The prevalence of technology when discussing the political economy is nearly ubiquitous; it has been for thousands of years. From the invention of the wheel to the discovery of the Higgs boson, every significant technological advancement affects the economy and public policy with it. Turning to more contemporary scholarship, we can come to understand just how much of a palpable impact technological change can have in the realm of communication; that is, how we get our news from the mainstream media.
The political process has been altered by the changing landscape that technological advancement has come to offer. Concepts like the 24-hour news cycle and tightly-run, full-fledged, ideologically-backed news networks hold almost all the power in how and with what the general public learn about political economy issues. In turn, public policy is directly effected; often, it is for the worse. The minds of the public and of their representatives are molded by the political opinions and behaviour of those whom they consult most often. George Orwell liked to call it "prolefeed". Whatever you choose to call it, it's real, and it's dangerous.
Obviously technology plays a very important part in the advancement of economic output and the growth and sustenance necessary for the progress of the capitalist system of government. However, when looking at it in a more social sense we can begin to realize just how crippling it can be (especially in terms of public policy) when the mainstream media restricts progression for the sake of some ideological argument.
No comments:
Post a Comment