Tech and Politics – a changing landscape


Which ever way we turn we are seeing the hand of technology and the Web effecting change in ways we might not have considered even five years ago. Communities are being built on Facebook that have been responsible for both corporate and government policies. News as it is happening is coming at us as fast as Twitter or Friendfeed can get it to us – usually within seconds of it being written.

Technology is returning the power of information to the people rather than consolidated corporations, of government agencies is some restrictive countries, who have for many years claimed sole ownership. We are seeing a world where technology and the human based power of the Web are saying that we have a voice in how, where and when we chose to get our news and information.

Out on the fringes though we are seeing the beginnings of yet another change, and maybe an ever more powerful one. What we are seeing is a shift in the politics of government, not just in policies but in who is taking part in making those policies in the first place.

As with all major groundswells of change this one was laughed of as being just a silly idea that would go nowhere. Then the Swedish Pirate Party won 2 (second one will come after the Treaty of Lisbon is ratified) seats in the European Parliament, which for a party that was only found a short three years ago, 2006, is pretty incredible.

Now we see that Switzerland will also be fielding a Pirate Party (Parti Pirate Suisse) of their own in an upcoming election. These two countries are not alone as there are affiliate parties popping up all around the world.

Don’t mistake this just as a bunch of young rabble rousers looking to shake up their countries politics just so they can change the laws and keep getting copyrighted goods for free. At its root this “Pirate Party” movement is more about the equality of technology for everyone. It is about telling the old guard that technology is just the money making plaything of the rich and powerful in order to maintain their grip on that money and power.

As Rick Falkvinge, Sweden’s leader of the country’s Pirate Party, said when asked about the win

“Together, we have today changed the landscape of European politics. No matter how this night ends, we have changed it,” Falkvinge said. “This feels wonderful. The citizens have understood it’s time to make a difference. The older politicians have taken apart young peoples’ lifestyle, bit by bit. We do not accept that the authorities’ mass-surveillance,” he added.

Source: Torrent Freak

We have a generation of young people very quickly coming up to the age where people start thinking about becoming politically active. These young people aren’t just happy with sticking with the old way of doing things, they want to make changes to how their world is governed and their place in that world.

Previously to the incredible rise of the Web and now Social Media it was difficult to become involved and actually see changes being made within one’s lifetime. Now though this is no longer the case. An example of this is that the Pirate Party has been active for less time that the Green Party (those government parties based around environmental issues) and yet has achieved more. In Sweden alone the party was responsible for an increase in voter turnout – something that no other party can claim.

The turnout at the elections is 43 percent, a little higher than the at the 2004 elections. This would mean that roughly 200,000 Swedes have voted for the Pirate Party. This is a huge increase compared to the national elections of 2006 where the party got 34,918 votes.

Source: Torrent Freak

Just as the world of old media has, and continues to, change so will our governments. As our use of technology and everything Web related becomes more ingrained in our society the bigger the chance of the way we are governed. As our children grow and discover the power that they really have over their place in society and the growing power of their voices because of technology and the Web the bigger the change will be.

I would wager that even as soon as ten years from now a technology based government powered by the voices of our children will be more of the norm rather than just a one off called the Pirate Party. We’ll see who will be doing the laughing then.

[a big hat tip to Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing]

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