Back in Ancient Athens the Greeks came up with an interesting idea to allow polis citizens to contribute to their own governance: Democracy.
This new and idealistic approach was intended to give a voice to each one of the people. There was one major flaw in their progressive new system: the vehicle for submission was cumbersome, you cannot hold a vote of the entire citizenry every time a decision is to be made. The solution devised by the Athenians was to design a structure within society where a few represented the wishes of all, thus the republic was born and a new subset of politics, the representative.
We all know about the pitfalls of relying on representatives: corruption threatens public interest, honesty and integrity come into question, and it is exclusive: if our district votes on a candidate who doesn’t represent our specific interests, then we are actually not represented- because we were the minority on election day.
One of the mechanisms of social manipulation that has become very prevalent is the questioning of one’s patriotism when they present a snag for government business as usual. When someone is questioning they are accused of being “un-American”, but I say, that there is not an attribute MORE American than questioning and investigating and re-evaluating the ways that are being used to accomplish our collective tasks (the aim of which should always be liberty).
Thus I am suggesting that there is a new era at our doorstep, one where the input of all is considered in political decision-making, an age of Digital Democracy. In this new period, we as citizens will not have to worry if our senator actually read a new law before voting on it. We can rest assured that our administrative resources are going to meet our needs: the public’s, not the domineering needs of a few wealthy, power-hungry men seeking world domination. This era is possible because of networked digital technology.
I am confident. We have learned a lot, we have grown; and one thing I keep seeing is that the average American or European does not wish harm on the average person living in a Middle-Eastern or African, or any other country. We generally express humanity in our desires for others to live and be free and enjoy happiness. With this new era, we can use our individual voices with collective force and ensure that our well intended hopes for others do not become perverted in the giant game of chess that world leaders typically play with lesser people’s lives.
Successful application of such a system will be a truly involved task, however, not only could we apply this new method of true democracy; as patriots we must, in this world of knowledge and power, take advantage of our new information transmission abilities in order to continue our forefathers' pursuits of freedom.
