I think the most interesting actions are those which organize. In a large democracy, organizing votes is magnitudes more interesting than voting itself, and it is on this organization game that I think the masses will lose, time and time again.
Signing petitions => will this translate to well-targeted get-out-to-vote drives for contentious districts?
Discussion on forums => will this translate to well-targeted get-out-to-vote drives for contentious districts?
Installing browser extensions and using Linux => will this translate to mass-market behavior?
Organization is the truly interesting game, and those in power have had their eye on the ball from the start. I also don't see how Brexit is a beacon of hope for collective action.
Brexit showed that democracies don't really deliberate things, and instead just vote Yea/Nay with 0 attempt for common consensus. Popular disagreement is democracy at its worst, especially when there are 0 effective deliberative processes, because it means a nearly maximally displeasurable voting outcome. In the case of Brexit, that meant that 48% of the nation is displeased. Brexit is absolutely not a lesson of grassroots power, or the kind of things small people can do against large powers.
Signing petitions => will this translate to well-targeted get-out-to-vote drives for contentious districts?
Discussion on forums => will this translate to well-targeted get-out-to-vote drives for contentious districts?
Installing browser extensions and using Linux => will this translate to mass-market behavior?
Organization is the truly interesting game, and those in power have had their eye on the ball from the start. I also don't see how Brexit is a beacon of hope for collective action.
Brexit showed that democracies don't really deliberate things, and instead just vote Yea/Nay with 0 attempt for common consensus. Popular disagreement is democracy at its worst, especially when there are 0 effective deliberative processes, because it means a nearly maximally displeasurable voting outcome. In the case of Brexit, that meant that 48% of the nation is displeased. Brexit is absolutely not a lesson of grassroots power, or the kind of things small people can do against large powers.