Rousseau and Nick Clegg

A while ago I got an invitation to join facebook. Some people have reservations about joining because personal details may be found and used by others. I don't have this fear because I would like people who want to communicate with me to be able to do so. However my daughter put a stop to my membership because she said I was too old. I'll stick with blogs until I get over this.

Now with Twitter there is another method of social networking, but as I am so old I have not joined this too. I use emails a lot and if there is a group that want to communicate together then you can send group emails. I am sure there are lots of really good reasons to join Twitter and I may join in the next couple of days as Nick Clegg is doing a question and answer session on Monday 11th July. He usually tours the country but this time the meeting is on the internet.

I like Rousseau's idea that an ideal political community is one which self-governs, and he thought that people should discuss political matters under an oak tree. He tells us in his Social Contract, that “among the happiest people in the world, bands of peasants are seen regulating their affairs of state under an oak tree, and always acting wisely….”

Now we have an electronic oak tree and we can act wisely through Twitter. There are obviously some reservations as you will see if you read the internet. There are many different opinions some of which is not well informed. However there is a huge opportunity here for informed debate.

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