Notes on re-imagining democracy

There's this very deeply embedded idea that democracy (the rule of the people) can only be possible with elements such as simple majority (50 + 1), representation (a proxy represents a sub-group) and partisanship (democrats vs republicans).

Simple majority, since you only need half of the voters at most to win, creates a very polarized discussion while leading to the passage of still widely (often close to 50%) unpopular laws. Partisanship leads to too many qui pro quo (I help you pass this law if you help me pass this one) and favors groupthink. Representatives often largely frustrate their voters and tend to create compromises based on geographically defined subgroups instead of abstract ideals. The whole mess leads to contradictory and complex laws with very many unrelated items that very few persons of "the people" can understand (and that "representatives" don't really read or understand anyway).

Looking at the often terribly messy, porky, corporate-influenced systems such as the United States various legislatures, most will give up and say "it's politics"...

However, it's important to get this right as many non-democracies tend to point at these less than ideal systems and say "see! democracy doesn't work as well as our dictatorship / repressive regime / centrally planned system!". Fist fights in parliaments don't help either...

However, there are many forms of democracy out there. For example, Nunavut has a non-partisan consensus government while Switzerland requires a double majority on constitutional matters.

With the advent of modern technology, such as instantaneous multi-point communication and ability to track in real-time billions of pieces of data we can implement many new and possibly better alternatives that could address some of the downsides of most established democracies.

If I were to try to imagine an ideal democracy, I would start by making it direct but with a very high threshold for passing new laws.

Issues could be raised with a simple majority supporting discussion on a neutral presentation of a subject/issue.

There would be no permanent representatives to discuss the issues but instead, on each individual issue raised, freelance "thinkers" (with hopefully some expert credential) that would explain in public forums their initial position and recruit supporters from the voter pool.

The most popular thinkers (selected on the basis of the supporters) on a particular issue would then be remunerated by the state to meet for a fixed duration and come to a possible consensus on a proposal that would finally be submitted to referendum with an high threshold (75%) to demonstrate wide consensus.

Wash and repeat for the numerous issues (and hopefully less of the non-issues) facing legislators.

The process would be highly automated and electronic, open (no hidden lobbies here) and easily accessible.

Of course, the idea is not that I have the perfect proposal yet but the hope is to encourage alternative thinking to come to a solution that is effective at creating the minimal set of reasonable and well thought out laws to make a political entity run well while maximizing voters interest and participation in the legislative process. Think "Wikipedia for bills"!

It would probably be best to fine tune this system on a small scale first, maybe by creating a "virtual government-in-waiting" somewhere to experiment while waiting for most constituencies to catch up on a certain political awareness and ease with modern electronic tools.

Researchable questions:

• How would issues to be considered (subjects of discussion) could be submitted?
• How well does the Nunavut system work in practice?
• How do we ensure that all citizens have access to discussions and voting mechanism?
• How do we make the participation system safe and secure?
• What kind of social values would be necessary to be make this work?

Notes on America

As a Canadian and a Quebecker, there's a vested investment in our neighbors (and currently my hosts) to the south prospering. With 77% of exports and and 52% of our imports (in dollar value, CIA World Factbook) going to and from the US and close political relationship we can't afford a sick country to the south - politically, socially or economically.

The US is a society that achieved greatness under pressure and gave an achievable "American dream" to many around the world, constructing a society made up of every ethnic groups allied in the search of happiness in an atmosphere where an equitable chance was afforded to most. A society that set an example (not by force, but by success) to many all around the world. And the USA is still home to greatness: world's best universities, Silicon Valley home of the top technological companies and a list of Nobel laureates that far exceeds, at 320, any other country.

But increasingly (not that the sentiment is new) the greater dream now seems soiled, dirty, unattainable. Surely the economic, cultural and increasingly military empire will last for a while longer but with the economy veering off track it seems that the dream can turn into a nightmare.

Lack of confidence from the population in government entities justified by ineffective governments and transformation from democracy to corporatocracy. An unworkable corporatocracy because of widespread (and again justified) increasing distrust of corporations.

An economy increasingly centered around the military industrial-complex which can only produce hammers in a world where every problem then looks like a nail. The continued slide towards imperialism accompanied by the inevitable widespread violation of the values and human rights.

Lost of real, true "friends" in the world adds to the uncertainty about and worry about the US future global competitiveness (culturally and economically).

In the meantime, reactionary and self-centered citizens are engaged in bitter social debates in all parts of the political compass. This is poorly represented and contained by two parties leading to unbalanced politics without nuance pulled between two extremes and no possible negotiation. This naturally leads to increasing screeching calls to violence towards those of opposing views with only empty nationalism and empty slogans trying to hold the citizenry together.

How do you get the dream back on track so that the nightmare doesn't infect others?

Notes on Modern Nomadic Life

From the ancient Phoenician trading in the Mediterranean to the warring Mongol empire to modern day immigrants trading skills, there has always been a strong impulse for a subset of humans in each competing society to up and go in search of better opportunities. Large diasporas made up of Chinese, East Europeans, Asians and including a large chunk of the direct descendants of the Phoenicians, Lebaneses.

Formed around city-states, Phoenicians mirror modern electronic nomads moving from metropolis to metropolises: San Francisco, New York, Montreal, Vancouver, Paris, Munich, Shanghai, Buenos Aires... Centers of composite multicultural societies or melting pots , they've far outproduced and out-innovated sedentary locals by exposure to a large variety of cultures in the same lifetime.

Whether genetic impulse or societal pressure or maybe both (after all, migration is part of the human experience), these movements have led to a global culture further extended in modern time by the Internet and air travel.

Strong and welcoming cultures to immigrants have created liberal and open-minded city-societies with an appetite for constant changes. Trading has moved from physical objects to ideas or at least ideas of physical products and the rate of exchanges has accelerated.

Modern nomads have few physical possessions and rely instead on their electronic assets as the center of their identity. Instead of buying souvenirs to collect dust, they keep their possessions light with a focus on consumables and digital copies. Their life is often anchored by sedentary family members and friends in many countries with which they keep contact through intellectual exchanges, common interests and local news that could have global relevancy.

Being well remunerated for their experience, skills and knowledge they move from countries to countries while staying connected. They often live in self-contained family cell of 2 to 4 individuals. They follow opportunities without any of mental and financial burden of mortgages, car loans or pets. Atheists or philosophical with few fixed traditions or with religions that are either very personal (portable) or for which centers of worship exists everywhere, they move around freely. To prosper, they favor tolerance and political neutrality but seek discussions and exchanges of views as a way to experience the world. Their closets are full of clothes and styles varying not only through time but through cultures. They are suspicious and critical of nationalisms and borders, politicians hostile to immigrants (legal or not) although they'll also often develop an exaggerated and paradoxical sense of how good the home country is through many comparisons.

There are downsides of course. Unable to own profitably houses, they rent, moving around constantly and having very little motivation to customize their nest to make it welcoming.

Keeping in touch with friends is difficult and it is hard to create additional interconnections in their global social circle to strengthen it. They often isolate themselves to their small and tightly wound family cell outside work connections.

When not staying long enough, they only skim cultures without any real depth and often forget large chunk of cultural knowledge if they move too quickly. They are generally blind to the majority of the country, living in the very special and exceptional metropolis of each where life often has no relationship with the "countryside" where real power is often held.

Often assaulted by waves of differences and working at assimilating the basic cultural necessities, they often miss on grabbing deeper opportunities.

Various taxation, working visas and regulatory systems make moving around painful.

Some ideas to work around the issues faced by the modern nomad:

• standing invitation to family and friends to serve as a forward base for tourism expeditions;
• renting fully furnished and equipped apartments (beyond even current standards) to provide an "home sweet home" without having to sacrifice comforts;
• participation in sports activities popular worldwide (association football aka soccer);
• self-expectation of continuous language and cultural acquisition;
• move often and aggressively outside the boundaries of the metropolis;
• acquire a good understanding of local history for at least the last 100 years;
• share your growing understanding of local culture online;
• add alerts or subscriptions to local news sites for the current and past cities you've lived in;
• keep notes of the opportunities as you discover them;
• open yourself to opportunities to socialize with all social stratas and castes;
• stay off the beaten path;
• get to know locally popular artists and culture (and hopefully learn to like some!);
• keep "bookmarks" on cultural artifacts that you like (movies, songs, books);
• stay more than a year in your host country (3 years?).

Interesting researchable questions:

• What countries have the largest net inflow and outflow of migrants?
• What % of GDP is contributed by migrants (organized by length of stay)?
• What attracts migrants? Can being the "world's university" and center of business startups be the main economic driver for a country?
• Can migrants replace low birth rate in western societies?
• How do countries integrate new migrants well?
• What's the top inflow that a country can realistically support without creating inter-cultural tensions?
• What country grants the most work visa per capita?
• What further parallels can be made with past nomadic groups?
• Are nomadic groups cyclical? Are they only possible currently because of the American empire?
• What are the consequences of the differences between economic and political refugees and highly skilled / rich migrants?
• All other things equals, what are the compensation benefits or knowing 1, 2, 3 languages?

Need a container ship?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1212013/Revealed-The-ghost-fleet-recession.html

You may wish to know this because, if ever you had an irrational desire to charter one, now would be the time. This time last year, an Aframax tanker capable of carrying 80,000 tons of cargo would cost £31,000 a day ($50,000). Now it is about £3,400 ($5,500).

French: The Most Productive People In The World

http://www.businessinsider.com/are-the-french-the-most-productive-people-in-the-world-2009-8

The real message here is that the French are likely some of the most productive people in the entire world.

France has $36,500 GDP/Capita and works 1,453 hours per year. This equates to a GDP/Capita/Hour of $25.10. Americans, on the other hand, have $44,150 GDP/Capita but work 1,792 hours per year. Thus Americans only achieve $24.60 of GDP/Capita/Hour.

Three Good Reasons To Liquidate Our Empire

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175101/chalmers_johnson_dismantling_the_empire

According to the 2008 official Pentagon inventory of our military bases around the world, our empire consists of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and overseas U.S. territories. We deploy over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories. In just one such country, Japan, at the end of March 2008, we still had 99,295 people connected to U.S. military forces living and working there -- 49,364 members of our armed services, 45,753 dependent family members, and 4,178 civilian employees. Some 13,975 of these were crowded into the small island of Okinawa, the largest concentration of foreign troops anywhere in Japan

The O'Reilly Procedure

Roger Ebert: The O'Reilly Procedure

Sometimes O'Reilly is compared with Father Coughlin, a popular far-right radio commentator in the 1930s who fanned the flames against Roosevelt and warned about immigration and "foreigners," by which it was understood he meant primarily Jews. O'Reilly objects to such a comparison, and certainly there is no reason to consider him anti-Semitic.

[...]

What were those "same techniques?" The Indiana team quoted an earlier study:

The seven propaganda devices include: * Name calling -- giving something a bad label to make the audience reject it without examining the evidence;
* Glittering generalities -- the opposite of name calling;
* Card stacking -- the selective use of facts and half-truths;
* Bandwagon -- appeals to the desire, common to most of us, to follow the crowd;
* Plain folks -- an attempt to convince an audience that they, and their ideas, are "of the people";
* Transfer -- carries over the authority, sanction and prestige of something we respect or dispute to something the speaker would want us to accept; and
* Testimonials -- involving a respected (or disrespected) person endorsing or rejecting an idea or person.

The crusade for a Christian military

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/05/0082488

They had commissioned the Special Forces interpreter, an Iraqi from Texas, to paint a legend across their Bradley’s armor, in giant red Arabic script.

“What’s it mean?” asked Humphrey.

“Jesus killed Mohammed,” one of the men told him. The soldiers guffawed. JESUS KILLED MOHAMMED was about to cruise into the Iraqi night.

The Bradley, a tracked “tank killer” armed with a cannon and missiles—to most eyes, indistinguishable from a tank itself—rolled out. The Iraqi interpreter took to the roof, bullhorn in hand. The sun was setting. Humphrey heard the keen of the call to prayer, then the crackle of the bullhorn with the interpreter answering—in Arabic, then in English for the troops, insulting the prophet. Humphrey’s men loved it. “They were young guys, you know?” says Humphrey. “They were scared.” A Special Forces officer stood next to the interpreter—“a big, tall, blond, grinning type,” says Humphrey.

“Jesus kill Mohammed!” chanted the interpreter. “Jesus kill Mohammed!”

A head emerged from a window to answer, somebody fired on the roof, and the Special Forces man directed a response from an MK-19 grenade launcher. “Boom,” remembers Humphrey. The head and the window and the wall around it disappeared.

No room for bigots

http://www.newint.org/features/2009/05/01/no-room-for-bigots/

As for the much-derided Muslims (580,000 in the 2001 census, but now estimated at 750,000) – they are a satisfied lot, according to a poll done for the Trudeau Foundation in Montreal. They register higher levels of pride in Canada than the population at large. They are less likely than Muslims in Britain, France, Germany or Spain to feel that their fellow citizens are hostile to Islam. They did cite discrimination as a problem, but ‘the thing Muslims least like about Canada is the cold weather’, just like all other immigrant groups.

Wall Street on the Tundra: Iceland

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/04/iceland200904

Iceland’s big change began in the early 1970s, after a couple of years when the fish catch was terrible. The best fishermen returned for a second year in a row without their usual haul of cod and haddock, so the Icelandic government took radical action: they privatized the fish. Each fisherman was assigned a quota, based roughly on his historical catches. If you were a big-time Icelandic fisherman you got this piece of paper that entitled you to, say, 1 percent of the total catch allowed to be pulled from Iceland’s waters that season. Before each season the scientists at the Marine Research Institute would determine the total number of cod or haddock that could be caught without damaging the long-term health of the fish population; from year to year, the numbers of fish you could catch changed. But your percentage of the annual haul was fixed, and this piece of paper entitled you to it in perpetuity.

[...]

Even better, if you didn’t want to fish you could sell your quota to someone who did. The quotas thus drifted into the hands of the people to whom they were of the greatest value, the best fishermen, who could extract the fish from the sea with maximum efficiency. You could also take your quota to the bank and borrow against it, and the bank had no trouble assigning a dollar value to your share of the cod pulled, without competition, from the richest cod-fishing grounds on earth. The fish had not only been privatized, they had been securitized.

[...]

The other, more serious problem was the Icelandic male: he took more safety risks than aluminum workers in other nations did. “In manufacturing,” says the spokesman, “you want people who follow the rules and fall in line. You don’t want them to be heroes. You don’t want them to try to fix something it’s not their job to fix, because they might blow up the place.” The Icelandic male had a propensity to try to fix something it wasn’t his job to fix.

[...]

Back in 2001, as the Internet boom turned into a bust, M.I.T.’s Quarterly Journal of Economics published an intriguing paper called “Boys Will Be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence, and Common Stock Investment.” The authors, Brad Barber and Terrance Odean, gained access to the trading activity in over 35,000 households, and used it to compare the habits of men and women. What they found, in a nutshell, is that men not only trade more often than women but do so from a false faith in their own financial judgment. Single men traded less sensibly than married men, and married men traded less sensibly than single women: the less the female presence, the less rational the approach to trading in the markets.

Study: Cat Parasite Affects Human Culture

Infection by a Toxoplasma gondii could make some individuals more prone to some forms of neuroticism and could lead to differences among cultures if enough people are infected, says Kevin Lafferty, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Economic Collapse: the Japanese solution

Economic Collapse: the Japanese solution

It would serve America well not to follow the blundering steps of the Japanese government in trying to resolve the problems of what was once the Land of the Rising Sun.

[...]

The Japanese government has prolonged its downturn for an additional decade by not allowing bankrupt banks and corporations to liquidate. Zombie banks and corporations existed for decades without writing off the billions of bad debts. They hoarded all of the money provided by the government. The Japanese tried every trick in the Keynesian playbook. Zero interest rates, public works projects tax rebates and tax decreases. The government built thousands of bridges and roads, driving up government debt to enormous levels. Between 1990 and 2000, the Japanese government instituted 10 fiscal stimulus programs totaling $1 trillion. None of these programs worked.


[...]

The remaining mega-banks that have caused this crisis need to be put out of our misery. The shareholders and bondholders of Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and any other insolvent banks need to be wiped out. The bad banks should go out of business. The prudent banks that did not take financial system destroying risks should be allowed to succeed based on their merits. Failed companies with failed strategies must go bankrupt. If the American auto industry is propped up by taxpayer money, the capitalist process of rationalizing manufacturing capacity to final demand will never happen. Allowing companies to fail brings about restructuring and the remaining healthy companies buy the good assets.

[...]

Only infrastructure projects that benefit the citizens of the country should be undertaken. These would include water pipe replacement, electrical grid upgrades and repairing structurally deficient bridges. If the money is spent on worthless make work projects, good investments will be crowded out. Tax rebate checks are just a redistribution of wealth from future generations to the spend thrift generation of today. A tax decrease today that is borrowed is a tax increase on our children. They will not stimulate spending.

versus

Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.

Conflit Israelo-Palestinien

Excellent article de synthèse sur Al Jazeera qui explique l'échec sur toute la ligne de la résistance armée palestinienne plutôt que la résistance pacifique:

The Palestinian Authority established in the wake of the Oslo accords was run largely by PLO officials from Tunis, who were not rooted in the Territories.

Whatever their original intentions, their interests quickly morphed from securing a full Israeli withdrawal to maintaining their newfound political power, access to wealth and patronage through Israeli-sponsored monopolies, large-scale international aid, and various forms of corruption.

[...]

Jihad, but which kind?

Hamas's charter declares that "There is no solution to the Palestinian Question except by Jihad" (Article 13). Perhaps. But what kind?

If "jihad is the path" (Article 8), is violence the only vehicle that can travel upon it?

[...]

Israel offered Hamas another opportunity to change the terms of the conflict when in late November, 2007, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, warned Israelis that their country "risked being compared to apartheid-era South Africa if it failed to agree an independent state for the Palestinians".

Bien sûr, l'oblitération par Israel de Gaza ne va pas aider:

Commentaire sur la crise financière américaine

Comme vous le savez, la crise financière américaine est préoccupante - même pour le Canada puisque près de 80% de nos exportations vont aux États-Unis. Malheureusement le fameux "bail-out" est une tentative des politiciens pour sauver les super-riches qui ont pris des super-risques qui va probablement faire chavirer les États-Unis et entrainer le Canada. La tentative de Bush d'ajouter à la peur et la panique est non seulement néfaste mais une manipulation transparente du public.

La crise est principalement un manque de confiance dans les institutions financières américaines qui mènent à un resserrement du crédit, outils essentiels à celles-ci. La solution est probablement de laisser la plupart des institutions financières techniquement en faillite disparaitre, protéger les épargnes des individus (FDIC) et s'assurer que les grands investisseurs privés capitalise les institutions financières en bonne santé. Il faut voir l'investissement de 5 milliards de Warren Buffet dans Goldman-Sachs par exemple qui enlève la nécessité du gouvernment d'intervenir pour "sauver" Goldman-Sachs - une entreprise avec des reins solides tellement profitable qu'elle a remis récemment 600K$ en moyenne en bonus par employé!

Voici le meilleur vidéo sur le sujet:



NOTE: moi et Min Lin détenons des actions autant dans Berkshire-Hathaway (compagnie dont Warren Buffett est le CEO) que Goldman-Sachs.

Culture in Danger / Culture en Péril

hahaha, vraiment bonne publicité.

Political Philosophy Quiz

Les opinions politiques sont vraiment multidimensionnelles et c'est donc dommage que les gouvernements soient trop souvent la confrontation entre deux parties qui représentent mal nos opinions.

Pour aider à mieux comprendre votre position réelle sur ces multiples axes, je vous invite à faire le "Political Philosophy Quiz". Bien sûr, c'est orienté vers les É-U, mais les orientations politiques restent les mêmes.

Mes résultats:

Conservative/Progressive
You are a social progressive. You generally consider yourself a humanist first. You probably think that religion and patriotism go too far in society. You probably consider yourself to be a citizen of Earth first rather than a citizen of your country.

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist
You're a Social Capitalist, you think that, left to its own, Capitalism leaves a lot of people behind. You think that Health Care should be free to all, that the minimum wage should be raised, and that the government should provide jobs to all that are capable of having them. You likely hated the Bush tax cuts, and believe that the middle class has gotten poorer, and the rich have gotten richer over the past several years. The far extreme of social capitalism is socialism.

Libertarian/Authoritarian
You are libertarian. You think that the government is making way too many unnecessary laws that are taking away our innate rights. You believe that the government's job is primarily to protect people from harming other people, but after that they should mind their own business, and if we give the government too much power in controlling our lives, it can lead to fascism.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 0
You're a Pacifist. You are angered that the United States thinks it should dominate the world through its military force. You think that the only time war is necessary is when we are in direct danger of being attacked. You also believe the US spends way too much of its money on defense, as we can practically cut it in half and still easily defend ourselves, and use that money to fix all our economic problems.

Voter aux prochaines élections fédérales

Les prochaines élections fédérales Canadiennes sont le 14 Octobre 2008.

Pour les gens à l'étranger, voici comment obtenir un bulletin de vote:

DEMANDE D’INSCRIPTION ET DE BULLETIN DE VOTE SPÉCIAL

Le formulaire est assez simple mais vous aurez besoin d'y attacher certains documents (pièces d'identité et preuve de résidences habituelles).

11 reasons America's a new socialist economy

Back in 1999 a Democratic president and Republican Congress were in love with a fantasy called the "new economics." Enthusiastic lobbyists invented the brilliant idea of dismantling the wall between commercial and investment banking: They killed the Glass-Steagall Act that was keeping the sleazy hands of short-term hustlers out of the pockets of long-term lenders.

Flash forward: We lost 85-year-old Bear Sterns and $32 billion IndyMac. Lehman's iffy. And 90 banks. With the virtual takeover of Freddie and Fanny, Wall Street's grand experiment with free-market ideology is backfiring, having socialized the housing market. They have nobody to blame but their self-centered greed.

Why Canada is the best haven from climate change

At the other end of the scale, Canada is the best place to move to if you want to be a climate change survivor in the decades ahead (although Britain is also a good place to be as a warming atmosphere takes hold).
[...]
As might be expected, developed nations score best. Canada is top, followed by Ireland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The United Kingdom is in 12th position, just behind the US. The surprise in the top 20 is Uruguay, which is listed ninth, and the only well-placed nation not to be in the club of countries which are rich, or Western (and usually both).
[...]
Vulnerability is examined by the study across six different sectors – the economy; natural resources and ecosystems; poverty, development and health; agriculture; population, settlement and infrastructure; and institutions, governance and social capital. Eventually a figure is arrived at on the scale of one to 10, with one being the most vulnerable, and 10 the most secure. The Comoros score is 1.21; Canada's score is 8.81. (The UK scores 8.06.)
[...]
"Canada, on the other hand, is extremely well equipped to adapt to changes in climate. It scores well across all aspects of the index. This is because of the low pressure on natural resources resulting from a low population density and large land area, combined with high agricultural capacity, a healthy economy, few development and health challenges and excellent public institutions."

Remembering Ricky

Le 14 avril 2008, le Caporal Ricky Nelson est mort pendant des opérations dans la province de Al Anbar, Iraq.

Il y a des situations pires qu'être séparé temporairement de la personne qu'on aime...