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<div>Paul Rumelhart wrote:</div>
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<div>There is a site called metagovernment (<a href="http://www.metagovernment.org/">http://www.metagovernment.org</a>) which is<br>starting to ramp up that aims to garner community involvement in every<br>aspect of governing ourselves. I don't know a lot about it yet, but I'm<br>
excited about the idea. From what I gather, you basically band together<br>into small communities based on geographical area (presumably Moscow<br>would be one such area), and you work as a group to write the laws as<br>
you want them to be. There is a mechanism where the best ideas float to<br>the top, and there are forums where every aspect of the law is hammered<br>out. The idea is that these laws, and the discussions that are involved<br>
in them, can be held up as a template for our legislatures to use to<br>create local laws. There is no real power there, all there is is an<br>example that in all likelihood will be a much "better" law than that<br>
which our politicians would come up with, since it was developed by<br>those who would be most affected by and who are most knowledgeable of<br>the topics.<br> </div>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> When this project gets off the ground, I'm going to follow it and see if<br>it works. My gut instinct tells me that it will. It's the same reason<br>
that Firefox the browser is better than Internet Explorer (at least in<br>my opinion) - the community knows what they want and that drives the<br>design. A monolithic company, just like a monolithic government, is<br>limited - whereas a group of intelligent individuals with like interests<br>
and whole ranges of expertise to draw on can be nigh unstoppable. It's<br>the difference between having to accept what is shoved down your throat,<br>and choosing to use what others have built together for you to use as<br>
you see fit.<br><br>If this takes off, I'll be hoping to get some of the people on this list<br>involved in the project. It is basically what Vision2020 purports to<br>want to be - a place where our vision of the future of our town can be<br>
expressed in a positive way.<br><br>Any thoughts?<br><br>Paul</blockquote>
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<div>Your "gut instinct tells me that it will?" Wow! Your faith in the ultimate goal of this effort is admirable. </div>
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<div>But do you think this effort will stop fundamentalist religious congregations from voting in lock step to control local or state government in Idaho? Do you think they will join in, or oppose, this egalitarian anarchist vision of law making? They use the Internet to promote their version of dogmatism and thought control. Consider the Idaho Family Values Alliance, well known for promoting Idaho's 2006 Super DOMA. Moscow's support for domestic partner benefits is mentioned on their web page:</div>
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<div><a href="http://www.idahovaluesalliance.com/">http://www.idahovaluesalliance.com/</a></div>
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<div>I do have a thought, now that you asked, that relates to the often heard claim that the Internet is a democratising egalitarian liberation technology. Why in the Age of the Internet, when anyone could have determined in an hour or two of Internet research, that the claims of the Bush administration in 2002 that Saddam had WMD that posed a credible and immediate threat to the national security of the USA, and had ties to Al Qaeda, were very doubtful propositions, did this not result in strong hesitation in the US Congress and the US public, about invading Iraq? How were so many misled into believing these fabrications, exaggerations and distortions about Iraq WMD, and Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda, when credible sources on the Internet could have shed doubt on Bush's claims?</div>
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<div>It seems that the Internet is only as useful as the critical and/or investigative thinking skills of those using it; teaching critical independent thinking is fundamental to the education of the citizenry in a democracy, no computers or Internet required. How did the greatest thinkers in human history achieve what they did without computers, after all? </div>
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<div>Which is not to say that the Internet is not a wonderful tool; but it is merely a tool, that can be used to control and mislead, as well as enlighten, educate and liberate. </div>
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<div>It is well known that porno is one of the dominant activities on the Internet. Now there's egalitarian political liberation for you! What a diversion from the responsible investigations that should have concerned every citizen about Iraq WMDs and ties to Al Qaeda, during the 2002 run up to this disastrous and cruel war!</div>
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<div>Ted Moffett<br> </div></div>