----- Original Message -----
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2009 7:14
AM
Subject: Re: [WDDM] The Distant
Future
We can change the government quickly.
If we are organized enough, we don't have to accept what goverments teach
us in school. Just vote... it will all get better... the government is
necessarily slow and deliberative... except when they have to pass a trillion
dollar bailout bill.
All we need is some congressman to propose a bill that says, "Democracy,
being the rule of the people, grants the people the right to overturn any
rule or change any law, as they see fit, and on their terms."
Actually, that is redundant. We have the authority. We are simply
unorganized.
Unrealistic. I'm a dreamer, right?
Maybe, maybe not :) We'll see.
Parrhesia
On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 11:41 AM, <
Fred Gohlke>
wrote:
Good Afternoon, Jiri
Thank you for your note.
I appreciate your response.
I agree the adoption of a new
electoral method is in the distant future. My letter to you was less
about a political system than about the weaknesses of partisan politics.
The method I outlined was intended to show a viable method of
harnessing ideological differences. I'm sure there are
others.
Since it took my country over 200 years to debase its proud
origin, my guess is that it will take 200 more years to correct the excesses
we endure. I persist, not because I expect adoption of my ideas, but
because I think it important to understand how The Noble Experiment (as the
U. S. Constitution was once called) was so disappointing. Many people
seek democracy, but not many understand the reasons the first modern example
failed.
Often, political changes are inspired by demogogues and
launched on waves of emotion. That is a poor basis for change.
Success in this realm depends on understanding the complexity of human
relations ... before ... attempting to install a system of governing
them.
My greatest difficulty is finding thoughtful challengers.
There is little contemporary reward for thinking about the future, and
I find it difficult. Since, like all humans, I am shackled by the
limits of my own knowledge and experience, I find my horizons expanded by
those who disagree with me, when they express their dissent
rationally.
I've had the good fortune to find a few people willing to
engage in the very hard work of thinking, but am constantly searching for
more. Perhaps, in time, thought can lead to a more rational society, a
society that incorporates the ideas expressed by Jurgen Habermas, Alasdair
Macintyre, Jane Mansbridge, and many others. As Dr. MacIntyre said
...
"... everyone must be allowed to have access to the
political
decision-making process to experience the internal goods
that
enrich society and benefit the community"
Fred
Gohlke