Internet capitalism pits fast technology against slow democracy

Technology-driven changes—like those we are presently experiencing—produce demands for security and stability that pose a threat to liberal democracy and capitalism. Across the world, autocrats are on the rise because they claim they can deliver answers; symbols such as Brexit or the Wall pose as solutions; and old economic “isms” are reborn as “new” solutions. This is not a unique experience; our struggles in the information age echo similar struggles in the industrial age. When change attacks at gigabit speed, the quest for solutions also accelerates. In a time of rapid technological change, innovative capitalists step up to make the rules regarding how their activities impact the rest of us. Previously, such self-interested rule-making has been confronted eventually by a collective public interest, democratically expressed, to create new rules that protect the common good. For democracy to produce such a resolution, it requires two external accelerants. The first is the belief that collective action can repair economic disparities and restore hope for a better future. The second criteria necessary for democracy to work is for us to overcome our inherent tribal instincts and band together.