Unequal voting rights? - Re: [WDDM] ReQuest for Defining "a bottom-up origin"

["M. Kolar" <wddm(at)mkolar.org>]

Pras Anand wrote (November 15, 2006)
> The more community contributions someone has generated - the more right
> they gain on votin on increasingly complex issues. I am developing a

Even after all his explanations, I still do not like at all the above
principle, that Pras wants to build into his Social Computer (SC) platform.
Pras believes that his SC has the potential to have a big societal impact, so I
think we all have here a good opportunity to matter somewhat - to try to
influence the principles built into the SC. It would be interesting to know
what others think specifically about the above point.

I do not like at all the idea of giving as a reward more voting rights to those
who make more community contributions. I am not against rewarding people in
some reasonable way for their larger contributions, but not by giving them more
voting rights, especially not in a vote on what they propose.
It is true that people are not equal, but they should have equal opportunities
in everything. That means also in voting, everybody should have an equal voice
in matters that directly concern her or him.
It doesn't matter whose brilliant idea they are voting on. If the consequences
of implementing this idea affect them, they should have an equal voting right
on this idea.

Unless the SC adheres to this principle, it cannot be democratic.

If people (children) are educated toward democracy and social responsibility,
their greatest reward for coming up with a brilliant idea that helps the whole
community could be the feeling that they made a significant contribution and
the gratitude of others.
If SC is supposed to educate people toward democracy, it should strengthen this
alternative reward system.
I do not think it is responsible to stress competition in SC. It should better
stress cooperation.

I suggest (again), that the WDDM may be somewhat useful (even without a formal
organization) if we try to arrive by consent at common positions on various
relevant issues and post them on the site as our recommendation.

The above issue (rewards for greater contribution to the community) could be
one such issue.

Mirek