I firmly believe that the established political order is dying on its feet, but it doesn't know it. The global reach of digital communications media makes it less possible to propagate lies and deceit without being found out.

While the traditional (i.e. corporate) media find it convenient to suppress uncomfortable news that shows entrenched governments up for the hypocrites they are, individual bloggers suffer no such compunctions. Freedom is fragile, however, and digital censorship is a very real possibility. Constant vigilance continues to be necessary.

If we had a truly participative democracy, would the horrors mentioned in David Rovic's song (YouTube video below) be possible? Thanks to the Found In Pockets blog for the link.

Perhaps it's time we realized that humanity doesn't just exist within our own borders, and that we can spread wealth without making ourselves significantly poorer. If America decided to commit the resources wasted on the Iraq war (see the ever-rising figure top right) instead to worthwhile global goals then terrorists would have much less justification (and correspondingly lower support) for opposing America. Unfortunately American politicians don't even try to enlighten their voting public as to how wealthy the majority here truly are.