Re censorship, I was hoping you’d feel that way. I think we're much more like minded than not. That said, I could never back a centralized system. It always ends in disaster. All throughout history, regardless of intelligence or wealth, absolute power ALWAYS corrupts. What's the definition of insanity? We’ve got to get out of that mindset.
On another note, I’m still confused as to how you’re classifying your proposed system as a “direct democracy”. You're proposing minority rule with a high IQ caveat. Regardless of right or wrong, how is that (by any definition) a direct democracy? I'm truly curious as to how/why you're classifying it that way.
It sounds like many of the same centralized systems we’ve seen, just with "intelligent" rulers and a hope the people running it have “good” moral character. There have been countless societies lasting centuries where the intelligent ruling class live like kings, while the rest are basically slaves. Yes that system usually falls, but may last hundreds of years before it does. The ruling class couldn’t care less what happens centuries later. Wise rulers of poor moral character would be happy to just live like kings in the here and now if given the opportunity.
Even if you assume they’d have “good” moral character to start, we know they’ll eventually be corrupted by power.
Your hope that the “intelligent” among us will also understand they should not be corrupt is a great thought. Unfortunately, I’d argue it’s been proven wrong over and over again throughout history. The second those intelligent people are in power, they become a ticking time bomb. Power is like heroin. The wisest among us know they’ll become addicted. Like heroin, power blinds rational thought over time. Intelligent or not, eventually the user will do anything for their next fix.
What has been proven to work is a representative democracy. Here's where our words/definitions may be getting mixed up again.
As I said earlier, I defined a “representative democracy” the same way America’s founders did. A.K.A...a “Republic”. This isn't just electing people to represent and legislate. That’s what all democracies have been doing for years. America was different.
America was based on dividing power into equal branches...each with checks and balances. NOT in name only, but actually backed by a constitution and bill of rights. For many years, America proved that is FAR AND AWAY the best system the world has ever seen.
Today however, we’re seeing revisionist history in full force. Far left judges are completely rewriting/reinterpreting history to fit an ideological goal. They’re re-interpreting the constitution in ways that distort it’s actually meaning. When that doesn’t work, ideological politicians say it’s “outdated”. The checks and balances are ignored or abused when convenient.
This would be fine if we adhered to the literal meaning of the Constitution. It was after all written with the expectation of corruption. The problem is, we don’t adhere to its meaning.
As my Navy friend likes to say, "The problem is NOT the system our Founding Father left us. The problem is, we no longer adhere to that system."
I think he's spot on. This is the problem blockchain could solve. It’s not a middle man. It’s a tool that insures transparency and, by extension, true liberty.
Hitler was initially elected within an essential pure democracy. Yes, citizens had people elected to represent them, but it was basically mob rule. No electoral college. No constitution preventing the wolves from eating the sheep. No REAL separation of powers...simply in name only. That said, even their system wouldn't have allowed for Hitler to become the mass murderer he became. But Germany gave up that system because they believed Hitler and his nazis would fix all their problems. They had no idea what the nazis actually had in mind.
It was only AFTER the mob agreed to suspend individual rights, declare an emergency and give absolute power to the perceived "masterminds” (or most intelligent among them), that Hitler was able to fulfill his perverted fantasy. As much as I'm opposed to the system Germany had before Hitler and the nazis, it was the demolishing of that system and replacing it with a dictatorship which enabled Hitler and the nazis to grab power.
A Representative Democracy (as defined by America’s founders) would NEVER allow that to happen. How do we know? Because we’ve had sick, twisted, power hungry presidents elected in America. Woodrow Wilson attempted to grab power and change the constitution. He actually tried to persuade lawmakers to get “beyond the Declaration of Independence”, going on to say, “it’s of no consequence to us”. He embraced and argued for eugenics. He was, by every measure, a mental tyrant.
Fortunately, America’s founders prepared for that possibility. Wilson (the POTUS) was denied the power he sought to grab by America’s constitutional Republic. There are countless other examples in America’s history.
So we have a tried and true system of government that actually works. It’s not perfect, and can be GREATLY improved on, but it has been battle tested time and again. As long as it’s adhered to, it will work. The second it’s not (as we’ve seen over the past 50 years), the country starts to suffer.
When it does suffer, you can’t blame a system that’s no longer being followed. Instead, we should ask how to get back on track and stay on track, while always trying to improve our imperfections. For that, I believe blockchain is arriving just in time.
Wow...I have no idea why I felt so compelled to respond to your post. Thanks for allowing me to vent BB.
Ha ha, glad you're getting a chance to vent! I think it's healthy to air our views. Even if you or I don't convince one another of everything, others may learn from our exchange.
To respond to your question, my "direct democracy" is not minority rule per se. In my system EVERYBODY gets to vote - directly. But the system is weighted so as to prevent the less intelligent or more uneducated opinions from carrying the decisions in a negative direction as opposed to ensuring a favourable long-term outcome for all.
It is self evident that if you ask a poor person with no education if they would like to pay no taxes at all, they would probably reply in the affirmative. In a country such as e.g. India, these people would greatly outnumber the educated few, and the long-term effects of their self-centred, short-term thinking would be disastrous - even for themselves. Similarly, if you have a history of anti-social behaviour, e.g. if you are a mass murderer, then you are obviously not interested in acting in the best interests of the collective and your ability to decide for everyone else should be penalised accordingly.
Intelligent people are not politicians. They don't all belong to one race, party, social class, gender etc. They are not some sort of pre-assembled cabal who have unified preferences, they are a representative sample of the population. You need not fear them as a group, simply because they are NOT a group. They are those most capable of making good decisions for the rest, so they get a chance to do that - thereby assuring the best outcome for the greatest number. Everyone still votes, but those who can help the most get the chance to do so.
Or let me put it another way: When you let everybody have an equal power vote - you end up with the current mess that most of our Western nations are in.
My take on 1930s Germany was that it was a representative democracy - a multi-party state until Hitler's famous "Night of the Long Knives", where he killed his opposition and then instantly transformed Germany into an autocratic single-party state.
Yeah...We're never going to agree on that system you propose for all the reasons I've listed. Politicians , non-politicians...we have endless examples of power corrupting even the most intelligent and pure at heart.
Your system is not a democracy, but I get your point that everyone has a vote...just not everyone's vote means that much.
Regardless, I remain convinced a Constitutional Republic, representative democracy (as America's founders gave us) is the best form of government BY FAR...again, for all the reasons I outline above.
Anyway...Glad we had a chance to chat. As I said, I think we have a lot more in-common than it may seem. Take care my friend!
Thanks for the contributions my friend. Here's to a better future - whatever that may be!