--- On Sun, 1/2/09, Michael Allan <m...@zelea.com> wrote: > Juho Laatu wrote: > > > > > (I hope the role of public image > > > > doesn't get so strong that people > > > > would start thinking that their > > > > whitened teeth and wide smile are > > > > what they are, more than their > > > > internal thoughts. :-) > > > > > > All of us shaking hands and kissing babies. :) > > > > Yes, usually that comes from the heart, > > which is just a sign of health. :-) > > I guess we're just bantering.
Yes. (I had also some interest in confirming that by default the sincere preferences of people can be said to be a key driver behind their external behaviour. Politicians may use an external mask intentionally. Also citizens without any such public position often have a mask on. But hopefully their life is not too much bound by that mask (and internal thoughts not forced to reflect the image given by the mask).) > If we were being > serious, I'd say the > necessity of the "whitened teeth and wide smile" > dates from the advent > of TV in politics. (Wasn't it Richard Nixon who first > learned about > that, back in the 60's or 70's?) So the systematic > of image making is > more on the side of mass media and mass voting - a problem > in the > status quo. And granted all is not problematic there, much > is healthy > too. I respect our arrangements. > > The problematic I would like to discuss, without quite > knowing how, or > with whom, is more on the social side. The proposed voting > method > itself has no systematic flaws, none we've been able to > uncover to > date (and maybe we need to wait for empirical data). But I > can easily > forsee social problems that may be released as an indirect > consequence > of it. > > We have tensions in our societies that are held in a frozen > suspension > by our political arrangements, not least by our voting > methods. I tend to think that all systems easily get frozen spots for various reasons. No set of rules is perfect enough to keep the system viable and flexible forever. One has to monitor and take care and make also small improvements to the system to keep it fresh and to respond to changes in the environment. There will be also many attempts to go around, twist, change and forget the rules. Better watch out and keep one's mind and discussions open. > Some > in this list who may ordinarilly be comfortable with > discussing the > social side of voting, may nevertheless be uncomfortable > with > discussing these particular tensions. Like Madison or > Jefferson, who > feared an unmoderated, unrestrained democracy, they might > rather keep > a lid on such issues. Yet, although it is simple enough to > moderate > and restrain discussion here in the list, it may no longer > be possible > to keep a lid on these issues in reality. I guess there is a balance between total freedom and control of the society as a whole. One could characterize large part of the features of our societies as an evolution story from the "laws of jungle" towards systems that we consider to give better results to us as a society and as individuals. The democratic societies even try to allow all the members of the society to decide the best direction of evolution themselves. Such systems require freedom and discipline/control/rules to be in good balance. > > The main axis of tension is probably the gross disparity in > wealth, > freedom and other goods that extends both locally > (inter-class) and > globally (inter-national). Yes, this is one of the key problems. Too large gaps tend to lead e.g. to revolutions and also various other forms of violence. > What will happen when that > disparity is > thematized in formal voting and discussion, and floated in > political > action? Locally, will people continue to accept the degree > of > inequality that our economic system seems to require, in > order to keep > on functioning and producing goods? I'm not sure that inequality would be a requirement. Full equality in terms of wealth and power is impossible to achieve, but we can approximate that at some agreed/suitable level (e.g. by balancing the differences a bit where needed) - and still keep the natural competitive forces alive as the forward driving force in the society (and its economy). Juho > And globally, if we > open > democracy to all the world's people, are we also > prepared to open our > borders to them? > > -- > Michael Allan > > Toronto, 647-436-4521 > http://zelea.com/ > > ---- > Election-Methods mailing list - see > http://electorama.com/em for list info ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
