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I've been trying to think about "rethinking" government for quite a while. The idea of a web based governance system seems really appealing, in the sense that
by swalsh 13y ago
I've been trying to think about "rethinking" government for quite a while. The idea of a web based governance system seems really appealing, in the sense that I think the greatest strength of the web is how quickly ideas can go from concept to execution. Its about the closest thing to a meritocracy as we've ever come, and that's simply because the gate keeper is thrown away. Think about how many great things have sprung out of places like Reddit. Ordinary people who have a quick flash of a good idea can take 30 minutes to type something up... and sometimes it gets traction. Getting things done in our current system requires an inhuman like persistence, and the luck of making a relevant connection. Even if you have a good idea, its a difficult thing to execute.
I have this image of a framework/protocol in my head around allowing various policies to be created, and built on top of each other. As a programmer I pretty much used object oriented programming as an inspiration. Though I guess even OOP had its inspiration from biology. Its a way for an organic system to grow and adapt robustly. I think just like computer programs, government needs that too.
Added to that, if the web has a decent self regulation mechanism, that makes the justification of regulating the web even harder.
The one problem is, the advantage "physical" governments have is they have sovereignty. If Amazon starts doing illegal things, the FBI can arrest Jeff Bezos. The internet doesn't have an equivlent means.
However I think there is away to have the essence of sovereignty, and that is through a new crypto-currency like bitcoin. Imagine if to be a part, and to receive the benefits of this online sovereign nation you had to register your receive address. If the sovereign entity had a way to embargo your ability to accept payments in the currency, it might be enough penalty to fall back inline with whatever regulations were created. I think it also provides another means to give legitamicy to a crypto-currency.
An example of something that would be cool is this. You want to create an open source space program, so you propose the idea on your local netizen forum. The idea has overwhelming support, so someone creates a new policy component, and gives permissions to suction tax funds. I can imagine something like that happening in hours. Imagine initiating a public effort going from idea to reality in hours.
- teekert 13y agoI fear that you are overestimating humanity: "The idea has overwhelming support, so someone creates a new policy component, and gives permissions to suction tax funds"... You are not afraid that this will lead to radical redistribution of wealth eventually resulting in loss of motivation to create wealth? (Yes, the Atlas Shrugged scenario.)
- swalsh 13y agoActually I fully expect people to make terrible decisions, That's why I tried to make the system compartmentalized with specific rules on what kind of policy can go where. In this way if people go overboard the system can be ditched easily, and we can try again. Today failure is not an option. Which means its way too risky to try new things. I want to design the system so failure is easy to recover from. I should do a better write up sometime.
- gnaritas 13y agoAnyone who fears the Atlas Shrugged scenario isn't living in reality anyway.
- chongli 13y agoYou are not afraid that this will lead to radical redistribution of wealth eventually resulting in loss of motivation to create wealth? The motivation to create wealth justification for inequality is one of the most morally bankrupt ideas ever conceived. Billions of people around the world live in abject poverty; to blame them for their situation takes a profound case of the fundamental attribution error.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- jnbiche 13y agoSomeone else has similar ideas, but I think I prefer their vision of the future: http://bitcoinism.blogspot.com/2013/12/lex-cryptographia.html http://bitcoinism.blogspot.com/2013/12/lex-cryptographia.htm... It leverages Bitcoin, but not in a way to "suction" taxes away from unwilling participants.
- williamcotton 13y agoYou, like a whole bunch of the new technocratic futurists, have almost no ability to discern fantasy from reality. What you're talking about is popularly known as science fiction. You should be writing books and not pretending like you know the first thing about politics. The reason why things take so long in reality is because there is a multitude of voices. Reddit does not promote pluralism, rather a giant circle-jerk of like minded individuals. Compromise is the name of the game in politics, something that the goon squad on Reddit has almost no understanding of.
- Carltonian 13y agoIt's not compromise. Compromise implies you give a fuck about the wills and whims of the other party or parties out of concern or compassion or belief in some objective fairness. That's not how shit works. You aim to get what you can anyway you can or you lose to someone else who does. That's politics.
- chriswarbo 13y agoWhat usually happens is that a policy will have some ridiculously extreme measures added to it, which no sane person would ever agree to. Then, in the name of "compromise", those extreme measures will be taken out and the policy ends up passing in its original form. As an added bonus, those who oppose the policy's original measures are "paranoid" and "unwilling to compromise". Some examples which spring to mind are the Snoopers' Charter and Digital Economy Act.
- l33tbro 13y agoYou offer a lot of piss and vinegar, yet little insight. Please elaborate on "fantasy and reality" and "science fiction" instead of throwing up bombasitc refute. Also, parent post has no mention of Reddit. What are you actually saying here? IF you're going to barate parent comment, then you're going to have to (at the very least) back it up with a few reasons why his/her system would fail.
- williamcotton 13y ago