In this thread, we'll brainstorm realistic "best case scenarios" for the near future.
In an ideal democracy, there would be noncorrupt politicians who represent the public interest. The public would recognize this and vote them in. But we all know that's not how democracy really works!
It's easy to get focused on how everybody, everywhere, is doing everything wrong. Everything is falling apart at a feverish pace. The people responsible for fixing this fucking world are neither capable nor willing to do so. It fills me with horrormirth.
So let's visualize a future where we all give a big sigh of relief and say "Glad THAT period of history is over." What would it look like? How would we get there?
Let's try to keep the sarcasm and cynicism to a minimum. Not looking for comments like "KILL ALL HUMANS", "PALIN 2012", or impossible scenarios that could never happen. Nor should these fantasies be too saccharine or hopelessly optimistic. The goal is to visualize a better world that might one day exist.
Here's mine:
One of the most frustrating things about aligning yourself with "liberals" these days is that they can't get their shit together.
The right wing is experiencing an identity crisis. This has infused them with an amazing capacity for political activism. The birth of the Tea Party represents a lot of new blood and energy in the political landscape. I can't remember the left ever having rallies and community events like the tea party does.
The right wing's Thanksgiving looks like everybody holding hands and saying grace before they eat turkey. The left wing's Thanksgiving looks like every family member shouting at each other at once. But this is in part because they left wing represents some very broad ideals.
So I hope that the left wing experiences a similar identity crisis. I hope they form an activist branch which revitalizes the long frustrated and increasingly jaded American liberal. They need a call to arms that gets people up out of their seats. Jon Stewart started it rolling, now we need somebody with some political currency to turn it into an avalanche. They've gotta grab that energy that Obama created and channel it into something.
Sorry. Without cynicism I can't play this game.
Best case scenario? Realistically? Escalation of ideological split and all the consequences thereof. And that's what we'll wish for when the shit goes down.
The Coalition government, lacking popularity and legitimacy, continues to drag down the Liberal Democrat's poll ratings (currently at 6%). Tiring of this, and realizing the Coalition's broad-ranged attack on students is handing over one of the largest voting blocs to Labour without a fight, and helping to destroy the last 18 years of effective and brutal campaigning, Vince Cable leads the the Lib Dem back benchers in a Parliametary revolt, which leads the Coalition to collapse.
The Tories panic, but quickly assess their options. Because of dire economic situations and a secondary emergency budget, they call for a government of national unity, akin to the one we had in the 1940s. The "orange book" right-leaning Lib Dems in the Cabinet will stay in the coalition, and right-leaning Blairites from New Labour will also be carefully screened, and invited to join the government.
Therefore, for the first time in British history, all the neoliberals from the three major parties will be represented in a single government. This will also helpfully allow the new, left-leaning Labour leader Ed Milliband purge Blairite dissidents from the ranks and shut them out of policy discussions, while Vince Cable will probably become the new Lib Dem leader, after angry students use entryist tactics to sabotage Nick Clegg's leadership.
The Greens may also grow in popularity, though I doubt they will take any more Parliamentary seats in the near future. Still, a left-leaning Lib Dem party and a revitalized Labour may be open to cooperating with them on local councils, possibly via the various "fight the cuts" organizations being sponsored by unions, student groups and socialist organizations.
The economy will continue to get worse...but this will continue to discredit the new Coalition government and their policies. They will get well and truly thrashed in the next general election and a Labour-Lib Dem-Green alliance will hold power, minus many of the idiots who have made the last decade so unbearable (Blunkett, Osborne, Frank Field, Clegg, Danny Alexander etc).
Also, Peter Mandelson will suffer an unfortunate accident involving being made Commissioner to Belarus, from where he will scheme impotently until the day he retires, becomes a Telegraph essayist and finds his true calling, using his acid pen to mark snarky comments from the sidelines.
Naturally, this wont happen, but it is theoretically possible, in the same way alternate universes are.
Rupert Murdoch kicks the bucket. There is a power grab within News Corporation which puts Fox News under new management. The new handler takes it in a fresh direction and in doing so, alienates the Fox News loyalists. This sparks some heated discussion about the media's role, which in turn creates a REAL demand for ACTUAL JOURNALISM (as opposed to partisan hackery).
The effect ripples through the other cable news stations, which in turn amend their policies and standards. There is a strong meme at this time, that pundits and news anchors who serve political ends are part of the badwrong manipulation of public will. Consequently, the media no longer serves political parties as heavily, and knows they must be nonpartisan to please their viewers.
:crackhead:
Quote from: Cramulus on January 13, 2011, 08:32:45 PM
Rupert Murdoch kicks the bucket. There is a power grab within News Corporation which puts Fox News under new management. The new handler takes it in a fresh direction and in doing so, alienates the Fox News loyalists. This sparks some heated discussion about the media's role, which in turn creates a REAL demand for ACTUAL JOURNALISM (as opposed to partisan hackery).
The effect ripples through the other cable news stations, which in turn amend their policies and standards. There is a strong meme at this time, that pundits and news anchors who serve political ends are part of the badwrong manipulation of public will. Consequently, the media no longer serves political parties as heavily, and knows they must be nonpartisan to please their viewers.
:crackhead:
What the fuck are you smoking? And why aren't you sharing?
Quote from: Charley Brown on January 13, 2011, 08:34:54 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 13, 2011, 08:32:45 PM
Rupert Murdoch kicks the bucket. There is a power grab within News Corporation which puts Fox News under new management. The new handler takes it in a fresh direction and in doing so, alienates the Fox News loyalists. This sparks some heated discussion about the media's role, which in turn creates a REAL demand for ACTUAL JOURNALISM (as opposed to partisan hackery).
The effect ripples through the other cable news stations, which in turn amend their policies and standards. There is a strong meme at this time, that pundits and news anchors who serve political ends are part of the badwrong manipulation of public will. Consequently, the media no longer serves political parties as heavily, and knows they must be nonpartisan to please their viewers.
:crackhead:
What the fuck are you smoking? And why aren't you sharing?
This. :lulz:
Grover Norquist's centre-right coalition against the war in Afghanistan (http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/12/grover_norquist_calls_for_discussion_on_right_about_leaving_afghanistan) becomes a powerful lobby and talking shop for members of the American political and economic elite who are becoming increasingly worried about maintaining the costs of foreign wars. This organization becomes part of a broader trend on the right in foreign policy/security circles, causing the neoconservative strangehold on rightwing foreign policy thinking to be broken, as well as creating a more truly fiscally responsible wing of the Republican Party, appealing to moderates and forming a counter-bloc to the Tea Partyist populists.
Quote from: Cain on January 13, 2011, 08:38:13 PM
Grover Norquist's centre-right coalition against the war in Afghanistan (http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/12/grover_norquist_calls_for_discussion_on_right_about_leaving_afghanistan) becomes a powerful lobby and talking shop for members of the American political and economic elite who are becoming increasingly worried about maintaining the costs of foreign wars. This organization becomes part of a broader trend on the right in foreign policy/security circles, causing the neoconservative strangehold on rightwing foreign policy thinking to be broken, as well as creating a more truly fiscally responsible wing of the Republican Party, appealing to moderates and forming a counter-bloc to the Tea Partyist populists.
I could actually see this happening.
I believe it already is in smaller steps.
Quote from: Cramulus on January 13, 2011, 08:10:10 PM
So let's visualize a future where we all give a big sigh of relief and say "Glad THAT period of history is over." What would it look like?
(http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/neo_ruins_2.jpg)
The Tea party finally has enough of the liberals and their socialist oppression.
They raise up arms and declare civil war. The tea party(armed with hunting rifles) is then quickly wiped out with predator drones, armored vehicles and other such military wizardry.
In completely unrelated news, the national IQ skyrockets.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 13, 2011, 09:06:38 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 13, 2011, 08:10:10 PM
So let's visualize a future where we all give a big sigh of relief and say "Glad THAT period of history is over." What would it look like?
(http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/neo_ruins_2.jpg)
:lulz: :lulz: :lulz:
:flush:
The cost of higher education in America becomes so ridiculously impossible for individuals to finance that an entire generation refuses to take on the amount of debilitating debt required to get a degree from a state college. Instead, they begin to take advantage of the global information network that people have been building for the last 30 years called the internet and begin educating themselves, utilizing peer groups and forums in order to learn whatever it is they decide is their calling.
Software technology and Core manufacturing companies (metal, wood, electronics, etc.) in the U.S. hire the same sorts of people they hired 40 and 50 years ago: not necessarily college educated but trainable, with demonstrable skills in their field, eager and enthusiastic as only the young can be, at wages that are beneficial and relative to the area of the country in which they live, not artificially inflated by the amount of money it took to get the degree or the artificially inflated cost of the realestate in their city. Middle management, path of least resistance sorts become the bastard children of corporations and are replaced by higher order thinkers that want to move their chosen company and friends in a direction that carves out a competitive spot in their particular market.
The "doing just enough to get by" or the "path of least resistance" crowd become the outcasts of the world, shaming them in to either stepping up or fading into the background. (full disclosure: I hear a lot of bitching about my position on this, and I'm not moved by it. If you can't be bothered to become a part of what is an intelligent, cognitive and productive society and decide instead to sit on your ass every night and watch the fucking TV then I have no sympathy for you or your plight and you should fend for your self, without mine or anyone else's "help")
The dominance of the Chinese market for global consumables in the US becomes a rallying point to push people here to begin acclimating to competing with that country for global dominance. (that means accepting lower wages, but only in line with lower costs of living)
The U.S. Federal Reserve, unions and individual workers with no group affiliation begin to acknowledge the fact that in order to integrate into a global market and be able to compete with China without restrictive tariffs, controlled but real deflation of the world's currencies has to occur in order to allow new markets to compete fairly, to the benefit of all.
The U.S. Fed and global banking cartels reach an understanding on this and admit that really, we're all just talking about paper and how much people are willing to work for a certain value of it.
Real estate becomes, once again, something you buy and sit on, adding equity and willing to your family. It ceases to become something in which to flip and make a quick profit.
:crackhead: :whack:
god DAMN this is some good shit.
anyone else want some?
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 13, 2011, 09:06:38 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 13, 2011, 08:10:10 PM
So let's visualize a future where we all give a big sigh of relief and say "Glad THAT period of history is over." What would it look like?
(http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/neo_ruins_2.jpg)
The really disturbing thing is, this actually looks pretty optimistic to me. I mean, there were enough people left to bury the bodies. :lulz:
At the risk of sounding like Ted Kaczynski, for me, the worst development over the past decade or so is the internet. Before, people were able to spread their paradigms and ill-conceived ideas, but it happened much more slowly. There was still a chance for counter information to be introduced to add a balanced and more informed perspective.
Today, an idea or notion grabs hold and spreads like cholera. A good example is this recent Memorial they had for the Tuscon victims. Someone decided that it was the Obama administration that was responsible for making T-shirts and other memorabilia with logos and slogans on it. It spread like crazy. It was eventually revealed by a sheepish University of Arizona that it was their doing, not the Obama administration, but by then, it was already plastered on the far reaches of the right-wing blogosphere, and it basically became fact to its readers. In the old days, this story would have had a more proper vetting before it was launched into the public square.
So I guess I see that a best case scenario for the future involves some kind of evolution in information and idea exchange that allows for more vetting and more thoughtfulness when people talk about and exchange ideas. And if that requires the death of the internet, I will gladly do a happy dance on its festering corpse.
Quote from: Rev. What's-His-Name? on January 14, 2011, 01:43:30 PMSo I guess I see that a best case scenario for the future involves some kind of evolution in information and idea exchange that allows for more vetting and more thoughtfulness when people talk about and exchange ideas. And if that requires the death of the internet, I will gladly do a happy dance on its festering corpse.
This goes hand in hand with my hope for more skeptical media consumption.
I wish the public had the equivalent of the :cn: emote, and used it frequently
My vision is that a powerful meme will ripple through the public. It's
empowerment, and it comes in the form of rejecting manipulation and not participating in information warfare.
Right now I call it
Information Veganism - people who will only consume organic information, not processed GMO crap.
Best Case Scenario?
In one or two generations, the Old Analog Guard will be pushed out of the spotlight, and the Digital Age babies will be assuming positions of power. They were born into an environment that forced them to mistrust just about every source of media input (the OAG, having grown up with the idea of "trusted sources", have been manipulated and been manupulating the new media, which tends to accelerate confusion and strife (Hail Eris)).
With this new generation comes a better understanding of social maniputions, so blatant partisan diatribes and polemics are not as effective. Plus, faster technologies lead to "real-time third-party fact-checking" of all information distributed, so any misinformation or manipulation will be identified quicker.
Bad decisions will still be made, of course, but they won't be as obviously stupid.
And yes, that is my best case scenario.
in ancient Greece/Rome, an education in Rhetoric was necessary both to communicate to the public, and to understand what others are really saying. I think there should be some newsmedia equivalent.
Fuck yeah. Similarly, and tying in to the last few posts, I think every public school in the United States should have a mandatory class on media literacy. I recognize that depending on the ideology of the teacher this still has room for thought corruption, however, I think overall it would be a net plus. And may cause more people to grow up as information vegans.
Fravia+ from Searchlores.org used to advocate this as well. On a basic level, teach "critical reading skills", on a more advanced level teach "exegesis (http://www.searchlores.org/realicra/exegesis.htm)" in the literal meaning of the word, being not just critically looking at the content, but also try to find out why it was written, with what purpose it was written, because even if all the facts check out as true, there's still layers of meaning behind a written text for those willing to look for it.