> For example, I know very little about how my local
> water or electricity is served to me. Should I know more about it?
> Perhaps. But that would take quite a bit of time, and leave me with
> much less time to study these issues. Even if I were to devote my
> life to studying policy issues, would I have enough time to study all
> of them sufficiently so that if it came time for me to decide what
> 'governance' I wanted, I would make the 'right' choices?
>
Sheerly by coincidence, I dare say, you state the rationale for
collective organization. By yourself, *studying everything you need
or want to know does indeed take all your time -- and then some.
But get together with a bunch, all of whom are interested in the
topic, who readily share their experiences, and who talk about and
act on the issues (be they water or electricity supply or governance
and representation) in their normal conduct, and soon you have a
what is called an informed populace (sometimes even "public")
without one minute having to be spent "studying" any of it.
Call it open-source society if you like, but many hands make light
work -- and I recommend this business model to the .car folks who
want to compete with AOL.
kerry
