They deserve better than a new group of rulers--no matter how well meaning those leaders might start out being. They've proven they are a people ready and worthy of going beyond government as we know it. They have demonstrated the will and wisdom to upstage government completely--to organize themselves more cleverly than merely another electorate; they seem destined to become the world's first Meta-Government. And the leading software developers and information scientists of this world should rise to the occasion and develop the technology to enable that to happen.
Representative government is obsolete today. It was never a good solution because there is no way to concentrate power into an individual or small group of people without creating an irresistible target for corruptive influences. Our own brains are proof that such concentrations of power are not necessary--that good leadership, and wise decisions, can emerge only from distributed mechanisms. It's time we create the infrastructure that can transcend the frailty of anointed individuals to empower self organizing groups--to focus and harvest the collective acumen of the entire electorate directly.
It isn't a good government that makes a nation great--but a wise and competent electorate. And if America proves anything at all, it's that the more cleverly government is constrained, the more the electorate is allowed to atrophy. Today the electorate in America is almost totally worthless. The fact that a completely ignorant imbecile like Sarah Palin can actually be taken seriously by a substantial number of Americans is proof of that. And we have many dozens of leaders that are nearly that stupid. Egypt's electorate is as great as it is today precisely because it had such a corrupt government for so long.
There is no free lunch. Real freedom doesn't emerge from laws or documents or the genius of social engineers. It is a by-product of personal responsibility--of our own competence and accountability as individuals. And there is no other way to achieve it. That's ultimately why there's no simple way to delegate our political capital. That is why we can never really forgo the responsibility to achieve an understanding of our role in society and how our choices in life affect our whole world.
That is why I believe the question really isn't what sort of democracy would be best for Egypt, but rather what sort of network would most effectively allow these remarkable people to govern themselves; to wisely process the events, news, and daily challenges they face into the agenda that their public servants are directed to implement.
Egyptians have proven their greatness as wise, patient, and very determined people. I hope they will not forgo the opportunity they have now to permanently protect themselves from the exploitation of tyrants by building the most important pyramid their culture has ever produced--one that brings their collective political capital to a fine point, and that illuminates the way for all of the world's people to take back our planet from the corrupt entities, institutions, and industries that presently only exploit us.
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Another masterpiece by ANANIAS that shows deep understanding of the political process as it is being practiced in our world today and as it should be. The key phrase in his blog is "self governance" as contrasted by "tyrant governance" or by a seemingly democratic process. Every new avenue, however, has its own pitfalls simply because human beings are involved in designing, developing, and implementing the governing process. As history tells us, human beings are eager to control through power. Does this mean all roads for self governing have the seeds of self destruction within them? A question that is begging for some thoughtful consideration.
ReplyDeleteMo Moustafa