A brief history of representation, from small casual groups to civilizations.
When it goes right.
The group trusts the leaders, and doesn’t have to keep an eye on them all the time, which opens up more time for other activities.
Leaders with uncommon skills and knowledge are able to bring the group to the most prosperous outcomes, efficiently.
When it goes wrong.
Taxpayer-funded vacations.
Kickbacks from industry, which politicians selectively stimulate with our money, and not benefiting us first.
Politicizing and holding hostage doing the right thing for the group, in order to receive favors, money etc. while the group’s interests and money are put on hold or suffer.
Overcomplicating and obfuscating clear topics to imply expertise and get people to think they aren’t smart enough to think for themselves. The “You need me! Now bow down or go away” tactic.
The need for group discussion, prioritizing, and resource allocation.
Congress is mostly obsolete. People pay taxes, then wait for the politicians to care about the things they care about with that money. You can try to vote in new congresspeople, but it’s all but hopeless to get them to care about what you care about. Just give directly to the efforts you care about, bypass the politicians, they fail too often.
Politicians love good ideas. But not because they want to implement them. They want to hold those ideas hostage, and demand money and other favors in exchange for implementing them. And even when they get a bunch of money, then they roll out the good ideas in as small of chunks as possible, so they can demand more money for the next chunk. And then, periodically, they will wrestle the idea out of existence again, demanding even more donations, to then put back the idea in practice.
And they Hate the internet. Anyone able to communicate with anyone else, around the globe, from the comfort of their home, car, coffee shop etc. for basically free? You mean people can share ideas, discuss solutions to problems, collaborate, and give to the professionals who are skilled at implementing their goals!? It will be the death of us, the politicians say. Yes, politicians are finally obsolete, and happily so, for everyone.
At an extreme, politicians also like to threaten to implement the opposite of a good idea, once their weak, filthy minds can mostly comprehend it. The fact that they are incapable of original thought, and how they run in hoards, often cannibalizing each other, should tell you something. They have no respect for each other, nor themselves, but oh yeah, they really care about you and me. (Until after the election.)
In Dante’s Inferno, the bottom of Hell contains Satan who is perpetually torturing Judas, who betrayed Jesus and led to his crucifixion. Politicians constantly betray all of us, and send our children to die in endless war, to feed the money-hungry military industrial complex. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a new depth of Hell suitable for modern American politicians.
People just finding reputable people online who are skilled at accomplishing goals, and then just sending those people or groups a few bucks here and there. When the globe starts doing that, we don’t need much government purporting itself as so important and taking our money through taxes.
Imagine just sending a little money to troops that have a solid, verifiable reputation, and they pool the money coming in, and continue doing good work. Applicable to all causes and activities. Like buying your friend’s latest music album.
I think once people see they can shape their communities and world, without stiff liars yelling “You need me!”… people will start spending more self-directed money than all taxes currently forcibly collected.
Finding people and groups to support, based on approval, in the forms of likes, endorsements, experience proofs, and doing research in your community/word of mouth, newspapers, online communities, and cause rankings like Charity Navigator
Require taxes from the very rich or redistribution of wealth, in part, from the very rich periodically or upon death.
If you’re not rich and don’t feel compelled or reasonably able to pay taxes, you shouldn’t be forced to. But everyone has values. Give reasonably to reputable people and groups that make your values reality.
Vote with your dollars, and the bad leaders and less able professionals will dry up. Start local, give to home base, then give to larger causes.
Our institutions are corrupt, all of them, not just congress. DC hasn’t cared about your values in a long time, if ever.
Your money has power though. Your power, to support those who share your goals and values. And you’re not alone. With lots of people sharing information and giving, the best goals win.
Using technology to connect with members of your group and hold votes. After all, you bank and shop online, so why can’t we vote online? But this is applicable to groups of all interests and sizes.
Open-source software, which ensures the group can verify the integrity of the system.
“If it’s open-source, then how could it be secure?”
Just because you know the steps of an encryption algorithm, doesn’t mean you know the password, supplied by the person who is using the algorithm. The math done by the algorithm in order to encrypt, can’t be reproduced or reversed, without the password.
Most decisions affecting a group aren’t rocket science, and should be decided collectively, especially when resources of those group members are to be used.
Even when a decision is demanding of some expertise, simply give those with the right credentials more than one vote. That way, everyone can still participate in all the votes.
Going about demanding that leaders accept the will of the people supporting them, especially financially.
Technology-focused empowerment of communities and groups of all sizes 