Earlier this week, Brigade paired up with the TV and digital news network Fusion for a panel discussion about how technology is impacting the distribution and exercise of power. The conversation, moderated by Fusion Silicon Valley Bureau Chief Alexis Madrigal, was part of Fusion RiseUp, a day-long event in Washington, D.C. that brought together global activists, artists and politicians to talk about how millennials are leading efforts to make change in their communities and around the world.
During the session, James talked about our goal to “bring citizens together around shared values and then enable them to act collectively to interface with existing structures of power.” Despite election cycles that “capture the zeitgeist” and generate a media frenzy every 24 or 48 months, people believe the current system is broken and are opting out of the democratic process in record numbers, he said. He observed that more money was spent in the recent midterm elections than ever before and our country witnessed the lowest voter turnout in decades. “People’s civic lives have become decoupled from their social lives,” James added, and Brigade seeks to help remedy that.
You can watch the video of our session here. Recordings of other interesting discussions that took place throughout the day can be found here.
