A fundamental problem with out current democratic system is that citizens do not have the adequate ability to provide the government with feedback; even with perfect voting. One idea is to create a new institution that mimics a stock exchange where citizens buy/sell opinions. Each citizen is awarded x units of a specialized currency every so often that allows them to put their money where there mind is. This would create a realtime poll of the citizenry on every issue from who should be our leaders to how you feel about the war, etc. The more popular an idea the more expensive it becomes. You can profit or lose "opinion influence dollars" depending on your ability to buy/sell at the right time so people with foresight (or luck) will have more influence than others. This is how the business world "polls" their constituency and it is excellent for measuring consensus. In the meantime, we can keep improving old fashioned voting. This market of ideas would trump the liars in government and the media who are constantly telling us what we think. Instead, let's tell ourselves what we think. Since this is a new institution its creation might be easier than changing old ones that seem to have reached the status of "sacred cows".
There are important details to be fleshed out like how do "opionions" get posted on the exchange, how do we maintain anonymity, etc. The software already exists to do this and it is at least as reliable/believable as the software running the stock exchanges around the world...
Slashdot Mirror
A fundamental problem with out current democratic system is that citizens do not have the adequate ability to provide the government with feedback; even with perfect voting. One idea is to create a new institution that mimics a stock exchange where citizens buy/sell opinions. Each citizen is awarded x units of a specialized currency every so often that allows them to put their money where there mind is. This would create a realtime poll of the citizenry on every issue from who should be our leaders to how you feel about the war, etc. The more popular an idea the more expensive it becomes. You can profit or lose "opinion influence dollars" depending on your ability to buy/sell at the right time so people with foresight (or luck) will have more influence than others. This is how the business world "polls" their constituency and it is excellent for measuring consensus. In the meantime, we can keep improving old fashioned voting. This market of ideas would trump the liars in government and the media who are constantly telling us what we think. Instead, let's tell ourselves what we think. Since this is a new institution its creation might be easier than changing old ones that seem to have reached the status of "sacred cows". There are important details to be fleshed out like how do "opionions" get posted on the exchange, how do we maintain anonymity, etc. The software already exists to do this and it is at least as reliable/believable as the software running the stock exchanges around the world...