[TOUGH QUESTIONS] State or individual - which should be master? - Zerowedgie

[John Newman]

On July 25, 2018 12:56:17 AM CDT, juan <juan.g71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>On Tue, 24 Jul 2018 05:06:01 -0500
>John Newman <jnn at synfin.org> wrote:
>
>> 
>> 
>> On July 23, 2018 3:42:49 PM CDT, juan <juan.g71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >On Mon, 23 Jul 2018 12:03:18 +1000
>> >Zenaan Harkness <zen at freedbms.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >> 
>> >>  ∙ the state    direct democracy    anarchy/ism
>> >
>> >
>> >	so what is 'direct democracy'? A bunch of statists who can
>'directly
>> >vote' on how to abuse their betters? 
>> >
>> >	unless you give some actual specification for 'direct democracy'
>> 
>> 
>
>> In sci-fi by Alistair Reynolds there is a certain faction called the
>Demarchists (or demarchy, but doesn't have the same connotation as the
>English word) - they all get a neural implant at birth that
>automatically polls them on every conceivable issue in their particular
>community, eventually it sort of faids to a low background noise in
>their head.... And they all vote, on everything. I think it would drive
>you fucking insane but its a type of (speculative) "direct democracy".
>
>	
>	And the author presents it as good, bad, or he remains impartial to
>it?
>

Impartial - just another fucked up form of far flung post humanity. I think the biggest demarchist factions are mostly destroyed through the course of the stories (I'm not sure - I haven't read them all ;)


>	Anyway, that sort of mechanism seems like a wet dream for people
>interested in turning (other) people into the most 'efficient' cogs for
>'society'. 
>

Yeah it does leave a bit of a  bad taste in your mouth. Still, an interesting thought experiment.
 
>
>
>
>> 
>> 
>> >(which is just another for of statism anyway) you are not saying
>much,
>> >if anything.