The-Ave.US

This essay is based on an article in The Atlantic published on March 8, 2021. Read it here.

Alexis de Tocqueville, the great French chronicler of American democracy as it existed in the early 19th century, shortly after the French Revolution that went off the rails, concluded that America’s success resulted not from the words of the Constitution or noble ideals, but from American settlers’ “habits and practices,” particularly those of forming clubs, committees, associations, and other organizations to do everything from conducting business to addressing community concerns.

For generations, this was what held American communities together, and got things done, but in the waning years of the 20th century that social glue began to come undone, a process that was accelerated by the internet, which fostered social isolation, filtered perceptions of reality, and displaced civil society with “internet mobs.”

“Conversation in this new American public sphere is governed not by established customs and traditions in service of democracy but by rules set by a few for-profit companies in service of their needs and revenues.”

Instead of civic meetings governed by procedural rules, now “conversation is ruled by algorithms designed” to harvest data and sell advertising. Angry, divisive voices are amplified. Reason is “much harder to hear: and “radicalization spreads quickly.”

The consequence of this is, “In this new wilderness, democracy is becoming impossible.”

It’s hard to argue with that after what we’ve just been through. Trump’s tweeting, and the insurrectionist mob he assembled, certainly made our democracy and freedom look fragile with its survival at risk. Belatedly, Trump and some of his henchmen were essentially kicked off the internet, after people had been killed, much damage had been done, and millions of Americans had been given a major fright.

The problem is not just that we’re divided — Americans have never been united in their opinions, except at a few times of extreme stress, such as after the Pearl Harbor and 9/11/2001 attacks — but that we’re no longer listening to each other, we’re demonizing each other, we can’t make collective decisions, and it’s not clear that we still have an impartial legal system. Adding to the cacophony is the ability of bad actors like Russia to spread disinformation and stoke our internal divisions, all with the aim of gaining an advantage by weakening us.

It doesn’t have to be this way, because “an internet that promotes democratic values instead of destroying them—that makes conversation better instead of worse—lies within our grasp.” While Facebook deservedly is widely deemed an internet villain, greedy for profits at any cost, the company dabbled to some extent with assuring “authoritative news content” and information “grounded in reality” on its site —  which is how I edit this blog — before backing off after the furor over the Capitol riot subsided to pursue focus on maximizing profits once again, which it does by attracting eyeballs, not promoting truth.

Despite the domination of giant internet companies, the situation isn’t hopeless. America has been through similar situations before. “By the end of the 19th century, the country seemed condemned to monopoly capitalism, financial crisis, deep inequality, a loss of trust in institutions, and political violence.” Then along came President Teddy Roosevelt, and he changed the rules. “He broke up monopolies to make the economy more fair, returning power to small businesses and entrepreneurs [and] enacted protections for working people.”

Now, “Once again, we have a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful people whose obligations are to themselves, and perhaps to their shareholders, but not to the greater good. But Americans didn’t accept this reality in the 1890s, and we don’t need to accept it now. We are a democracy; we can change the rules again.”

That brings us to internet reform.

Social media is broken, and fixing it starts with “alter[ing] the design and structure of online spaces so that citizens, businesses, and political actors have better incentives, more choices, and more rights.” It implies regulating internet companies, and viewing them as “essentially authoritarian.” It also implies something akin to public media similar to NPR or BBC, “social-media sites designed deliberately in the public interest … that would help reduce the angry tone of American debate.” This approach also envisions community forums where people discuss rather than shout. That actually well describes all of the organizations I’m currently involved in.

America has just gone through a “lurid crisis perpetrated by people who had absorbed paranoid conspiracy theories online.” We can and must do better. The solution is to build “a civically healthier internet.” It won’t be easy, but it’s not only worth the effort, it’s a necessity.

Taming the internet, and reining in its power to create a QAnon and empower a Trump, is essential but not enough. We also must tame America’s toxic politics. We are a nation of 330 million people and we’re not all alike. No one has a right to force their personal beliefs on others. We all have a right to vote, if we’re citizens in good standing. The old system of negotiation and compromise worked far better than the McConnell approach of Machievellian power politics. A yard sign I saw in my neighborhood during last year’s political campaigns said, “Make lying wrong again.” Trumpism must be recognized for what it is, a corrosive acid eating the heart out of our society.

Americans have a lot to lose, and we could lose it, if we keep on the course we’ve been on. There’s room in this country for Democrats and Republicans. We simply need to relearn how to respect and accommodate each other. Trump and McConnell are not the answer. It remains to be seen whether Biden can, and will, begin repairing the damage they’ve left behind.

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