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00983: Re: Re to Doug and WDDM: Resignations

From: Antonio Rossin <rossin(at)tin.it>
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 11:17:18 +0100
Subject: Re: Re to Doug and WDDM: Resignations

Hi,

I'm more and more convicted that Democracy -- meant as a way
to perform collective policies -- must start from the territory,
according with the old axiom:
Top-down policies with a bottom-up origin
are the only ones that function effectively.

It implies a top-down implementing structure, somehow like what
we already know as "Representative Democracy". We also know
that RD does not function effectively, so in time the necessity of
an implementing policies alternative, that has been named Direct
Democracy, came up.

Now I question: the current social arrangement -- to wit, RD --
does not function because it is made with Representatives ? or
because the policies they implement have a very little bottom-up
origin ?

My humble opinion is, if Reps had been more careful to meet
the territory necessities -- which implies a greater participatory
sharing-in by the territory inhabitants -- no need of alternative
could have risen up, until the theoretical extreme of DD.
(btw, we know, Simpol <www.simpol.org> aims to fix this bug)

The same reasoning applies to WDDM I and II, and -- I read
in Filia's post -- to other similar attempts to set up a democratic
organization. Well, when we started WDDM I, it had to be a
"umbrella" organization, to host and facilitate those participatory
democratic proposals coming from bottom-up, which, clearly,
the current RD political arrangement fails to meet.

WDDM I has died , suffocated under the weight of an endless
discussion I held with some members who wanted to build up the
democracy house starting from its roof (indeed, their exclusive
priority was an implementing policies top-down structure) without
having any "territory" below -- say, people coming in with their
questions, proposals and policies with a bottom-up origin. Now we
see, WDDM II and other DD-inspired organizations are dying:
let's suppose, because all of them did not meet the democratic
requirement of making policies have a bottom-up origin.

With WDDM II, I wholeheartedly hoped that the aspirant
bureaucratic power-holders would have resigned with their
fanaticism for a top-down organization as the only essence of
DD. Also, that the members could have been able to control in
some way their take. Sad to say, this did not happen.
But who knows, about a WDDM III in a future?


Best regards,

antonio








At 12:40 +0100 6-02-2007, Filia den Hollander wrote:
Hi all,

Damn - I was writing a 'wise' message and now, thanks to my providor
xs4all, it's gone !

I think it's not that much of a problem if WDDM ceases to exist. I observe
similar problems in other DD organisations, such as IRI-Europe, Democracy
International, Referendum Platform, Mehr Demokratie. We (us direct
democrats, that is) realise in one way or another that bureaucratic,
centralised structures do not fit our DD needs. Yet we also need to
acknowledge and support those DD's (such as Mirek Kolar in the WDDM case)
who do put a lot of energy and effort in a DD initiative.

So we have - I would say: as a dd MOVEMENT - to contemplate on models
which actually do fit. If there aren't any models at hand (would the
structure behind Wikipedia be worth a study? Or, how did Errico Malatesta
and his friends address the issue?), then we have to invent one. Failure
also means next time we do it better !

Somehow - if you allow me to brainstorm somewhat and be unspecific - we
have to figure out the boundaries between 'initiative' (put an idea into
the world) and 'power' (those who gather around that idea and want to make
it work).

I thank Antio Rossin for his financial support to WDDM and Bruce Eggum for
his efforts to address the needs of those who carry a lot of weight
(Mirek, and, in the case of "Everyone's A citizen, Baby - A People's EU
Constitution", myself).


I also thank xs4all for having interfered in my lengthy email. Now I stick
to this shorter version !

With kind regards to all (I've added some people to the cc list),
Filia den Hollander


--
Antonio Rossin - Neurologist
? Dialectical Philosopher ?
rossin(at)tin.it
http://www.flexible-learning.org

Coordinamento ISPO Italy:
http://www.simpol.org
ispo.italy(at)simpol.org


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