for what we have lost, but as the Buggles sang in 1981, “We can’t rewind, we’ve gone too far…” And so, rather than lament days that can’t return, we should embrace the new day that is already upon us.
A similar moment occurred in the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon presidential debates. For the first time Television entered into the mix for a presidential debate, and what was said by the candidate was now evaluated in the light of how he looked when he said it. A sweaty, poorly shaven Richard Nixon came across much worse on television than on radio, and the dashing young JFK won the debates to a great extent because he looked better on TV. That may seem superficial, but as history eventually played out, it may be that television gave us a peek into each man’s soul.
TV image became huge in politics, with commercials creating images both positive and negative for candidates in 30 second clips, and moments on camera made and broke political campaigns. With the advent of cable TV came the 24 hour news cycle, and the birth of sound bite politicking. Candidates had to say something sufficiently clever or controversial to make it to the multiple repetitions of the cable news broadcasts, along with the increasingly superficial network news shows. Of course a particularly stupid, awkward, or politically incorrect sound bite would also be endlessly repeated, ask Howard Dean or Mitt Romney.
Technology marches on, and the battleground of the next revolution will to a great extent be a digital one. Unlike the dystopian fiction that paints a dreary picture of a future where technology provides the tools of tyranny to an overarching government, today’s technology is in the hands of everyone, and like the right to bear arms it has extended the people’s power to keep in check those who would seek to enslave us; as such it must also be protected. Rebellion against the powers that be always creates some havoc, and will always be met with resistance and criticism. No doubt questions arose over whether the price of tea was worth the bloodshed of resisting the status quo. Likewise those who take a stand today will be ostracized for their “obstinacy” in refusing to go along to get along. But we have a far greater technology than Thomas Paine’s pamphlets to educate and enlist. Instead of a fife and drum, today’s patriot has a touchpad and a keyboard, with which they can reach thousands.
Politicians today not only need to play to the media to shape their image, but they need to reach out directly to the people themselves, and anything they say or do has the potential of “going viral”. Secrets are harder to keep, lies harder to hide. People can be educated and informed by friends and strangers alike, and easily search to see if these things be true. Oh, there will always be those who won’t use the internet for anything beyond porn or inane FaceBook posts about what their dinner looks like; hopefully few of these will bother to vote; but more and more people are learning to employ today’s technology like the Viet Cong used tunnel networks, an infrastructure from which to attack a more powerful enemy.
IMHO: Technology like this is a new frontier, and battles engaged here will resemble guerrilla warfare. The establishment, like the seasoned British generals of the Revolutionary war, will no doubt be offended by our tactics, but like the patriots then, we today are fighting for our freedom and way of life. They, like the British, are fighting for something less. These new avenues of technology are powerful methods to spread the the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Technology like the 4D ultrasound acts as sunlight to show what the fetal “lump of cells” really is. Entire libraries can now be accessed from the phone in our pocket, and people have read more wisdom from the founders on-line than any ever did in books. Likewise, politicians will not find it so easy to rely on the old tactics, and will have to demonstrate that they too, are fighting for something more.
And so we will use every tool of technology at our disposal. Like Trump we will use Twitter to deliver quick and constant hard-hitting reminders that we will not be cowed by those who seek to silence us. Like Cruz and Carson, we will blog extended and informed conversations that demonstrate we are not the uneducated fools we are portrayed to be. Like Carly, Rubio and Rand, we will use FaceBook to connect with those of a like mind and to sway or debate those who are not. And like Hillary… well no, I guess she’s still stuck in e-mail.
