Forum Post: Sortition = Random Selection = Democracy
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 31, 2011, 1:58 p.m. EST by improvingourworld
(2)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
It's time to focus on solutions -- peaceful and legal ones.
The OWS movement can be derailed by the old 'divide and conquer' technique. Beware of this. In fact, it feels that by not focusing on a coherent group of solutions -- for organized dialogue/discussion, and then advancement of the selected ones -- the movement is serving as a 'pressure relief valve' and a way to distract people from making healthy change. Surely, that is not the goal.
Are you being encouraged to endlessly dwell on problems? How much are you being encouraged to find and promote healthy solutions?
Too much time dwelling on problems will not achieve much. If we spend much more time on solutions, we can achieve things. As one of the solutions, let's consider using sortition (selection by lottery) as part of the process to select our representatives in government; there are intelligent ways to do this. It does not imply randomly picking anyone for office. Learn more about wise ways to make sortition part of the process. It truly is the most effective way to decrease the corrupting influence of extreme wealth and mass media over government. It was used in the first representative democracy (Athenian democracy) as the best safeguard for protecting democracy against corruption.
Let's move forward with solutions. Let's compile an agreed upon list of the biggest problems. Then let's reach consensus on peaceful and legal solutions after healthy dialogue on proposals.
Seriously though, this is the keystone that will allow us to solve all the other problems we have. Once regular people are given the lever, not some false choice between two corrupted parties and their corrupt candidates, then we can begin to address the other big issues. Regular people would do a fine job of regining in corporate corruption and greed. They would likely fund technologies that would help solve the ecological crisis. They would also be able to address the military industrial complex issue head on, and reclaim some of the patents that have been made secret in the name of national security, which would likely bring on a new era of economic prosperity world wide as well as reduce or even eliminate our use of fossil fuels. Regular people would make damn sure to fund education, especially when they realize that sortition would mean that America is only as strong as it's least educated people. And regular people would be very likely to re-institute regulations on the news media which would allow all citizens to be much better informed, rather than misinformed as they are now.
It's as if God is saying institute sortition NOW or suffer an economic and ecological Apocalypse. "Sortition or Death" - God
Right on! Sortition or Death!