We are political neanderthals

Political bloggers and others that use the Internet to communicate for political reasons are just the beginning of what will come.  We on dkos represent the prototype.

In terms of percentage, people who communicate politics on the Internet are a small segment of the population.  The next generation will use the Internet in greater numbers.  It will become the norm rather than the exception.

What will be the outcome of this?  I think we are likely to see more reflection of the will of the people.  If there were a referendum today on universal health care, it would pass with more than 80%.  But we don't have universal health care.  How come?  Doesn't this mean that voters have very little political power?  It sure seems so.  How is it that legislators can be elected then proceed to not do what the people who voted for them want?  It has always puzzled me.  The answer is because they can.  Information was controlled.  Now that we have the Internet, where individuals can contact each other and organize, it is changing the political landscape.  DKOS has been part of the revolution.  But I'm here to tell you that this is just the beginning.

The next generation is highly attached to their Internet connection and the information it brings.  Sure there are some elders that are using this approach now.  But we are seeing that the next generation will be using these technologies in much greater percentages.  And it will happen in a generation.  One key will be to get them to understand that their elected officials have a great effect on their lives and that they should care very much who gets elected.

What we cannot see at this point is how they will use this power.  We don't have the capacity to see that far.  That's because these things don't go in a straight line.  Who would have thought that television would have changed politics as much as it did.  It it was not for television, JFK would probably not have been president.

In the future, this time will be viewed as that shatter point where things start in a new direction.  Kos talks about storming the gates.  I don't think that will happen at all.  There won't be a need to storm the gates.  The beast will transform itself.

The byproduct of this will be that conservatives' days are numbered.  There will be no way to control information and public opinion as they have in the past.