The problem is, that we (as in, "not the rich and powerful") are not playing the game of democracy correctly.
Protesting to stop a bill passing is the "you f-ed up, so you're panicking, and maybe you'll stop it" move.
If it keeps happening, it just means you did not learn your lesson.
What you should have been doing is actively fighting to set rules the way you want them. Both by electing the right people and, more importantly, actually, funding lobbying efforts.
Democracy is when the people in general have power. Not when they are allowed (perhaps, begrudgingly) to demonstrate with placards outside of the buildings that house/employ people with power.
Cite any reputable social science that says that democracy is an actual thing implemented in liberal democracies. Then we can take it from there.
> actually, funding lobbying efforts.
Billionaires and multi-millionaires will outspend your gofundme lobbying. It’s simple economics.
No, that's not what democracy is. That's what you want it to be.
And no, the rich can't outspend the population, if the population realized what's happening.
Not only is 10USD/EUR per month times the entire population just an incredible amount of money ... it's way more effective.
Most damage from lobby happens because corporate lobbyist are the only ones there. Just one publicly funded lobbyist there to remind the decisions makers of what is right and prevent their ability to rationalize would make an incredible difference.
> No, that's not what democracy is. That's what you want it to be.
I don’t even know what that means.
Seems that you have no answers.
> Not only is 10USD/EUR per month times the entire population just an incredible amount of money ... it's way more effective.
That’s about 3B USD a month for the entire US population. Not a small amount but the political system is absolutely flush with money.
Plus you need to organize hundreds of millions of people and convince them to spend it towards one cause/pool. Which is orders of magnitude (as we like to say) harder than the billionaire class loosely organizing togheter.
(Not to mention that you have to keep out grifters etc...)
Not to mention many people can’t afford those kinds of “just two starbucks a month” recurring expenses that HN readers scoff at.
> Most damage from lobby happens because corporate lobbyist are the only ones there. Just one publicly funded lobbyist there to remind the decisions makers of what is right and prevent their ability to rationalize would make an incredible difference.
The keywords “right” and “rationalize” tells me that you are idealizing. The decision-makers don’t care about what’s right; they care about money and power. And if they do start to care about what is “right” then they will be replaced with someone else.
The decision makers need money to stay in power. In turn they turn to the biggest pockets. Predictable outcomes.
What you should have been doing is actively fighting to set rules the way you want them.Both by electing the right people and, more importantly, actually, funding lobbying efforts.
Maybe we should actively fight against the existence of lobby groups. The lobby groups in most cases push for legislation that is good for them (companies) and not for the people.
I hear what you are saying, but sadly that's like fighting against democracy. Lobbying is a natural party of a democratic system, just like political parties. You can try and outlaw it, but you'll only make the problem way worse.
And it's not inherently a problem. It's not even slanted against the interests of the population. The only reason we have a problem is because "the rich and powerful" understand that this is how democracy works and everyone else ... wishes it was different.
The solution to just about all our problems is simple: stop wanting democracy to be something it isn't and start "using" it correctly - namely, realize that to HAVE power you need to SPEND money. And no, taxes ain't it.
The great thing is that "the people's" money is way more effective (i.e. it's more expansive to get politicians to do immoral acts than it is for them to do moral acts).
Plus, we have more of it (10EUR/USD per month times the entire population is ... a lot of money).
The problem is, that we (as in, "not the rich and powerful") are not playing the game of democracy correctly.
Protesting to stop a bill passing is the "you f-ed up, so you're panicking, and maybe you'll stop it" move. If it keeps happening, it just means you did not learn your lesson.
What you should have been doing is actively fighting to set rules the way you want them. Both by electing the right people and, more importantly, actually, funding lobbying efforts.