[ExI] communism/authoritarianism

[Anton Sherwood]

On 2020-9-18 12:38, Darin Sunley via extropy-chat wrote:
> At this point, I'm becoming more and more sympathetic to the idea
> of a strong constitutional hereditary monarch, with a behavioral norm
> of decisively and publicly crushing ursurpers.

Allow me to suggest a short book: «The State in the Third Millennium»
by Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein.

> In a dysfunctional, divided democracy like the US appears to be 
> currently enjoying, we have a permanent ongoing cold civil war [with 
> occasional flashes of heat] as both major tribes unceasingly maneuver in 
> the plausible hope of attaining power for a few years at a time, until 
> the wheel turns again. This is /far/ more damaging to the lives of 
> normal people than one side simply decisively owning the government 
> would be.

Sortition could be even better.

	Drawing lots is *fair*, even if it sometimes throws up a freak
	result.  With elections you're actually building the minority
	problem right in at every level, and lots more with it -
	parties, money, fame, graft, just for starters.  What chance
	would that leave ordinary people, what chance would we have of
	being heard or of making a difference?  Elections are completely
	undemocratic, they're downright *anti*democratic. Everybody
	knows *that*! --a character in /Dark Light/ by Ken MacLeod

-- 
*\\*  Anton Sherwood  *\\*  www.bendwavy.org