Information Age

[hastings1066]

I had determined some time in the last couple of years that we're no longer "entering the Information Age" as we were in the 90 and early 00s, but are fully in that Age and now moving into the Age of Understanding (where we figure out, as both a society and as an individual, what and how we absorb all that information).

The thing that drove

Comments

[sy4]

I was right there with you until that last sentence.

Do you really see that as the inevitable course of the nation?

[hastings1066]

I see that the US is on one of the largest cusps since the early 60s (the outcome being the renewed science and citizen investment in and by the country). The erosion of state sovereignty by SCOTUS (or the very inconsistent support of said sovereignty more correctly), the gov't fully in a self-protect mode, the (effectively) nationalizing of commercial infrastructure, and the renewed push for control over the individual on all levels has created an environment where it is a real possibility, however short lived. We did learn in 1999 that the grand majority of National Guard wouldn't fire on the citizens if given the orders to, but we've seen the lengths governments that are fearful of wholesale change will go to in preserving itself.

The difference in this cusp is that there isn't a "them" anymore. So the fear stick the gov't has been rallying its citizenry with is broken and worn from overuse. So will it find a new way to rally, or will it pull a gun? So far, the safety is still on, but holster is unsnapped...

[sy4]

A popular uprising in a system where the citizenry has the ability to participate directly in the political process (whether or not they actually do) is highly unlikely

[hastings1066]

Also, not sure if you saw this post last November, but it gives a bit of a view into where I'm coming from wrt civics.