I've copied extracts from the text of your attachment and inserted comments marked DE: ... – DE.
Sorry that I had time for only the first few pages, so have erased most of your message.
Chapter II: Direct Democracy and the need for national law............................................ 43
Chapter III: Economic Infrastructure and the evolution of the modern state.................... 89
Chapter IV: Law Enforcement and the National Military............................................... 132
Chapter V: World Peace and the preservation of cultural identity.................................. 167
The Starting line…. Ready, Get Set, Go…..................................................................... 214
Chapter I Democracy Fundamentals
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... Democracy in its elemental form relies on the common people, to affect the minds of the many individuals, expecting them to make the right, correct decisions for their society. When you understand this, then you know that voting is a privilege, not a right. That is, it is not a privilege based on land ownership, wealth, or power, but rather it is based on maturity and character. As we look at the first of these elements, maturity, we understand that there are individuals that are not yet ready for this responsibility, because they have not reached an age of more mature understanding.
A young child can be taught many things, but until he has reached an age of mental maturity, it may be difficult for him to understand theoretical concepts about policies of government. Similarly, in much the same way, a child needs its parents in order to survive, learn, and grow to a certain age when it is ready to move out into this world on its Think of it in these terms: if one were to remove a six-year-old from his or her home--its nest, so to speak, known from its earliest childhood, then the child most assuredly would not survive on his own.
We also understand that different individuals mature at different rates. Therefore the freedom to alter or make alterations to one’s society depends on a person’s maturity to leave the nest and fly on one’s own. Yet as foundations of any government are developed, one cannot say with certainty, when, exactly, some particular person has reached a general state of maturity. Thus, we need some standard, practical form of measurement that will show when and if an individual has reached a general level of maturity, a point at which that person will be responsible and fully accountable for the decisions that will change, alter, and guide society. After all, if you ask a six-year-old boy if he is ready to be a man, if he is anything like the children I have known, he will always say that he is totally ready and eager to do just that, but the reality is a different story. So then, for every goal we want to achieve, we need to develop practical application guidelines including whatever is necessary in order to achieve that goal.
... n has reached this stage of development at the point of gaining full-time employment, attending college, or moving out of the parental nest. We can say this because each one of these achievements in its own way promotes responsibility, courage, and self-reliance ... . People with drug and other addictions or certain abnormal mental conditions (depending on there severity), may definitely need help from their society ... the hope is that with time and the right treatment they will one day be able to leave .. drawing a distinction between those in society that have been forced to deal with their dependency issues through government law enforcement, such as, drinking and driving apart from those people who voluntarily, courageously seek self-help.
... At the age of eighteen, in most cases, a person is no longer tried in court as a child, ... can now join the military, attend jury service, or even vote. Also, a parent is no longer required by law to provide food and shelter to a person eighteen years of age or older. .... Maturity, by definition, should be determined by an action, or a series of actions, or other character-driven events. ... an earned privilege rather than an automatic entitlement, as proven historically, creates a powerful incentive for good behavior, which is then manifested by positive practical results.
Unfortunately, there are persons in society that have proven by their criminal acts that they have not earned the privilege of being a part of society’s decision making processes. This is not to say that they are unintelligent, but often their energy and purposes are not aimed at bettering our society, but rather, through deceptive manipulations to build a lesser subculture that they imagine will further their own selfish endeavors and ends. Instead of being straight, positive contributors, their parasitic distortions turn aside the general good.... On the other hand, people can be--and sometimes are--imprisoned for intentionally violating laws they see as unjust....
Due to the essential significance of this exception, and others as well, any failures, even to a small extent, in how matters are set up for law-creation in this better system of government—law-creation being the core element in any attempt for direct democracy--could undermine or erode, dissolve the whole system. Therefore, the essential freedoms and civil liberties of the average person, the “man on the street,” should be the cornerstone of any attempt at direct democracy as a form of government. All we have presently done is to set in place the natural boundaries in society on who should participate in the law-creation process. The first of these boundaries, then, is maturity, such that for a person to be able to fly, he or she must have the maturity to leave the nest. The second, after this “bird” has left the nest, it can spread its wings and fly on its own, while at the same not abuse anyone someone else’s right to life on the wing.
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DE: You seem to have omitted the definition of the second boundary. DE.
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For practical reasons there must also be a third boundary. To participate in any democratic form of government, people must be citizens, either through birth or immigration, ...
A republic as a form of government, unlike a direct democracy, produces a fourth boundary ... it relies on elected persons known as representatives to represent the will of the people from the city or town where they were elected. But when the elected representative fails to see his or her constituents as persons, each with different needs and values, and starts seeing them instead as a whole body of people to be represented, then the core uniqueness and creativity inherent within each and every one of us--at least in practical political terms--is lost. ... a person has to communicate by going to the representative and telling that person one’s opinions ... hoping that the elected representative acts, sometime soon, on those concerns ...
Does the core dream and passion in your representative’s heart have the same scope, uniqueness, and creativity as your own? ... it is a representative’s soul responsibility is to represent these people. ... Democracies of ancient Greece, ... citizens had the ability to totally alter the government’s design and structure, ... options could be chosen at any given meeting, decisions often were made rashly, ... Quiet, physically weak, or shy people would feel intimidated, ... Madison once said:
Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. ... The issue with direct democracy from the republicans (i.e., those who favor instead the republic form of government), is the notion that direct democracy means rule by the mob. ...
We could all agree, I think, that good decisions are based on sound data and research, which is then considered carefully, with all the time necessary, in a safe, unthreatening environment. ...
... democratic institutions of government began to form that to some degree addressed the challenges faced by those first democracies. ...to place state and local propositions on the ballot. ... town hall meetings, to peaceably assemble, and to petition ... freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press
... . Propositions, by their design and structure, place more emphasis upon the individual and less emphasis on the group decision-making process. This meant ... the monumental task of collecting enough ratifying signatures from the people in his county, city, or state. Then there are the months of decision-making time and debate within the electorate before the vote...: (1) the writing of proposals, (2) the prioritizing of proposals, and (3) the passage of law. ... analyze each element by itself and also in that way better able to amplify the goals that they are attempting to achieve. Also, we can understand better why the failure of the first democracies to separate these processes into their separate, constituent parts lead to their downfall.
... we must begin by narrowing a single person’s focus. ...s. The first kind of research is that conducted by one person. The second kind of research is that conducted by a group. The third involves learning from the wisdom of others. ...
... let’s consider ..., after collecting a thousand (or many thousands of) signatures, a challenge with, or much-needed improvement to, the proposition for the ballot is discovered. At this point it is too late ... the person or persons who develop proposals must reach what we may refer to as completion of thought, before the signature- gathering process needed to place the proposal on the ballot. To do this, we can further divide the proposal-writing element into its constituent subcomponents. The first subcomponent is the original idea or the spark of insight in which the proposal has its beginning. The second subcomponent is the research done on an individual level or though a group to develop and completely cultivate the original idea. After everyone in the group—which is to be made up of at least five cosponsors--believes that they have reached a conclusion, or the individual studying on his own has successfully petitioned (for example) a hundred individuals in favor of a proposal, either the group or the individual may then take their idea to the governing body, such as city hall.
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DE: This panel of 5 seems to me too arbitrary. Less fixed numbers are typically developed by nested networks of stakeholders in management and representation as documented by www.sociocracy,biz, Shann Turnbull etc. – DE.
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... it is important that a nonpartisan individual or group look over the proposals submitted to note areas of concern or areas of the proposal that need clarification. It is also important that these nonpartisan individuals have some background knowledge about the issues under discussion.... A natural choice might often be the college and university system.
... . We started with an idea. We conducted research on that idea by ourselves, individually, or we did so as a part of a group. Then we had an independent observer critique the idea presented, and offer advice, until we had refined the proposal to the point that we were prepared to defend it in debate. In society at large the most professionally polished individuals for debate are generally lawyers, and their usual forum is the courtroom. Historically trials are designed around the supposed guilt or presumed innocence of an individual, business, or government entity. The type of “trial” that I now propose is a trial of ideas, and it takes place between the individual or group who developed the proposal, the District Attorney, and twelve “jurors” selected at random from the community1. This final element I call Causa Enim Novo, which is a Latin term meaning Case for Change, but the phrase could also be translated as Cause for Invention.
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DE: Part of this process or something similar emerges with "ombudsman" or administrative review tribunals, but like the 5-member panel I think more internal and external checks and balances along the lines of sociocracy, ESOPs and the MCC (Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa) are more flexible and 'organically' integrated with rule-making and implementing groups. – DE.
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The signature-gathering process as it stands has a second real challenge. ...
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In the first element, the writing of proposals, we set about to find and establish ways to amplify the effectiveness of the way the proposals are to the general public. In so doing we limited the number of proposals in circulation while not limiting anyone that was really committed to the law-creating process. At the end of the process we left the signature-gather requirement needed to a jury of twelve individuals. Using the jury option also allows us to winnow out proposals with merit that show potential or promise and will most likely be supported by the community. Using the Internet, it is possible to let the general public submit their signature to any proposal that received an equal or majority vote from the “Causa Enim Novo” trial. Remember, this is different from the final voting, which is the last element we have yet to discuss. Effectively through this online forum any person can look at the proposals that are available in their community and place their signature next to the ones they wish to see on the ballot. There is no need to be online all the time, and yet this method has the same strengths of the Internet in that one may look at the proposals available and submit one’s signature to the proposals that look good. This brings a democratic system of government right into your life, right where you live. In some small but significant way it also puts the responsibility of government into each person’s hands but without the feeling of being compelled to stay online all the time to participate. Beyond that, it provides each one with the ability to review, study, and research each proposal, according to the need. Finally, there is something else this method does as well. For those who are shy and introverted, they have the power to submit their own proposal, provided that their proposal received a majority vote from a jury of their peers. Then their idea will be placed online and they can let the idea speak for itself.
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DE: The internet is developing a method of collating, merging, sifting, modifying and feedback of proposals.
[In my case if 60 emails arrive today I an likely to erase 10 due to lack of time or lack of sympathy with the listed sender or subject, then read in some detail statements circulated to discussion or action groups which include me as a communicator or member, then relay or revise material for relaying to groups that I hope will be interested, Eventually I may include among these specialist addresses gathering petitions, updating specialized news topics etc.] – DE.
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...t we must also provide ways for allowing the law to be expanded beyond these bounds ... perhaps nationwide.
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DE: And world wide for justice and environmental issues straddling borders. – DE.
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... allowing other communities to place the proposal on the ballot for their different communities with only a small fraction of the number of required signatures
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I'm sorry,
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