I think it’s a great time to re-think what a resilient representative democracy in the context of global, instantaneous, communication and smart machines would look like. I think that it is fair to argue that the run for liberal democracy (1945 – 2008) has become exhausted. One of the reasons that it no longer appears to have traction is that it takes a lot of work to get tangibly better living for many people. For this and other, more structural reasons (e.g. media ownership by the rich), The autocratic and authoritarian systems are winning globally.

So.

We need to figure out what structures an egalitarian system needs to thrive and work to implement them. This is the time to do it, and we have years to work it out while <waves hands> all this plays out..

• This is one of Colin Martindale’s primordial shifts
• “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste … And what I mean by that is, it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
• Needs some kind of trustworthy cognitive commons
• Reducing the gap between citizens and representatives
  • Sortition? Into small committees?
  • Guarantees of civil liberties and human rights
  • Online participation means some way of determining citizens from bots. Maybe take something from zero trust architectures?
• The role of money. It tends to produce kings, but it’s also really useful.
• The role of smart machines

My working title for this concept is… Project 2033

Assume existing power structures on the left become irrelevant over the next 2-6 years and it’s as bad as you think. People will tire of all the “winning,” and we need to have a plan in hand that looks attractive to (most) people who really just want something better than where they are now.*

* Now will be much worse in 2-6 years so this will be an easier pitch

SBIRs

• 9:00 standup – done
• Finish generating test data – done
• Slides for Monday? Done
• Look at what the Mids have been doing -tomorrow