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Is Democracy The Way For Us?

Pak_88

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Found this rather interesting article regarding how Plato was not a supporter of democracy:

https://classicalwisdom.com/plato-and-the-disaster-of-democracy/

Democracy, after all, is mob-rule. In a country like ours, where sentiments and emotions hold more sway than logic and reason, what should be done? How shall democracy evolve?

An interesting point he makes is that you wouldn't take an ailing person to a motor mechanic for treatment, so to speak. Then how can the people, who have no knowledge whatever regarding the points or reasons based on which government is to be elected, be given such supreme responsibility? Should we, therefore, introduce such study into our curriculum?

What say you?
 
Democracy in current form is a joke where 2 idiots, jahils voting for plate of bariyani or criminals voting from jail can given verdict against 1 law abiding citizen with working brain.
 
Democracy in current form is a joke where 2 idiots, jahils voting for plate of bariyani or criminals voting from jail can given verdict against 1 law abiding citizen with working brain.
So what must be done to alleviate this issue? What immediate steps may be taken to lessen the ramifications of an ignorant voter base? It is a long-term issue which shall inshallah improve as our democracy strengthens. However, in the mean time, what can we do to cure us of this ailment?
 
So what must be done to alleviate this issue? What immediate steps may be taken to lessen the ramifications of an ignorant voter base? It is a long-term issue which shall inshallah improve as our democracy strengthens. However, in the mean time, what can we do to cure us of this ailment?

Well, My personal opinion and suggestion will sound extreme because I believe that we have to take radical measures to cure the disease. But if you want homeopathic treatment then restrict Parliamentarians to legislation and monitoring only (no development funds), administration should go to local bodies and separate executive authority where Prime Minister/President and Chief Minister must be directly elected so that he/she don't have to oblige parliamentarians and compromise on his/agenda, PM/President & CM's choice for his team (Ministers) must not be restricted to elected members only.
 
Well, My personal opinion and suggestion will sound extreme because I believe that we have to take radical measures to cure the disease. But if you want homeopathic treatment then restrict Parliamentarians to legislation and monitoring only (no development funds), administration should go to local bodies and separate executive authority where Prime Minister/President and Chief Minister must be directly elected so that he/she don't have to oblige parliamentarians and compromise on his/agenda, PM/President & CM's choice for his team (Ministers) must not be restricted to elected members only.
Very logical suggestions, worth implementing. However, I'm still unsure on some accounts, owing to a faulted bureaucratic system. The local level admins are just as corrupt.

Democracy is the best system so far
And democratic we should be! However, democracy has its flaws. My question is this: what steps must be taken to remedy a FAULTED democracy, where people are unaware (perhaps willfully so) of the principles which require implementation and the basis on which to elect a truly representative government?
 
Democracy in current form is a joke where 2 idiots, jahils voting for plate of bariyani or criminals voting from jail can given verdict against 1 law abiding citizen with working brain.
I have a solution make basic literacy a criteria
 
I have a solution make basic literacy a criteria
But yaar what about our educated jaahils (the worst section of society)?

Should our education curricula be amended to educate our people regarding elements of good governance?
 
Liquid democracy uses blockchain to fix politics, and now you can vote for it
Danny Crichton@dannycrichton / Feb 24, 2018
gettyimages-865841142.jpg

Abraham Lincoln famously said that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” but looking around these days, you would be forgiven if you thought representative democracy had already been buried alongside Washington, Jefferson, and Roosevelt. Confidence in Congress remains pitifully low, driven by perceived low ethical standards and an increasing awareness that politics is bought by the highest bidder.

Now, a group of technologists and blockchain enthusiasts are asking whether a new approach could reform the system, bringing citizens closer to their representatives and holding congressmen accountable to their voters in a public, verifiable way. And if you live in western San Francisco, you can actually vote to put this system into office.

The concept is known as liquid democracy, and it’s a solid choice for fixing a broken system. The idea is that every person should have the right to give feedback on a policy issue or a piece of new legislation, but often people don’t have the time to do so. Using a liquid democracy platform, however, that voter can select a personal representative who has the authority to be a proxy for their vote. That proxy can be changed at will as a voter’s interests change.

Here is where the magic happens. Those proxies can themselves proxy their votes to other people, creating a directed network graph, ideally connecting every voter to politicians and all publicly verified on a blockchain. While there may be 700,000 people in a congressional district, potentially only a few hundred of a few thousand “super proxies” would need to be deeply engaged in the system for better representation to take place.

David Ernst is a leader of the liquid democracy movement and now a candidate for California Assembly District 19, which centers on the western half of San Francisco. He is ardently committed to the concept, and despite its novelty, believes that this is the path forward for improving governance.

Ernst has had a long-time interest in politics — his father was the city attorney of Dallas from 2013-2016 — but he found the current political environment uninviting. “I have always had the bug, but the biggest thing for me has been the partisanship, it drives me crazy,” he said.

Following college (which he began at age 16) and a few startup jobs, Ernst began working as CTO of a startup called Numerai, a crypto-backed decentralized hedge fund that allows data scientists to earn money when they solve data challenges. “The idea was that we can include many more people to participate in the system who weren’t able to before,” Ernst explained. That’s when it hit him that the decentralized nature of blockchain could allow for more participation in politics, fusing his two passions.

Ernst followed the campaign of the Flux Party in Australia in 2016, which is trying to implement what it calls “issue-based direct democracy” in that country’s legislature. “That was when something clicked,” he said. A congressman for example could commit to voting the calculated liquid democracy position, and “We could elect these sort of remote-controlled politicians as a way to graft this new system onto the old system.”

He built a platform called United.vote to handle the logistics of selecting personal representatives and voting on issues. More importantly, the app then tracks how those votes compare to the votes of congressmen and provides a scorecard.

Ernst believes this is vastly superior compared to other feedback mechanisms. “They say call your senator and call your congressperson, but it can be kind of a frustrating experience because it is unclear what really happens after the call, and worse, no one else knows that you have called in — your call essentially falls into this black hole,” he said.

Tech platforms and Medium posts are nice, but he realized that the most effective way to engage people’s interest in the project is to give them a candidate — himself. “No, it is not just a website, we are actually giving voters the option to have this better system,” Ernst explained. “All you need to do is check the box next to the liquid democracy person’s name, and then we can put this system into office.”

The popularity of liquid democracy today is certainly small. United.vote’s homepage lists 968 members who have signed up for liquid democracy. The Flux Party in Australia garnered 0.15% of the first preferences nationwide in 2016. Ernst, though, is unperturbed. “If I got elected, but only 20 people were actually using [the platform], I would still follow those people,” he said. The hope is that more people will join the platform when they see it can provoke real change in politics.

Ernst is running as an independent, and competing against incumbent Democrat Phil Ting, who he describes as “a nice guy.” Ting won the 2016 election with 80% of the vote, with Republican Carlos Taylor netting 20%, and has represented District 19 since 2012. The 2018 primary will be held June 5, and the top two candidates regardless of party affiliation will compete in the general election on November 6th.

Ernst knows that the tech is early. “There are a million ways in which the software isn’t all it can be yet, but we are putting it out there so that people will tell us to fix this or fix that,” he said. Those software fixes though just might fix democracy itself.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/24/liquid-democracy-uses-blockchain/
 
I have a solution make basic literacy a criteria

No, literacy will not make any difference - we have highly literate people who ascribe to mentality of "Khata hai tu lagata bhi hai", "Saray hi corruption kartay hain", "Jia Bhutto", "Islam in danger", "Muhajir Qaom" etc., literate people who can't understand simple fact that Karachi collects 70% of revenue which comes from pockets of people of whole Pakistan not just from the pockets of Karachities only.

Introduce the courses to educate people about fundamentals of state functions, ethics, taxation and how it works, type of corruption and it's effects on society, environment etc. - Everyone who want to contest election, or vote in election must pass these courses so that he/she know the worth and implication of wrong votes for him/her, future of his/her children and society. As we have huge illiterate population, so adopt method to educate them like we do for issuance of driving license. A person must stand disqualified from voting (for period or life) if he/she commits crime depending on nature of crime. In short, stop the stupidity of considering vote an irrevocable right, make it privilege which must be earned and retained - this is my version of #VoteKoIzzatDo
 
Absolutely what choice do we have there is no better political system Qur'an (42:38) And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they spend. Basic axiom of democracy governance and political decisions by shura.
There is no better way under the sun and in this world of test and examination. Which is by design flawed and incomplete again for our test and examination.. So please don't waste you time and energy by re inventing wheel.

So what must be done to alleviate this issue? What immediate steps may be taken to lessen the ramifications of an ignorant voter base? It is a long-term issue which shall inshallah improve as our democracy strengthens. However, in the mean time, what can we do to cure us of this ailment?
Look around Its already happening albeit slowly.
 
I have a solution make basic literacy a criteria

The regions with highest HDI in Punjab voted for noon.

Patwaris won Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore etc while someone like Zartaj Gul was able to win from the poorest and least educated part of Punjab. Infact all votes that Molvi Dalla got were also from Urban centers in Northern and Central Punjab.

Don't underestimate poor rural folks especially from Punjab.
 
The regions with highest HDI in Punjab voted for noon.
The region in Punjan with highest literacy North Punjab voted for PTI clean sweep of PTI in Rawalpindi which has highest literacy rate in Punjab

Patwaris won Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore etc while someone like Zartaj Gul was able to win from the poorest and least educated part of Punjab. Infact all votes that Molvi Dalla got were also from Urban centers in Northern and Central Punjab.
PTI also won from high literacy districts such as Jhelum,Attock,Rawalpindi and Islamabad so you cant generalize on literacy rate
Plus look at the vote distribution and popular vote

 

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