Milestone 10-Now It's Time to Say Goodbye

Wow, we are at the end of this journey into digital governance. I must admit I had quite a rocky start. I felt like a fish out of water but I think by the end of this I've learned at least the mechanics of swimming. Like an onion there are so many layers to this thing that it'll take forever to truly deconstruct it all. I know that when this class began I stepped out on faith because I really thought I'd be surrounded by a sea of uber geniuses. I think I said that quote earlier in my blog actually. What I found out was that they are geniuses but geniuses with heart but also common sense. We know the potential power of this technology but the need to abuse it does not resonate in the class mates I've worked with. They understand the importance of creating a digital universe as close to utopia as possible and the need to incoporate those from all walks of life to experience this amazing transformation of democracy. It still frightens me. I worry about who's behind it all and what they intend to do with it. But in the same respect I think of how everyone thought the world would end in 2000. We ran around frantic and when it did become a new millenia nothing happened. I think that about eDemocracy too. Perhaps we're hyping it up so much that when it does arrive it's a whimper rather than a growl. I have been inspired by my classmates to learn more than the conventional web. I have learned to really think about how paper democracy and eDemocracy will coexist or will they? I don't quite know the answers to that but what I do know is that as long as there are people out there questioning and encouraging this thing to grow it'll be okay. I worry when there aren't any voices out there and things become easily accepted without any deliberation.