Mind the Gap

Societies are an agreed-upon set of collective norms. A bet on everyone else's behavior to cooperate for the benefit of all. Although that set is not really... set. Like any human construct, they evolve. Interact with their environment. They change course when faced with influencing factors. Also, not every member of society fulfills their agreement. Some people invariably defect (misbehave), and the collective agrees that some level of defection is just not worth getting that much worked-up about. Just ask San Franciscans about car break ins. Or John Oliver about robocalls. 

Behind all this lies an iterative process. After society determines it can't tolerate certain defection level, it pressures governmental institutions to tighten its grip via the codification of punishments directed at them damn defectors. New laws criminalizing the deleterious behavior arrive. Defection (hopefully) diminishes. 

The iterative process is not only about fighting off pickpocketing or unwanted mail. As societal norms and mores evolve, so do laws. One of those influencing factors is technology, since it shapes behavior. Internal combustion transportation changed our behavior as it relates to business. The adoption of electricity changed our circadian cycles. With each new technologically-induced acquired societal behavior, the codification in the law of what was societally accepted and what wasn't evolved, as well. 

Historically, you could argue the process worked somewhat well. Speeding tickets went along the adoption of cars. Fines for unpaid electricity bills. But what happens when a technology shapes human behavior in ways that are simply too fast and too abrupt for this iterative cycle to keep up?

Picture drawn by me. A gross simplification, of course.

A tool is something we use with a purpose. It has no agency by itself. We master its use to avail ourselves for the furtherance of a goal. Its use is by definition teleological. He/she who yields it always has an ulterior motive. The hunter-gatherer used fire to cook (furthering the goal of nutritious sustenance). César Chavez harnessed the anger of grape pickers to protest for humane working conditions. But the tool by itself doesn't have a purpose. Left to its own devices, it's an unstable (chaotic) force. If he/she who yields it loses control over it, unpredictable outcomes arise. The hunter-gatherer trying to cook might have sparked a forest fire if fire grew uncontrolled. Cesar Chávez whipped up anger until it almost raged into riots, and had to fast for a month to control the tool (the anger) he had unleashed. 

It's been said that a big part of the political instability we are currently living comes from effects of social media: A technological tool we've chosen to use to induce in us a spellbound mental state in order to fight boredom, unleashing the inner demons of our irrational emotions as an unintended consequence. We've lost control over it. And along with this, we've unwittingly surrendered our online behavior to Surveillance Capitalists in the process, making them so massively powerful that their own founders are calling for their breakup. 

While this technology has served its purpose (keeping us entertained while on the toilet), it hasn't come without a cost. Unlike past technological revolutions, this one is turbocharging the speed at which the iterative process described above occurs, broadening the Legislative Gap. And the Corrective Political Process is not keeping up pace. Polarization renders the compromise needed to legislate impossible. And just like this technology revolution has impacted public's behavior and the tech industry in ways that merits new legislation, it has also thrown sand in the gears of the political process, preventing the much-needed correction. To the point of eroding the reputation of government institutions, and scaring competent public servants off (leaving the incompetent ones behind). 

This may be a tautology, but the new landscape renders the current political system obsolete. Elected officials, by virtue of the profile that's currently favored at election times, aren't suited at all to face these rapidly changing times. The rise of comedian politician (the "cometitian") being just the latest, most depressing sign of the current system's obsolescence. Nothing says "the political system is a sad, cruel joke" better than a bunch of clowns leading it.

The Gap keeps growing, and nothing seems to be closing it. We are drifting, and maybe not just temporarily.