On 6. December 2003 at 11:07AM -0800, Jason Newquist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > Friends of mine postulated the idea of having "politician > > > duty" in much the same was as we have jury duty ... you get > > > a letter one day telling you it's your turn to serve. > > > Pretty sure this was done in at least one ancient govt > > > ... think it was Athens. > > > > > > "Random people" have a much better chance of aligning with > > > my interests than politicians. The fact is, anyone who's > > > willing to put themselves and their family through the > > > torture that is a politician's life by definition does not > > > share my values. > > > > I hear that British COlumbia is planning to use a random > > scheme to select members of the commission that is going to > > propose a mechanism for proportional representation or other > > more equitable election system. The result to be ratified in > > a referendum. > > As usual, science fiction was here before. C.F., _The Songs of > Distant Earth_ by Arthur C. Clarke. You do remember that the first generation colonists in the novel were "manufactured" from gene samples and raised by machines that taught them a sanitized version of human history and culture? They were genetically and culturally engineered to be altruistic. So maybe our best hope lies in breeding out our baser instincts. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]