Van Jones Speaks

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Van Jones, the Obama administration's "green jobs czar" before being hounded out by a certain media lunatic who shall remain nameless (his initials are Glenn Beck), has a long interview with Dave Roberts in Grist.Jones talks about the nontroversy over his "support" of the 9/11 truth movement, why he decided to step down, and what the episode taught him. The most interesting part of the discussion, however, centers on how digital media will change our tolerance for people's personal mistakes:

It used to be, as you went through these stages in your life, you could go to the next town and start over. The only person you were accountable to besides yourself was, if you were a person of faith, God. The line of grace was vertical, between you and your creator. Now, in this age of YouTube and Google, all of us are leaving digital bread crumbs behind of the person we used to be. Anything you do or say, some silly thing you did at a college party if somebody had a cell-phone camera, can be seen by everybody, forever. You can know more than you ever wanted to know about pretty much anybody.It requires more wisdom of society. The line of grace now has to be horizontal. We have to learn how to forgive each other and extend a certain amount of empathy as we all grow up in front of each other. At some point, there'll be enough people who have had these "gotcha" experiences, and we'll hit a tipping point. We'll have a different level of tolerance.

The whole thing is here.

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