[P2P-F] Fwd: Ancient Athens didn't have politicians. Is there a lesson for us?

Sat Jan 19 12:19:10 CET 2013

People are very good at knowing what they want , but not very good at how
to get what they want.

That is the reason why they are fooled by politicians. That is why groups
that use direct democracy are very close to the needs of the people
but are more conservative and inefficient than a group that has some sort
of accountable hierarchical structure.
Of course, the second kind of group is more prone to stop working for the
needs of the people.

That is why I consider this an open problem that we should discuss.

I can see an analogy between a computer system and society:

A new technology emerges that provides a new functionality
                                   ||
                                 /   \
A new social structure emerges to use this technology and create wealth
      ||      A new program is created that uses that technology

                                        ||
         The new social structure or program requires specific kinds of
privileges to work. The more privileges it gets, the more prone it is to
change its functionality or have privilege escalation.

Historically speaking, the emergence of rulers and subordinates was due to
such a technological change. When people learned how to farm, that gave
them the ability to have a surplus amount of food stored.
But then, someone had to protect that surplus during drought, giving small
rations to the people so that the village survives.

2013/1/19 M. Fioretti <mfioretti at nexaima.net>

> On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 13:13:45 PM -0800, Karl Robillard wrote:
> > On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 02:17:07 PM M. Fioretti wrote:
> > > I seriously think you misunderstood me (it could be my fault, of
> course)
> >
> > > I'd rather be ruled by bureaucrats and technocrats that are really,
> > > really accountable, rather than from continuous vote of many
> > > individuals who are (including ME, of course) thouroughly
> > > disinterested and incompetent on many topics,
> >
> >
> > Marco,
> >
> > You seem to be saying that the world is too complex for you to be
> involved in
> > making policy.
>
> No. You missed the "really, really accountable part"
>
>
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-- 

Sincerely yours,

     Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis
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