I realize that my posts in the last few weeks have painted a somewhat dark picture of the world. I would like to take a moment to pull my loyal readers back from the brink of suicide.
We’re not all sheep:
A survey conducted in North Carolina during the fall of 2002, the golden age of W’s approval ratings, asked respondents “How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right - just about always, most of the time, only some of the time, or almost never?”
Nearly 2/3 replied “only some of the time” or “almost never.” Approval ratings for the President hover near their all time low, and Americans trust in Congress has been on a downward slide for a generation. In other words, people do notice when their government is corrupt, inept, and – dare I say it – evil. The question is how to channel this dissatisfaction into a meaningful reform movement. Good ideas and good marketing have historically and can still change the world. The revolution is not dead.
We’re in this together:
Somalia, one of the poorest places in the world and a country without an officially recognized government had some 500000 cell phone users in 2004. As borders are broken down by satellite media, the internet, and cellular phones, people all over the world become instantly aware of distant events and act to shape their outcomes. The power of information can help move resources where they are needed both through charity and through commerce. Person to person contact, even mediated by our gadgetry, forces us to recognize that people are people wherever they are.
When a tsunami hits South Asia, video feeds from survivors hit our screens in a matter of hours. In a few hours more the flow of money and relief supplies is already underway.
In ages past, genocides and atrocities went unnoticed by all but the killers and the killed. Today, few despots can afford to ignore the court of international public opinion.
The worse the better:
As much as it pains me to borrow an observation from Lenin, it seems that real political change is only possible at times of crisis. We don’t have to go communist though. In a recent panel at the Cato Institute, Jim Gwartney and Simeon Djankov, both noted economists and advocates of political reform in the developing world were asked to describe the background conditions most favorable to successful reform. Their nearly simultaneous answer: desperation.
Politicians just seem to work better with a mob banging at the door.
While the pep-talk is an art form I have not yet mastered, I think we still have reason to refrain from slitting our wrists. There are millions upon millions of scary brilliant people running around this globe; we just have to get them talking to each other.
