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02980: RE: View Direct Democracy to be established somewhere in the coming New Year !

From: "Comtrend" <comtrend(at)mweb.co.za>
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2013 06:19:49 +0200
Subject: RE: View Direct Democracy to be established somewhere in the coming New Year !

Hi Jiri,

Thanks for the comments

Responses follow *** below

Regards

Jim Powell Johannesburg, South Africa

-----Original Message-----
From: Jiri Polak(at)swipnet.se
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 8:13 PM
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Subject: Re: View Direct Democracy to be established somewhere in the coming
New Year !

Hello,
I agree with the standpoint expressed by Fred. To force parliamentary (and
other) candidates to sign a contract with the citizens as a condition for
obtaining their votes is a step in the right direction and a great
improvement of the political process. *** In each instance I am looking for
a win-win situation. The candidates are not forced to sign the contract.
There are 2 reasons.

The first is that the candidates are want to be elected and in power. Those
who sign the documents make the decision that the would still want to be
elected even though the power is reduced. On balance they see that the
contract is acceptable as a marketing tool running up to the elections

The second is the group who believe in the DD system and want to be elected
to promote the principles of DD.

The first is a partial win-win, the second is a complete win-win. The second
win is the electorate

The question is whether all or most citizens will be sufficiently active to
insist on this condition. *** The average voter wants to get on with his
life and is not interested in politics. The activists will bring the topics
to the fore through DD. I refer to Switzerland

This is the same principle as that put forward by Simpol. It would be
interesting to hear about the degree to which the men in the street
participate in this movement. As I wrote, I consider the pushing through a
referendum about a Citizens´ Constitution as the fundamental strategy. The
signing of contracts with citizens might be a preliminary step. In a
critical situation - collapse of the economy, large scale environmental
catastrophies.... - scenarios not unthinkable today - more radical steps
might be imagined, e.g. occupation of the Parliament. Recently, American
activists have demonstrated willingness to have recourse even to such
measures. In the end, they might prove indispensable. *** I would hope that
the radical steps would not be necessary. We know sometimes they are. By
changing the system to DD we attract more of the right people to carry out
the administration of the country under the control of the voters. The fact
that DD is in place gets the politicians to enact voter friendly laws.
Sincerely, Jiri


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Fred Gohlke" <fredgohlke(at)verizon.net>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 4:05 PM
To: <wddm@world-wide-democracy.net>
Subject: Re: View Direct Democracy to be established somewhere in the coming
New Year !

Good Morning, Jim

First and foremost, I must express my admiration for the work you've done.

Your success in getting political candidates to sign a contract that
commits them to genuine public service is remarkable. It provides a
root from which progress can evolve. Your work is, indeed, a move in
the right direction. I hope others follow your lead.

My own efforts are directed toward understanding and addressing the
obstacles to democracy. We have no shortage of competent, principled
individuals who are interested and informed enough to properly
advocate the public interest. The challenge is to find them and raise
them to public office.

Once we transcend the arrogance of those political theorists who are
so blinded by their own brilliance they are unable to see the many
talented individuals around them, once we realize we have no shortage
of gifted people with integrity, the road to viable democracy is less
unclear and we can start to sketch a few basic requirements for a
democratic political process.

The kind of fundamental reform I seek is likely to take root in small
communities victimized by traditional politics. I've had the good
fortune to be asked to describe a democratic method of empowering all
the inhabitants of a small village in El Salvador. Should that happen
and other small communities adopt a similar process, the concepts will
spread to larger communities.

The fact that I'm taking a different path does not mean I can't
appreciate the value of your work.

Fred

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