Help with Idea / Democratic Party - Internet - New Technology

[Skaparlust]

Dear Alan,
Here is a link to the Swedish government web page with a summary of the
extensive report on A sustainable democracy, which was published 2000.
www.demokratitorget.gov.se/pdf/sustainable_democracy/pdf
It talks a lot about deliberative democracy and the role of the people. You
might find something useful there. After that came a proposition from the
government, of which I have not found a translation.
Another web page which has a lot of interesting papers on deliberative
democracy is www.co-intelligence.org.
Good luck and greetings from

Agneta Falk...
...who is passionately interested in democratic procedures and values.
I am currently looking into what the systemic worldview has to offer in ways
of expanding the definition of democracy and what practical implications it
can present.




----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Silverman" <asilverman at hvc.rr.com>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 9:46 AM
Subject: Re: Help with Idea / Democratic Party - Internet - New Technology


> Birgitt, Mike,
> Thank you so much.
>
> Are there any editors or writers out there, who can help me write an
> absolutely clear brilliant essay/letter?  Or perhaps you know someone
> else to refer me to?
>
> Thanks again,
> Al
>
>
>
> Birgitt Williams wrote:
> >
> > Alan,
> > Whatever you do with this is worth a pursuing because it is clear you
have
> > passion to move this forward. I found that the last few paragraphs of
what
> > you wrote was exactly what we say OST does. I get excited about any work
> > that I am aware of in which someone is assisting others to find their
voice,
> > their truth, their freedom, their right to make choices-all of which is
so
> > very much needed because people generally have lost touch with all of
this
> > and lost touch with their personal power. Bless you for pursuing this,
> > Birgitt
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Alan
> > Silverman
> > Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 10:58 AM
> > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Help with Idea / Democratic Party - Internet - New
Technology
> >
> > Dear Christine, Birgitt, Jim, BJ, Michael,
> >
> > Thank you for your responses.
> >
> > I guess my idea has always been to create a type of virtual Open Space.
> > Virtual, because of my experience at IBM. Commuting hours a day to do
> > the same work I could do at home seemed so foolish. (I was in software
> > support.)
> >
> > Having to physically travel to a specific place to participate in a
> > process, this immediately cuts out almost everyone - the disabled, the
> > poor, the dying, 99.9% of all of us,  from participation.  Which serves
> > the individuals who control powerful institutions.  I want a virtual
> > Washington D.C., a virtual UN.  I think it can be done, with specific
> > technologies.
> >
> > I appreciate your responses.  But I feel some were really saying:  "Do
> > this instead".  Or "No, that can't be done".  These are valid responses,
> > but should be said with a full understanding of what I'm saying.
> > Harrison came closest to understanding, but I had to clarify a key
> > point:  Convincing the Democratic Party is not necessary for the idea to
> > work.
> >
> > "Is this what you mean?" ...  "Or is it this?" ... "This might be a
better
> > way...."
> > The role of listener, understander, interpreter for other's ideas is
> > very important.
> >
> > A few more things, before I go into my letter.  First, key to my system
> > of thought is trying to imagine all the ways something might possibly
> > work, before saying it won't.  Second, although I do have the writer's
> > horror of  having my ideas stolen, I also have a rather loose sense of
> > ownership.  I'm not saying 'help me with my idea' so much as 'take it,
> > work with it, make it your own, whatever part, as much or little, as you
> > want."  Third, content is important to me, not form.  If you can say it
> > better, then say it.  Take what I write, move it, slice it, dice it.
> > That's the beauty of software.  Fourth, it doesn't matter who you are or
> > where you come from.  Christine from Australia, if you understand what
> > I'm saying and can help create it, do so.  Anything, just referring an
> > idea to someone else, can help.  Think down the line.
> >
> > Now I'm being wordy. I don't want to be wordy.  I want to boil things
> > down to their essence, else the core objective be lost.
> >
> > 1. My goal is to create and legitimize a virtual institution where
> > everyone can input their ideas and join to create solutions, not fuzzy
> > solutions but very specific well thought out solutions, to specific
> > problems.  I believe the technology now exists to accomplish this.
> >
> > 2. I believe that at this specific time, right now, if we can find the
> > right words to express this, and find the right people to champion the
> > idea, and place those words in the right place, we have a decent chance
> > of creating such an institution.  This is worth trying.
> >
> > I'm going to throw down my words, like characters on a Ouija board,
> > hoping they take shape and become something.  Don't be too respectful
> > of  specific words.  They are just words, after all.
> >
> > Thank you.
> > Alan
> >
> > Letter I began to write:
> >
> > Over the past few years I have created innovative solutions for the
> > Democratic Party, concise well articulated plans with a high degree of
> > granularity, intended to address specific problems. Since I worked as a
> > software engineer at IBM, many of these ideas dealt with the Internet
> > and new technologies, areas where I felt the Democratic Party could use
> > assistance.
> >
> > At different times I presented these ideas in softcopy, hardcopy and in
> > person, to various arms of the DNC and individuals within the party, to
> > committees and liberal think tanks, and our elected officials.  Because
> > these were good ideas well presented, they were discussed, sometimes at
> > length, before each idea finally disappeared, swallowed up by that great
> > confused institution, the Democratic Party.
> >
> > There is no lack of good ideas in America.  We have a wealth of
> > intelligent creative individuals.  But no mechanism exists to gather
> > innovative ideas, refine them into concrete solutions, and then feed
> > those solutions to the Democratic leadership for implementation.  If it
> > did exist, such a mechanism would invigorate the Democratic Party and
> > the American political system as a whole.
> >
> > The problem is finding a process to efficiently gather and sort ideas,
> > winnow out good from bad, and then  create solutions.  This is the type
> > of problem I began working on at IBM in 1988, also the first year I
> > worked on the Internet.
> >
> > The Internet is another great confused institution, implicitly
> > democratic, offering enormous possibilities,  but containing too much
> > information too easily created, and only with difficulty appraised.  The
> > difference between this and the problems we faced at IBM are more of
> > scope than of kind.
> >
> > The solution lay within a matrix of four technological groups:
> >
> > 1. The Internet, search engines, sorting programs, heuristics.
> > 2. Huge data bases, cheap data storage, data mining.
> > 3. Digital signatures, encryption programs.
> > 4. Moderated forums.
> >
> > With these technologies we can build a forum where groups of individuals
> > can create intelligent solutions to better our party, our nation, and
> > our world.  This open forum, open to anyone with access to the Internet,
> > open in the fact that the discussions, this solution manufacturing
> > process, would be in plain view, thus mitigating against the back room
> > deals that often dominate politics.
> >
> > The forums would be moderated and structured, not free form. Each
> > discussion would constitute communities of individuals most
> > knowledgeable in specific areas and most passionate about specific
> > problems, joining together from wherever they live, to break complex
> > problems into simple ones, attacking these simple problems in parallel.
> >
> > Get the very best people, no matter where they live and who they are,
> > working together. Ultimately these are the people who should create
> > actual policy and suggest solutions.  The Democratic Party is the right
> > group to sponsor such a forum and champion its solutions.  This may be
> > the only way we can compete with the Republican Party, which has more
> > money and better organization than we.
> >
> > (Al:   OK, this is where it peters out.
> >
> > Question:
> >
> > Is it too pedantic, stiff, self-important?  Does it matter I was at
> > IBM?  Does this technological connection lend some credence? Mention
> > Google somewhere?  Hot item now. When Google made it to the cover of
> > Newsweek magazine, I thought, 'of course, if Google can cull 3 billion
> > web pages and organize them to give you the web pages you want, we can
> > do the same, matching idea and people together.'
> >
> > But I don't want to just give Google the 'contract'.  It is most
> > efficient to find things which already exist, people who have already
> > plotted out implementations to an idea.  They are out there, for
> > virtually any idea or concept, quickly plugged into specific tasks.  But
> > at every level, task... the  actual implementation must be left to the
> > best possible solution in competition with all other like solutions.
> > The best as judged by ones peers, those individuals most knowledgeable
> > about that specific area.  BJ, I think this is your distinction between
> > 'citizen democracy' and 'direct democracy'.)
> >
> > Further wisps, some dealing with actual implementation, which needn't be
> > in the letter:
> >
> > The problem with "innovation" in business movements of the 1990's, came
> > from three facts.  1. An idea created by one individual could be easily
> > stolen by  others.  2. Innovative ideas were submitted through a
> > hierarchy of management people not capable of understanding or adding to
> > the idea, and usually hostile to new ideas in general, since new ways of
> > doing things endanger their own positions.   3.  With software it's so
> > easy to generate ideas, most of them impractical.  Assessing, grading,
> > and sorting them was simply too expensive.   Output generally didn't
> > justify cost.
> >
> > Now, with the availability of digital signatures, dependable encryption
> > programs, and cheap data storage, literally every discussion could be
> > documented and archived in total.  There would be no debate who first
> > came up with a suggestion and whose input was critical to its final
> > form.   But the great weight of output could also be inexpensively
> > sorted and grouped.
> >
> > This would represent both democracy and capitalism at its very best.
> > Protocols would be developed to view ideas and refine them efficiently.
> > Heuristic searching, sorting, and summarizing programs make this
> > possible.
> >
> > >From a country of 270 million, or a world of 6 billion, there is almost
> > always someone who really sees what's going on. The problem is finding
> > that person and helping them refine that idea into a solution.
> >
> > For instance, it seems apparent that an FBI agent in Phoenix and others
> > in Minnesota were on the track of the 911 terrorists. Undoubtedly many
> > other  individuals in other branches of the U.S. government also knew
> > something was up.  But hierarchical institutions and organizations, such
> > as the FBI, and the Republican Party, are not good at finding this type
> > of person and putting her/him together with other people individuals who
> > can reasonably assess the value of their ideas, so they may begin to
> > work together to create solutions. Perhaps more accurately, these
> > institutions are not good at allowing such people to find each other and
> > work together.
> >
> > (too preachy and self-involved? I think so.  But the 911 stuff could
> > touch a nerve.)
> >
> > The immediate question at hand is 'what should the Democratic Party do
> > in light of successful Republican strategy?" That's the button to push,
> > the hook. Do we push it accusingly, saying they've failed the Democratic
> > electorate?  Helpfully? as a challenge? I don't know.
> >
> > In the long run, I think one of the most important things the Democratic
> > Party could offer in competition with the Republicans, is giving all
> > (frustrated creative) people the chance to have their ideas seen and
> > used.  But to give you an idea what I'm thinking, following are specific
> > examples of the uses of such forums...
> >
> > (*** Important aside:  The above two paragraphs will be the last time
> > you hear me say:
> >  "I don't know"...
> > "But to give you an idea what I'm thinking"...
> > "I think..."
> > If you do see these statements, please delete them from my writing.
> >
> > I'm not a great believer in certainty.  "I think", "I believe", "I don't
> > know for sure" are implied in my every statement.  But saying so makes
> > for  impossible reading.)
> >
> > Forum examples:
> >
> > 1. Suppose there is need for a  policy decision concerning how farmers
> > should irrigate fields in the mountains of Peru.  I give this example
> > because I remember reading something about this in a back issue of
> > Natural History magazine.
> >
> > I'm willing to bet there are at least three dozen people who know more
> > about these fields, farmers, and land use than anyone else in the world,
> > all the implications, connections, and complications.  If a U.S. policy
> > decision were ever needed concerning this (I leave it to your
> > imagination why there might be need for such a decision), these are the
> > people who should make it, or at least be party to making it.
> >
> > This may seem inconsequential, but great disasters come from seemingly
> > inconsequential decisions. The complexity and size of our world leaves
> > open the opportunity for individuals and groups to secretly push their
> > own agendas, to the detriment of all. Computer data bases have an
> > unparalleled ability to model reality, to track the exact status, in
> > real time, of things which might otherwise fall between the cracks.
> >
> > 2.  At least 50 people in the world today have thought of the idea which
> > I am discussing here, all aspects, from the technologies involved to the
> > structures of forums and rules and protocols to governing them.
> > Together we could quickly refine the idea, break it down into
> > constituent parts, then  solve these as separate problems.
> >
> > When I was working at IBM there was always someone somewhere who 'knew'.
> > Of course you could figure out what they knew, but that might take days.
> > But if instead you found that person, and got the answer, the tiny bit
> > of information necessary to send the project forward, it might take her
> > or him only a minute.
> >
> > Because I thought of certain ideas, it doesn't mean I'm the best person
> > to organize them into an essay, write them down, etc.  I want to own
> > those ideas and get credit for them.  But I don't want to 'own' the
> > whole.  I want to give ownership away, to all the people who best know
> > how to accomplish what should be accomplished, with each person getting
> > credit for the actual value of their input.
> >
> > Any project can be broken down into segments.  This project:
> > 1. Base ideas
> > 2. Write essay
> > 3. Round up prominent support
> > 4. Place in prominent venue.
> >
> > Each is the basis for miniforums.
> >
> > What it comes down to is that already all the right answers are out
> > there somewhere.  All we must do is find them, create a forum for the
> > people who understand them, then use them, while crediting all those who
> > deserve credit for a solution.  This will constitute a great worldwide
> > institution.  The key is to legitimize the institution and the solutions
> > it proposes.
> >
> > The people who should pose solutions are the community of all
> > individuals in the world most knowledgeable in certain specific areas
> > and most passionate about shared ideas.
> >
> > *
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