“Representative Democracy” is a contradiction in adjecto. I propose to complement it by making direct democracy the overlord of the present system.
The seven leaders of the seven richest countries met in Sicily for the G7 Summit of 2017. Meanwhile several rescue ships rescued more than a thousand refugees from the sea. Each. That’s thousands of people a day. It looks as if much of Africa is a sinking ship, and the rats are leaving. But don’t worry: there is no colonialism in Africa (what there is now there is neocolonialism-plutocratic exploitation, without administrative interference, and that’s much more efficient as an extraction mechanism).
So here you seven individuals deciding for the world. What the world will do, what the world should do, what the world is capable of, what the world should learn, etc.
They were a bit discombobulated by Trump, who was described as “unpredictable”. And firmly committed to be uncommitted on “climate”. Whatever “climate” is.
G7 2017 Meeting In Taormina, Sicily, in a Greek Theater, 25 centuries old. The gigantic Etna volcano is erupting in the background, emitting copious amount of CO2. CO2 indigestion is how the super enormous mass extinction of 251 million years ago, between Permian and Trias worked: massive CO2 emissions by the Siberian Traps made two-third of the planet too hot for life. Yes two-third. And yes, we are heading straight for it, within a couple of generations. However, Trump didn’t get the message from Vulcan!
The disagreement with Trump on climate is a gigantic tale, on its own. Indeed, it’s not clear what “climate” means. Climate, done correctly, should mean, first, to curb carbon burning, thus, a carbon tax. However, what European leaders have meant by “climate” mitigation is not this.
As demonstrated by the extreme pollution problems in some European countries, including France! And the fact Europe let its car makers get away with extreme pollution for years (it’s the despised USA which found the diesel cheating trick of European car makers). Fighting the “climate”, for European leaders, has consisted in giving hand-outs, hush money to the poorest countries (maybe to pursue quietly the neocolonialism as described above?) Many of these poorest countries have the world’s highest indoor pollution, by a very long shot, due to carbon burning, indoors, precisely…
The low-level of understanding in these “climate” related problems is directly a consequence of the lack of debate. That, in turn, is a consequence of the lack of direct democracy. Why should people think hard about what is really going on, when it will make no difference, anyway?
The seven brains we have to lead us all to extinction. World Think & Action Leaders. From Left to Right: Donald Tusk, President of the EU Council, Trudeau PM Canada, Angela Merkel Deutsch Kanzler, Donald Trump US Entertainer, PM Italy (one of many), 39 year old French President Emmanuel Macron, Shinto Abe PM Japan, Theresa May, British PM, and, far right, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission (and advocate of sophisticated Tax havens) pose for a family photo during the G7 Summit in Taormina, Sicily, Italy, May 26, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
Macron, a smart cookie, but not a scientist, lectured Trump on climate, and the US made it known the great leader was happy to have learned so much.
Teresa May, the British so-far-unelected Prime Minister, insisted that one should start watching what is going on in the Internet, and cut off Islamist propaganda. Indeed, it’s Western plutocrats who control access to TV and Internet (because they control fibers and satellites), as I have said many times. Facebook and company, but also the satellite operators should be viewed as objective accomplices of murderous propaganda: after all they are the ones transmitting it, and it would not be transmitted otherwise. At least that’s what I say, and I am happy to see our great leaders oozing in that general directions, as the mental slugs they are.
As Reuters put it: “After lengthy deliberation, the (short, 6 pages) final G7 document included a separate threat, that was inserted into the 2016 G7 statement, to take additional action against Russia, if warranted, for its intervention in Ukraine.”
But the more general question is this: why so much power in so few hands? Why are seven brains in charge of the imagination and learning of the planet?
It should be now obvious that elected politicians and the deep state have too much power. Their power should be counterbalanced by direct democracy! It can be done. Republican Constitutions should be tweaked.
This is what happened in Switzerland. The Swiss Constitution had a provision for direct vote on legislative proposition (also known as referenda, or plebiscites). However, that was not applied much until the last 30 years, when the practice blossomed. Any proposition compatible with the broader constitution having gathered 100,000 signatures, can be presented to the direct vote of We The People.
Scaling that up for France would mean nearly 800,000 signatures, and for the USA, 4 million.
California has such a system.
I claim that the main reason for the wealth of Switzerland and California is this system of direct vote of We The People for propositions: it keep politicians more honest, financially and intellectually, than elsewhere.
Direct vote makes We The People much more cognizant of the real problems. This is demonstrated by the fact that public opinion in general swings around when a proposition is proposed. Often people are 60% for it, and end up voting 60% against it, and reciprocally.
Some will object that a direct referendum brought us Brexit, a catastrophe. Well, what brought us Brexit was a devious media owned by plutocrats which drove people persistently into deliberate disinformation and misinformation, for decades. That should be completely unlawful, and I have advocated a ministry of truth (no, I am not kidding, and yes, I have read Orwell’s “1984”. Precisely!)
What happens when the popular vote passes a law contradicting existing laws, or simple rationality? Well, then a debate ensues. An example is the popular vote against free circulation which the Swiss people passed. (After an immigration of the order of 13% in ten years, mostly from the rest of Europe, explaining the vote!)
The European Union was furious and took sanctions within hours (by intelligently, I am ironical, cancelling the Erasmus program for Switzerland; Erasmus enables youth to go study in other European countries). The Swiss government was livid. Ever since the EU has been furious and the Swiss government livid. But nothing else much has happened (that reminds us of Brexit, present and future…)
In other words, when contradictions between We The People and the elected government appear, the debate deepens. And that’s good.
Adding plebiscite to the existing elected representatives system is easy to do, there is no contradiction: elected Swiss legislators usually integrate the propositions in the laws of the country.
G7 2017. In Attendance, A Slovenian Fashion Model Named Melania, Lower Extremities. These Stilettos Are made To Walk On You. Extravagant Wealth, Hence Power, Should Be Unlawful In Any Republic. And It was, In Republican Rome, For Centuries. Not Meant To Express A distaste For Melania, far From It. But To Express A Distaste for The Mood That It Is PC To Have Some Think It All, Do It All, Have it All, While 8 Billions Despondently Watch, Powerless In All Ways, And Those Stilettos Are Walking All Over Us. And the biosphere too.
By the way, the idea of real democracy is not new: “plebiscite” comes from the Latin “plebs”. The “plebs” was We The People of Rome. The “plebs” formed a national assembly, and practiced direct democracy within (demultiplying with a system of “tribes”). That part of the Roman political system was a direct democracy (Athens had a functional equivalent, more direct, but also more unstable).
The least we could do, as the biosphere is facing the greatest crisis in 65 million years now, and, soon enough, in 251 million years, is to mobilize all our mental energies. This is not accomplished by letting seven brains think it all. Or even seven thousand brains (the number of influential people, worldwide is less than that).
Giant Tower Woman With Shaggy Hairdo Overlords us insects With $51,000 jacket by Dolce & Gabbana. In a respectful show of humility for average losers, this is a few thousand dollars below the US median family income. Make no mistake, I love colors.
Mobilizing all our mental energy is not done by putting seven brains in command, however eager they are to dominate us all. Or, rather, precisely because they are so eager to dominate us all.
In other, yet related news, Donald Trump had to follow the other leaders, as they walked around the streets of Taormina, in a golf cart. The joke was that he got somewhat left behind, because the cart was not American made. OK, Trump is older than the rest (70, whereas Abe and Merkel are 62; May is 60). Age is a good thing for leadership. Healthy age.
Nevertheless, clearly, the great leader has abused golf carts. Trump claims he does not do drugs, including alcohol, inspired, as he was by his older brother’s alcohol addiction, which brought his early demise. However, golf cart addiction is also a life threatening addiction. In several ways. First it makes people impotent, as Trump himself demonstrated at Taormina. Second, by making them physically impotent, it also makes them mentally less potent than they would be if they learn to practice physical independence from technological hand-outs.
“He came here to learn. He came here to get smart. His views are evolving which exactly as they should be,” Trump’s economic adviser Gary Cohn hopefully said on Friday. Well, Trump should learn from Angela Merkel (who is also overweight) that he is definitively not in good shape, at least physically speaking. And we are even worse, as most of us sincerely believe that this parody we are subjected to should be called democracy, lest we are found out-of-order.
Patrice Ayme’
Tags: Direct democracy, G7, plebiscite, Plebs, Taormina G7 2017
Patrice Ayme's Thoughts 
May 27, 2017 at 10:21 pm |
‘Mobilizing world mental energy not done with 7 brains in charge, however eager they’re to dominate us all. And precisely because they so eager!’
Nathan Daniel Curry: Can you be dominated? The more important question.
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May 27, 2017 at 10:24 pm |
Nathan: some people have all the power. They go around the planet in beds. They eat gold leaf. OK, nothing special, I admit, I had it more than once, it has no taste (but extends life, as Diane de Poitier knew). Small people without power ARE dominated. They have masters.
Slaves may persuade themselves, as slaves always had to do, that they are not dominated. But the day slaves are told what to do, and have to do it, slaves are dominated. To turn this into a subjective question, the way the buffalo eaten alive by hyenas does, is neither here, nor there. Of course the buffalo eaten alive feels he is not dominated. But it’s neither an important question, nor a cognizant answer. You should read the whole essay.
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May 28, 2017 at 1:39 am |
Extravagant wealth forbidden in Republican Rome! Very curious. Where do I get more information about it?
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May 28, 2017 at 4:53 am |
Hello Midas do Tiete, and welcome! Now your comments should sail through immediately.
To search for a subject XYZ that I mention, a way is to google “Patrice Ayme XYZ” chances are that I mentioned it before, with links. Also Wiki XYZ can well work.
By the way, BING bans me (for reasons easy to guess; so it mentions only work which is more than ten year old…)
“Patrice Ayme Rome absolute wealth” produced 9,600 hits headed by:
A search “Rome Absolute Wealth Limit” produced the same essay. However notice next to it something new:
“REPORT INAPPROPRIATE PREDICTIONS”
In other words, Google too is getting ready to ban me!
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May 29, 2017 at 1:24 am |
Thank you, Patrice. Indeed I will follow your suggestion and google you, while it works. By the way, it’s time for a open web search engine to grow. These corporation stuffs are untrustworthy. I’ve been banned from fb twice without making any “wrongdoing”.
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May 29, 2017 at 3:18 am |
Hi Midas, the way they do it is to start a campaign against you, as shown in the screen I photographed. They used cookies to know who is watching what and they don’t show you their plot against you and your own computer(s)!
Enough banning enables to cut off the readership totally. My readership has stagnated in the last ten years, after extensive bans from corporate plutocrats. All the more remarkable as Obama read me and used my material extensively in his genial discourses (which were 180 degrees from his policies!
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May 28, 2017 at 4:48 am |
Very cogent argument for change. Because one thing is clear. For if we don’t change how we regard our planet, how we treat our planet, pretty soon (I’m guessing within ten years at most) then we are toast!
This week’s edition of The Economist has a special report on the state of our oceans. Noting that oceanic water has warmed by 0.7 deg. C since the 19th century. Predicting that by the middle of the century the sea could contain more plastic than fish by weight. (We now throw over 8m tonnes every year into the ocean.)
Each of us has a right to vote for what we want. Now!
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May 28, 2017 at 6:08 am |
Thanks Paul! The latest is telling: Google is inciting people to report me as “violent, dangerous, hateful, sexually explicit” etc.
I am already banned by the New York Times, BING, Yahoo, etc… Although the Guardian let some of my comments through in the last three months…
I will have an essay on that tomorrow…
Thanks for telling me about The Economist. Plastic is solvable (bacteria are evolving to digest it!). Heat is not. 93% of the heat goes into the ocean, so, as I have argued, East Antarctica will suddenly melt, where the bottom is below sea level. That’s 20 meters of sea level rise guaranteed.
There was just the first expedition to the Totten Glacier, BTW….
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May 28, 2017 at 4:50 am |
Reblogged this on Defense Issues.
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May 28, 2017 at 6:10 am |
Thanks Picard! The news are getting more interesting by the hour. A search engine held by plutocrats incited against me publicly, and I have already contacted TWO lawyers in the Silicon Valley….
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May 28, 2017 at 5:08 pm |
May 28, 2017 at 1:03 pm
By the way, did you read this:
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10392/france-macron-islamists
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10430/terrorism-candles-teddy-bears
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May 30, 2017 at 3:20 am |
Read the first one. I agree with all, except the conflation of Islamism and North African immigration. Millions who immigrated from North Africa, including half the family of yours truly, did so, precisely because they are anti-Islam. They are often much more anti-Islam than the bovine rest of the French population.
Consider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boualem_Sansal
Also the proverbial “racial mix” has to be taken with a grain of salt. Many Europeans migrated to North Africa, including Neanderthals (highest concentration there). Romans, Celts, Spaniards, Vandals, etc. migrated there. In any case the population in NA is, overall, European, not semitic, genes studies show. (In spite of the fact millions of Jews, who are Semitic, lived there!)
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May 31, 2017 at 1:58 am |
picard578 May 30, 2017 at 11:14 am
It is true that initial immigrants oftentimes aren’t islamists, but they don’t stay that way. To be more precise, their children, regardless of how successful integration process is, typically turn to literal (“radical”) Islam. Research has also shown that children of well-integrated immigrants are no less likely to turn radical than children of immigrants who were not integrated into society.
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May 31, 2017 at 2:02 am |
Dear Picard: What happened is that intellectuals betrayed after World War Two. (Actually some had betrayed during and before WWII). They made an anti-French (and thus anti-EU) discourse, which was appreciated in Washington, Moscow, Wall Street and Beijing. Islam became a mean to that end. Thus justified Islamophobia was denounced as “racism”. A new generation was stuck between poor schooling, Islamization from the top and Saudi Arabia, plus unemployment and civilization-phobia.
There was nothing wrong with the Muslim origin immigrants, but everything wrong with the environment racist plutocracy provided them with. “Integration” was rendered difficult by the Islamophile, multicultural top down influence.
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June 9, 2017 at 11:44 am |
Picard578 here, I had a discussion over at SpaceBattles, about Roman versus Greek propensity for innovation. This was my response:
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/your-political-ideology-and-why-you-hold-it.533527/page-4#post-35873443
Most of your examples are wrong because they were adapted by, but not invented by, the Romans.
Concrete – invented by Syrians, Etruscans, Nabateans, Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese in various forms. Romans took it from Etruscans. 1 2 3 4 That being said, Romans were the first ones to use volcanic ash in concrete, which made it uncommonly resillient – better than anything we have today. 5 6 7
Crank – appeared in 5BC Celtiberan Spain – Romans didn’t reach spain until 3BC (218 BC, to be exact) 1 It may also have been invented by Greeks in parallel to Celtiberans 2
Connecting rod – true
Treadmill – it is actually treadwheel, and yes, it was invented by Romans – but it was an improvement of Etruscan and Greek cranes 1 2
Breakthroughts in medicine – science of medicine itself was invented in Ancient Greece 1
Treshing machine – modern invention, but if you are referring to treshing board, it was invented during Neolithic in Middle East and Balkans 1 Treshing sledge, which is probably the same thing, was invented in ancient Middle East and Greece 2
Applications of water power – which applications, precisely? Watermill – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4
Advances in glass blowing – again, which advances, specifically?
Plumbing – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 including hot and cold showers 3 4 as well as sewers 5
Central heating – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4
And something I have found on my own:
Odometer – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3
Alarm clock – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4
Anchor – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4
Automatic doors – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 5
Catapult – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 In fact, basically all siege weapons that Romans used had been invented, or utilized by, Alexander the Great. Many were invented even earlier.
Clock tower – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 and it also doubled as a weather station 5
Coin money – invented in Lidya and Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 5, and even four centuries before that rods were used as money in Ancient Greece 6
Crossbow – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 5 6 (also in China, like many other things here, but we’re talking about Mediterranean civilizations)
Lighthouse – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 5
Maps – invented in Ancient Greece, at least those with concept of latitude and longitude 1 2 3
Automated sinks – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3
Spiral staircase – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2
Steam engine – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 (technically invented in Alexandria)
Surveying tools – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3
Thermometer – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2
Umbrella – invented in Ancient Greece, and it could open and close 1 , though it may have been imported from China and then improved 2
Urban planning – invented or at least extensively utilized in Ancient Greece 1 2
Vending machine – invented in Ancient Rome by a Greek 1 2 3 4 5
Water clock – invented in Ancient Egypt 1 and also Ancient Greece 2
Water organ – invented in Ancient Greece 1 though Romans did improve the design and come up with bellows organ 2
Wheelbarrow – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3
Robot – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 5 6
Citizenship – entire concept was invented in Ancient Greece 1 2
Crane – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3
Democracy – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4
Geometry – maybe not invented, but first introduced as an organized discipline in Ancient Greece 1 2 3
Trial by jury – invented in Ancient Greece, specifically Athens 1 2 3 4
Cannon – invented in Ancient Greece, though it used steam instead of gunpowder 1 2 3 4
Hula hoop – invented in Ancient Greece or else imported from Egypt 1 2 3 4
Pizza – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4
Analogue computer – invented in Ancient Greece 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
So out of 10 things you listed, 6 were invented by Greeks, 3 by others and 1 by Romans – and even that one was merely an improvement of Etruscan and Greek designs, not an original invention, so it is either 7-3-0 or 6-4-0. Great inventors, there. Now, some or many of the things listed may have been also invented somewhere other than Ancient Greece, however what matters is that Greeks were the ones who invented these things on their own, and then taught them to Romans. (BTW, an interesting presentation here).
It just proves the saying I read somewhere – all the great things were invented by small nations; all the great things were stolen by great nations. Great nations typically get the credit for things that were first made or invented by small nations, and Romans are no exception. But Romans, as good as they were in adapting – and in some cases improving – others’ inventions, were themselves not that great inventors. That being said, Roman Empire had one huge advantage over modern “multicultural” nations – it was truly multicultural. Most people in ancient times lived in villages, which they never left. Even inhabitants of cities never left their cities. In fact, communication between villages was typically lesser than between inhabitants of different nation-states today, which meant no conflict as long as you accepted the divine Emperor (and his tax collectors). Ideas would still spread, but people mostly minded their own business. Still, the fact that the Empire was a politically unified entity left it at disadvantage in inventions department when compared to the Greek polises of antiquity. Greek political fragmentation was one of the causes of their productivity in just about everything. Roman conquest of Greece was likely one of greatest catastrophes faced by the Western Civilization because it stopped advancement for centuries. In fact, once compensated for the socio-economic and technological conditions, ancient Greek civilization may have been the most scientifically productive civilization in the history of the Western world, and possibly the world as a whole (though India and China could be up there with Greeks). It is true that Greek inventiveness was retained even later when much of the Greek world was absorbed by larger entities (Hellenic empires and later the Roman Empire), but that was thanks to the culture and mindset that was developed much earlier in Greek city-states.
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June 9, 2017 at 1:20 pm |
Very interesting. I have ideas on this, long had them. I basically agree with you. However the truth is more sinister and enlightening. I don’t believe that the size of the Roman “nation” was the problem. As you pointed out, power and politics in “Rome” was very local (after the first flush of colonization typically by retired legionnaires, although Roman merchants played a deep role of penetration in Gaul, before Caesar barged in. The Roman empire became a constellation of cities, unified by a central military government.
I see four periods in the empire: 1) the establishment of the “Principate”, Augustus dictatorship for life (although he carefully avoided that title, preferring “Princeps”, the principal in the Senate). 2) The messy plutocracy, starting with Tiberius. 3) The organized plutocracy, namely the Antonine emperors, inaugurated by Trajan’s predecessor, and culminating with Trajan: a close knit set of families exchanged the Purple. 4) The great degeneracy for all to see, starting with Commodus…
Throughout, hostility to deep thinking and technology was imposed, top down. The Romans has been great innovation adopters (quite a bit like the Americans), under the full REPUBLIC. But emperors were explicitly hostile to invention and innovation, and this is precisely why the empire collapsed.
More later…
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June 9, 2017 at 3:08 pm |
Yes, and I have seen your reply on SpaceBattles. Nice to see you there.
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June 10, 2017 at 6:34 am |
I am going to get an essay out of it, it’s a subject that long fascinated me, and I wrote many times about it. It’s related to thinking in general…… BTW, I tried to reblog the video, but didn’t work out. So I wrote an essay and will post it, with the video inside!
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June 13, 2017 at 1:37 pm |
Chris Snuggs
June 12 at 9:15pm
GLAD YOU ARE ON BOARD! TRUST THE PEOPLE. EVEN IF SOME OF THEM; ARE STUPID, THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO BE TRUSTED, and anyway, THEY ARE LESS DANGEROUS THAN THE ELITES …
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June 21, 2017 at 8:43 pm |
June 21, 2017 • 2:51 pm
Have you noticed all this “repentance” thing is found only in France… but never found it’s way to a certain mass-murdering colonial power just behind the channel ?
I once read a proper definition of this attitude: “National Sociopathic Disorder”
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June 21, 2017 at 8:44 pm |
There are conflicts between nations and versions of civilization. England has been in conflict with France since the invasion of England by a French army led by the Duke of Normandy. As the latter took control on the other side of the channel, the king of England became a vassal of the king of France (who was officially “Roman emperor in his own kingdom”).
To make a long story short, it made the British leadership much more perfidious and hypocritical, contributing to the success of the UK then, and the the US, now.
Writing a little essay on that for my site, just now.
Patrice Ayme’
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