Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 9:27 PM, Doug Pensinger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Why would it have to be restricted to a numerical scale? Couldn't you be polled on a range of issues to determine where the government was succeeding and where it wasn't? Did you read the original post? A decision is made based on aggregate happiness. How do you do it non-numerically? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
Not even if they asked and you told them? How happy are you on a scale of 1 to 10? No, I don't think I'd trust my answers on that. Compared to what? Myself in the past? That would be hard to judge. Other people I know? Even worse (how do I know how happy they are?). And how to know how much of the happiness is due to the government and how much is the result of other causes? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
From: John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 12:18 AM Subject: Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~) Not even if they asked and you told them? How happy are you on a scale of 1 to 10? No, I don't think I'd trust my answers on that. Compared to what? Myself in the past? That would be hard to judge. Other people I know? Even worse (how do I know how happy they are?). And how to know how much of the happiness is due to the government and how much is the result of other causes? Surely you would be happier in a juristiction with a constitution that forbade government involvement in those activitiess you believe to be much better run by the private sector? Surely if you were aware that you were being poled on your happiness in order to assess whether the existing constitution was to be retained or replaced by one that encouraged wild government spending, you (and all right minded citizens) would score themselves 10 out of 10 for hapiness to avoid the change? Regards, Wayne. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
John Williams How happy are you on a scale of 1 to 10? No, I don't think I'd trust my answers on that. Compared to what? Myself in the past? That would be hard to judge. Other people I know? Even worse (how do I know how happy they are?). And how to know how much of the happiness is due to the government and how much is the result of other causes? Why would it have to be restricted to a numerical scale? Couldn't you be polled on a range of issues to determine where the government was succeeding and where it wasn't? Doug ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
John Williams wrote: 1) Why trust the government with measuring something as abstract as happiness, if it can be measured at all? I don't think I'd trust even my closest friends and family to measure my happiness. Not even if they asked and you told them? Doug ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
- Original Message - From: John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2008 4:06 AM Subject: Re: Health Care (the same damn topic all f-ing week!~) Bruce Bostwick [EMAIL PROTECTED] I dropped out of most of these when one conversation reached the point of suggesting that government regulation, and not the 1920's equivalent of particularly clueless day traders, caused the Great Depression. I don't blame you. It can be devastating to find that one's faith in political gods was misplaced. Denial is human nature. I don't recall anyone on the list suggesting that democracy is godlike in its effectiveness. I think and I imagine most others on the list would agree that democracy is flawed, but that it is at least marginally beter than most if not all of the other alternatives, and certainly better than anarchy. Has anyone got any suggestions for a better political system? Regards, Wayne Eddy ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
On Oct 31, 2008, at 3:50 PM, Wayne Eddy wrote: Has anyone got any suggestions for a better political system? Replace our election system with a lottery, and just draft our leaders? Not sure that wouldn't be better, given the notably dodgy integrity of our current (pre- and post-HAVA) election system and its vulnerability to charismatic but clueless candidates .. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
Wayne Eddy [EMAIL PROTECTED] Has anyone got any suggestions for a better political system? Smaller and cheaper. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
- Original Message - From: John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2008 7:07 AM Subject: Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~) Wayne Eddy [EMAIL PROTECTED] Has anyone got any suggestions for a better political system? Smaller and cheaper. How does the smaller cheaper political system work? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
Wayne Eddy [EMAIL PROTECTED] How does the smaller cheaper political system work? Badly, but less so. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
- Original Message - From: John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2008 8:03 AM Subject: Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~) Wayne Eddy [EMAIL PROTECTED] How does the smaller cheaper political system work? Badly, but less so. I was interested in the mechanics of the system, not the result, but never mind. What about a system made up of a number of member states with various constitutions, with a higher federal level above consisting of a representative from each of the 13 member states. The federal level would have very limited power responsibilities, including: 1. Measuring the happiness of the inhabitants of the citizens of each of the member states. 2. Mediating disputes between the states. 3. Every X years replacing the consititution of the state with the greatest drop or smallest increase in average happiness with a constitution based on the constitution of the state with the greatest recorded happiness level, but with one modification. The modfication could be selected from a list of options submitted by the citizens of the state due to have its consitution modified. The above system would tend to be self improving would it not? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Democracy (was Health Care / The same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
Wayne Eddy [EMAIL PROTECTED] What about a system made up of a number of member states with various constitutions, with a higher federal level above consisting of a representative from each of the 13 member states. Nice start, but why only 13 member states? :-) The federal level would have very limited power responsibilities, including: 1. Measuring the happiness of the inhabitants of the citizens of each of the member states. 2. Mediating disputes between the states. 3. Every X years replacing the consititution of the state with the greatest drop or smallest increase in average happiness with a constitution based on the constitution of the state with the greatest recorded happiness level, but with one modification. 1) Why trust the government with measuring something as abstract as happiness, if it can be measured at all? I don't think I'd trust even my closest friends and family to measure my happiness. 3) An outside authority comes in and tells all the people living in the state, we are going to change all the major laws of your land, but don't worry, it is for your own good, we want to make you happier! Oh, and we'll let you choose one law for yourself, since we value your freedom. Just let people live where they want to and leave them alone. The above system would tend to be self improving would it not? I'd guess there would be riots if not outright revolutions. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
