Would we have had an American Revolution in this Techno age??

-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenver any form of government becomes destructive of these ends....it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it." - Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independance.

But, what if we never knew of Jefferson? What if he was only remembered as among the best agrarians and architects of his time.

It's a legitimate question. Would there have been an American Revolution if, in 1776 there had been smartphones, HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Facebook, Instagram, ESPN, Twitter, youtube, etc., etc.? Would the British have even needed to raise a finger to keep us under their thumb? We just don't see public uprising anymore. We don't see organized intolerance anymore; certainly nothing that matches the gravity of these circumstances. We’ve gone soft. Going soft is not a good thing in a democracy. Democracy requires eyeballs, and even a keen sense of smell. I think the key to maintaining democracy may be to keep TV screens from being too big.

I was texting a friend from NYC today and we were discussing the fact that the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox have cheated their way to World Series trophies. He's a Yankee fan so he feels cheated as do I, a Dodger fan. I told him that it's totally unacceptable to allow these teams to capitalize off of blantant cheating. I sent him the song "We're not gonna take it" by The Who in a text. He said "nice try, but that was the 60's". I didn't think about it at first but later I thought...he's kinda right. That was the 60's. We marched back then. A guy named King was able to inspire supporters to gather by the hundreds of thousands. They marched on Washington DC and they famously marched on Selma, Alabama. They marched in Berkeley and on college campuses most everywhere. We put on our boots and we marched—for civil rights, for an end to the war in Vietnam, for free speech and the right to assemble. We changed the country, or so it seemed. We weren't distracted by the gadgets and the conveniences. We weren't lulled to sleep by a 24/7 Sports network or an endless amount of "entertainment" content. If we wanted to hear a song we either had to buy the record and play it on a record player (turntable) or we had to turn on the radio and wait to see if the song we wanted to hear came on.

It’s too much! Americans can’t be trusted to eat their vegetables if there is ice cream and cake on the plate.

“Be careful of what you ask for”

“We’ve amused ourselves to death” - Roger Waters

Now, we can watch any movie ever made at any time we want. We can listen to any song ever recorded any time we want. We can watch 100's of fresh TV shows that are produced with a professionalism and technical magic that we never dreamed of even a decade ago. We can watch among dozens and dozens of reality shows. We have VIRTUAL reality, and Artificial Intelligence on the horizon. It's a wonder that anyone ever buys a book anymore. Who has the attention span for books? or sustaining a democracy, or fighting against tyranny and lies and corruption? Who has time? Yes, it’s quite possible to imagine that we wouldn’t have developed the outrage to tear down the statue of King George III that had looked down on New Yorkers from its high perch; we wouldn’t have had the attention span to throw tea in the harbor.

I think we’ll find that technology exacerbates the present balance of power. On the surface it seems good for the little fish but it exponentially helps the sharks much more. Amazon benefits much more than we do from the satellites. We think we are so lucky because we can get a package a day earlier. On the other hand, they are poised to be the new logo of America. All they have to do is give us an extra scoop of ice cream and pat us on the head and we stay quiet.

Democracy requires that you find the time to participate. It’s not like an old coat you can put in the closet and forget about.

We will find out soon enough; if we have a democracy left is a question that we don't have the answer to at this time. We just don't have the mojo to take things seriously, I guess. Who has time to prevent a fascist state anymore? Oh well. At least I can watch reruns of "Game of Thrones" on my 75" flat screen.

In Puerto Rico less than a year ago fully 1/5 of the countries population (500,000 protesters) stormed the capital city of San Juan to physically remove the leader of Puerto Rico who had been pinned with corruption but refused to leave office. He left office and left the country rather than face torches. He got off easier than Mussolini and Marie Antoinette. If he only had insured that all of his citizens had smart phones and internet access. It might have saved him and his diabolical plan to be a dictator.

We may have never heard of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson without the stillness and focus needed to bring about outrage and that Tea Party, and the Stamp Act, and a willingness to die fighting for something larger than yourself. Darkness back then, only conquered by lighting a candle, perhaps served to provide the stillness needed to contemplate the forces of subversion and corruption (and Taxation without Representation). Manual labor (without headphones) and horseback rides (without texting while driving) might have helped catalyze the creation of our Republic. We might be living under the Union Jack and answering to the powers from mother England if those in the colonies had constant access to Internet porn and the Cooking Channel. We might not have been so intolerant of an abuse of power.

That reminds me....the UFC fight is on in 15 minutes, followed by another season of "Schitt's Creek". “Alexa, put on the UFC fight, and then give me a foot rub”.

P.S. 45% of eligible voters did not vote in 2016. That was 100 million voters. We vote on tuesdays (a workday in America). By hook or by crook we make it difficult to vote in America. We make it something you can do if you can find the time.

Food for Thought....