Some thoughts on democracy and government

@RonaldLewis keynotes at the 2012 Colorado Libertarian State Convention Colorado.

Lewis makes some time-honoured arguments for increasing democracy by moving power from a few to the many - his vision is of a second declaration of independence from a faulty government.  It is hard to argue with a value-laden statement like this, "concentration of ego and power in the hands of few is never good for humanity."  Lewis, slightly surprisingly, makes a big deal of the US constitution - however, this is a document that constituted a political order based on representative government, and what Lewis goes on to describe is a very direct democracy.  The "greatest constitution in the world" restrains the forces of democracy rather than unleashes them.
I think he is right when he says that technology and the internet will create a future government that we won't recognise, that the opportunity for movement along the democratic continuum will happen because of technology - indeed, "government in the palm of your hand".
Not many Americans vote, there is huge political apathy - I'm reading this book by Nina Elliasoph - so I'm very cynical about what Lewis says.  If you listen again to the words he uses as the beginning of his speech, he singles out the very few who might make a difference; "here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently, that are not fond of rules and have no respect for the status quo" - on this group his pins humanities hopes for a better future. He finishes by saying "We must have bold ideas, bold thoughts and bold initiatives.", and I wouldn't disagree with that.

In mid 2009 the then PM Brown and leader of the opposition David Cameron made similar public declarations about how to heal the trust of the people in a broken government in the aftermath of the expenses scandal - their political rhetoric makes reference to a transfer of power to the people, Cameron actually said "we need a massive sweeping radical redistribution of power.  From the state to the citizens, from the government to parliament, from Whitehall to communities [...] from bureaucracy to democracy."  This is of course a political performance and the reality is very different.  Lewis is an activist, he probably means it, but I guess the reality will be the same.

One final thought, I never knew there was a verb "to keynote".

#gategate ...

...continues to run.
I like Paul Lewis.  He wrote this today.

It is the first clause in the newly published verbatim rant of Chief Whip the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP which I find the most offensive. To a police officer doing their job and following the security rules they had been told to follow – ‘Best you learn your f------ place’. Oh dear.

The real damage of this whole episode is, of course, the class one. We rule, you are ruled, oozes from every word. And not because we are elected, just because of who we are. Few things could be more damaging to the present Government.

Of course, Mr Mitchell (as he likes to be addressed) is correct that the police ‘don’t run the f------- Government’, and we would all fight (I hope) to keep it so, even avowed pacifists like me. But, appointed by us and given rules on security to keep our elected members safe, the police officer at that barrier did have the right to tell him which gate he was allowed to use. However annoying those petty rules may be, politicians of all people should follow them. If they want the rules changed then they have the power to make that happen.

And as for ‘you’re all f------- plebs’, that is a word that will haunt Mr Mitchell as long as he is in politics. Because it fits precisely the tone of the rant. In Rome ‘plebeians’ meant the mass of the people as opposed to the patrician class who ruled them. Back to ‘learn your place’. Sorry, ‘learn your fucking place’. I don’t wish to misquote the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP.

Before the apparently full account by the officer was published in The Daily Telegraphdated 25 September, Mr Mitchell said "I am very clear about what I said and what I didn't say and I want to make it absolutely clear that I did not use the words that have been attributed to me." He also apologised again.

The Daily Telegraph account http://goo.gl/J2sV1

Twits of the day...Romney again

It is impossible to know everything, Twitter lets me know just how much I don't know.  Tweet after tweet of intelligent comment on every conceivable issue.

I believe that I get more news from reading Twitter than if I read a newspaper.  I read a whole newspaper the other day (I am not a finisher) and it took ages.  I like the snappy available heuristics that come from Twitter.  I feel I get the mood music of the day and I can hone in for detail.  

Twitter produces toe-curling pleasurable delights, from pertinent, thought-provoking epigrams, amusing memes (#torybiscuits #popleveson) and the rubbishing of Romney in 140 characters or less.

See this...

sunny hundal ‏@sunny_hundal

Wait. Mitt Romney *actually* complained that you can't open windows on an airplane? http://goo.gl/jgHIQ 

The link gives some more details, and he did actually say that the windows don't open on a plane, but he clearly wasn't suggesting they should open, it was just extra words where he should perhaps have said nothing.  But because I don't like Romney, I'm happy with the sound of this :)