AD1184
Celestial
A much-decried spectre that has arisen within our culture in recent years is that of fake news: things posing as news articles online which may be adverts, or political propaganda designed to libel some faction, which contain falsehoods, and which threaten to undermine our democracies.
Certainly, these writings do not help matters but does that mean that the implied corollary, that the spread of accurate information among the various electorates serves to make democracy more stable, is true? Or can this accurate information itself lead people to apathy or to voting for radical parties they would previously have considered unpalatable, back when they knew less? Could it be that the threat to democracy is not necessarily bad information, but too much information, whether good or bad?
There is a famous quote about politics, often attributed to Bismarck, but apparently not uttered by him, that "Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made". Of course, law-making is the realm of politics. This quote from the mid-nineteenth century gives us wisdom that many today will find agreeable: people cannot respect politics in light of a full account of what the major parties and figures have done.
Previously you had to work hard to find out details about what was going on beyond what was printed in newspapers. Nowadays, it is all at our fingertips. It leads some, like me, to apathy and others to vote for previously marginal candidates, who are more radical and promise, whether faithfully or not, to do things better than those who have gone before.
I would say widespread ignorance is good for democratic stability, and widespread knowledge not so good.
Certainly, these writings do not help matters but does that mean that the implied corollary, that the spread of accurate information among the various electorates serves to make democracy more stable, is true? Or can this accurate information itself lead people to apathy or to voting for radical parties they would previously have considered unpalatable, back when they knew less? Could it be that the threat to democracy is not necessarily bad information, but too much information, whether good or bad?
There is a famous quote about politics, often attributed to Bismarck, but apparently not uttered by him, that "Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made". Of course, law-making is the realm of politics. This quote from the mid-nineteenth century gives us wisdom that many today will find agreeable: people cannot respect politics in light of a full account of what the major parties and figures have done.
Previously you had to work hard to find out details about what was going on beyond what was printed in newspapers. Nowadays, it is all at our fingertips. It leads some, like me, to apathy and others to vote for previously marginal candidates, who are more radical and promise, whether faithfully or not, to do things better than those who have gone before.
I would say widespread ignorance is good for democratic stability, and widespread knowledge not so good.