On A Question of Superempowerment
Adam and Crispin have an interesting piece up on SWJ. The question is, while the a global economic superinfrastructure enables individuals to have ^n’th impact, can this actually bring about a desired change in policy or is it only destructive?
Some food for thought. Simply there are two kinds of superempowered actions. (It’s a question of degrees/intensity rather than categories.)
- Leverage stronger/better/faster information flows to raise awareness or make something go ‘viral’ in an effort to change the way the system works. Think taking over the Discovery Channel headquarters. Or 4Chan. Or Hastings re: McChrystal (though that was really more just traditional press.)
- If you apply overwhelming pressure (9/11) or enough for long enough (Henry Okah). The difference is, you’re not just sending ‘content’ over existing networks, but rather, you’re shaping the system itself. Think an insurgency rather than (armed) protest. That’s superempowerment.
*Wikileaks probably falls somewhere in the transition between the two.
-Shlok
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