Technology, Protest & Entrenched Political Elites

Unless one somehow managed to avoid any interaction with the internet this week, the protests against SOPA and PIPA are likely no news at this point.   Stories on legislation aimed to prevent piracy have been a relative constant for weeks now, ranging from discussions of human rights to assessments of the people behind this recent push.  While the struggle against this type of legislation is far from over, the impact of yesterday’s protests seems hard not to recognize.  As several representatives hurried to withdraw their support, and the administration days ago made clear that there were problems in the proposed legislation it became increasingly clear that efforts against the measures were progressing in spite of generally lacking coverage through traditional news outlets.

The reality of entrenched political elites in the US is an issue we often choose to ignore in our promotion of our nation as a bastion of democracy and representative governance.  While we may be fortunate enough not to find ourselves plagued by one “President for Life” after another, we certainly have had our fair share of Legislators who ride their Congressional seat to the grave, not to mention our Judiciary.  Typically it is difficult for people to influence the decisions of legislators unless there is some reason to be concerned over re-election, thus the decision of politicians to distance themselves from these measures says quite a bit.  In the US the message at the moment seems fairly clear, legislate away basic freedoms as much as you like, but keep your hands off our “internets”.

Many have argued the benefits of the internet as a venue for protest or the potentially damaging impact of rising “slacktivism” and the meager value of clicks as a form of protest.  However effective it may be in bringing sustained, long term change, it is evident that the use of the internet to organize and communicate is nothing to take lightly.  As with the Occupy movement and the Tea Party, whatever one’s stance may be on SOPA, PIPA and those who stand against these pieces of legislation there is something deeply positive in pushing US Legislators to realize now and again that the people who vote for them are paying as much attention as those who line their pockets.