A rational world order must be consistent. The same laws must apply everywhere. Crimes against humanity, wherever they are committed, must be documented and brought to justice in the International Criminal Court. The International Law considers terrorism to be deliberate attacks on civilians by either Governments or other groups. Most of the terror in Egypt and Syria seems to come from the state.
Without a consistent order, one cannot judge a conflict between others. Egypt’s military deposed the elected president Mursi through a coup d’etat, there is no other way to describe it. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a television interview that the Egyptian army was “restoring democracy” and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that they focus on how to best support initiatives to restore peace and forge reconciliation.
The problem is that General El-Sisi has launched massacres. On July 8 the army killed more than 50 democracy activists. On July 27, at least 80 more were killed. On August 14 Several hundred were killed. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad got a clear message from this passive support, that he is sovereign to use gas against the Syrians if he wants to.
If Egypt’s military regime may get away with impunity so the violence of power will persist. But genocide is genocide wherever it occurs.
An inconsistent and unjust world beds for escalating conflicts and war. To prevent it, let’s give a clear signal to President Bashar al-Assad, General El-Sisi, and all others who use deadly force to silence protesting people: Eventually, you will be prosecuted by ICCR and sent to prison.
Fight, flee or stand still – how do you respond to an attack? Different systems have different self-defense, some fleeing while others defend themselves aggressively. This applies to biological and artificial systems, such as animals and power structures.
If an unpopular leadership is challenged by the people they can drive it away, but the victory is only temporary. The hierarchy will try to return. If the old leader disappears, others will fight to become the new leader and keep their privileges.
At a peaceful transition to democracy, one can expect new wannabee leaders to queue up to take over. The democratic challenge is to not let them do it but to stand peacefully as one person and change the whole system, although it may hurt and take some time.
It is not about choosing another leader, but replacing an old hierarchy system with a new “flat” system where all have the same voting rights – not only at the General Election Days but also in between. To fight for a democratic change.
The new founding principle can be inspired by Aki Orr’sDirect Democracy Manifesto: EVERY CITIZEN – ONE VOTE – ON EVERY POLITICAL DECISION. Orr´s system is fair and sound in theory. The problem is practical: a heavy burden to engage in all and every way.
Egypt is a headache for democracy supporters worldwide.
We enjoy free elections.
President Mohamed Morsi,
who won the election, was overthrown by a military coup.
We don’t like that.
At the same time, we supported the 17 million secular Egyptians demonstrating against Morsi, even though they are a minority in a country with more than 80 million inhabitants.
If democracy is merely a way to elect the leader, large groups will be oppressed; but there are tools in a modern democracy for the extended right to take part in politics. Everyone can do it, but most are not interested. Voting has three alternatives: yes, no – or the most comfortable; to abstain. Even if a majority abstains, a decision must be valid, as long as everyone is informed and have the right to vote.
My view is that President Morsi should be reinstated, but his power should be restricted. There should be a public debate and the activists should be rewarded with greater influence. For example: if a ten-million-minority protest against a new resolution a popular referendum should be held.
Although the military may have the best intentions, they’re better to stay away from politics. Arguments and votes should be political weapons rather than soldiers and arms.
Despite the vast youth unemployment, I suggest the future will remember “the New Italian Spring” as a Victory of Love and Compassion in 2014. The new Pope Francis’ humility gives hope for a moral revival in the Vatican State. In the same period, the direct democratic party M5S enters the Italian Parliament.
Aristotle uses the word “phronesis” to mean morale in theory and practice. According to Aristotle phronesis is prudence. Both Beppo Grillo in M5S and Francis in the Catholic Church seems to be prudent. Like his namesake Francis of Assisi, the new Pope lives a simple life, and Beppo Grillo doesn’t want more power than anybody else in the M5S party. They are both free from practical contradictions in the same way as a map is a true picture of reality: by correspondence.
Phronesis requires the ability to rationally consider actions that can deliver desired effects, but there is still a big problem: the effects happen after the causes, and then it´s too late to act differently. Thus we need to act carefully. I believe that voluntary, reciprocal love between two adult persons hardly can be morally wrong, but if they are not careful the result can be very negative.
Phronesis combines humility with a scientific attitude. The project of Science is to make “the Tree of Knowledge” a better map of “the Tree of Life”. It presupposes cooperation between people and fair competition between ideas. We must not always defend our old ideas. To change opinion in the light of new information is a virtue, even for a Pope.
Direct Democracy on the Internet got a breakthrough in the Italian election on 25.02.13 by Movimento 5 Stelle, M5S. The comedian Beppe Grillo and the financier Gianroberto Casaleggio describe M5S as a new form of politics that uses the Internet to consult voters directly. That the breakthrough occurred in Italy was no coincidence. The Italian mix of modernity and corruption – the tradition, frustration, and desire for change – was needed.
That M5S got 25 % of the votes means that the political system in Italy is changed. If the movement sticks to its direct democratic principles, the political sardine tin can be opened and the contents will be analyzed online. This openness prevents political corruption and means a great victory for democracy, provided that the other parties will cooperate with M5S. But Silvio Berlusconi and Pier Luigi Bersani have surely other plans. They have already begun to push Beppe Grillo to exercise power over M5S. “He needs to decide what to do, or we must all begin to pack up, including Grillo,” Pier Luigi Bersani has said. In order to maintain control, Mr Bersani will be presenting a political discourse that he wants M5S to approve.
The international media reactions are interesting. Beppe Grillo is portrayed as another Berlusconi populist. Media that normally celebrates democracy now heckles Italy for voting for another clown. But M5S is a democratic movement that should not be controlled by one person. Democratic decisions cannot be predicted if you don’t have total control, and then the decisions are no longer democratic! The free market is also impossible to predict but we still praise it for the ability to create growth. Market economy and politics influence each other; usually, the more stable party must adapt to the other. With less predictable politics the market might be forced to calm down and take a long-term responsibility.
Not surprisingly, the United Nation’s climate conference in the oil city of Doha failed. We still don’t have a plan for how to reduce the greenhouse effect and prevent the heating of the earth. Now we must realize that the UN is unable to make the required decisions. No existing organization can do it, because the environmental problems are long-time and global, while the world’s countries and global companies are ruled by short-time self-interest. We need to create a democratic organization that is authorized to legislate on a climate change agreement that all nations are bound to follow. Our mission is to create a directly-elected, representative, transparent and democratic world parliament with the right to pass global laws.
The world’s most important issues (war, environment, human rights, economy…) are all global. We will need a democratic world parliament so that the people of the world are able to influence these worldwide issues. Opponents to a democratic world parliament suggest that such an organization would limit a nation’s sovereignty. However, it is precisely this self-interested sovereignty that is at the root of the problem. Opponents also argue that it is impossible to have all nations cooperate peacefully. If the concept of democracy works at the city (municipal), state (province), and national levels – there is no reason why it can not work at the global level.
Avaaz has made global political engagement much easier. The next step is to give all Internet users a renewed political influence through a global referendum, see Rescue Plan for Planet Earth. Let’s organize the world’s first global referendum as a chain letter – meaning that once a person votes – that person makes sure that at least 2 other people vote. If a majority of the world’s citizens (over 16 years) participate in the referendum and at least 2/3 of them support the idea the resulting referendum will be legally binding, if not politically compelling. If we organize a huge global internet referendum we can really change the world. The plan is not at all hard to execute, it’s just big.
“Tit-for-tat” is the moral principle that tells you to respond to your partner’s action in the same way. It often leads to trust and cooperation between two partners, but there is also a devastating weakness: A conflict is very difficult to abort and the more a part hurts the other, the more it hurts itself. Israel and Gaza suffer from this Tit-for-tat weakness and we feel very sorry for them. Tit-for-tat is a standard moral principle in business, but in politics, it can lead to war.
The conflict calls for a shift into another moral principle, “The Golden Rule”. Israel’s Iron Dome is a promising approach in this direction. If Israel can defend itself against terrorists without killing people in Gaza they own the deepest respect. If Hamas also will start to practice “The Golden Rule” the conflict can eventually fade away.
The little horse from Athens – the story of Demoex – is released. Hopefully this book can inspire the democratic movements around the world. Click to buy The little horse from Athens.
Great news to help spread the idea of a global referendum! Jim Starks book that describes how such a referendum can be made is now available as a free digital download.
To get your free digital download of Rescue Plan for Planet Earth –
please visit https://VoteWorldParliament.org and click the format you
would like. The book is available as a PDF file, or as a digital download for computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Vote World Parliament thanks everyone for spreading the word about the free “Rescue Plan for Planet Earth”.
Direct democracy online is based on a simple idea: to offer direct democratic referendums on matters of substance over the Internet. The aim is to change the political system so that people can participate and vote on matters concerning themselves, and come up with new proposals. The goal is to transfer the power from behind closed doors to online debates, prevent power abuse and corruption, create a common public debate and increase democracy.
Starting a movement Nobody gives away his power voluntarily. Therefore, direct democracy online must be established through democratic elections where people vote for a direct democratic party. Aki Orr’s Direct Democracy Manifesto argues for starting a direct democratic movement. First step is to gather a group of people who believe in the idea and are willing to work for it. The group need not be large but it is important that members do not want to make a career, but is driven by the desire to change the political system. Try to gather people who are used to communicating and have large networks. Decide how you will distribute the work and help each other to make new contacts. Work confidentially until the supporters are so many that you can launch the movement as a force to count with. Find an appropriate tool on the web, a platform to debate and democratic decisions, such as Helios.
Statutes Agree on the party statutes. The requirements of the statutes differ in different countries, but these should be common: The aim should be to give all voters the right to have a voice in every political issue and to propose new laws. Then the party must be neutral, otherwise, you can not organize democratic elections. The goal should be to make it easier to influence society and reduce corruption by increasing transparency. In addition, the party should help create, support, and promote communication and cooperation between neutral direct democratic online parties throughout the world, i.e. by joining E2D International. The method is based on platform services. The platform should make it possible to vote on matters of fact and to debate each point. It should require registration in order to secure the identity of the voters. Only registered citizens should have the right to vote and it should preferably be free of charge. The platform should be a neutral media, a place where people with different opinions can gather, debate, and vote. It should be possible to change their vote right up until the voting closes. Representatives should preferably be selected by a lottery to avoid unnecessary hierarchies in the party. Before each new term, new representatives will then be drawn. They should vote that so they reflect the results of Internet voting statistically according to the D’Hondt method. They should also submit the proposals that a majority of members support. A representative should also argue on the basis of members’ debate on the net.
Registration The next step is to register the party. Various parts of the world have different requirements. Find out what is required by your electoral authority. The better democracy operates, the lower the regulatory requirements. It may be helpful to have a big meeting before the registration in order to form the party. Let the core group become the first Board in association with the task of organizing work, planning the first electoral campaign, and seeking the necessary permissions. In a free country, it is a good idea to go out in the public media and invite as many people as possible to the meeting. You may need to collect subscriptions. Try to get everyone at the meeting to help you collect names, but expect that there will people from other parties at the meeting in order to spy.
Election campaign A tip is to start the election campaign with a big party where you collect some money. Although much of the promotion can be done for free on the internet you will need to make t-shirts, flyers, and ballots. My tip is to make a fun election campaign that sees and hears a lot. Paint election signs together, play theater and music in the streets and shoot and publish the events on the web. Tell about the direct democracy online movement for everyone you meet and try to get TV, radio, and newspapers to pay attention to your party. In Sweden, the local party Demoex made this and succeeded in 2002, 2006, and 2010. Good luck!
A failure or success? 