politics

If you want true democracy, elections and representative governments are flawed mechanisms. And random representative assemblies could fix it.

A 10 points thread

dev & design | love crafting things and thinking about how the tragedy of the commons could become the triumph of the commons

currently building /ascend

1. Election is actually Aristocratic: we elect the bests to represent us. Most aristocracies degenerate into oligarchies when the children of the best are considered the best. It's been widely discussed, for example by Socrates & cie who were for aristocracy, not democracy

2. Abdication of Sovereignty: Elections involve renouncing your sovereignty by giving power to representatives, thus placing some people above you.

4. Power Seekers: Elections empower those who desire power. Most people do not want power. "The most visible trait of a fair man is not at all to govern others but only to govern himself.”

5. Favoring Liars: To be elected and re-elected, candidates often need to lie about what they can or will do. Later they'll manipulate data about their achievements, and lie again. Honest individuals have little chance.

6. Creating Masters: Elections aim to choose the most qualified individuals, which can psychologically lead to vanity and the belief that one is justified in making decisions for the greater good. Random selection creates equals instead.

7. Uncontrollable Masters: Trusting someone as the best leads to giving them unchecked freedom : we don't want to put a spoke in the wheels of the newly arrived president. Random selection would encourage maintaining control throughout the entire process, not just at the end.

8. Caste Creation: What worked before will work again, creating entrenched power structures. We need more rotation in power, and random selection provides unbeatable representation. If 20% of society is unemployed, then approximately the same percentage would be in the assembly.

9. Party Politics: Elections impose the need for unity to win, fostering hierarchy, discipline, and a war-like mentality. This group-against-group mindset discourages admitting when the other side is right and punishes befriending the opposition.

10. Wealth and Corruption: The rich can help candidates get elected, creating indebted and servile representatives. This fosters corruption : the wealthy can buy the press and undermine the democratic value of journalism. It nukes the separations of powers.

All those points have been raised by Etienne Chouard

I'm more skeptical about democracy than I've ever been, but it's interesting to see what we call democracy might not even be it and have worst outputs

3. Political Disengagement: Knowing you cannot have power leads to infantilization, irresponsibility, and discouragement, pulling us away from active political participation.