This is a good post on O'Reilly Radar.
It succinctly gives the argument in favor of allowing meaningful government participation by citizens. It doesn't give enough of the picture to get you started changing things overnight. But it is going to make you look in the right direction, and maybe take some baby steps.
Citizen energy and interest are far more important to governance than mere taxes. Citizen involvement in community and governance is critical to the survival of any system.
Our national self image is founded on a narrative of equality, generosity, fairness. It is founded on the faith in enlightened self-interest buffered by a set of checks and balances that protect us against our worst impulses. But that narrative doesn't cover enough ground. It doesn't speak to the changes that technology has imposed on us at an overwhelming rate.
Citizen involvement is the vital blood of the body politic. It may sound like heresy, but I will tell you, the vote isn't enough input. Investigative reporting isn't enough oversight.
I have worked behind the scenes at local government for over 28 years, with access to enough information to know how decisions are really made.
I am not pessimistic. I am not cynical. I am not even ironic when it comes down to the prospects for decent governance among decent people.
The real barriers to meaningful interaction with government exist at the information level. Governments must protect necessary complexity and the fragility of processes against the impulses of crowds. But they must start allowing intelligence and responisible citizenship to be expressed at a more intimate level than mere letters to the editor or volunteer work in a food shelf.
I don't see many signs of the wide-angle view that must replace the microscopic level of control that dominates government action today. This essay by John Geraci is a start. Read it. Think about it. Pass it on.
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