• schmorp@slrpnk.net
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    11 months ago

    If only, but in reality it probably ends up being more like this crypto-bro shit: https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjknx/tech-billionaires-launch-fund-to-create-new-libertarian-societies-balaji

    None of the points on your list really needs technology to work. You can even have exchange of text instead of in-person-meetings. Switzerland, for example, had a lot of direct democracy going on before tech could be harnessed to support it. Of course I love how tech makes it easier to transmit information and talk to others around the globe, but it doesn’t enable something that couldn’t exist before. The only difference I can see in building a more direct democracy without tech would be that decisions take longer, and that might actually be a good thing.

    Mind you I’m not arguing to remove all tech from government. I was busy dealing with government services the other day and was very glad to not have to go and see anyone in person. But I don’t buy that the tech just by itself will bring us any closer to a fair anarchist society. Adding a layer of tech (or anything else that the majority of the population doesn’t understand) means adding a layer of possible corruption that will have to be kept under check.

    • MrMakabar@slrpnk.net
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      11 months ago

      The problem is scale. You can do all of it on paper or in person, but that scales awfully badly. On a country level a referendum takes years to set up and organize. That is a huge problem for Switzerland as changing anything can take ages. Womens suffrage took Switzerland until 1971 on a federal level and 1990 on a canton level. Just as an example. That is for what really is a small country. Just think about something the size and compelxity of India for example. Switzerland only has four languages, India has hundrets and happens to be much bigger.