[EM] To see oursels as ithers see us

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Morning, Michael

To my comment:
    "From what I've seen, many who profess belief in democracy
     lack faith in the judgment of the people."

You responded:
    "Faith may be too much to ask of them."

If so, their lack of regard for the judgment of the people belies their 
belief in democracy!!!!

If one has the humility to recognize that there are many people with 
superior qualities among our peers, it is easy to see that we need a 
means of finding them and elevating them to positions of leadership. 
Those who are so arrogant as to believe that they can personally 
influence events by voting on choices made by self-interested people, 
will continue to pursue methods of doing so, even though their efforts 
are so obviously futile and the results so destructively flawed.


re: "But I am sworn to a truce with you!  Critique of method is not
      allowed."

Alas, Alas!!!  Must it rest there, then?

A thoughtful critique would be welcome ... provided, of course, that the 
person offering it were willing to consider the counterpoints and 
address them with reason.  The effort might lead to an impasse, but, if 
so, the points of disagreement would be clear.

Besides, is not asserting (with regard to my description of Practical 
Democracy) that "the infrastructure you propose has problems" a form of 
critique.  Is it improper to ask that the assertion be supported?

I've attempted to respond to every reasonable objection that has been 
raised.  I'd like to consider clear, direct counter-arguments, but, for 
the most part, the issues have be avoided.


re: "So I return the question in this form: What other election
      methods have been proposed that are similar, either in
      purpose or technique, to your own practical democracy?  Of
      those most similar, what are their compartative strengths
      and weaknesses?"

I'm sorry, but I've never heard of any election method that is even 
remotely similar to the one I outlined.  There are informal arrangements 
of this type all around us ("You drive, we're drunk.") but I'm unaware 
of any attempt to formalize the procedure.


re: "Do you still prefer a CC for list posts?"

Yes, I do.  For a variety of reasons, not least of which is the 
confusing arcana that peppers most submissions, I do not attempt to read 
all the posts on the site.  If it is not inconvenient for you, please 
insure that I receive a copy of your messages.

At the risk of showing my ignorance, I was under the impression that 
clicking on the underlined part of the author's name at the top of a 
post (Michael Allan mike at zelea.com, in your case) automatically sent 
a copy of the post to the author.  Am I wrong ... again???

Fred