Re: Re: [WDDM] Re: Conscience

["Vijayaraghavan Padmanabhan" <vijayaraghavan.p(at)rediffmail.com>]

Dear Mark, Mirek and all,
Elaborating on my previous post, a person can be said to have acted according to his/her conscience if what he thinks or does comes fom the heart and is thus beneficial as much to the people around him as to himself.

Based on this concept, we can create structures that allow people to express what they would like the authorities to do in their area of living and what they wouldn't like to see happening. (a particular person can give his idea on issues of concern to him pertaining to the local/state/national/international levels). This will create a body of opinion which the elected representative of that area would be well advised to take note of. Things are already happening in this direction as pointed out by Mirek in his post: Participative budget coming to the UK. However we should not feel that we are still stuck up with our structural issues and have done nothing so far. The spirit is important and progress of true democracy anywhere should be a reason to rejoice.

We can add impetus to such developments by developing DD mechanisms in a systematic manner on a world wide scale. Roy Baine's www.myverdict.com provides a model where people from any nation on earth can express their opinion on matters concerning the local, state, national and international levels.

However political parties can create road blocks to such activities that tend to take away power away from them. To counter this possibility we can inform that eventually the WDDM believes in the concept of 'Partyless Governance' within the elected house. This would force the political parties to take matters seriously as otherwise the people who have used WDDM to express their views would be well placed to vote for the person who has pledged his support to the spirit of WDDM (independent or belonging to the party which supports WDDM) enhancing his chances of winning. Thus invoking 'Partyless Governance' will act as a catalyst for change. Eventually if the political parties become truly democratic and accept methods of DD increasingly without hesitation, then the goal might be achieved even without 'Partyless Governance' becoming actually a reality. But this is unlikely and the trump card of 'Partyless Governance' needs to be kept as a catalyst for change.

All that has been said above would be meaningful if it is made clear that the people are required to act upon their conscience and nothing more. WDDM can thus act as the facilitator for _expression_ of the individual's conscience. There is no complicated thinking involved here and such an approach should be appealing to the common man.

Thus making conscience as the theme of WDDM immdiately connects it to the heart of the people and allows them express themselves. Structures can thus be built around the concept of conscience, which allow _expression_ of the heart and the mind in that order. The values of truth, justice, peace and freedom can be ushered in at the global level.

PVR


On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 Vijayaraghavan Padmanabhan wrote :
>Dear Mark,
>Thanks for agreeing on the universality of conscience. I think that if we remain focussed on this and arrange matters around the concept of conscience, then we should be able to formulate an action plan that should be agreeable to everyone, everywhere.
>PVR
>
>
>On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 Mark Antell,editor CitizenPowerMagazine.net wrote :
> >PVR,
> >We've often not agreed on political theory.  However, I agree with your
> >statement about conscience and the universality of conscience.  I share
> >a couple of relevant quotations below:
> >"We are caught in an inescapable mutuality tied in a single garment of
> >destiny.  Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly." (M. L.
> >King Jr.,
> >Letter from Birmingham Jail)
> >(I believe that this statement means that turning ones head does not
> >diminish ones experience of the human condition but rather renders it
> >incomprehensible.)
> >and
> >"We all want to help one another.  Human beings are like that."
> >(Charlie Chaplin, the Hope Speech in
> >The Great Dictator
> >.)
> >Mark Antell
> >------------------
> >Vijayaraghavan Padmanabhan wrote:
> >
> >
> >Dear Mirek and all,
> >We are all in the quest for a Truer Democracy. If there is no doubt
> >about this goal and if we are united in spirit regarding this goal then
> >an appropriate structure to achieve this goal should fall in place
> >without difficulty. Unfortunately while seeking to design a structure
> >for a complex task, the spirit itself is frequently forgotten and we
> >tend to get lost in complicated details.
> >We need to have an open mind if an appropriate structure is to fall in
> >place. The basic problem with the prevailing kind of democracy is that
> >it seeks to limit itself within defined structures like political
> >parties. However good such a structure may be, once there is curbing of
> >freedom of _expression_, it soon degenerates into a manipulative
> >mechanism. Still we need a structure for deliberations. We need
> >structures that allows _expression_ of every human point of view and yet
> >that _expression_ is self-regulated to fit into the requirements of the
> >society.
> >We have such a self-regulating mechanism within each one of us and it
> >is called 'conscience'. Unfortunately this 'conscience' has nearly been
> >forgotten since we are preoccupied with the fancies and capabilities of
> >the mind. Conscience arises from the 'heart'. If all the affairs of the
> >world are based on conscience then life would be much simpler.
> >The methods of DD like I&R allow _expression_ of the individual's
> >preference, but it is the individual's conscience that motivates him.
> >We need to recognize this basic point. Instead, the use of the word
> >conscience is almost a taboo in today's world and it is looked down
> >upon as being 'moralistic'. On the other hand it is a basic reality of
> >every person's life. While WDDM has been trying to usher in I&R as
> >a basic strategy, it has in fact been advocatoing _expression_ of the
> >individual's conscience in matters of governance. The mechanism of
> >'partyless governance' that I have been advocating, puts this
> >conscience as the focalpoint to usher in truer democracy.
> >The world today is dangerously divided. In a way this is inevitable
> >since the world today is governed by structures designed by the
> >dictates of the mind. Even though ideas of different people differ
> >widely, the basic motivation arises from the individual's conscience.
> >The heart of every person basically seeks peace, love, justice and
> >freedom. If the preferences of the heart are allowed to express
> >themselves through the consscience, then it will achieve what it seeks.
> >But the human tendency is to forget the heart and become enslaved to
> >the mind.
> >If conscience-based politics is ushered in at the global level, then
> >instead of getting divided and more complicated, structures would be
> >ushered in that would tend to integrate the world and conflict
> >resolution would be a natural consequence.
> >The WDDM in quest of Truer Democracy, should make concience-based
> >politics as its central theme. I hope members would agree on this broad
> >philosophy. It will be obvious that it will be inappropriate to put
> >this proposal under the existing procedural rule since it appeals to
> >the heart rather than the mind.
> >I believe that the entire WDDM should be redesigned to allow _expression_
> >of both the heart and the mind in that order.
> >PVR