The false democracy: March 31, 1997 issue of New Thinking

March 31, 1997 New Thinking:
The false democracy

Website content management

Home I About I Services I Clients I Contact

New Thinking Home

Subject Classification
Reader Feedback
Subscribing
Unsubscribing
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996

Books by
Gerry McGovern

Content Critical

Gaining competitive advantage through high-quality web content

The Web Content
Style Guide

The essential guide
for online writers, editors and managers

March 31, 1997

The false democracy

By Gerry McGovern

“Gentlemen’s clubs are so civilized,” a gentleman once said.

He went on to talk about how everyone was so polite, how the conversation had a fine pitch, how the club was a respite from an often chaotic and ugly world. Listening between his words I could hear him say, ‘If only all people behaved like we do in our gentlemen’s club then the world would be so much more a civilized place.’

Gentlemen's clubs are, of course, male only, and only the very rich mingle within their plush interiors. In some ways, the Internet reminds me of a gentleman’s club.

Although the demographic is changing, the Internet is still an elite club, whose predominant membership is that of rich, white males. And by and large, the Internet reflects the thinking, social and political philosophy of rich, white males.

I used to play Gaelic football and I used to solo up to the 21-yard-line and blast the ball into the back of the net. It was a great feeling but was tempered by the fact that there was nobody else on the pitch.

The pitch of human society is indeed chaotic and often ugly. Theory rarely makes its way into practice without some serious modifications. I’ve heard a lot of talk about how the Internet will change the nature of politics and society.

I do believe that the Internet’s tremendous capacity for communication can have a positive impact on society, but I don’t think it should be overestimated. Because the Internet today is a rarefied environment, representing – certainly outside the United States – a very small and elite stratum of society.

When the great ‘unwashed’ public becomes part of the Internet, then and only then will we begin to see whether the Internet changes society, or whether society changes the Internet and retains the status quo.

Politics is a difficult, often dirty game, but then politics has to deal with society in its every shade and color. As much as we abuse our politicians, we must surely recognize that we have elected them. That they are popular.

The Internet today represents a false democracy. It is an exclusive club where we can score enlightened political points on an essentially empty field. It is impossible to fully explore or expound on democracy in an environment which by its very nature is undemocratic.

I grew up in relatively poor surroundings. Most of my friends and neighbors have no access to the Internet. In County Longford, where I come from, many schools don’t even have ‘one’ computer. In fact, a number of schools don’t even have a phone.

I feel most uneasy about the ‘roll-over-old-politics-here-comes-the-Digital-Nation’ propagandists. When will the children of Longford be allowed passports for this Digital Nation? Telling their parents or schools to buy computers, modems and rent telephone lines is as insulting as telling them to “eat cake.”

In brutal reality, the Internet is one of the most exclusive, undemocratic structures ever to arise in human society. Below a certain income you have no Internet vote. Below a certain income you and your children simply don’t count.

By Gerry McGovern

Next issue: Intelligent agents and government
Previous issue: Endangered resources
New Thinking homepage

New Thinking Newsletter
Subscribe to this free weekly newsletter covering the role and function of content on the Web.
More info | Privacy policy
Read the current issue

Email Address:

 Subscribe  Unsubscribe

Content management seminar feedback
"Gerry's presentation was very well received by the more than 400 higher education delegates. I've chaired this meeting since 1994 and very few speakers have generated the same level of enthusiasm. Wit and wisdom is always an unbeatable combination."
Bob Johnson, American Marketing Association

“Excellent presenter ... thought-provoking and relevant. I hope we can persuade him to visit us again one day.”
Malcolm Davison
The British Association of Communicators in Business

"Hearing Gerry McGovern speaking, one can feel that he truly masters the subject of content management. He was voted ‘best speaker of the conference’ by delegates."
Toon Lowette
European Association of Directory Publishers

Find out more about Gerry McGovern's seminars

The Internet is one of the most exclusive, undemocratic structures ever to arise in human society.