Wednesday, May 20, 2009

reform the plutocracy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter Preston has a thread on CiF where you can propose appropriate constitutional reforms for our pseudo-democracy. I gave it some:

Ban lobbying. It is antidemocratic.
Reform the electoral system to institute the single, transferable vote.
Make registration of your political position compulsory. Citizens have responibilities to their government as well as rights.
Institue the Swiss model of direct democracy , whereby each citizen's vote is divested to their elected representative, who wields them on behalf of the community UNLESS that citizen wishes to vote differently, in which case their vote is reallocated in parliament according to their wishes. Politicians never speak for their entire electorate and we should acknowledge that.
Make the second house 100% elected.
CREATE A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION! This is what the Americans call a "no brainer".
My proposals all rely on the premise that the electorate is intelligent and rational. This is clearly not the case due to decades of educational and societal neglect by the grey parties. Therefore these reforms must be accompanied by a massive educational drive targeted across the entire population to clearly disseminate the rights and responsibilities that are expected of citizens of a democracy and why they are vital to the health of such. Lets face it: There's plenty of examples of why this is the case form the previous thirty years of incompetence, subversion and plutocratic practices in our government.
Word.

Addition 15-11-2010:

I should have specified banning professional lobbying, not just any lobbying. Broader attempts to ban lobbying are scarily antidemocratic.

4 comments:

  1. This is something I've been thinking about for some time. It's been hundreds of years since the French and American revolutions, but we haven't learned anything from the concept of exercising civil as opposed to state power. We still live in a society where our 'betters' know what's best for us, which what they really mean is what's best for them.

    Our political mechanisms have become much too large and out of touch for many people to comprehend and as such care about, which is why I would like to see a version of the Swiss system here, although there is a worry about the pernicious effect of the media on hot issues.

    Among the many things in my personal wish list I'd add disestablish the C of E (and I suspect that would be in your Constitution/Bill of Individual Rights), ban religious brainwashing in state funded schools and an overhaul of the monarchy, replacing the concept of us as 'subjects' with 'citizens'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Strong stuff, mate. I'm very much in agreement. Interesting that you raise the potential for media propaganda to influence direct democracy. According to Noam that already happens in the current system (Manufacturing Consent).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah, a no brainer it sure is! I feel like that angry german kid whenever I think of it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The disparity of power between local and national government needs addressing too. Not sure how to put that in a snappy one-liner, but the US model that there are rights at state level that can not be interfered with or revoked nationally.

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to share your opinions of my opinions. Oh- and cocking fuckmouse.