Weaponized Direct Democracy: The Kryptonite To Those Corrupting Our Systems.
If we solve the 'Tyranny of The Masses' Problem, we can harness the most powerful force available to us. But can it be done safely? .... Yes. In fact, it already has.
We will have audio podcast format of this article coming soon.
A summary of this article in four sentences.
The "tyranny of the masses problem” (under a system of direct democracy) is when 51% of the people can vote to imprison or seize the other 49% of everything.
This “tyranny of the masses” (sometimes called the “tyranny of the majority”) is a real threat and the main reason why the idea of direct democracies is often shunned.
Our biggest problem in society is that the systems that govern over our lives have been corrupted by powerful forces that seem to collude and do not have our best interests in mind.
If we can solve the “tyranny of the masses” problem and prevent using it as a weapon against each other, we could harness the power found in Direct Democracies and aim it back on those who corrupt our systems - in fact that is what they fear most.
We are guessing that simply by using the term “democracy” we will invoke an emotional response in most people, since the word has become such a political hot potato in recent times. The dual term “direct democracy” is probably even more emotionally virulent, with immediate responses ranging from “it will never work” to “what about the tyranny of the majority problem?!”
We foresee a panoply of people commenting on this article based just on the headline, so we appreciate you giving it a fair shake.
For example, the well-known modern anarchist Michael Malice recently retweeted one of our comments about how a blockchain direct democratic system could save us from the current corruption that engulfs our world. The response from his followers wasn’t surprising. They immediately attacked even the mention of a “direct democracy” (of course most without actually reading the attached article).
Here is the funny thing, we completely understood and empathized with his followers’ responses, and agreed with many of them. Tyranny is tyranny, and we absolutely should be aware of when it is coming. Whether that tyranny is achieved by a network of powerful entities working together - like what we have today - or, if the tyranny is committed by a direct democracy and 51% of your neighbors vote to take the other 49% for themselves. Tyranny doesn’t care what vessel it arrives in, the resulting aftermath is the same.
But what if we could harness the immense power found in the ‘tyranny of the masses’ problem (if you are still not 100% sure what that is read more here), and aim that power back at the people who are corrupting our system?
Yes, this would be a dangerous mission. The ‘tyranny of the majority’ is a real threat. But we could build our new digital systems transparently, open sourced, and in carefully crafted ways that purposely prevent us from using this tyranny on each other, and only allow for us to point it at the people who choose to keep corrupting our systems.
Think of 'the ‘tyranny of the masses’ not as a problem, per say, but more of as a weapon.
If we as citizens wield this sword against each other we will end up crushing small and large groups of us, disregarding individual rights, and ruining the fabric of our society. However, if we harness this weapon and point it specifically at the people who are harming our systems, we could clean it up very quickly and efficiently. In fact, the “tyranny of the majority” is what the people doing the corrupting fear most. They know once we figure out how to point it at them, they will no longer be able to game our system.
Make no mistake about it, this could be a dangerous model for all of us. We need to be smart. But keep in mind: We are already sliding towards tyranny. It is on our doorstep. Anyone paying attention the last 5 years can see that.
We have witnessed the crack down on freedoms, the centralization of power, whistleblowers prosecuted, the muzzling on speech via secret social media pacts with governments, propaganda paid for with tax dollars being used back on the people, gain of function research exposed, medical checkpoints and coercion, financial seizures and searches, crack downs on crypto, peaceful protestors squashed, and people held in prison without charges or due process.
We are already living in a dangerous model - one that has been corrupted. We need to be planning how to fix it. Instead, we seem to mostly just argue amongst ourselves, or point out problems while all metrics of society continue to erode.
It is time to talk about solutions.
We have absolute confidence that a direct democracy - if done right - would fix the corruption we are experiencing now. The only questions remaining really are:
1) Can we avoid turning on each other (tyranny of the masses)?
2) Can we create a movement big enough to get traction?
We believe we can overcome both of these problems.
As we stand today, there are four possible outcomes as we see it:
1) We end up living in a totalitarian state
2) Violence or war
3) The Entire System Breaks
4) We fix the system
The first three will lead to immense suffering. This is why we are relentlessly vocal about the last option.
The place that our current system fails is with representation . We are supposed to be represented yet the representatives don’t even know (or care) what their constituents want, let alone how to be courageous and stand for them. There could be (and should be) digital feedback loops, transparent consensus, blockchain ledgers of votes, and more - but none of that exists. How do we even know if we are being represented if there isn’t some kind of metric (besides centralized and untrustworthy polls) keeping track? Politicians vote on bills they never read written by corporations that don’t have our best interests in mind. They also make promises to the people that are not kept. Where is the accountability?
The Main Problem:
As mentioned, the main problem that exists in society right now is that our systems have been corrupted by people who do not have society’s best interests in mind. Many, many of us can see that. Based on our polls and calculations well over 90% of the people think that the systems are corrupted at least to a point. That is a massive number. This spans across party lines, demographics, and more. We could (and should) take that massive number and point it in a useful direction.
We should think of this as also an opportunity to bring people together for one common cause - to fix the actual system. We put a truce to all of the hot button issues just long enough to fix this one issue, together. We come together.
It can all be fixed in literally one election cycle. Once we fix the corruption, we can then go on to make better, flexible, more reliable, transparent and decentralized systems everywhere in our lives, and take each hot button issue one at a time and solve them together.
As for those hot button issues, we believe we already have rational solutions for most of them (yeah even those ones), but until our actual systems are fixed then it is futile to even bring them up. Fixing the more difficult issues will never be possible as long as we allow our systems to remain corrupted.
But we don’t have to tolerate this anymore. Fixing our corrupted systems should be line item #1. It really isn’t that difficult if we choose to align on this mission together, bravely and with gumption.
THE PLAN:
The best way to explain how a system like this could work and take over the current corrupted system very quickly by plugging into it, is to describe the whole scenario. Let us describe how a person running for office might turn their position into a direct democracy, and how that power could be wielded to fight corruption.
Let’s say Jane Doe is running for office. It really wouldn’t matter who Jane Doe is or what party she runs under. All that matters about her is this:
1) She is trustworthy.
2) She is courageous and willing to stand up to corruption.
That’s it. She literally doesn’t need to know anything about politics. She won’t be doing anything on her own, as we will all be there guiding her in a new form of direct democracy.
We suggest nominating people from your communities who fit these descriptions - and really contemplating who would be best for them. We no longer choose people who throw their hats in the ring. We throw their hats in the ring for them by nominating them. Ex military, humble community leaders, or other trusted personalities will be a good place to start.
Part 1 - THE PLATFORM:
We build a new, transparent, decentralized, trustworthy platform that we all agree to use to create our direct democracy. This is separate from government and 100% controlled by the people. Maybe we call it “iGov” since The Rationalist Society already owns that website and would be happy to donate it to the cause (it will be open sourced very soon). But we could use any name, and any platform if we don’t like that name. It might actually be a good idea if several areas all built different platforms and we compared results later (because results matter most).
We can have iGov Democrats and iGov Republicans and iGov Libertarians and iGov Green Party peeps. It doesn’t matter. It would be an overarching platform.
To receive the iGov label you just need to be willing to work on fixing one thing - the corruption. From there we agree to work on it across party lines. We set aside the hot button issues until the corruption is managed and then agree to work on the rest later. To assure this we might have some kind of new code or agreement that all users of the iGov platform agree to. Simple, clean, and also subject to change like how a DAO (a Decentralized Autonomous Organization) might govern its own rules and code.
All the members of the iGov movement will download the iGov app or visit the website. There should be a comprehensive and well thought out system here to verify users and prevent fraud, bots, and fake users from interfering on the platform. If the system here is corruptible people will not trust it. We need to be the trustworthy haven in a world full of distrust. This is why we believe building it on-chain (with a ledger), open sourced, and transparent (and thus trustworthy) is part of the key. To maintain a good system we need to be willing to evolve, test, and try to corrupt the system ourselves to continuously make it better and harder to corrupt from the outside. As Naval Ravikant says, a good system should be able to be turned over to your enemies and they still can’t corrupt it.
This new system should also act as a parallel test for our current government voting systems. We will be able to compare our system back to government’s and prove if that part of the system is corrupt or not. If our system has 10,000 registered and verified voters voting one way, and their system also has exactly 10,000, well then we know that the state voting system is good. But if the numbers don’t match up, then we know there is an additional problem.
As for verifying users on the new iGov platform, there are all kinds of ways we could do this such as sending SMS text codes to phones and more.
We like Google’s model. When you open a new business location Google will send a postcard to your address with a code on it in order for you to be added to the Google directory and Google maps. Once you receive that post card with the code you enter it and are confirmed as a business. Similarly, voting districts are based on where you live - what district you live in, etc. so a postcard like this with a code on it that you would enter to verify your iGov profile makes sense. Verification like this might have to be done annually. This way if people moved, died, or didn’t want to vote anymore, they would be removed from the system appropriately.
But none of these ideas are set in stone, and we want other highly aligned people like yourself to develop them with us as an iGov Society.
We know that a lot of people fear technology. But that’s because they don’t understand the “final hand on the bat theory” of systems. Centralized systems always attract corruption, so the final hand on the bat needs to be a decentralized one. We the People. Direct democracy is, by nature, decentralized.
Part 2: HOW THE NEW SYSTEM WORKS
Our candidate, Jane Doe, refuses to accept any campaign finances (or does so with whatever limitations we come up with) and wins by a landslide since the people vote for her based on the iGov label and not whatever political party she ran under or how much money is in her coffers.
She takes office.
It doesn’t matter what office that is. It could be a mayoral race. It could be a Senator. It could be the local school board. It could be any position. Her constituents from that point on take control of her government - whatever position she is in. She is just there to act as a spokesperson or “glass head” leader for the decentralized group of the highly aligned constituents on iGov. All of the decisions she makes will be the entire platform’s, together.
Keeping in mind that transparency is the enemy of corruption - and our first goal with this Direct Democracy is to end corruption - the courageous Jane Doe’s main objective will be to shine a spotlight on everything. She will video record every meeting she has and post it online. She will post all of the bills online before she votes on them and get our input. (We wrote extensively about options for this process here). This will almost be like an interactive reality TV show to see how government actually works behind closed doors. All contracts, all policies, and all bills will be run by the iGov platform first. If Jane Doe nominates people for agencies, judges, boards, etc we will - after deliberating on the platform and hearing all sides of the debate - decide who those people are for her.
If the media attacks her, they are actually attacking us, because we will be making the decisions, not her. When she speaks, she will always be speaking for the people directly. And if she is asked a question, we will contemplate and provide her with answers.
In other words, a real representative.
We will also introduce new bills - ones specifically used to fight corruption. And remove bad bills that protect those who are doing the corrupting. Once we have enough iGov Democrats, Republicans, and others working together, we will pass legislation that will make permanent changes to the current government system.
Most notably we will aim to create a new branch of government. One that is completely controlled by the people and not at all by the government, making us “the last hand on the bat,” or last in control of the whole system. This new branch of government will have one purpose and will have the strongest subpoena power of any department in government. Its job will be to oversee and investigate all corruption happening to any of the other branches or agencies of government. Nothing will be off limits, and this branch will only answer directly to the people (maybe not directly in day to day decisions, but we will always have final oversight and power over it). The people will have the power to recall representatives, government employees, military, and judges, and investigate them at our will.
Imagine how much the people who are currently corrupting our system right now would not want this to happen? That is the important part.
We fully know there are major obstacles to building a system like this. But we 100% believe that we can work our way through them as a community.
PROBLEMS TO OVERCOME (Recap/List):
1) We need skilled people to build a new trustworthy iGov system. We must trust how the system works. We must also trust that the people involved are not bots or AI and they are highly aligned with our mission. Consider building the system on blockchain so there is a ledger. Also consider building it with total transparency and open-sourced to add to that trust. Have an authentication process for all users.
2) We need a Code of Conduct. Our code should set rules and boundaries and create ways to address grievances, voting rules, prevent problems, and more. The technology already exists for this (see DAOs). We also need to set deliberation rules as all things we do should be vigorously deliberated on (see Deliberative Democracy, or quadratic voting (for deliberations) or the system of idea-percolating used by Audrey Tang (technology minister of Taiwan) that we described here). We need to use this new Code to prevent further corruption (our system will ALWAYS be attempted to be corrupted, so we need to constantly evolve it). We should also agree that once we complete our first mission and fix the current corruption, that we will then be rational and have ‘growth mindsets’ about our more difficult problems that we shelved in order to deal with this one (for example, all the hot button issues). The last part of this new code should be that we agree to be results-driven. If we are not seeing the results we want we agree to change course, adapt, re-deliberate, and try different solutions. Think about how many failed government policies could and should be reversed and removed if we changed our culture to a results-based one.
3) We need to understand the ‘Last Hand on The Bat’ analogy (here). Whoever is the last to control a system controls it all. We need to make sure that it is a decentralized and trustworthy system that does. We can have centralized systems working under our control, but the final control must belong to the people.
4) We need to start off with people who are highly aligned. Keep the haters and naysayers out of the system (just at first). Think of it like a SEAL TEAM. Highly aligned and optimized is what we need to be until we build our systems and movement. Once we integrate it then of course everyone can join. We will be able to be reasonable and rational with each other if the systems that govern over us are not corrupted and instead nourish this type of behavior. Keep in mind that iGov would not be the government, rather it would be a movement to fix the government that starts with a highly aligned group. If you are part of the small percent of the world that does not want to fix the government and systems, then you are not invited to build the new one right now. There will be a fair, transparent, and democratic way people who are not aligned with the mission will be removed.
(Note: this is hard to explain without reading Balaji’s book on the Network State. It sounds like it is excluding people. The actual voting system of course will be inclusive to all. But right now as we build the technology to support our systems, this should be a group of us that all clearly understand and believe in what we are doing. Once we build the systems, those systems will help explain to the haters and naysayers what we are doing. For example websites, videos, demonstrations, and most importantly: results. Results matter most. We will prove our concepts over and over again with results. If the new systems we build are good enough, it should convince most of the naysayers - with evidence - that the ideas are actually good. In other words, it will be much easier to turn haters into part of a unifying movement for an optimized direct democracy if our systems can show them exactly how it works, instead of us just arguing with them on why it works before the system is even built. Arguing will waste so much time. We need to show them. But within the highly aligned group, we will need spirited debate to make the systems as well thought out as possible. Our collaboration is key. As long as we are all highly aligned and on the same mission: to end the corruption and use the power of human collaboration to do so. If you agree with that then let’s roll. That’s it. We hope this makes sense).
So in order to work on the iGov app with us at first, you might need to answer a series of questions to make sure you align with the goal of fixing corruption and our culture of “results matter most.” Since we are creating this system we control the rules - as a group. We also control how the system is built. Keeping us highly aligned is an important key to success (Balaji Srinivasan talks about the importance of being highly aligned in his book The Network State here or on this amazing podcast with Lex Fridman here).
5) We need to spread the word. We need all of the decentralized independent media of podcasters, Youtube, Substack, and you (yes YOU) pushing for solutions. Even if you don’t agree with the plan, or all the ideas, we should all be talking about solutions. The corporate voices against any solution like this will be loud and obnoxious if it catches on. We need to be disciplined and louder. Learn how to block out the corporate noise and focus on our mission: To Expose and End the Corruption.
6) We need to make sure all demographics have access to the iGov technology. Tutorials, easy to use interfaces, tech hubs, funding, donations and more. Especially for marginalized communities.
7) Preventing Tyranny of the Masses. This is the last one, but it is a biggie. We all recognize the terrifying historical examples of when the majority turns to tyranny on the minority such as with the witch hunts, slavery, concentration camps, and more.
What could we do to prevent these in our new system? The benefits of a direct democracy are abundant, but this one major pitfall looms. Could we build the iGov System with this problem in mind? And could we solve it?
The good news is that this problem is already solved. The American government, and other Constitutional Republics were designed to prevent this. They are limited direct democracies. Here is an excerpt written by Kevin Newton that explains more: “The Founding Fathers of the United States had serious concerns about the possibility of a tyranny of the majority and took several steps to limit its likelihood. Indeed, Alexis de Tocqueville, an early observer of the United States, wrote at length about the possibility of such a tyranny developing. Most notably, they established a system of checks and balances that helped keep any one part of government from gaining too much power too quickly. One of these methods was the idea of a supermajority, which meant that Congress could only ignore the minority voice if an overwhelming number of lawmakers agreed.”
It’s true, the American system didn’t start off perfect. But over time it was able to self correct because of how the system was designed.
Kevin continues, “Recognizing the ability of a majority to infringe on the rights of a minority, the Constitution included a Bill of Rights. These first ten amendments to the Constitution served to mandate individual and minority protections, ranging from freedom of speech and assembly to how a trial by law should be carried out.”
This system was decentralized for its day. It was beautifully constructed and did a masterful job of being a catalyst for human evolution. We were on the path to leveling up as a world. That is, until the corruption began to corrode the system beyond repair.
The system became gamed.
With the corrosion came confusion. People blamed the system. They blamed Democracy. They blamed Capitalism. They blamed Republicans, and Democrats, and religions, and races, and sexual preferences, and the rich, and the poor, and ideologies, and the Constitution, and even the people who founded America. But none of that was the cause. The cause was - and is - simply this: Our systems are being corrupted. The ways technology is used to corrupt our system evolved faster than the ways to protect it.
We need to upgrade our security systems. That’s all this is. Direct Democracy on the front end to fight corruption, but the rest stays the same. We still need the Constitution, Bill of Rights, the Courts, and all the protections in place to prevent the tyranny of the masses from being used on our fellow man. As long as they are being protected by the people to remain free from corruption.
Whatever system tweaks we do, we must strive to unleash transparency and decentralization with ruthless and unwavering vigor onto the corruption. We need candidates willing to be courageous and step into a role as brave new iGov leaders; ones who -unlike the old ones - really represent the people. Ones who fearlessly walk into government and peel back the curtain for all of us to see. And We the People need to be brave enough to have their backs - the new ones running for office. We need to protect them, and honor them, and praise the courage it takes to really walk into their position and then turn around and say to their constituents, “what should we do next?” And then do it without flinching.
We could also use a completely different form of direct democracy right now to change laws. Ballot measures, initiatives, and recalls are available in nearly every state. So are Citizen Grand Juries. But we need to be better organized and have parallel systems here too.
According to NPR “Ballot measures let citizens bypass their elected officials to make direct change.” This is a great tool to use but the corrupt officials are trying to stop this from happening. Likely because they realize the power to fix the corruption is here.
NPR continues, “So far this year, lawmakers have proposed hundreds of tweaks to the measure processes in their states or cities, according to tracking from Ballotpedia. Lawmakers have sought to raise the majority needed to approve measures or decide exactly who can gather signatures for an initiative.”
We will have an article coming soon that explores ballot measures very soon.
Imagine the systems that govern over our lives actually adhering to a new culture of “results matter most.” Imagine a society with goals, and metrics, and transparency, and trust, and feedback, and honest self evaluation, and a growth mindset.
For now, please think about this: Systems are the most important determining factor for quality of life (after environment). If you tell us the kind of systems that govern your life (family, food, education, infrastructure, government, etc. etc.) we can accurately predict what kind of life you have (generally speaking).
We should all want the systems that govern over our lives to be free from corruption. Anyone trying to stop this or getting in the way of this movement will out themselves as part of the corruption. We don’t have to tolerate this anymore.
No matter what side you are on, let’s come together over this one problem. We are begging you, all. We can do better than this as humanity. Even if you disagree with us or don't think this approach will work - sit down at the table and discuss solutions with us. We can find better ways if we work together, rationally, as problem solvers.
As always, thank you for reading!
As always the entire purpose of The Rationalist is to connect with other solutions-minded results-driven people like yourself! We strive to be a Society of Problem Solvers, and if you align with that we are happy that you’ve joined us. For over 3 billion years on this planet there were only single-celled organisms. Then one day they somehow learned to work together and make complex multi-celled creatures like you and me. Right now we are like those single-celled organisms. Our next evolution is finding how to work together, better… like we wrote about here.
#DecentralizeEverything #Transparency #transparentsystems
COMMENTS ARE FOR EVERYONE AS A PLACE TO THINK-TANK SOLUTIONS. They will never be for paid-only subscribers and we will never charge a subscription.
All starts with handshakes and doing good deeds for your next door neighbors. Howeever this is why it's important to live around like-minded individuals, as similar frequencies are multiplied, rather than nullified, by those around us. Love the ideas here.
Unfortunately, the "bad guys" own the media and are thus able to sway popular opinion through their widespread use of propaganda. I will guarantee a vote on lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccine requirements, etc., would have passed early on in the pandemic due to the fear porn and propaganda that was out there. Maybe now, 3 years into this debacle people would finally vote on the rational side of things.