[Cross-posted from BooMan]
In our echo chamber environment we tend to rush headlong into the future, while failing to look back. We respond to the daily onslaught of information without the means to state our position, or make our opinion known.
I think we can fix that problem with a 30-year-old experiment in direct democracy. Just a suggestion on how to untangle our own little Gordian knot.
First find the end of the string, the starting point:
It is widely believed that it would be impossible for millions of people to have the kind of participatory democracy available to the members of small communities such as the Greek polls, New England towns and Israeli Kibbutzim.
The quote is from an article written in 1972 by Amitai Etzioni, founder of the Communitarian Network. [SEE ALSO: Stewart Brand's The Media Lab, 1987. Brand also founded The WELL in 1985].
Can we really involve millions of people to both ask and answer questions on issues of the day? Yes, by using many-to-many communication tools. We have the technology.
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