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Forum Post: Direct Democracy Now!

Posted 12 years ago on Sept. 29, 2011, 5 p.m. EST by jay2thejones (0) from Oakland, CA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Hey all,

I'm an activist from Oakland who's been talking about direct democracy for a minute now, so excuse me if this is biased, but to me, the first and only demand for all of these occupy movements should be for systems direct democracy at all levels of government right now! Once people are governing we THEN can fix the atrocious mess that this representative democracy (working for corporate interest) has created.

Thoughts?

13 Comments

13 Comments


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[-] 2 points by gawdoftruth (3698) from Santa Barbara, CA 12 years ago

i agree, more or less, and have tried to urgently herd the cats in the direction of direct democracy for 20 years now... and 3 or 4 days on this forum.

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150409084095833

[-] 1 points by SisterRay (554) 12 years ago

I strongly disagree. Do you real want every decision concerning the sewage system to be determined by a popular vote? Do you think people really want to spend time debating where every last street-sign should go? The general populace doesn't have the time to specialize in everything that has to be decided upon, so we would be entrusting technical decisions to unqualified people. And most people don't even care to vote once every four years; imagine the turnout for the latest election on proposed revisions to the by-laws for the park sanitation department.

Leaving everything to uneducated decision makers, most of whom don't even care enough to show up to vote, would further weaken government. This would mean a bigger power vacuum and more opportunities for corporations to seize power.

Direct democracy is a recipe for a stronger Wall Street, for leaving the people with less power.

What we need is to further strengthen the institutions we already have. Tax the rich. Regulate markets. Prosecute white-collar crime. That's how we meet our goal of holding Wall Street accountable.

[-] 1 points by 0815 (58) 12 years ago

Check this funny but true strip. http://boingboing.net/2010/08/11/tom-the-dancing-bug-15.html Be sure to look at the comments over there too!

[-] 1 points by Hussar (6) from Oslo, Oslo 12 years ago

By the way, I frickin' love you gawd.

[-] 1 points by gawdoftruth (3698) from Santa Barbara, CA 12 years ago

blush.

[-] 0 points by Hussar (6) from Oslo, Oslo 12 years ago

The only problem with the otherwise splendid idea of direct democracy would be that it is an administrative nightmare. Unless you want to breed anarchy[the chaotic sort] and massive loopholes, that is.

[-] 1 points by takeTsquare (77) 12 years ago

Another BIGGER problem is that, after so many years of non-democracy (generations actually) our society IS NOT PREPARED AT ALL for enjoying Direct Democracy. We need to tackle this first, maybe in two or three generations? Greetings from the #spanishrevolution!!

[-] 1 points by EvanFromHeaven (30) from Boulder, CO 12 years ago

It's a "chicken and egg' argument. The reason people aren't prepared is that they've been taught to follow orders, at school, at work, etc. When people are given responsibility, they grow into it. If you deny power to the people, they become children, or sheep, but that's NOT human nature, it's TAUGHT.

[-] 1 points by takeTsquare (77) 12 years ago

Sorry, it was a misunderstanding. I am not denying this power to people, that's not my intention at all, and it would be impossible as well (proof is that we are having this discussion in this site). You have to agree on that the power comes along with a responsibility that has to be TAUGHT because becoming self responsible is NOT human nature either (has always been easier to delegate and relax). So, when do we start the learning process?

[-] 1 points by EvanFromHeaven (30) from Boulder, CO 12 years ago

We already have, here, on the streets, everywhere. You start by doing. That's why so many great people have endorsed Sen. Mike Gravel's National Initiative for Democracy: Patch Adams, Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, "Granny D" Haddock, Julia Butterfly Hill, Ralph Nader, Coleen Rowley, Pete Seeger, Cindy Sheehan and Howard Zinn: http://Vote.org/endorsers

[-] 1 points by Hussar (6) from Oslo, Oslo 12 years ago

Probably. But how would this era of "preparation for freedom" be handled? I could only see it degenerating into either all-out chaos or a new oligarchy behind new masks.

¡Viva la revolución

[-] 1 points by takeTsquare (77) 12 years ago

I see that you live in Oslo, you have that democratic culture already. I am replying from Spain, 35 years of dictatorship followed by 34 years of a false democracy. Citizens in Spain are not ready to make good use of such a power, there has to be a process, slow and sweet. Al least it has started, most probably I will not witness the results, but I am happy to be part of the beginning :)

[-] 1 points by gawdoftruth (3698) from Santa Barbara, CA 12 years ago

true, unless you use evolved assorted processes and metaprocesses.