I think you misunderstand Direct Democracy. Or at least its meaning in popular reform circles.
generally the idea is that Citizens have the right to overrule, and initiate laws.
ie
Should the Government be given a petition signed by X% of the citizens and meeting criteria A, B, and C. The Government *MUST* bring forth a bill for a vote in the house within Time T on the subject of the petition.
Should the Government be given a petition signed by X% of the citizens and meeting criteria A, B, and C, regarding a law passed by the government. The government *MUST* within Time T hold a referendum on the subject.
I don't think grand parent is an anarchist. I think maybe he believes that the system to determine who or what is in power is more important then the actual person or group in power. On this point I agree with him. "Voting the bums out." Will not help!
I just did an early vote an early vote in the Ontario municipal elections. if I would have been given a blank ballot I would not have been able to vote.
I knew the candidates (all of them) I knew the positions, on the issues. I know who best fit my views. and I knew I was going to strategically vote for based on poll results. But, for the life of me I would not be able to spell my candidates name without a crib sheet.
Asking slashdot will provide nothing but anecdotal evidence. The plural of anecdote is NOT data. please if you ever plan to complete your "graduate thesis", and validate you theory that "our industry causes a high rate of divorce". Please do a proper scientific study.
Try to get the information (statistics/Data) from an existing database somewhere (census data) or do your own random sample survey.
but for the love of science, do not ask/. and then expect to write a thesis on it.
and the aim of candidates and their operatives is not so much to win an argument as to brand opponents as fundamentally unfit."
How is This diffrent then before? It always been easier to Say "look they are scary", then to present your own Ideas. Its a fundimental problem with the current 2 party system. With more candidates it becomes harder to do this, you don't look Nearly as good if you are tring to bash 5 diffrent people as if you are tring to bash 1.
it makes some generalizations. but it is usefull as a measure to see where what area of your life has the largest envrionmental impact. then you can easily target the easy areas first.
If its food, try small portions of meat, and at fewer times. if its transpotation/housing move to an apartment closer to work.
it like all models does not have a 1:1 corolation with reality. but that does not mean it is not useful.
dude did you even read your own link? Most of the definitions do not have the requirement that a theory make testable predictions. Why would you link to somthing as evidance and try to use it as an argument in favour of your view if it disagrees with you.
My girlfriend (6 years) uses Suse at work and Kubuntu on her home laptop. She codes her simulations in KDevelop. and wrote her thesis in Emacs, (LaTeX). She still insists on using Horde (webmail) despite my attempts to move her to some kind of Imap, service.
it will no doubt be crippled in some way so as not to damage the cash-cow that Office has become.
and lets not forget window. odds that anything like this will work under any browser not based on ie near 0. odds that anything like this will work under any OS not released by MS exactly 0.
Odds that somebody will make a special browser/OS change so that it will work, almost a sure thing.
sounds like a good idea. one problem Ubunutu will not run well on most win 98 machines. I have it running now on a p3-800 with 128Mb Ram. It is dog as slow, OOo takes a minute to open, login takes for ever. opening more than one ap at a time is a no no.
Damn Small Linux, however runs fine. but DSL is not a modern distro. It doesn't give me advanced Spreadsheet abilities, or make icons look like images, or auto mount my usb drive.
The republicans and democrate have almost two hundred years practice at working candidates from the ground up. Thier parties need to do the same and they will be just as prevailent as the two parties.
I think you just proved my point, who is going to support a party if the expected time till it becomes a major political force is longer then there lifetime?
People think that these modern times have always been this way. They havn't. For the better part of the first century of government in America there was more then two parties. Republicans and democrates were third parties at one time too. They definatly weren't around when the country began it's government.
I understand there are and have been other major political parties. and even major 3rd party candidates. however these occurrences are further apart then they once were, they are also less signifigant, when they do occur.
This is because as the population base of the US grows it becomes harder for individuals to rally the increased support they need, to run a major candidate.
The last time a 3rd party actually took a signifigant portion of the electoral collage was 1912. and even then Teddy didn't have any statistical chance. But, he did teach both parties one thing, factional splitting within the party is bad. Its always "tow the party line for one more election" or the other side will win.
I understand your point. GDP is a silly measure of the economy. but at the time it was created and used there wasn't a lot of knowlege about other methods of measureing the economy.
basically you start with GDP, and subtract all the useless stuff that your money has been spent on (ie oil spills) then you subtract the value of any assests that can no longer produce wealth for you. (ie oil you have taken out of the ground)
* Local and state governments, have a say over local and state issues, not national, or global.
* I believe your Senate and house are both elected via plurality, of the riding. yes, it is easier to get a 3rd party elected if the vote base is small. but it is still a winner take all system. This systemt encurages 2 parties and only 2 parties.
If some third party could come around and fill a need without apearing too extream, it could easily find itself in various positions of power.
no. this will not happen. your system of government has created a two party state, It is not possible for a 3rd party to enter into american politics and get a signifigant portion of the vote.
1. if the position is extreme they will miss the largest vote base and not get signifigant support
2. If there position is moderate, then there is little insentive to vote for them as they will not consivably be in power for many many terms, till they build a support base.
As such and because there support base never grows above a small size, Many of its supporters will leave to one of the other parties that has a chanse of getting elected in the next 20 years.
Always, forcing the 3rd party to no more then a few % of the vote.
Its sad really, you think you live in the most powerfull democracy that has ever existed, but its system was poorly designed. and needs to change very soon.
Slashdot Mirror
I think you misunderstand Direct Democracy. Or at least its meaning in popular reform circles.
generally the idea is that
Citizens have the right to overrule, and initiate laws.
ie
Should the Government be given a petition signed by X% of the citizens and meeting criteria A, B, and C. The Government *MUST* bring forth a bill for a vote in the house within Time T on the subject of the petition.
Should the Government be given a petition signed by X% of the citizens and meeting criteria A, B, and C, regarding a law passed by the government. The government *MUST* within Time T hold a referendum on the subject.
something like that
This might interest you :
Direct Democracy by Delegable Proxy.
The technology to do it and make sure it is secure is years away, but it is a very cool idea.
I don't think grand parent is an anarchist.
I think maybe he believes that the system to determine who or what is in power is more important then the actual person or group in power.
On this point I agree with him.
"Voting the bums out." Will not help!
I just did an early vote an early vote in the Ontario municipal elections. if I would have been given a blank ballot I would not have been able to vote.
I knew the candidates (all of them)
I knew the positions, on the issues.
I know who best fit my views.
and I knew I was going to strategically vote for based on poll results.
But, for the life of me I would not be able to spell my candidates name without a crib sheet.
Canada, We already have a social safety net (health care, EI, CPP), and a large energy reserve, (Oil Sands, Hybernia, Wind, Tidal, BioMass).
Asking slashdot will provide nothing but anecdotal evidence. The plural of anecdote is NOT data.
/. and then expect to write a thesis on it.
please if you ever plan to complete your "graduate thesis", and validate you theory that "our industry causes a high rate of divorce". Please do a proper scientific study.
Try to get the information (statistics/Data) from an existing database somewhere (census data)
or do your own random sample survey.
but for the love of science, do not ask
How is This diffrent then before? It always been easier to Say "look they are scary", then to present your own Ideas.
Its a fundimental problem with the current 2 party system. With more candidates it becomes harder to do this, you don't look Nearly as good if you are tring to bash 5 diffrent people as if you are tring to bash 1.
doing a little more research
/ index.shtml#accuracy1
l ityindicators/ef/ef_household_0203.xls
/ individuals.asp
There is an FAQ
http://www.rprogress.org/newprojects/ecolFoot/faq
that FAQ points to and xls file.
http://redefiningprogress.org/programs/sustainabi
that does a more complex calculation.
and there are some suggestions at
http://www.earthday.net/Footprint/lowband/english
I agree with you.
# Criticisms
it is not perfect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_Footprint
it makes some generalizations.
but it is usefull as a measure to see where what area of your life has the largest envrionmental impact.
then you can easily target the easy areas first.
If its food, try small portions of meat, and at fewer times.
if its transpotation/housing move to an apartment closer to work.
it like all models does not have a 1:1 corolation with reality.
but that does not mean it is not useful.
you can calculate your envrionmental footprint.
at : http://www.myfootprint.org/
My results are something like this (# are in Hectares)
Food = 1.1
(vegitarian)
Mobility = 0.2
(bike/bus to work)
Shelter = 0.9
(apartment)
goods/services = 0.8
(I shop at the Sallvation Army)
Total = 3.0
If everyone lived like me we would need 1.7 planets.
dude did you even read your own link?
Most of the definitions do not have the requirement that a theory make testable predictions.
Why would you link to somthing as evidance and try to use it as an argument in favour of your view if it disagrees with you.
you are a strange strange person.
er...dumb question.
does it play ogg ?
she doesn't have a /. ID mr 160456.
When she wants to kill time on the computer she plays video games.
usually FreeCiv, TuxRacer, Kbounce, Kmines.
more Me to.
My girlfriend (6 years)
uses Suse at work and Kubuntu on her home laptop.
She codes her simulations in KDevelop.
and wrote her thesis in Emacs, (LaTeX).
She still insists on using Horde (webmail)
despite my attempts to move her to some kind of Imap, service.
she even has a TUX sticker on her laptop.
or "Audio Feed".
Toronto, Vancouver, San Fransisco
and lets not forget window.
odds that anything like this will work under any browser not based on ie near 0.
odds that anything like this will work under any OS not released by MS exactly 0.
Odds that somebody will make a special browser/OS change so that it will work, almost a sure thing.
yah xfce is better, and Abiword/Gnumeric are much faster then OOo
.doc, or .xls...I sigh and wait 2 minutes while OO loads.
But there I have little to no success opening office Docs in it.
Somebody sends me an
probably because its cross platform.
recipe for disaster:
Take Massive One Highly Bloated And Slow Open Source Application
Mix well with Second Highly Bloated Open Source Application.
Stir and run.....then wait.....
seriously OOo is way slow an bloated.
Useful yes, but SLOW!
This Is not a good idea, I generally don't like half ass attempts at "Integrating" programs.
either build the Program from the ground up as an API and integrate them fully.
or don't do it at all.
sounds like a good idea.
one problem Ubunutu will not run well on most win 98 machines.
I have it running now on a p3-800 with 128Mb Ram.
It is dog as slow, OOo takes a minute to open, login takes for ever.
opening more than one ap at a time is a no no.
Damn Small Linux, however runs fine.
but DSL is not a modern distro. It doesn't give me advanced Spreadsheet abilities, or make icons look like images, or auto mount my usb drive.
I think you just proved my point, who is going to support a party if the expected time till it becomes a major political force is longer then there lifetime?
I understand there are and have been other major political parties.
and even major 3rd party candidates. however these occurrences are further apart then they once were, they are also less signifigant, when they do occur.
This is because as the population base of the US grows it becomes harder for individuals to rally the increased support they need, to run a major candidate.
The last time a 3rd party actually took a signifigant portion of the electoral collage was 1912.
and even then Teddy didn't have any statistical chance.
But, he did teach both parties one thing, factional splitting within the party is bad. Its always "tow the party line for one more election" or the other side will win.
and you know what. they are right!
I understand your point.
i cator
GDP is a silly measure of the economy.
but at the time it was created and used there wasn't a lot of knowlege about other methods of measureing the economy.
Have a look into GPI!
http://www.rprogress.org/projects/gpi/
http://www.gpiatlantic.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuine_Progress_Ind
basically you start with GDP, and subtract all the useless stuff that your money has been spent on (ie oil spills)
then you subtract the value of any assests that can no longer produce wealth for you. (ie oil you have taken out of the ground)
* Local and state governments, have a say over local and state issues, not national, or global.
* I believe your Senate and house are both elected via plurality, of the riding.
yes, it is easier to get a 3rd party elected if the vote base is small.
but it is still a winner take all system. This systemt encurages 2 parties and only 2 parties.
no. this will not happen.
your system of government has created a two party state, It is not possible for a 3rd party to enter into american politics and get a signifigant portion of the vote.
1. if the position is extreme they will miss the largest vote base and not get signifigant support
2. If there position is moderate, then there is little insentive to vote for them as they will not consivably be in power for many many terms, till they build a support base.
As such and because there support base never grows above a small size, Many of its supporters will leave to one of the other parties that has a chanse of getting elected in the next 20 years.
Always, forcing the 3rd party to no more then a few % of the vote.
Its sad really, you think you live in the most powerfull democracy that has ever existed, but its system was poorly designed. and needs to change very soon.