For use: Friday, December 15, 2000

Future Shoes: "Republicans and Democrats"

by Michael Finley

Computer User Columnist

It occurred to me, about midway through the past month, that the two parties have been acting exactly the way their names suggest.

Republicanism, after all, is belief in indirect representation.  A republic is a place where you vote for people -- senators, representatives, electors -- who make reasoned judgments on your behalf. 

The small-D democratic view, of course, is less keen by nature on the indirectness. Democrats believe that the cry of the people must be heard. The people, yes!.

So when Republicans hew to the rule of law, they are being perfectly in character and consistent, as are Democrats when they cry out for fair treatment. One is the party of blind justice, and the other is the party of open-eyed mercy.

The rule of law vs. the will of the people: these are not just philosophical distinctions. They describe opposite cultures and social types. Republicans are anal-retentive, treasuring precedent and procedure. Democrats are anal-excitative, endlessly inventive with whatever comes to hand.

Disclosure: I am pretty much a Democrat, with a few occasional side votes for Jesse Ventura and Bob Dole. Democratic culture -- inclusionist, out-of-the-box, and a little narcissistic -- just seems to suit me. My favorite Democrats were the wry subset that were lordly in their minds, but common in their hearts -- Gene McCarthy, Ed Muskie, Bella Abzug, Moe Udall, Julian Bond. If you could stand up for the little guy and emit the occasional chuckle, I was for you.

So them's the rules, and here's where it gets good. This past week I was in a meeting with a pair of VPs from Intel. We were just getting to know one another before discussing mission and vision at Intel, and marveling at the election snafu. No one wanted to be rude and say what we hoped would happen. Politics and business -- don’t go there!

Ever inappropriate, I made this statement: "The Democrats in Florida are acting like modern buyers. They paid their money, and they expect the product, the election, to work -- even if they accidentally wasted 20,000 votes. They expect the lemon law to kick in and save them. Not especially admirable, but hey, the customer is always right.

"Whereas the Republican response is simply 'Buyer beware' -- a cold shoulder. Like that novelty sign in antique stores: 'Lovely to look at, lovely to hold, but in the event you should break it, consider it sold.' It's an obsolete view of the customer relationship."

Hey, I thought it was a good line. But the top guy from Intel was way ahead of me. "Your view of the customer relationship may also be dated," he said. "Your metaphor is like a complaints window, where the customer is separated from the store clerk, but gets justice by complaining and not going away. It's an advance over 'Buyer beware,' but we see a new paradigm emerging."

"When you buy at Amazon, for instance" he said, "you become the store clerk. When software permits, the customer controls nearly every process -- ordering, selling, paying, even restocking. The window separating customer from store is gone."

"Now port that paradigm to politics. The window separating people from government dissolves. Suddenly, the idea of opposing parties makes less sense, because everyone has most of what they want -- to get inside, where the power is. Outrage happens when people are shut out. Technology can bring people in."

I like what the Intel guy said. It projects the beginning of the end for the two political parties. An America that allows its people full access -- continuous feedback, an ongoing, 7-24-365 election -- doesn’t much need paired-off political parties. Democrats will love not being Democrats anymore, because it sounds wiggy and new -- we are the early adapters. Republicans will love the disappearance of Democrats, but without them will stop being what they are..

Is that too crazy a dream? Maybe today's mess, plus new technology, will do what the Civil War did, lift us all to a heightened level of Constitutional participation.

But give it time to debug. And lose those godawful punchcards.