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| Is a world revolution inevitable ?
Posted: 7/11/2009 1:11:48 PM |
As for getting anything done, nearly everybody has a mobile phone, an idea for speed would be via a registered mobile number for every voter, and a time period of a month to debate the subject and amend, maybe on forums not too dissimilar to this, then voting for, against, or just abstaining because you don't care, or you have better things to do than decide what laws you will be governed by.
Here's a copy of a 1,500 page federal budget. And here's the 250 page appropriations bill for the purchase of support supplies for the military. While you're at it, take a look at this 150 page bill overhauling the FCC, a 57 page bill for ovrehauling the patent system (along with 3,000 pages of background information).
Let me know when you're done so we can vote. I've got another 50,000 pages waiting here for you in the pipeline.
Oh, yeah - it doesn't matter if you even know how to balance your checkbook - we still need your input. And don't worry if you know nothing about the law in general, or patent law specifically - we still need your input.
Don't know anything about communications? Doesn't matter - we're all democrats here, and we still need to know what you think about the FCC and spectrum allocation, content regulations, net neutrality, and a metric buttload of other highly technical subjects you need to understand before you can say Yay or Nay
Direct democracy is a practical impossibility with the complexity of the world today. Being able to collect and tabulate the votes isn't the issue - the issue is having the specific domain knowledge is dispirate areas to be able to make INFORMED decisions. That's why your representatives has so many advisors.
Oh, yeah - you also have to hold down a job, feed your family, and pay taxes while you digest all that stuff and cast your vote. | |
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| Is a world revolution inevitable ?
Posted: 7/11/2009 2:47:45 PM | You have a valid point notgorshkovagain, but in the same vein, nor does every politician read every line in every amendment, they read the 3rd page summary and generally tow the party line or get politically whipped.
The conclusion of your 'no time' premise does not justify the current system but it does go to show the complexity of the current "nanny state" system.
Why would we need military if the world was one government? Maybe the savings in tax's will reduce the need for so many pages in those bills. But that is just one example of how simplified governance will lead to so many knock on positives.
Knocking about ideas here, but coming back to your 1500pages, the only reason it's 1500 pages is because it has to amend so many previous absurd laws, i'm talking about a fresh start, a new begining built upon freedom and equality of choice.
We have the idea distribution power of media and the internet. Every law passed or about to pass recieves critiscism or praise with arguments for and against under the current system. Why would this condensation of information not occur in an utopian society? And if there is something that you feel is wrong you can read up on that section of the law and vote against that particular sub-section. That is if you have the time to care about it.
Maybe if we simplified the nanny state we would pay less tax's, both income and every day goods we buy. Even if the saving had a real time difference of 20% on your total outgoings, everyone in the world who works 5 days a week would only have to work 4 days a week to gain the same relative income. (in the uk we get taxed between 30% and 40% on income, and 15% on nearly all goods bought, and that's not including the extra stealth / hidden taxes on various items, and a local authority tax of roughly $4000 per year) Thats a minimum 52 days extra holiday a year to live life as you choose... spending time with your family, going on holiday, voting, doing what you think is important.
What do you think notgorshkovagain? I'm just throwing ideas about! Have you ever thought about how much of your hard work / income gets taken away directly or indirectly via government tax's towards wars, institutions, free housing, and ideals you may not agree with are neccessary? | |
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| Is a world revolution inevitable ?
Posted: 7/11/2009 7:49:12 PM |
The conclusion of your 'no time' premise does not justify the current system but it does go to show the complexity of the current "nanny state" system.
Never said it justified it. But it does explain it, and show why the direct democracy you're talking about is a non-starter in any practical sense.
Why would we need military if the world was one government?
Needing the military is absolutely besides the point - it was an off-the-top-of-my-head example of a bill.
Maybe the savings in tax's will reduce the need for so many pages in those bills.
Bills are complicated because they're dealing with complex things. It doesn't matter how simple the tax system is - you'll still have to deal with 87,000 different items when it comes to spending money.
But that is just one example of how simplified governance will lead to so many knock on positives.
I'm sorry, but I disagree. Your idea is simple, but it doesn't change the nature of complexity of governing a big, complex society.
We have the idea distribution power of media and the internet. Every law passed or about to pass recieves critiscism or praise with arguments for and against under the current system. Why would this condensation of information not occur in an utopian society? And if there is something that you feel is wrong you can read up on that section of the law and vote against that particular sub-section. That is if you have the time to care about it.
Overload. I'm a computer programmer - I have been since 1982. I spent anywhere between 1 and 6 hours a day just trying to stay current in my field, where I already have 25 years experience. How many more hours would I need about other fields to even have the minimum knowledge required to know that something didn't pass the smell test?
Trust me on this - I could, BY MYSELF, start sending you enough good, solid information daily on almost any subject of your choosing to bury you alive.
What do you think notgorshkovagain? I'm just throwing ideas about! Have you ever thought about how much of your hard work / income gets taken away directly or indirectly via government tax's towards wars, institutions, free housing, and ideals you may not agree with are neccessary?
And maybe if I knew a little more about the areas in which that "wasted" money was being spend, I'd change my mind about whether or not it's necessary. But I wouldn't know that unless I put the time and effort into doing the research, would I?
You, and others who advance this type of argument, make a big, fundamental mistake. That is, you think information is power and liberating. It's not. KNOWLEDGE is power, and KNOWLEDGE is liberating. Don't confuse the two. whYou need information to have knowledge - but you also need time and effort to turn that information into knowledge. And there just isn't enough time for a person to be KNOWLEDGEABLE in enough disparate fields for a system like yours to be workable. | |
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