ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO COME UP WITH AN INSPIRING TWEET ABOUT THE AWESOMENESS OF SOCIAL INNOVATION? ARE YOU SEARCHING FOR A PUNCHY CATCHPHRASE FOR YOUR 5-MINUTE PRESENTATION AT THE UPCOMING SOCIAL INNOVATION EVENT? WE GOT YOU COVERED!
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IN EUROPE, THE MESSAGE THAT “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE” COULD BE SEEN AS A MATTER OF COMBINING TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL FERVOUR WAS WELCOMED BY A POLITICAL CLASS THAT HAD MORE OR LESS ACCEPTED ITS OWN POST-POLITICAL MISERY.
PARTICULARLY GRATEFUL WERE THOSE THIRD-WAY TECHNOCRATS ON THE LEFT FOR WHOM THIS TIED IN PERFECTLY WITH THEIR IDEOLOGICAL MIXTURE OF POST-POLITICS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND CYBERNETIC SYSTEMS THINKING. THEY BEGAN TO CONSTRUCT AN APPARATUS OF FAKE INNOVATION AND POST-FACTUAL CREATIVITY MODELLED ON THE SILICON VALLEY MARKETING MACHINE BUT WITHOUT THE INDUSTRY: A PUBLICLY FUNDED FANTASY WORLD WHERE “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE” COULD BE STAGED AS A SERIES OF SIMULATIONS WITH NO EFFECT ON REALITY WHATSOEVER.
IT CHURNED OUT POLICY MEMES LIKE “DIGITAL DEMOCRACY”, “SOCIAL INNOVATION”, OR “SMART CITIZENSHIP” AND CREATED COUNTLESS PROGRAMMES, CONFERENCES, CALLS FOR PROTOTYPES, HACKATHONS, CONSULTING REPORTS, AND WHAT HAVE YOU. AND BECAUSE IT MARKETED ITSELF AS A NEW AND MORE EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO “CHANGING THE WORLD”, IT ATTRACTED THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF COUNTLESS YOUNG “ACTIVISTS”, “PIONEERS”, AND “CHANGE-MAKERS”.
IN DOING SO, THE POLITICAL CLASS, AIDED BY SMART AND UNSCRUPULOUS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS, INFECTED AN ENTIRE GENERATION WITH THE IDEA THAT THE BEST WAY TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF SOCIETY WAS NOT DEMOCRATIC POLITICS BUT A MIXTURE OF (SUBSIDISED) ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND (DIGITAL) TECHNOLOGY.
SEBASTIAN OLMA POPULISM AND ITS HIDDEN ALLIES
WE ARE IFAPA.ME AND WE WERE POST-TRUTH BEFORE IT WAS COOL.