Life Goes Viral

I was just watching something I recorded on the History channel about the Ku Klux Klan. I prefer watching History-International, but both channels show a lot of interesting things about provactive topics in our recent or distant past. There are many things that come to mind when watching a show about the KKK, but, one thing that I think about often, is how "open" our society is. How technology has changed our lives.

When I watch a show about old Roman conquests of Britain, it would take days for information to get from one end of the island to the other. Trying to get info from California to New York in the 1830's? Forget about it. But, not only has the time for information to travel dwindled SIGNIFICANTLY, but the access and means to information has increased. We are not relegated to 1940's newspapers for information... which... in some cases... dont get the information in time themselves...





Which tickled Harry Truman to no end. Even the Newspaper 60 years ago had not gotten concrete info about who was president when they went to print. But today? There is the internet. There is local news. 24-hour cable news. There are cameras, and microphones, and tape-recorders everywhere! You can't even sneeze without potentially being in a scandal. But, I dont watch the E! channel, and I dont care about crying celebrities and their PR "damage control".

Now, me personally, I dont have anything to hide. I dont mind the cameras. I do however mind the warrantless wiretapping of Americans under the Bush Administration, but thats another story for another day. And there are times when I think this new "viral world" we live in helps non-stories permeate our social conscious way too long. Like missing girls stories. (Its always a missing girl) And its viral in the since... the story spreads across the information medium quickly like a virus through a body.

What I thought about... how would people (in various parts of world history) have acted had the immediate news culture of today been around. I mean, how many Romans would have recognized Caesar Augustus, if he were wearing regular clothes and walked past them on the street? How many battles were fought during the civil war after the treaty was signed? How would people in groups have acted if their faces would have been on tv? Publically identifiable? Immediately identifiable?

Take my "friend" George Allen. He might have had a great career 40 years ago. He is a FORMER Senator for Virginia who was a promising young voice in the Republican party, and was gearing up politically for a presidential bid in 2008. Political campaigns will send "trackers" who film and study their opponents. What they're saying. What can I use against him. What do I need to respond to. What are his main talking points. He saw the guy during one of his Senate re-election speeches and pointed him out to the Virginian crowd... and used a name for the guy which is regarded as a racial slur.

As the picture above clearly shows... this isn't 1923... because, George Allen was posted on the internet immediately. Clips of him using the phrase were part of the "24 news cycle" and was talked about on all the cable shows. The information is out there. The public knows... and today's media has to address it.

And todays politicians... celebrities... atheletes... even average citizens... they all know... that they can suffer for it. And George Allen didn't win his Senate re-election... he didn't even choose to run for president... and is currently out of the public eye. A victim of this viral world.