3 ms·

When you have an oligopoly on government, you shouldn't be counted as private anymore. Either the major political parties become publicly-owned, democratically

When you have an oligopoly on government, you shouldn't be counted as private anymore. Either the major political parties become publicly-owned, democratically accountable organizations, or we need to switch to proportional representation. Or both.

maxerickson 10y ago
When you force them to record their in person meetings, they will just have extra in person meetings that they don't record. I don't see where else the line of thinking that we deserve to have access to their email ends up, and it's pretty easy to argue that Podesta picking the brains of people he knows is not actually official party business.
- makomk 10y ago
  Remember, one of the end goals of Wikileaks is to force secretive groups into using more inefficient communcations methods that put them at an organisational disadvantage to more open, honest ones: “The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive ‘secrecy tax’) and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaptation.”
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  Or we could just repeal all the various laws advantaging the Republican and Democratic Parties over third-parties, open up local, state, and federal elections to real competition, and then let the surviving parties function as private organizations that nobody is forced to vote for. My objection is that when I walk into the voting booth this November, I will be forced to vote for a Democrat. I mean this literally: most offices on my ballot will not be contested, not even by a Republican. The most competitive races will have a Republican versus a Democrat, but most actual races will just have a Democrat. The actual decision-making for most officials who run my life was decided in the Democratic Primaries. I voted in those too, but most of those weren't contested either. This happens because if you're a Republican or Democrat, your party declares your candidacy and boom, you're on the ballot. If you're not, you need a signature drive to run for town dog-catcher. I'm just saying that I want more than one choice for every election up and down the ballot, and I want the available choices determined by public support for the movement, party, or candidate, rather than by legal privileging of particular private organizations.
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    Or we could just repeal all the various laws advantaging the Republican and Democratic Parties over third-parties, open up local, state, and federal elections to real competition, and then let the surviving parties function as private organizations that nobody is forced to vote for. I say this on HN all the time.

maxerickson 10y ago

When you force them to record their in person meetings, they will just have extra in person meetings that they don't record. I don't see where else the line of thinking that we deserve to have access to their email ends up, and it's pretty easy to argue that Podesta picking the brains of people he knows is not actually official party business.

makomk 10y ago
Remember, one of the end goals of Wikileaks is to force secretive groups into using more inefficient communcations methods that put them at an organisational disadvantage to more open, honest ones: “The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive ‘secrecy tax’) and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaptation.”
eli_gottlieb 10y ago
Or we could just repeal all the various laws advantaging the Republican and Democratic Parties over third-parties, open up local, state, and federal elections to real competition, and then let the surviving parties function as private organizations that nobody is forced to vote for. My objection is that when I walk into the voting booth this November, I will be forced to vote for a Democrat. I mean this literally: most offices on my ballot will not be contested, not even by a Republican. The most competitive races will have a Republican versus a Democrat, but most actual races will just have a Democrat. The actual decision-making for most officials who run my life was decided in the Democratic Primaries. I voted in those too, but most of those weren't contested either. This happens because if you're a Republican or Democrat, your party declares your candidacy and boom, you're on the ballot. If you're not, you need a signature drive to run for town dog-catcher. I'm just saying that I want more than one choice for every election up and down the ballot, and I want the available choices determined by public support for the movement, party, or candidate, rather than by legal privileging of particular private organizations.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  Or we could just repeal all the various laws advantaging the Republican and Democratic Parties over third-parties, open up local, state, and federal elections to real competition, and then let the surviving parties function as private organizations that nobody is forced to vote for. I say this on HN all the time.