{"id":19,"date":"2018-08-13T09:56:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T16:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barrybriggs.com\/blog\/?p=19"},"modified":"2018-08-14T15:54:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T22:54:30","slug":"how-to-disrupt-an-election-and-destroy-a-democracy-and-how-to-stop-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.barrybriggs.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/how-to-disrupt-an-election-and-destroy-a-democracy-and-how-to-stop-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Disrupt an Election and Destroy a Democracy (and How to Stop It)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several people have asked me, being in the software business, how it is possible to use technology to disrupt an election and destroy a democracy.<\/p>\n

So, I don\u2019t know for sure. I\u2019ve never done it, never plan to do it (obviously).<\/p>\n

But thinking about it, it\u2019s probably not that hard. And as I\u2019ll show later, it\u2019s already happening.<\/p>\n

Pretty scary, actually.<\/p>\n

What follows is what Einstein called a \u201cthought experiment.\u201d If you (not me) were to do such a heinous thing \u2026 well \u2026 how would you do it?<\/p>\n

And how would you stop it?<\/p>\n

First things first, understand the culture<\/h2>\n

Culture, to paraphrase various great thinkers, trumps everything. So let\u2019s start there.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about \u201cred\u201d and \u201cblue\u201d for a moment. Let\u2019s imagine for a moment it isn\u2019t just one or the other, but that there are scales for each. A \u201cred-1\u201d is a moderate that leans Republican, a \u201cblue-2\u201d is generally pretty progressive (say, like Bernie), and \u201cred-5\u2019s\u201d and \u201cblue-5\u2019s\u201d are batshit crazy.<\/p>\n

Studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of the American population have until recently fit between the 2\u2019s \u2013 more or less in a bell curve, like this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Which is why we can elect a centrist Democrat president one election, followed by a centrist Republican the following. Clinton was probably somewhere around a \u201cblue-1\u201d, Bush 43 probably a \u201cred-1\u201d, Obama perhaps slightly more liberal than Clinton at a \u201cblue-2\u201d (a totally qualitative assessment by yours truly).<\/p>\n

Next: destroy the culture<\/h2>\n

Now, the objective here —\u00a0 and this is important, it\u2019s the core of our strategy \u2013 \u00a0is to take all those 1\u2019s and 2\u2019s and move them further out on the spectrum. Make all the \u201cred-1\u2019s\u201d \u201cred-3\u2019s\u201d or 4\u2019s or 5\u2019s. Ditto with the middle-of-the-road blue-1\u2019s.<\/p>\n

In effect, polarize the electorate<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Why? Well, of course \u201cred-1\u2019s\u201d can talk to \u201cblue-1\u2019s\u201d. We\u2019re not that far apart, after all!<\/em> In fact, you might switch from one election to the next! That\u2019s what swing voters are, after all.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re successful, there will be no more swing voters.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re really successful, America will find itself split down the middle between crazy-ass \u201cred-5\u2019s\u201d and equally nut-job \u201cblue-5\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the plan? It\u2019s this simple: for every district \u2013 and for every precinct, and, yes, it\u2019s possible \u2013 for every voter, if they\u2019re red, you want to make them more red<\/em> \u2013 move all the 1\u2019s to 3\u2019s, or even 4\u2019s, or \u2013 home run!<\/em> \u2013 5\u2019s. Do the same for blues.<\/p>\n

In short: turn the bell curve into a \u201cwell curve\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This, friends, is the definition of a polarized electorate.<\/p>\n

5\u2019s on one side don\u2019t talk to those on the other side like 1\u2019s and 2\u2019s do. 5\u2019s want to beat the crap out of each other. 5\u2019s might <\/em>compromise with 4\u2019s \u2026 but no way with those bastards of the other color!<\/p>\n

How do you use technology to radicalize people?<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s really not terribly difficult, and most of the technology is based on long-proven methods \u2013 there\u2019s nothing all that new in the basics. Large companies have used techniques like this for years; every company these days has to have a \u201cCustomer Relationship Management\u201d (CRM) system, running on a bunch of servers with customer segmentation, analytics, and predictive modeling (what are you <\/em>most likely to buy from us next?).<\/p>\n

Screwing up a democracy is just an exercise in CRM at scale.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a rough outline:<\/p>\n