Regarding the original proposal in this thread to have a web-enabled popular
legislative process, I have misgivings on two fronts:
1. "There Ought to be a Law". Do we really want to make it easier to pass
new laws more quickly in response to "popular" concerns? In many instances
it takes time to see the full outlines of a matter of current broad public
concern. I'd be afraid of a process like this making legislation a simple
reflection of fads and momentary preoccupations.
2. Scale. Especially if such a system were implemented on a national level,
I'd be very concerned that national majorities would ignore local minority
realities. Until we get more balance restored in our federal system here in
the US (which has more checks on federal centralized power than most large
diverse nations already), I think we could have the people who live in big
cities in New York, California and Texas dictating the conditions of life in
Montana, New Mexico and Missouri more than they already do.
In a message dated 6/7/00 3:17:57 PM Central Daylight Time,
zero_powers@hotmail.com writes:
> Dick The Butcher,
> and kill all the lawyers first.
Let's not forget the context of Richard's famous comment: His plan to "first,
kill all the lawyers" was part of his program to impose a personal
dictatorship on the state.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:13:07 MDT