This post is a "sibling" post to my post on political gatekeepers at The Art of the Possible. Please check it out as well, although the theme is the same the points are different.

For reasons behind my full understanding, I recently stumbled on the ideas of Alexander Bard and Jan Soderqvist as explained in their book "Netocracy." I find it interesting as a way of thinking about the future, I could see ways in which libertarian/agorist class theory could apply to it. For a summary, consider using this site. In the future, Bard and Soderqvist see the political economy structured around a "Netocracy."

In Bard and Soderqvist's model, the post-capitalist situation is an economic mode where the most valuable form of economic wealth is a network of good connections, through which flow information and influence. (Connections can be personal connections to people; or knowledge of resources such as good website)

Consider the role of those with connections when reading a piece of this National Journal article on the high hopes that Democrats have for three South Florida districts with Cuban-American Republican incumbents.

A more intriguing result was in Lincoln Diaz-Balart's 2006 race: Democrat Frank Gonzalez spent just $16,598 compared with the incumbent's $926,106, yet won 41 percent of the vote. Gonzalez actually defeated Diaz-Balart in less Hispanic Broward County, which accounts for a fraction of the district, but lost nearly 2-to-1 in Miami-Dade County.

"Lincoln won Hialeah 5-to-1," Martinez notes. "If it wasn't for Hialeah, Lincoln would have been in trouble.... Now he's going to have to compete with me, having been mayor of Hialeah for 24 years."

DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland agrees that it was the Diaz-Balarts' relative weakness that caught his eye: "Clearly, the fact that in the past election that they didn't get these big votes was one factor."

Frank Gonzalez, a hard working candidate for public office, managed to hold Lincoln Diaz-Balart to less than 60% of the vote despite almost no help from the national party or any major Democratic infrastructure. And this weakness draws the attention of the national Democrats, who recruit Mayor Martinez to run against Congressman Diaz-Balart. And where does this leave Frank Gonzalez? Running as a third party candidate again, just like in 2004.

I firmly believe that Frank Gonzalez could have done significantly better in 2006 if he had the resources. He didn't, Mayor Martinez will. At a time in which the national liberal blogosphere was picking out long shot candidates in Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, California, and elsewhere (and some successfully), Gonzalez was passed over because of his integrity and honesty of views . . . in other words, he wouldn't back away from being a libertarian. As much as I support the Democratic Party as a big tent, liberal gatekeepers will favor liberal candidates. For libertarian candidates to be successful, we're going to need libertarian gatekeepers.