How Can New Media Promote Piece?
I think one way in which new media promotes piece is by (1) decreasing the social distance and (2) decreasing the the information differential between people. Throughout history, wars have been started at the behest of a few on the top. The reasons to fight are usually particular to the upper classes or maybe even a handful of people – delusions of grandeur, oil, simple status, etc, and quite insufficient. But due to social distance people in power have appeared otherwordly (see Triumph of the Will and watch Germans fawning over Adolf Hitler) and due to differences in what they know and what we know they can push the masses in the direction they so choose (see George Bush and the WMD’s he knew they had but we didn’t).
New media, with its decentralized nature, makes it easier for people to gather and disseminate information. This allows more information to be known about our leaders, and it makes them appear less Godly, more human, and more like us. We are less likely to take their word as gospel. This gathering and disseminating of information also means that it is harder for governments to lie, conceal the truth, or otherwise produce a narrative that best serves their ends. In a society where new media is prevelant, the people get a say in what the nation’s narrative is.
