Are U.S. presidential candidates considering technology issues?
Super Tuesday is just hours away, and the 4 leading candidates from both political parties are doing whatever possible to secure the votes needed for a nomination; recession, the housing market, war, immigration, and many other issues have been heatedly discussed so frequently that we’re all tired of talk and want real action. However, with technology and the internet becoming more integral in day to day living and business, are the U.S. presidential candidates ignoring what is one of the most important issues in policy today?
At first, you might think that the internet and technology really aren’t huge issues in comparison with our recession, or the poor state of the housing market. Consider this, though: internet business and traffic are not only a large part of U.S. business and trading, they are growing so quickly that policy decisions made today could drastically effect the direction of the internet in the future.
This is the first presidential election that is being monitored and discussed heavily on the internet; venues like Facebook and Youtube are starting to change the face of political discussion and support. However, simply because the internet is beginning to support the candidates does not mean that the candidates care to support the internet or its devoted patrons.
Let’s face it: in regards to technology, the U.S. is lagging behind; it isn’t even keeping close to the big tech countries. How is the U.S. supposed to be considered the best country in the world when countries like China and Japan are schooling us in technology and production?
Granted, the future of the internet and the U.S. technology industry might not be in the forefront of policy makers’ minds, but should it be? Wouldn’t advancements in technology and production stimulate economic growth? With economic growth, couldn’t the failing value of the dollar be boosted so fewer people have to abandon their homes?
This is all purely hypothetical, but one thing is certain: the future is the internet and technology, and our presidential candidates haven’t shown them much attention. Hopefully once the nit-picking between party candidates subsides, more issues can be addressed. You’d think saying something about the internet wouldn’t be nearly as complicated as running around in circles about immigration.
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February 5th, 2008
“Let’s face it: in regards to technology, the U.S. is lagging behind. It isn’t even keeping close to the big tech countries”
Have you ever traveled in Europe? What do you mean by not being close?
February 6th, 2008
Although the “lagging behind” point may be disputed, i think the post makes a good point about information technology being neglected in political discourse. At the same time, it is not really present in the public discourse either despite the impact of media and information technology on our lives.