Bill Hayden: Lorand, I am glad to hear you are an elite thinker and innovator. To say that the current "system" is obsolete and will collapse is just a "math exercise" is an argument of over-simplification. Of course, if you run the numbers, it is easy to see where mathematically financial collapse will occur in the future, unless change happens. But, change can and does happen. That is the whole point of this article. I would be more interested in hearing more specifically about what you can do to change government in a way that avoids collapse and chaos and improves government for and by the people.
Bill, sorry, I can't do anything to change the government, because the same rules that I refer to when saying there is no point in moaning about their corruptness applies to me as well. A mob of frustrated kids raise bad leaders and idols. I can't do anything to "make" anyone grow up, become a responsible adult. What can I do then?
For example, I can imagine a company that creates e-biz solutions, health apps, telephony, etc., in Java, Perl, php; build websites, etc, etc, etc. Do they do anything NEW? Something that can't be replaced by hundreds of existing solutions? Then what the hell are they doing except for keeping the economy rolling around nothing?
I can imagine a long list of programming languages, tools, frameworks. Do they repeat and repeat and repeat the same all the time? I can also think about what is intelligence. I can think about what is the essence of any source code, or why do we have UML, design patterns or GUI generator tools. I can think about how a mug of grey goo can follow multi-threaded procedures, or predict changes in a country or global economy.
I can even think about a fundamental change that occurred around 2000, I can think about the fragile balance of nature or human civilization. I can write it down. You can read it. What I can't do is to make you click on the links, and follow my bizarre paths :-)
Bill Hayden: Ok, then how about this... can you create a better way to do online voting? I don't trust electronic voting, because I don't trust the security or the people who count the final votes. At least with the paper ballots there was a way to verify vote counts at local precincts and add those up by county and state. Can you come up with a way to verify one person, one vote, and have the system electronically verify vote counts at the precinct, county, and state levels and enable individual voters to have a dashboard to see reports anywhere in the country that shows how many eligible voters there were and how many voted and how they voted? (not how each person voted, but anonymously of course by numbers) One of the big problems with government is voting fraud. How about that for a starter?
Bill, this question is like: "If you are an engineer, can you make this iron ball fly?" My answer is: well there are different ways to put it to the air, or even keep it there, but there is an old law called gravity, that makes the ball fall down when it is let alone. So yes, there is a way to make it fly, and you also know all of them - but to keep it in the air as you wish, is impossible.
For human communities, gravity is the shared motivation structure, which comes from how we see the world. This image is held by the community, we teach it to our children, they grow up and act according to this and teach their children. This is an invisible blueprint that we follow in each decision, and through millions of individual, seemingly independent actions we carve it into the world. Today this image has a fatal error that I described, I know the cause as well and it is also dead simple (or as you call it: over-simplified, because your brain can't accept the simplicity of the result, or the ultimate complexity of the analysis that led to it).
Creating a perfect voting system is simply impossible, and you KNOW that.
1: It would require an absolutely precise identification mechanism, which is in fact the fundamental need of a... bingo! the ultimate dictatorship!
2: today with our motivation structures, remote controlling individuals (aka customers, voters) is the holy grail of... bingo! our "corrupt government" and "shadow elite"!
3: keeping the illusion of freedom is the holy grail of... bingo! people like you, who don't like them in control! :-)
Consequence: YOU don't want what you say you want.
Is THIS over-simplification again? Show me the error!
Should I make it? No thanks. I work on something that is almost impossible, but that is still far better than even thinking about a popular nonsense. And in fact, is very close to what you ask for, but with this current global mindset, is useless as well. This is a tool for people who dare to think rationally (know what it is and are strong enough to do it). Yes, it is so hard that I was not able to talk to anyone with this ability. (Or I am completely wrong about the whole thing.)
Bill Hayden
Lorand, people like me,
that would be those who believe in the Declaration of Independence,
which states that freedom comes from our Creator and not from any
government, still believe in the U.S. Constitution. You know, that piece
of paper that lays out the plan for government by the people and for
the people? The same one that launched the greatest country, that
created the greatest wealth, for more people than any other in the
history of the world. Your attitude is certainly elitist, I will give
you that. But, I would go so far as to say it is also cynical, which is
sad. But, go with God my friend. I wish you success and happiness in
your pursuit of your own happiness.
Bill, I have no good answer to this, because I can't refer to "people like me". However, in only my name I can say that I am rather practical. You know, I have to design and build systems that work in the real world, not only in a dream. I accept that the USA has great things - but it is the same country that napalmed Vietnam, "defends democracy" with uranium bullets and drones all around the world, does not sign the declaration against LANDMINES, my friend. "For people"... which people?
From your viewpoint, I am cynical - from my side your approach is childish. For me, the Constitution is like a blueprint of a great society, by great and wise leaders, and that is OK. But it requires not only believers, but some engineers, who understand it; and when the society seems to work (at least) questionably, they use it to investigate the issues.
And yes, I am frustrated, because I work for OUR future, not for my own happiness. As I see now, we are not on the same side. The Matrix has you...
