Technology set to reshape politics

In a few years’ time, if not already, we will truly need “visionary” leaders. Rhetoric will have to give way to genuine knowledge of how fast the world is changing, and to policies that are keeping up with the technologies. In other words, political leaders must plan very wisely and spend extremely smartly because one “cool” idea of today may become totally obsolete in two months or even sooner. Political battles will have to shift from how to please the electorate to how to prepare them for the unimaginable, which may be already knocking on their doors.

Technologies will change politics, which is dominated nowadays by inward-looking players doing whatever it takes to win control. Policies have been designed to please, to win votes and probably for the sake of vested interests. Let’s take railroads, for example. How many politicians are conjuring up railway schemes with the possibility in mind that their tracks could be outdated by the end of this decade?

Cars are learning to drive themselves. Air travel is set to become a lot faster than today. The evolution of trains is amazing to even the most informed observers. Food preservation technologies are changing the way people eat and thus turning conventional agriculture upside down. Telecom advancement and new gadgets mean old business concepts must be seriously rethought and changes must be guided by those who really know what is coming.

Politics revolving around “whose ideal is better?” has dictated the course of Thailand and much of the world. Technologies may not change ideals, but certainly will force those advocating them to think a lot more. Farm subsidy supporters, for instance, will have to take into account how the world’s entire agriculture will look like a decade from now thanks to the innovations of today and tomorrow. Short-term solutions and long-term benefits will be more time-sensitive than ever before.

Political and business leaderships are always required to balance ideals with realities, but this prerequisite will become much more important. In politics, fights will soon focus on how much money should be spent on something that seems crucial now but might become outdated or completely irrelevant quickly. Technological visions – not sweet words on liberty or corruption or human rights – could separate men from boys in election campaigns.

Politics has been all about pulling strings, making voters hate their opponents in case of a democracy and doing whatever else is necessary to pacify power bases. Technologies can put those lacking true vision on the spot. Those with skills honed to flatter to deceive will be found out more easily. Politicians of the near future will be judged on, say, how they balance the needs for conventional railroads with how the coming innovations will do to them in a couple of years.

The sight of politicians using computer tablets to view pictures of girls in bikini during parliamentary sessions are not promising. After all, they are the people who are supposed to make decisions on what kind of computers should be given to rural schools. But politics has always been that way – an arena for good talkers with questionable knowledge on what really matters.

Fast-evolving technology will force major changes. We need a new breed of politicians who can see the world’s future, not just their own, and need will dictate the political course. Today in Thailand, “reform” is the buzz word but little attention is being given to the real forces that are pushing us in every direction. But if we are to believe in the law of natural selection, the days of old-fashioned politics must be numbered at the moment.