Brazil Election.

[Jonny5 10]

Why not just come out and say it? Democracy stinks and would-be voters should have to pass intelligence tests.

Democracy is just fine.

 

The problem is that people generally are just totally disengaged with politics and so get fooled by some chancer that promises them the Earth.

 

No idea what the solution is. But if I were black I wouldn't be booking a holiday to Brazil anytime soon.

[tinfoilhat 11]

really?

 

Really. BBC News - Why does Middlesbrough have the most asylum seekers?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34597022

[melthebell 863]

Really. BBC News - Why does Middlesbrough have the most asylum seekers?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34597022

maybe they arent walking round the main shopping areas, but it never seems any worse than say pitsmoor did even back in the day

[L00b 441]

No doubt he has already had his 'warm congratulations' phone call from the White House.

Ths electioneering down there was straight out of the Steve Bannon playbook...whose personal whereabouts unsurprisingly coincide all over the new Brazilian President’s campaign.

 

The Brazilians now have the same problem as the Philippines, the USA, the U.K., Hungary, Poland,...down the dominoes go, one after the other. Our kids (or grandkids) will end up having to clean this one up, and that effort will be paid in blood. As usual.

 

Those who don’t learn from history, are sentenced to repeat it.

[Waldo 96]

the solution would be to have intelligent, well-informed representatives acting in good faith in the interests of the whole population, and without interference from those unscrupulous forces.

 

Good luck with that!

 

No matter what form of government you have, people will do anything to attain positions of power and influence; to ultimately serve their own ends. How do you stop that?

[petemcewan 27]

These are turbulent times, to say the least. However, the principles of representative democracy have to be defended. To do anything other could result in a descent into anarchy. Not the anarchy as articulated by Peter Kropotkin -but the anarchy of demagogues, gangster states, demonic murderous sadistic monarchies, psycho dictators, and marauding cross-dressing cannibals.

 

Add to the mix crackpot futurologists :

 

https://tmrwedition.com/2017/03/16/the-end-of-representative-democracy/

Edited October 29, 2018 by petemcewan

[L00b 441]

Good luck with that!

 

No matter what form of government you have, people will do anything to attain positions of power and influence; to ultimately serve their own ends. How do you stop that?

Conscription, 'short/medium' term (3 years?), non-repeatable, assorted with a lifetime ban on holding any public office higher than councillor after serving.

 

Randomised, from a nationwide pool of the same type of people as those who would be deemed acceptable enough to vouch for a shotgun license applicant. Professionals from the public and private sector, basically. No application procedure, automatic enrolment onto the 'list' of selectables only upon reaching qualification/professional level, with only health-related screening at selection time.

 

So you'd end up with at least half-competent people and, luck aiding, those who least want that kind of power/job (and public exposure) selected for the jobs, with some inbuilt checks against highly-involved kleptocracy.

 

The electorate would still vote in MPs, to whom the government would still report (current system).

 

Not ideal, but if the main idea is to cut institutionalised kleptocracy and sociopaths out of the system, then I don't see any other way than to simply shut out their access to government 'by design', as completely as a randomised appointment system still allows. Give the power to the people who don't want it.

Edited October 29, 2018 by L00b

[petemcewan 27]

Loob,

 

That description is pretty comprehensive and looks attractive. Are they your own ideas?

What about the scale of the enterprise: District, County or Country-or even Continent?

 

You might find the ideas of Murray Bookchin and his descriptions of Libertarian Municipalism - a version of village green democracy -of interest. After all, the great Lewis Mumford said we are not condemned to live in Metropolises forever.

Edited October 30, 2018 by petemcewan

[L00b 441]

Own ideas, yes, but just off-the-cuff.

 

It’s really just a variation of a ‘dutiful’ technocracy (what can you do for your country, not what can your country do for you), tailored to bar careerists (politicians or civil servants irrespective) from accessing the highest executive and so the most power.

 

A bit like a fuse between ‘the system’ (Westminster, lobby groups, etc) and the ultimate seat of power (Parliament or the local equivalent).

 

No reason why it couldn’t scale up to regional (understood as eg EU) or even global.

[Waldo 96]

I'm wondering how technology will impact on the shape of government in years to come. I see too much centralised focus of power, leading to the inevitable self serving corruption, which I feel exists pretty much everywhere.

 

Would more decentralisation help? Putting power back in the hands of people and allowing things to evolve more organically, and how would that affect our ability to organise and implement larger scale projects?

 

More use of block-chain for example, not just for currency, but for voting and other areas of social function.

[petemcewan 27]

I think it would be prudent to have in the school-even University curriculum - the ideas proposed by the Electoral Reform Society.

 

 

 

 

 

Citizen Education.

 

https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/campaigns/upgrading-our-democracy/

 

Part of their read should be , John Locke's "Two Treaties on Government".

 

---------- Post added 01-11-2018 at 01:10 ----------

 

Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of The Environment to be merged.

Edited November 1, 2018 by petemcewan
Update