We've had post-truth politics, with its alternative facts.
We've had pre-truth politics, where the digital record of our activities is analysed to formulate a personalised version of reality to which we can be exposed online, using dark adverts paid for by dark money, to stimulate us to respond accordingly and deliver the required verdict at the ballot box.
Big corporations use big data to summon our simulated selves from the Cloud and consult them to discover what truths we are susceptible to, what truths make us suggestible, so that we can be persuaded to ordain the order they have already pre-ordained for us with a counterfeit consent, as though our democratic choice could be administered the same way as the suggested purchases on an online bookstore. As long as they get it right, how would we know the difference? But what if they get it wrong? What takes priority, your choice or the one that has been suggested for you? Hint: the latter works best for their bottom line.
In Scotland we now even have post-arithmetic politics, where the media finds itself unable to arrange the numbers 13, 7, 35 and 4 in descending order, and the democratic mandate of the governing party is disregarded on the basis of a fraction of the vote. And here they have got it wrong. This is not the government I ordered, we might say. But they don't care, they'll keep telling us no, it is, this is what you want, until they wear us down.
But we must move beyond arithmetic for other reasons. The share of the vote your party won is not an end in itself. Respect for your democratic mandate is a necessary but not sufficient condition for healthy politics. So stop obsessing and complaining about who said what to whom about you and how that differs from what they said yesterday. Set aside all grievances. Greet the biggest hypocrites with the widest smile.
Because politics that is about point scoring is sterile. Politics that keeps a tally is tedious. Politics that is about the past perpetuates itself.
Real politics - the politics that endures and alters and improves our societies from the age of Pericles until today, the politics that survives even the most elaborate mechanised manipulations of micro-targeting - is about imagination, and hope, and faith, and courage, and compassion, and vision. So forget the one-upmanship. Don't be distracted by the hypocrisy of your opponents. Do not seek redress for their lies and misrepresentations. Forget triangulation. Forget credibility.
Speak truth.
Not to power, for truth recognises no power beyond itself. Speak truth that articulates a compelling vision of a better world. Speak to the future, not the past. Disregard all who complain about the cost, for prudence has ever been the shackle of progress, and nothing great that ever happened was costed.
Speak truths people can recognise, that chime within their marrow, that fire their imagination, that unite them with compassion.
Speak truths that inspire them to be better people. Speak truths that fill them with the belief they can be.
Parsed as a poem:
ReplyDeleteSpeak truth
Speak truth
We've had post-truth politics,
with its alternative facts
and truthiness.
We've even had pre-truth politics,
where your digital record is analysed
to formulate a personalised reality:
dark adverts bought with dark money
deliver the required verdict
at the ballot box,
big corporations using big data,
summoning our simulated selves
who confide in them our secret susceptibilities
so truth can be reduced
to what can be suggested
and we order what is ordained
and offer up a counterfeit consent,
as though democractic choice
is no different from the suggested purchase
you make in an online bookstore,
and as long as they get it right,
how would we know the difference?
But what if they get it wrong?
What if you are left saying
"this is not the government I ordered"?
What comes first?
Your choice or the one made for you?
Hint: what works best for their bottom line?
They'll keep telling you "no, it is,
really, this is what you want,"
until they wear you down
and acquiescence is the only option
that preserves the scrap of sanity
you cling to to survive.
But we must move beyond this.
The vote your party won is not an end in itself.
Respect for the mandate is a necessary
but not a sufficient condition
for healthy politics.
So stop obsessing and complaining
about who said what to whom about you
and how that differs from what they said yesterday.
Set aside all grievances.
Greet the biggest hypocrites with the widest smile.
Politics that is about point scoring is sterile.
Politics that keeps a tally is tedious.
Politics that is about the past perpetuates itself.
Politics that endures
and alters and improves our societies
from the age of Pericles until today,
that survives even the most elaborate manipulations,
is about imagination,
and hope, and faith, and courage, and compassion, and vision.
So forget the one-upmanship.
Don't be distracted by the hypocrisy of your opponents.
Do not seek redress for their lies and misrepresentations.
Forget triangulation.
Forget credibility.
Speak truth.
For its own sake, not yours. Speak truth.
Not to power, for truth recognises no power beyond itself.
Articulate a compelling vision of a better world.
Speak to the future, not the past.
Disregard all who complain about the cost,
for prudence has ever been the shackle of progress,
and nothing great that ever happened
was budgeted in advance.
Speak truths people can recognise,
that chime within their marrow,
that fire their imagination,
that unite them with compassion.
Speak truths that inspire them to be better people.
Speak truths that fill them with the belief
in who they can be.
Speak truth.