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Other => Random Discussion => Topic started by: Permie on November 07, 2015, 07:04:46 pm

Title: Power lies in communities of connected people. Anarchy and Democracy
Post by: Permie on November 07, 2015, 07:04:46 pm
Just a thought I had relating to a way to 'explain' anarchy and democracy.

Power lies in communities of connected people. Those who know each-other and live closely with one another have a public reputation to maintain and a common-goal of peace and harmony in their immediate living environment. Nobody wants to deal with harassment or trouble on their front doorstep.
Criminals might consider being bad somewhere else but they are unlikely to do so in front of people who see them enter and leave their house every day. Reputation.
Or in places that they themselves will have to use regularly. Self interest.

Because such a group is so powerful the common-goal (or objective) that they choose to enact is very important.

A bad actor can see that influencing the objective of a community could yield them great power and wealth.
Well-connected communities are hard to influence. The fewer people there are and the better they know each-other, the more difficult it becomes to convince them to perform or consent to work that doesn't benefit each of them equally, or appears to have ulterior motives.
The small number of people in this community are heavily involved, and will scrutinize the decisions made by other members. There aren't many people so it doesn't take too much time or effort to understand what is really happening.
Fucking people over is difficult.

Democracy forces these smaller communities to gift their community-membership to a politician.
Lots of small, well-connected communities have now been consolidated into one 'large' malleable group that resides in a single physical location (parliament) that exists in a community of shared living environment.
The power of thousands of communities now rests in just one centralized community.
Individuals are smart, large groups are stupid. The more members, the harder it is to scrutinize and make informed decisions.

As these politicians now share a common interest with each-other (more-so than with their constituents), they choose objectives that are more important to themselves than the population-at-large.
These objectives might be directly beneficial to the politicians (higher pay) or purchased by third parties. This 'purchase' may be in the form of bribery (giving politicians secret money), but also through influence.
One only needs convince this single centralized group that a particular objective is worth pursuing for it to go ahead. A media campaign using the 'anything is true if you say it often enough' tactic could purchase the power of this group.



Any good?


Title: Re: Power lies in communities of connected people. Anarchy and Democracy
Post by: Ben Mason on November 08, 2015, 10:47:37 am
Very interesting. So democracy can only exist within the embrace of anarchy and is currently only feasible at a very small scale within a tightly knit community.

My thoughts.....

Power comes from access to and control over the flow of information.

Anarchy is the replacement of the state with a free market where price discovery is the result of interactions between fundamental supply and demand dynamics. Price discovery is a true reflection of the availability and consumption of resources which enables a far more appropriate and beneficial basis for the allocation of capital, greater innovation and superior efficiency.  What's more, anarchy is absent the more degenerative influences of the state and is does not require force or coersion for its existence.

Democracy is a con as it can only work if there is accountability. It requires the uncorrupted execution of the majority of the voter's will  and could only work if they are well informed and rational.  The state and its sponsors continually work to subvert every system.....especially all markets, in order to conceal the effects of their subversion and maintain their information monopoly as they pursue their own interests rather than and at the expense of the voters. Democracy cannot exist without the free flowing of information.

Title: Re: Power lies in communities of connected people. Anarchy and Democracy
Post by: Permie on November 15, 2015, 06:45:17 pm
Discussed this with a friend and came up with:

PDSD - Post Democratic Stress Disorder
Title: Re: Power lies in communities of connected people. Anarchy and Democracy
Post by: Ben Mason on November 17, 2015, 11:22:07 am
Discussed this with a friend and came up with:

PDSD - Post Democratic Stress Disorder

Very good.  How about.....

FDSD - FAUX DEMOCRATIC STRESS DISORDER

Symptoms include the 5 stages of loss & grief;

1. Denial & isolation
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

If you get through that and manage a reboot, you may move onto the 5 stages of awakening.....

1. Discovery - the need to discover where the lies end and truth about the world we inhabit begins
2. Rage & sorrow - the horror for what human beings do to one another for power and the monumental scale of the needless suffering of innocents
3. Blockchain worship - the realization that this tech could bring about the disintermediation of entrenched corruption the world over
4. Fellowship - the beautiful realization that you are not alone in your journey of awakening
5. Commitment - to pursuing a path of peace & hope in the name of reason, to ensure so many never have to live in the dark again
Title: Re: Power lies in communities of connected people. Anarchy and Democracy
Post by: woody.01 on November 17, 2015, 12:27:45 pm
Well said Ben, perfect analogy.