You have a *lot* of people today who could very well become the politicians of tomorrow. But kids also tend to do a lot of stupid stuff.
And also thanks to how the internet works even if your fortunate to have a powerful or influential father looking out for your political interests he can't excise the records of ALL of your stupid stuff.
Are we going to become a society that just shrugs when it comes to what happens and is recorded online? Or will only those who managed to not post anything silly or embarrassing online ever under any circumstances the only ones that can run for any office?
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
Attitudes will have to change, right? I don't often agree with the columnist Dan Savage, but he thinks that in maybe 2 decades, having nude pictures of yourself on the net won't be a big deal, because so many people will.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
Stephen Baxter and Arthur C Clarke co-authored a neat book on the subject. The Light of Other Days. Miniature worm-holes that show video from any point in time and space. At one point a politician is recorded using the toilet, and at that point the public is just fed up with the nonsense and no longer cares.
Big brother, but everyone has access to it.
I think it is entirely possible. We already have a sitting president that has admitted to some strong drug usage in his past.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
[ETA: Didn't see Stephan's post when I posted this]
Obama admitted to using cocaine and it was essentially a non-issue (obviously it at least didn't keep him from getting elected). I think we're already over the "they did stupid things when they were in college" issue.
Hobbes
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by Elison R. Salazar: Are we going to become a society that just shrugs when it comes to what happens and is recorded online? Or will only those who managed to not post anything silly or embarrassing online ever under any circumstances the only ones that can run for any office?
Does this have anything to do with your changing your screen name and your ambitions to become prime minister of Canada? Because I'll gladly give interviews to any journalist who figures out who I am.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by Stephan: I think it is entirely possible. We already have a sitting president that has admitted to some strong drug usage in his past.
Not only that, intimated that he was involved in buying and selling small amounts of cocaine. Granted, this was by way of a soft-pedal denial of doing these things... but we've come a long way to forgive even the hint that a guy who maybe was lightly involved in some drug dealing as a young man can be seen as ok for the Presidency. There's a really solid progression: Clinton admitted *sort of* to smoking pot, Bush winkingly denied doing coke, and Arnie, who was filmed smoking pot, simply shrugged it off as a gag for a film (despite it being an open secret that weight lifters smoke tons of weed to help with their training*). So if Obama admits to doing coke, then he has to soft pedal the next worst thing he ever did, which was maybe selling some of it one time.
*For anyone that's smoked pot, that sounds counter-intuitive, but actually it's fairly common for professional body builders and football players, who find weed less physically taxing than alcohol, and effective against the strain and pain of weight training cycles, during which a fair number of them are also emotionally unbalanced by huge doses of illicitly or legally obtained HGH and other steroids.