Web 2.0: Mitch Kapor

Web 2.0: Mitch Kapor

: Kapor says he’s going to tell us “how technology can fix a broken political system. ”

He says the Jefferson, Hamilton, et al would be horrified with a corrupt system today: too many lobbyists, too much secrecy.

“Investing inside the Beltway has great returns, VC-level returns.” Agricultural subsidies return on agricultural lobbying at 200-to-1.

“We were never meant to have a highly centralized government,” he says. I don’t know Kapor’s politics. Libertarian? Aha. He just said, “The Dean campaign, which ended all too soon.”

I’ve talked about technology today as an analog for media: transparency and open-source ethics. Kapor is talking about similar needs for government: participation and transparency.

“I’m heartened that the community of bloggers of both views, left and right, have begun to hold politicians and media more accountable.”