It is wonderful and good to be able to criticise a government.
It shows maturity and democracy on the part of such a government, although the ability to be criticised in itself does not guarantee maturity and democracy. There are other factors that, lumped all together, make for a mature, democratic, legitimate, progressive, people’s government. Where was blogging when we needed it? In the 1976 disturbances in South Africa, wouldn’t it have been great to have bloggers telling the world what was really happening?
Imagine Steve Biko blogging.
Would we have been indifferent? Judging by the number of people who frequent popular blogs, I doubt it. More of us would have listened more intently. And perhaps more of us would have done something. I also wonder what the reaction of apartheid South Africa would have been. One of the advantages of blogging in such a climate is, of course, that traces can be wiped and blurred, to make it difficult to be caught. And the mobile phone can be carried anywhere by anybody. The people at Liliesleaf Farm could have received a call on someone’s mobile phone with the simple and urgent message, “Get out. Now!” And what would have taken place then, with Nelson Mandela’s comrades “free” to roam and plan? Would there have been a Soweto 1976?
With communication technology so ubiquitous, is it getting harder for governments to become, or to remain, rotten?
In 1998 there were riots in Lesotho, following that year’s May vote. The commotion quickly reached the ears of the world, and especially of SADC. South African and Botswana troops rolled into Lesotho and quelled what was in fact an attempt at overthrowing the government. But in 1970, when the election was annulled and the incumbent Prime-Minister, Basotho national party leader, staged a coup d’état, Basotho were alone to face the consequences. Nobody heard, and if they did, they pretended not to. Following is a table of what African countries and the world failed to hear in January 1970.
January 1970 National Assembly Election
Voter Turnout: 81.9%
—————————————-
Party: Basotho Congress Party (BCP)
% of Votes: 49.85%
N° of Seats (60): 36Party: Basotho National Party (BNP)
% of Votes: 42.20%
N° of Seats (60): 23Party: Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP)
% of Votes: 7.30%
N° of Seats (60): 01 [Source]
Leaders of the party that had 50% of the vote and a majority 36 seats were sent to prison.
Besides ratting on unfair players, technology also facilitates democracy in many other ways. The very fact that democracy need be highly interactive between governor and governed, implies that technology will encourage rather than inhibit democracy. We’re all afraid of what we don’t know (of the dark), but technology is there to lay things bare and demonstrate the workings of government, and educate the masses. “Democracy cannot survive without an unswerving commitment to education“. And what’s more, technology may be leading us away from being represented in government toward representing ourselves directly. Nelson Mandela says that technology democracy is when you “reach out to people themselves, involve them, engage them, and listen to what they say” [Source].
