We’re barely four years into the 21st Century, and already we’ve seen some interesting developments in the world of politics. Technology has been great for helping like-minded groups of people organize and spread their
messages, and more information is available to the electorate than ever before.
In an ideal world, this would be a wonderful thing; the empowered masses taking charge of their daily existence and making a contribution to the world at
large, all from the comfort of their living rooms.

The funny thing is, even though there is no shortage of information, the
average voter is no more informed on the issues than they were ten years ago.
Instead of encouraging civil discourse and the public exchange of ideas, what
frequently take place is nothing more than a competition on who can be louder and more ignorant at the same time. Technology has enabled a society of
armchair politicians who ‘think’ they can do it better than those who currently
make decisions. But when it comes right down to it, they are too lazy to
get off their butts and wait in line to excercise the right that so many have
fought and died to earn and maintain for Americans.

And in the end, it all comes down to laziness. Sure, it’s easy to sit around
from the relative comfort of your middle age, middle class, middle quality
lifestyle and talk of better times, and how terrible everything is; but it’s
harder to put that talk into action. That’s why all you can hear is the
incessant rattling from the fringes of society… the rest of us are too busy
working, participating in life, and making a difference to waste precious
oxygen talking about it.

Why is it that America is hated so much? It’s because we have been given so much, and the ones that are the loudest and most visible are the ones that take the least advantage of it. When election day comes around, they’ll sit at home and complain about the people making decisions and wish they had someone better. They’ll shout personal attacks on whomever they see fit, because they feel so inadequate and insignificant as human beings. They’ll do whatever it takes to be recognized, even if they have to compare Bush to Hitler, or call Kerry a traitor to get it. If that’s today’s idea of involvement, then count me out.

The hypocrisy of our democracy just drives me nuts. You won’t ever hear me say that Saddam’s rule was a good thing, but I will say this: he had 100% voter turnout in his ‘elections.’ Maybe it was the threat of death… I dunno. But,
average American, lots of people would like nothing more than to see you dead, so I don’t see much difference. My advice to all the liberal wieners and
right-wing nutjobs out there with plenty of axes to grind: Put your money where your mouth is. In other words, shut up and vote. If you don’t want to be bored waiting in line, bring a newspaper. Talk to people. God forbid if you ever
stimulated your neurons with views that were different from your own.

So, to the people that have the motivation to utilize it, the Digital
Democracy is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, the realities of human nature
dictate that the utopian idea of a true democracy enabled by the constant flow
of ones and zeros is nothing more than a digital pipe dream.