The Intolerant Democracy of the Great Cloud

The Internet and social networking sites in particular, are the ultimate democracy. It is the ongoing embodiment of what I understand about Occupy’s concept of democracy.  Perhaps that’s a subconscious driver for my lack of comfort with Occupy. For all it’s democratic opportunity, I don’t find social media all that social.

I believe the Internet is dividing us by polarizing us into different, increasingly intolerant camps.

Whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook, My Space or any one of countless other social media, dating and gaming sites, the Internet has given all a forum to voice their opinions whether they are well-informed or not.

Personally, I don’t have an issue with people voicing their opinions, even if they haven’t bothered to take the time to get informed or to back their opinion up with a few real facts. That’s the beauty and the weakness of freedom of speech. Everyone gets to talk. On the Intenet, however, there are no rules. It’s anarchy, sort of like Dodge City before Wyatt Earp showed up and pretty much anything goes.

Instead of using the Internet to gain insight, too many of us use it for confirmation bias. We look for those sites and people who hold and reinforce our opinions. We are less and less open to opposing views and more likely to ignore anything that causes us to question our own opinions.

That in and of itself is a challenge to learning new things but in my mind there is something else that is more troubling. There is a rising level of intolerance across all issues now that prevents us from discussing issues. Now we blame and justify.

Political discussions are a case in point.

Conservatives fire off heated rhetoric attacking Liberals for entitlements and social programs they don’t believe we can afford. They no longer look at the society and offer a balanced approach to making it a better place, it’s simply about winning their point of view. Liberals, for their part, attack the right with an equal amount of fervor, making fun of GOP candidates, attacking corporations and trying to make every entitlement they think of into a human right.

It isn’t restricted to politics.

Pick a topic and throw it out on the Internet and unless it is something nobody cares about, within a very short period of time, people have lined up on one side or the other and quickly turn the discussion into an endless round of accusations, counter accusations, justifications and personal attacks.

And that is another thing about democracy on the Internet. It’s too personal.

It is almost as if we have become so invested in our opinions that any counter opinion or fact becomes a threat to our self-concept. If someone disagrees with me on what I think we should do about the tax system, I don’t consider that a personal attack. I consider it an opportunity to test the validity of my opinion by debating someone else’s.

Unfortunately, too many of us are too concerned about winning rather than learning.  We are not interested in sharing ideas but rather in proving our ideas are better. It is dividing and polarizing us rather than uniting us and as long as we are divided, the major issues with which we all struggle will never be resolved.

Occupy has stated that it wants a democracy that resolves issues by consensus but it’s own version of democracy has only served to polarize the communities in which they operate. It, like the Internet, has not been a uniting force, it has been too divisive.

It isn’t necessarily Occupy’s fault. They, like the rest, are part of this broader context and are caught in the same intolerance as the rest of us.

I don’t advocate shutting down the Internet nor am I particularly in favour of increased regulation of it or censorship but a little self-regulation would be a good thing. The Internet is like a car or a loaded gun. Used responsibly, it has real benefit. Used improperly only to confirm our own bias and pre-conceived ideas, it is a danger to the future of our communities.

Technology is grand but it is only a tool. How we use that tool with each other will determine how tolerant we will be with each other. Without some level of courtesy, respect and tolerance for each other and for differing opinions, we aren’t going to get much done that will be of much benefit.

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