What alternative do you propose?

phendrenad2 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Let's not fall for the is/aught fallacy: Identifying that something is a certain way doesn't make one in any way shape or form inherently more qualified to say what it SHOULD be like instead.

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pessimizer 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've always advocated a proliferation of overlapping "states." Let them keep each other in check.

Instead of having a tree with a king at the top and your local police station at the bottom, be a part of the governance for the river that you live near, for the city that surrounds you, for the grocery store in your neighborhood, for your local fire department, and let all of them have codified relationships with each other that are determined by codified processes.

I believe the limitation on this was technological; that we had to get people into a room, get Robert's Rules out, and shout our way into decisions. Those limitations are gone; we all have phones. We should be able to participate in the governance of everything, or if we really don't want to think about that crap, hand our proxy to someone who does, get alerts on what they're doing with it, and revoke or transfer it instantly.

Let's see some real social networking.

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sneak 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

So, the problem with all of these proposed replacement systems (such as IRV, for example) is that "democracy" is a meme. People, en masse, believe in these systems-as-written (for better or worse) - critically - even if that isn't how things actually work on the ground in the real world.

So many people believe that, for example, the stuff written on the paper currency of the United States is legally binding. (It's irrelevant whether it is or not - people believe it, because they hear, believe, repeat, and teach the meme.)

Representative government is the same way. There are much better systems, and anyone can easily think up a few of them. The problem is going from A to B, also known as "the tyranny of the installed base".

No proposed new form of government or representation is worth the paper it's printed on unless it comes with a viable migration path from the status quo.

	▲	okokwhatever 38 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Because democracy IS a meme

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an0malous 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Well the VCs and tech elite read a lot of Curtis Yarvin and decided the masses are too stupid to have a say in government so in the US we’re getting a CEO/king instead

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stackedinserter 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There's no alternative, it's constant battle for freedoms and liberties.