We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
thewalrus.ca
We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
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Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#2Be careful what you wish for. Do you really want the policy to reflect popular polling? Really really? Because what the public supports is a mixed bag. Maybe the population will support higher healthcare spending but also greatly restricted immigration policy ... or leaving a beneficial trade-block due to fears of Eastern European immigrants. Contrast this to Switzerland, where we've seen popular anti-immigration measures being 'tweaked' by more level-headed politicians who realize there are larger issues at play.
There is something to be said about policies put forward by sophisticated and educated elites.
Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#3Be careful what you wish for. Do you really want the policy to reflect popular polling? Really really? Because what the public supports is a mixed bag. Maybe the population will support higher healthcare spending but also greatly restricted immigration policy ... or leaving a beneficial trade-block due to fears of Eastern European immigrants. Contrast this to Switzerland, where we've seen popular anti-immigration mea…
What you describe is not democracy, but a benevolent dictatorship.
Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#4Random just means without reproducible information about inputs. There is nothing additionally equitable in deciding an outcome (more representation by favoured minority groups) and then calling the selection process “random.” Are airport screening selections random, or just opaque?
What the author is in effect advocating is an opaque process whose outcome reflects some desirable criteria. Presumably if one disagrees, it is because of some modern heresy, and articles like these are really about identifying reactionaries and other counter-revolutionary types who will not sustain cognitive dissonance for the cause. What can I say, I am provoked.
Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#5Be careful what you wish for. Do you really want the policy to reflect popular polling? Really really? Because what the public supports is a mixed bag. Maybe the population will support higher healthcare spending but also greatly restricted immigration policy ... or leaving a beneficial trade-block due to fears of Eastern European immigrants. Contrast this to Switzerland, where we've seen popular anti-immigration mea…
What you describe is not democracy, but a benevolent dictatorship.
No. What I describe is a Representative Democracy.
Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#6I like this idea, but I think that the biggest risk would be in the legal assistants needed to navigate the sea of bureaucracy that legislative work usually needs.
The lottery-selected citizens would come and go, but the assistant would probably remain in office for several “elections”. The selected citizens would probably be oblivious to what’s currently going on and the assistants would have incentives to influence those overwhelmed citizens to the assistant’s own agenda.
Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#7One of the complaints was that the officials were white, then in the next paragraph cites ancient Athens.
Rather than give up and spin the wheel, what if we simply let the races vote for their own interests and enforce them?
Whites vote for white interests, blacks vote for black interests, etc. After all, who better to know how to handle their problems than their own?
No more Rube Goldberg mental gymnastics and denials from the plethora of problems that arise from desegregated communities either.
Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#8Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. What I describe is a Representative Democracy.
A benevolent dictatorship is a representative democracy with a very small leadership team.
Oh come on. If we start distorting commonly understood words and concepts, how can we possibly have a rational conversation? A benevolent dictatorship is not the same as a representative democracy.
Re: We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government
#10Random just means without reproducible information about inputs. There is nothing additionally equitable in deciding an outcome (more representation by favoured minority groups) and then calling the selection process “random.” Are airport screening selections random, or just opaque? What the author is in effect advocating is an opaque process whose outcome reflects some desirable criteria. Presumably if one disagrees…
Your last argument is a bit of a strawman.