I had a laugh, but did not see any value to writing a comment there. I am sure most of us would like to live in a real democracy. But, what would it take to make such a thing really work?
ways to freep I have no idea why this is not an ideal. As long as iris scans are not involved.
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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
A direct democracy could never work. Nothing but infighting. Representative democracy works only when we are actually, as a whole nation, represented. Eliminate bill bundling and have every bill stand alone; fail or succeed on it's own merits. No quid quo pro bill peddling or poison pills. Make that part of the congressional ethics code or general rules.
But congress is too lazy.
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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Each in our own way see the "current situation" as unacceptable. The "current situation" involves a constellation of elements that may be unique or shared by a proper (or perhaps an improper) subset of this sites participants. In any case I doubt all interested parties agree about how to correct the "current situation". This is a zeroth order observation (I like the "yea well duh" designation best) of the intractability of political processes.
I am an atheist, so it is only proper that I refer to (NIV) Ecclesiastes and 1:9 in particular, and the frustration it embodies. Of all the disciplines politics is the least (from a certain point of view) disciplined.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
I think we could have a similar system for voting - even direct voting. The big bugeroo is a failed media. People can't vote their own interest if they've been brainwashed by big money. But hey....what's new?
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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
For a start, make voting mandatory. Second, all votes must be physical, not digital. No more unaccountable, hackable machines, made by a company that has a favored candidate. You go to the booths and fill out a paper, or you have it mailed to your house. Third, voting day has to be a national holiday. All noncritical work is put on hold. Fourth, all elections have to be publicly funded. No private donations allowed at any level of government.
No more unaccountable, hackable machines, made by a company that has a favored candidate.
You go to the booths and fill out a paper
you have it (a paper ballot) mailed to your house. (like they do in Oregon)
voting day has to be a national holiday. All noncritical work is put on hold.
all elections have to be publicly funded. No private donations allowed at any level of government.
How's that for a starting point?
I think we should have instituted these standards when they were presented a long time ago. How do we initiate a movement to get this sort of list implemented?
I am reminded of the question I used to ask general physics students: "How do you initiate the sequence of muscle "twitches" that (from a standing position) cause you to walk across the room?" Surprisingly, none were aware enough to correctly answer the question.
As of now, I can only think of our amendment process that allows the people to work through the states to ratify an amendment without any involvement from congress or the white house. It can take a long time, since it requires a movement to get a state to support and call for an amendment in the first place, but it's probably the only way we can make it happen as of now. And in order to get even that started, we need to first get a movement started, one that is preferably nonpartisan (though that shouldn't be hard with the current level of dissatisfaction among the voters).
4 already has a movement started in the form of groups like Wolf-PAC trying to get an amendment ratified to undo things like Citizens United and make elections free and fair. Out of the remaining three, I'd say 1 may be the hardest to get support for, because how do we enforce mandatory voting? It'd probably have to be a fine (which should probably be directed towards the next election process).
Comments
Other than the class deficits (online?) and multiple
ways to freep I have no idea why this is not an ideal. As long as iris scans are not involved.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Given how digital technology has been used
to rig elections, purge voters, etc., I would at this point have no faith in any such system.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Define a real Democracy--
A direct democracy could never work. Nothing but infighting. Representative democracy works only when we are actually, as a whole nation, represented. Eliminate bill bundling and have every bill stand alone; fail or succeed on it's own merits. No quid quo pro bill peddling or poison pills. Make that part of the congressional ethics code or general rules.
But congress is too lazy.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Foundational Principles ‽
Each in our own way see the "current situation" as unacceptable. The "current situation" involves a constellation of elements that may be unique or shared by a proper (or perhaps an improper) subset of this sites participants. In any case I doubt all interested parties agree about how to correct the "current situation". This is a zeroth order observation (I like the "yea well duh" designation best) of the intractability of political processes.
I am an atheist, so it is only proper that I refer to (NIV) Ecclesiastes and 1:9 in particular, and the frustration it embodies. Of all the disciplines politics is the least (from a certain point of view) disciplined.
I think I would fall into duh category.
Well, duh.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
ATM cards are pretty reliable
I think we could have a similar system for voting - even direct voting. The big bugeroo is a failed media. People can't vote their own interest if they've been brainwashed by big money. But hey....what's new?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Too Many Won't Abide Majority Rule
Start with the Republicans since forever.
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
A couple things can help bring about a real democracy
For a start, make voting mandatory. Second, all votes must be physical, not digital. No more unaccountable, hackable machines, made by a company that has a favored candidate. You go to the booths and fill out a paper, or you have it mailed to your house. Third, voting day has to be a national holiday. All noncritical work is put on hold. Fourth, all elections have to be publicly funded. No private donations allowed at any level of government.
How's that for a starting point?
Formatting and comment
I think we should have instituted these standards when they were presented a long time ago. How do we initiate a movement to get this sort of list implemented?
I am reminded of the question I used to ask general physics students: "How do you initiate the sequence of muscle "twitches" that (from a standing position) cause you to walk across the room?" Surprisingly, none were aware enough to correctly answer the question.
A good question
As of now, I can only think of our amendment process that allows the people to work through the states to ratify an amendment without any involvement from congress or the white house. It can take a long time, since it requires a movement to get a state to support and call for an amendment in the first place, but it's probably the only way we can make it happen as of now. And in order to get even that started, we need to first get a movement started, one that is preferably nonpartisan (though that shouldn't be hard with the current level of dissatisfaction among the voters).
4 already has a movement started in the form of groups like Wolf-PAC trying to get an amendment ratified to undo things like Citizens United and make elections free and fair. Out of the remaining three, I'd say 1 may be the hardest to get support for, because how do we enforce mandatory voting? It'd probably have to be a fine (which should probably be directed towards the next election process).