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Since this board is full of logical people (programmers), I'm curious to know why any of them think that a system based on tyranny of the majority would increase freedom for people? Also, I'm really curious what sort of things you all think you can "hack" that will really make people more free. After this, will the NSA be gone? How about the entire military industrial complex and all it's mouthpieces on tv and in Con…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[deleted]
dmix is roughly arguing that the existence of regulation incentivizes people to game the system by manipulating regulators, whether by il/legal, not/transparent, or other means. He's not wrong, per se, but it's also not a relevant point when the problem becomes immediately unsolvable when you think about it a little more.
The amount of influence money has on the state is directly proportional to the amount of control the state has on the economy and justice system. Money in politics wouldn't nearly matter as much if the government didn't apply heavy-handed control to every market and courtroom around the country. As long as power is centralized into a few politicians hands, there will always be a massive concerted effort to buy that p…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
dmix is roughly arguing that the existence of regulation incentivizes people to game the system by manipulating regulators, whether by il/legal, not/transparent, or other means. He's not wrong, per se, but it's also not a relevant point when the problem becomes immediately unsolvable when you think about it a little more.
Where does the decentralization of power in order to limit the influence of money on the state fit into your thinking?
Generally, I think that Lessig's work in this area is laudable but misguided: that is, that the influence of money is a symptom and not the root cause he claims it to be. I really hope that he creates positive change as a result of this, but I don't have high expectations.
My belief of what the root cause is is that the citizenry is too used to keeping their heads down and don't have the mental framework to accept the offering of power that democracy is supposed to be. So, in a sense, you can limit the influence of money by decentralizing power to the extent that it is properly a democracy. I would loosely define a democracy, in this context, to be a society in which over 70% of the citizens are active participants in governance.
(That last paragraph was mostly a matter of preemptively responding to "you can't just leave us hanging" charges rather than a proper manifesto.)
The problem isn't "money in politics". The problem is that the political process is too shallow, so much so that ordinary advertising can swing results often. And that is due to the electorate and the media. If you try to force money out of elections then you don't solve the underlying problems and you end up just moving corruption around, the money ends up less direct and harder to trace. Nobody wins and we end up b…
Since this board is full of logical people (programmers), I'm curious to know why any of them think that a system based on tyranny of the majority would increase freedom for people? Also, I'm really curious what sort of things you all think you can "hack" that will really make people more free. After this, will the NSA be gone? How about the entire military industrial complex and all it's mouthpieces on tv and in Con…
Some of the suggested hacks are listed at the link. They will not, by themselves, get rid of the NSA, but they are reasonable steps that the anti-corruption movement can take at this time to raise awareness and build momentum.
You can join in and start working on the BIG problems you listed, or you can say this cannot be done and do your own idea which seems to be about hiring lawyers.
The amount of influence money has on the state is directly proportional to the amount of control the state has on the economy and justice system. Money in politics wouldn't nearly matter as much if the government didn't apply heavy-handed control to every market and courtroom around the country. As long as power is centralized into a few politicians hands, there will always be a massive concerted effort to buy that p…
What justice system do you envision outside the state?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night-watchman_state
Whereas currently 86% of people in federal jail are there for victimless crimes:
http://www.policymic.com/articles/8558/why-we-need-prison-re...
The problem isn't "money in politics". The problem is that the political process is too shallow, so much so that ordinary advertising can swing results often. And that is due to the electorate and the media. If you try to force money out of elections then you don't solve the underlying problems and you end up just moving corruption around, the money ends up less direct and harder to trace. Nobody wins and we end up b…
Some media reform and education reform can be imagined that would help with this problem. However, no such reform can actually be enacted while our lawmakers are dependent on their funders instead of common sense or the wishes of the people.