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Equality in the Digital Age
The world right now is, well, a hot mess. Economic woes, growing class divides between the rich and increasingly poorer. Wars and conflicts higher than they have been. Populism and democracies becoming increasingly fragile. Human rights battles across a wide swathe of society. But perhaps this is a sign of something better coming along?
Much of this current turbulence is a result of our ability to communicate unlike ever before in our history thanks to digital technologies like the internet and mobile devices. Throughout history, as we evolved information technologies, civil unrest and significant social change has followed. Though such changes can be messy, often violent and tumultuous, societies have always come out better.
A growing narrative around the world today, across many societies, is the desire for greater equality. Economically, racially, sexuality, religiously, politically. We’ve been here before, we will likely be here again. It is cyclical, but it is not linear.
In the overarching history of humanity, we have preferred more egalitarian societies and as a species, we have progressed. There is no guarantee that we will progress this time, we may regress, but then progress, should we survive as a species.
Information technologies play the role of enabling us to tell stories. Telling stories is how we agree…
