Decius wrote:
] This was a private message but I've decided to post my
] comments publically.
]
] Elonka wrote:
] ] Heh, I have trouble with thinking of the name Tom/Decius and
]
] ] "apathetic" in the same thought. ;) You're one of the
] least
] ] apathetic people I know! (grin)
]
] I'm not apathetic. Statistically, most of my peers are.
]
] ] Just out of curiosity, how often do you vote? When's the
] last
] ] time that you voted?
]
] I usually try to vote. I did not vote in the last Presidential
] election because I was flying to South Korea that day. (And I
] must say I was quite surpised a month later when I returned to
] find that we did not yet have a leader.) (Yes, I realise that
] you can pre-vote, but I was far too busy to research it.)
]
] I last voted in the 2002 California elections. I voted against
] a communist (not exagerating) electric power system for San
] Francisco which was literally going to be operated by
] administrators who admitedly didn't know anything about
] anything other then that they hate corporations (There was
] only ONE engineer running for PUD administrator in ONE
] district). It was defeated by less then 1000 votes.
]
] ] Regardless, I do agree with you that it's an excellent idea
] to
] ] encourage people to vote.
]
] Its not just voting.
]
] We have an extremely effective propaganda system in this
] country. I beleive the interest in the Internet/blogging is
] basically a reaction to that, whether people understand it or
] not. They want more detail and broader perspectives, and they
] want to control what they see.
]
] The difference between our legal rhetoric and that of the
] parliments is stark. People don't watch cspan because it is
] specifically intended to be boring and obtuse. We have to
] fight this, not just in terms of access (which has been a hard
] fight in and of itself) but in terms of accessability.
]
] We need more detailed input into our government's actions then
] a left/right switch every four years. California leads the way
] in this respect. There are lots of referendums on every ballot
] and they send you a packet with pro and con information on
] each item.
]
] We need more organized voting. Do not vote with a party and do
] not vote as a generalist ("I like this guy."). Pick a specific
] issue that you care about. Pick a position on that issue.
] Pre-announce your position on that issue so that politicians
] have the opportunitiy to respond to you. Create organizations
] of other people who will vote the same way you will and sell
] this organization as a part of a coallition that a politican
] may court in the context of building enough votes to put
] him/her into office.
]
] Basically, "Special Interests" are GOOD NOT BAD. Attempts to
] limit them are attempts to limit democracy. When you vote
] left/right instead of voting on specifics that you UNDERSTAND,
] you have less impact on the situation, not more. Your input
] becomes more obtuse and more related to your identity then
] your thoughts. Left/right is not important. Right/wrong is
] important, and none of us has the capacity to understand all
] the right/wrongs nor are any of the politicians right or wrong
] on every issue. Understand the right/wrong on AN issue and
] pursue THAT issue ALONE.
]
] Democracy is not an on/off switch. Its many shades of gray.
] This country could be a great deal more democratic.
] Information technology enables this because it scaling
] democracy is, essentially, an information technology problem.

Persomally, I think this country is goin to continue on it's current path of insanity unti the end of the 2 party system. Personally, I vote libertarian. Sometimes my vote seems wasted but it's more inline with my beliefs. I sure hope we see this within my lifetime.

RE: Sovereign authority - By Michael Kinsley - Slate.com