> I think that Jay and I are not so sure
> that democracy *can* work on a planet with > 5 * 10**9 people
> whose needs need to be supplied, when every increment of
> quantity generally entails an exponential "delta" of complexification
> of coordinating mechanisms.
>
I just cannot see how a dictatorship would lessen the complexity
of solutions. If authoritarian regimes were unstable before,
why should they work better in the future?
I am totally bewildered and frightened about so many people
taking this idea as a serious alternative. What about all the
"individuality" and stuff like that you like to brand about when the
idea of (democratic) socialism is mentioned?
Eva
> *How* can real democracy work in
> Megalopolis, as opposed in classical Athens, or in a second
> floor room in Philadelphia in 1776? Might the only option
> for *feeding (clothing, medicating, etc.) the zillions* be
> a dictatorship? And may the most we can hope for be to make
> it an enlightened, humane, benevolent dictatorship rather than
> a terroristic one? (Have I misrepresented your
> concerns, Jay?)
>
> But perhaps there is another "angle" here: Maybe within the
> *global dictatorship* there might be room for *local self-
> determination* (something we have very little of today, even
> without the dictatorship!). I mean: might all workplaces be
> organized on the "team" approach, where a small unit is given
> an overall set of specs it must meet, but the individuals
> are permitted wide latitude in figuring out among themselves
> how to meet the spec. I would again refer here to the
> fine work from the Nixon administration: _Work in America:
> Report of a Special Task Force to the Secretary of Health,
> Education, and Welfare_ (Foreword by Elliot L. Richardson)
> (MIT Press). This Report is now almost 30 years old, and I
> still do not see that its lessons have been absorbed or
> begun to be applied in a serious way.
>
> \brad mccormick
>
> --
> Mankind is not the master of all the stuff that exists, but
> Everyman (woman, child) is a judge of the world.
>
> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua, NY 10514-3403 USA
> -------------------------------------------------------
> <![%THINK;[SGML]]> Visit my website: http://www.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
>
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