What Problem Are We Trying To Solve?

Participants:

Video

Notes: What is democracy?

Government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Specifically, there is something called "the will of the people". Democracy consists in translating the will of the people into public policy.

 The will of the people can be a repository of great wisdom, or dangerously capricious.

To believe in democracy is to believe that an informed and aroused people will make good decisions about complex ideas.

But for ordinary citizens to make good decisions, they need to be:

Informed: They need to know about the problem and the alternatives.

Aroused: They need to feel the need for change, and to believe they can make a difference.

Both of these things are impeded by Ignorance, Isolation, and Apathy.

Ignorance - People are too busy making a living to sort out all the conflicting information oncomplex issues. They don't know that there are other ways to vote.

Isolation - Urban people are huddled over their computers and TVs and don't get out. Rural people can't get a highspeed connection. Suburban people are car-bound and have no place to get together.

Apathy - People believe (correctly) that "They're all the same. They don't listen. My vote doesn't make a difference."

There is a channel between the will of the people and public policy that looks like this:

The People - Elections - Representatives - Public Policy

Public (government) policy is set by our Representatives in Parliament.

We choose our Representatives by holding Elections.

Each of these steps is also a barrier.

Our Representatives and political parties have their own agendas, having to do with getting elected and holding on to their jobs. They must be held accountable.

Our current antique, winner-take-all voting system distorts the results of our elections. It is not competitive, and fails to provide the tool we need hold our politicians and political parties accountable.

The media are supposed to be the conduit for public information, but they are controlled by a few powerful conglomerates, and they have their own agenda.

Politicans and media engage in a circular dialogue, talking to each other. Citizens find it difficult to break into the conversation.

Political activists are tied in to the conversation and engaged, but the mass of the public are too busy to sort out conflicting information and take action, and get most of their info from TV.