Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Question On All Sensible Lips

Over at EuroTrib, the ever reasonable Jerome a Paris has a question:
After years of deregulation, of promotion of greed and assertion of the superiority of the market, and in particular of financial ma[rk]ets to decide how to run the economy, it appears -- nay, make that: it is now blatantly, in your face, obvious -- that none of this worked. Worse, the people [who] have mocked government throughout as wasteful, inefficient and incompetent are now counting on the very same government to bail them out from the hole they have dug.

What do we need to do to ensure that we NEVER EVER LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE AGAIN?

My own answers: tax the living daylights out of the richest of the rich else they'll crystallize into a pernicious aristocracy every time, regulate conflicts of interest else corruption and fraud will happen every time, break up any for-profit enterprises that are too big to fail else they will crystallize into oligarchy every time, never allow anybody to profit from defense spending else militarism will eventually abolish democracy every time, and use the money you get from progressive taxation to provide basic guaranteed health, education, and income to enable everyday citizens to consent in an informed nonduressed way to the terms of their lives, and then just see to it that everybody everywhere truly has the vote and a chance at public office if they want it.

I suppose this means I think we probably will NEVER STOP LISTENING TO THESE PEOPLE EVER.

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