Hot take but i agree with Plato on the first half. People are too dumb, blind, and easily manipulated for a democracy.
But obviously a benevolent, kind, and uncoercible king with the interests of the people at heart is not realistic.
When you think about it, it’s pretty unreasonable to expect the entire population to become educated and engaged about everything involving running a modern society. Modern government is incredibly complicated. It’s no wonder that tribalism wins over nuance. Who has time for nuance when they’re worried about their jobs and families?
That’s why I’d like to see some form of sortition tried. Draft a jury to do nothing but learn about a single topic for a period of time. Make all of their contact with the outside world public record to ensure nothing shady is going on. Let representatives from all sides of the issue address them. Then let them make their decisions and go back to their normal lives. No campaign donors or political careers to worry about.
And who will create the automaton? How do we select people to maintain the automaton that will play the role of government?
That automatic government has to be created by a group of people. How do you plant to select them? The government automaton would also need to be maintained, as it is impossible for the authors of the machine to predict what humanity is going to look like 500 years from now. How do you select those?
The logic of “code is impartial, therefore code should be law” is flawed because code as to be written by someone, and that someone is not impartial.
Who writes and administers the test? And who ensures everyone has equal access to education so a non-voting underclass isn’t created?
The United States used to have a “voting literacy test” which effectively existed to keep non-whites from voting. It was practically impossible to pass, so it was at the clerk’s discretion who could or could not vote.
I’m for it, assuming everyone has equal access to a robust, non-biased education and sufficient resources to have the time and energy to utilize it; the test isn’t designed to exclude by race, class, gender, etc.; and it is designed to simply ascertain whether or not a person is capable of self-directed, rational decision making versus voting for the prettiest or most charismatic candidate or the candidate who will “hurt the right people”.
Hot take but i agree with Plato on the first half. People are too dumb, blind, and easily manipulated for a democracy.
But obviously a benevolent, kind, and uncoercible king with the interests of the people at heart is not realistic.
I dont have a solution. 🤷♂️
A benevolent machine. It doesn’t even need to be AI. Let’s worship a clockwork automaton.
When you think about it, it’s pretty unreasonable to expect the entire population to become educated and engaged about everything involving running a modern society. Modern government is incredibly complicated. It’s no wonder that tribalism wins over nuance. Who has time for nuance when they’re worried about their jobs and families?
That’s why I’d like to see some form of sortition tried. Draft a jury to do nothing but learn about a single topic for a period of time. Make all of their contact with the outside world public record to ensure nothing shady is going on. Let representatives from all sides of the issue address them. Then let them make their decisions and go back to their normal lives. No campaign donors or political careers to worry about.
In order for that to happen we all first need to chill. Most people’s lives are just too hectic due to the strain the system puts on them.
I have: automate the government.
And who will create the automaton? How do we select people to maintain the automaton that will play the role of government?
That automatic government has to be created by a group of people. How do you plant to select them? The government automaton would also need to be maintained, as it is impossible for the authors of the machine to predict what humanity is going to look like 500 years from now. How do you select those?
The logic of “code is impartial, therefore code should be law” is flawed because code as to be written by someone, and that someone is not impartial.
Having a political education test before being allowed to vote
Who writes and administers the test? And who ensures everyone has equal access to education so a non-voting underclass isn’t created?
The United States used to have a “voting literacy test” which effectively existed to keep non-whites from voting. It was practically impossible to pass, so it was at the clerk’s discretion who could or could not vote.
I am not saying it’s a good idea and implementation would be hard. But it is an idea
I’m for it, assuming everyone has equal access to a robust, non-biased education and sufficient resources to have the time and energy to utilize it; the test isn’t designed to exclude by race, class, gender, etc.; and it is designed to simply ascertain whether or not a person is capable of self-directed, rational decision making versus voting for the prettiest or most charismatic candidate or the candidate who will “hurt the right people”.
Many politicians would not want any of that.