We Need a Button to Change the World
We Can Do That!
Often I see my friends posting billboards
related to current political issues on my social media pages. More so, these
billboards spur comments and thread that can sometimes reach hundreds of
replies. People are more politically aware than we have ever been before. And
we talk about these issues daily. If our voices really matter, why are we not
using the internet to affect the changes we need?
I asked my Facebook friends to weigh in their opinions on a "Facebook Button" that would petition our government representatives and let them know how we really feel about the decisions they are making that affect our lives and our country. The responses were not surprising, however, the volume of responses were overwhelmingly surprising. The polls are in and my friends want the Facebook Button! But do Americans everywhere else want it as well?
The premise seems simple enough. As the current outdated system stands today, important issues being considered by congress are relayed to us on the news and we all chat about it. If it affects us strongly enough we call our representatives and get his/her answering machine. After that, if we still feel strongly about the issue we try to gather up as many signatures as we can to petition our representatives by a process of buying airtime on local stations or knocking on doors. By the time our voice is heard the vote has already submitted. Unless you can afford a lobbyist, your chance of actually influencing anything government does in real time is slim to none. If this really is a government ran for the people by the people why is it so difficult for our voices to be heard?
As I have mentioned in an earlier article, we are not using the internet to its fullest potential. Social media is where a great many of us are discussing these issues and a simple online petition system would not be difficult to put into place. It was easy enough to install a way to submit our tax information online using a digital signature. It would seem to be just as simple to have a way to petition our representatives in real time to ensure we actually are being heard.
I can't really pat myself on the back for this idea because there would be ramifications of a system like this. The president would be more inclined to address the nation rather than congress to approve military action funded by our tax dollars. Any moves made by representatives directly in opposition of the people they were elected to represent would gravely affect their chances of re-election. Lobbyist would no longer wield the power to influence our representatives with wealth and political gifts. The ramifications of a real time petition system would bring our government back to the way it was always intended to be by our founders. For the first time in our nation's history, all Americans have the means to directly connect with our elected government leaders as easily as we do everyone else.
"This would be wonderful but wouldn't it be too much on the system?" --- Terrie Allen
This system would not be a simple polling that can be easily dismissed as circumstantial. It would be a link to a valid and binding petition submitted officially directly to our representatives. The social media page itself would only be the host for our petition button displaying the issue being petitioned. A real time petition system is not just a reasonable suggestion but would resolve the disconnect between the people and our government.
"I think this would be a great idea. But I don't see social media sites hosting conservative Ideas" --- Jason Hannah.
While it has been a concern in the past for conservative parties getting the access they need to the permits and legal required to validate their political organizations. The petitioning system would eliminate that as well. The need to form groups to get your message out would no longer be necessary. And the issues being petitioned could be either liberal or conservative. The petitioning site would be separate and perhaps even moderated by our government to ensure against fraud. And on this note, if the issue of petition tampering did arise we'd know we were doing something right!
A few have hoped to affect change by leaking government information to us. I suggest real change will only result from all of us leaking information to our government. And a real time online petitioning system would be more than a leak. It would provide each and every one of us a real voice in the actions of our government.
I asked my Facebook friends to weigh in their opinions on a "Facebook Button" that would petition our government representatives and let them know how we really feel about the decisions they are making that affect our lives and our country. The responses were not surprising, however, the volume of responses were overwhelmingly surprising. The polls are in and my friends want the Facebook Button! But do Americans everywhere else want it as well?
The premise seems simple enough. As the current outdated system stands today, important issues being considered by congress are relayed to us on the news and we all chat about it. If it affects us strongly enough we call our representatives and get his/her answering machine. After that, if we still feel strongly about the issue we try to gather up as many signatures as we can to petition our representatives by a process of buying airtime on local stations or knocking on doors. By the time our voice is heard the vote has already submitted. Unless you can afford a lobbyist, your chance of actually influencing anything government does in real time is slim to none. If this really is a government ran for the people by the people why is it so difficult for our voices to be heard?
As I have mentioned in an earlier article, we are not using the internet to its fullest potential. Social media is where a great many of us are discussing these issues and a simple online petition system would not be difficult to put into place. It was easy enough to install a way to submit our tax information online using a digital signature. It would seem to be just as simple to have a way to petition our representatives in real time to ensure we actually are being heard.
I can't really pat myself on the back for this idea because there would be ramifications of a system like this. The president would be more inclined to address the nation rather than congress to approve military action funded by our tax dollars. Any moves made by representatives directly in opposition of the people they were elected to represent would gravely affect their chances of re-election. Lobbyist would no longer wield the power to influence our representatives with wealth and political gifts. The ramifications of a real time petition system would bring our government back to the way it was always intended to be by our founders. For the first time in our nation's history, all Americans have the means to directly connect with our elected government leaders as easily as we do everyone else.
"This would be wonderful but wouldn't it be too much on the system?" --- Terrie Allen
This system would not be a simple polling that can be easily dismissed as circumstantial. It would be a link to a valid and binding petition submitted officially directly to our representatives. The social media page itself would only be the host for our petition button displaying the issue being petitioned. A real time petition system is not just a reasonable suggestion but would resolve the disconnect between the people and our government.
"I think this would be a great idea. But I don't see social media sites hosting conservative Ideas" --- Jason Hannah.
While it has been a concern in the past for conservative parties getting the access they need to the permits and legal required to validate their political organizations. The petitioning system would eliminate that as well. The need to form groups to get your message out would no longer be necessary. And the issues being petitioned could be either liberal or conservative. The petitioning site would be separate and perhaps even moderated by our government to ensure against fraud. And on this note, if the issue of petition tampering did arise we'd know we were doing something right!
A few have hoped to affect change by leaking government information to us. I suggest real change will only result from all of us leaking information to our government. And a real time online petitioning system would be more than a leak. It would provide each and every one of us a real voice in the actions of our government.
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