internet democracy

internet democracy

Many people would have you believe that the future is not in our hands and that the future is doomed. People are so used to being led by authority that they became codependent on an authority which dictates truth. The truth about the future is that many of us feel hopeless or even really happy at the prospect of an apocalypse because they are already “saved”.

Many of you love your Mother Earth but are powerless to stop the civilization you live in from totally destroying it. Consumerism has gotten out of hand. People have been deceived into this idea that materialism is your identity.

The rich truly have created a utopia for themselves and yet most say utopia is not possible for all. Well I question why it is that people are competing for profits and forcing the rest of society to struggle to survive. If everyone’s basic rights included meeting one’s basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and water, than people would be given a chance to live and aspire to greatness. People would not all become lazy as elitist’s would have you believe. People have always been on the go hustling about to do, to act. It’s a simple fact that most jobs suck and people only work them because it’s hard to get a job to survive.

So I have searched far and wide, inside and out, for answers to the problems we collectively face in our near and distant future. I realize that most people are opposed to and significant change because for them to be truly compelled and excited, it’s a task that is almost impossible for today’s intellectuals. The tools of skepticism, fear, doubt, and cynicism are much too strong an attack for any intellectual to go up against without a multi-million dollar campaign or some device legitimized by huge sources of money.

I am truly convinced that what I will say in the following has the potential to mobilize and save the world. I’ve met much resistance in the formulative stages of these ideas but it’s my dream to save the world and the task of our generation so I will not be broken down in my attempts to create the possibility of change to save mankind from enslavement or extinction.

My first theory that we should put into practice is that representative politics is out-dated, a thing of the past when people were riding their horses around town. Today due to the advancements of communications technology we can represent ourselves. The theory that I’m developing here is the idea of an internet democracy also called direct democracy. We have become observers in our democracy and not real participants. Do you really think we the people are being represented in a presidential election where both party members came from a secret elite society known as skull and bones? I’m inviting you to question why there is a need for representatives of an elite class backed by elite bankers, corporate lobbyists, special interests, and rarely if ever the people. Oh these politicians talk a good talk but are they the best democracy we can get for vote?

People say an internet democracy would be the tyranny of the masses. Well they aren’t aware yet of the specific outlined proposal I have made for this direct democracy. It’s designed to empower selfless ideas and initiatives of, by, and for the people. Selfish ideas don’t receive as much support and therefore fall to the bottom of the list. Using the internet, we could make a government website with several branches, one being a think tank and the other being an initiative action center for volunteers and contributors to get involved. Both branches would serve to engage citizens in a process of weeding out bad ideas from good ones. The think tank would rate ideas based on smiles and being a government for, by, and of the people, ideas that were selfless and easily recognizable as good for the benefit of humanity, would get the most support and encouragement in the form of smiles. There are many sites now that use this principal to rate things found on the web and they are: mixx.com, reddit, digg, stumbleupon, and del.icio.us. They are a very popular way to interact with content found on the web. They act as tools discover and sort out the best from the worst discovered on the net. The principals of these sites can be used in the formulation of the government think tank used to tap the creative human potential and bring out the best and brightest ideas and initiatives.

Volunteer organizing needs more support and what better way is there than to promote volunteer organizing and support in a government web site that allows members of volunteer organizations to state a little bit about their experience just to share how they like the job they have. Volunteering could have a great impact on helping society if it was directed by a government website that we all could participate in.

We could make this internet democracy available to all by creating free to use computer labs in public libraries and such. Everyone should have access to this new and wonderful technology. As for the rest of the democracy, power should be held mostly on a community level so people can actively engage and come to consensus on issues at hand in public forums held by each community. Coming to consensus works best on a community level. On a grand scale, what would be the major issues that face the nation? If there are issues that only a nation could address and not a community, than we could compel each community to inform the public of an important vote to come to decision on and being impartial, give the nation adequate time to discuss the issue on a community level and than move their collective support on the critiqued views to a national debate on the net where people could pledge their support for whatever view holds the most compelling argument.

In conclusion, we have to end centralized power in politics in government. We cannot trust or depend on the elite for the survival of our peoples. I believe the people should have power and I trust my brothers and sisters to be in charge of the current state of affairs. People for too long have been disenfranchised from the political system, powerless, reduced to observers. I imagine an internet democracy where everyone can deliver the next presidential speech.