The argument I'm making is not that the cops should pick you up if you don't vote..
The argument I'm making is that politicians should not have full power if people don't vote.
This looks like an April fools joke, but I bet it's not. All hail Humongous Fungus 🙇♂️
I would never buy a Tesla and, despite my best efforts not to, I immediately despise anyone I find out owns one. Even friends just a bit.
The non-voters had nothing to do with this. They literally did not participate.
Any real democracy would count the non-voters as part of the results. 20M not voting? OK then, any policies that affect everyone can no longer be enacted. No new laws. No new wars. Government can then maintain plumbing and provide public services, that's it.
Why isn't that the case? Why is it not a requirement for people to vote for government to have power?
Democracy...? Sure. Whatever hope you need to feel, friend, see you in the streets I hope.
Sure they are. Politicians are some of the most ambitious people in the world - they're just not working in our interests. The issue is that they only need to appear to do that just enough to get or maintain power.
"The man does not make the circumstances, it is the circumstances that make the man." I wonder when we will take that seriously.
"That's because bottled water often isn't subject to the same rigorous quality and safety standards as tap water, and it can carry the risk of harmful chemicals leaching from the plastic bottles used for it, especially if it's stored for a long time, and/or exposed to sunlight and high temperatures, they explain."
Thank you. Wow. I was basing that on something I saw or thought I saw in Cosmos (the 1980s version with Carl Sagan). Perhaps I was stoned when watching it. There is little better than to watch one of the Cosmos series while stoned - or the autotuned versions by Melodysheep (on YouTube).
For anyone who wants a quicker read on the above: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_greenhouse_effect
I shall have to revise my world view now. 🤯🤯🤯 Wow. I feel optimistic.
Tardigrades - they will likely survive then. And cockroaches, and other life. So even if we all + most animals die out, we will be like the dinosaurs, and life may indeed bounce back.
I mean... A shadow has been lifted from my soul.
Goddamn. I know it seems like I am joking but I am not.
Good news.
Actually there is a serious risk that Earth turns into Venus. Perpetually self-reinforcing green house effect. All life on Earth, fried, for all eternity.
Edit: Well, until the sun blows.
FTP?
From an evolutionary perspective, only the ones who survive matter.
So in that spirit, the only way to create a society resistant to power consolidations is one that actively recognizes, seeks out and annihilates said power consolidations.
As otherwise, they will annihilate everything opposing them -- as history tells us.
There are gentler social traditions to distribute wealth and power so as to avoid consolidation. Probably the post-colonial world is beyond that point.
A scary prospect, to be sure, but in the grand scheme of things.. "The secrets of evolution are time and death" as Carl Sagan said in Cosmos.
His argument is that if you vote, then you carry responsibility for the outcome.
This is what I think.
We all know the game is rigged. So what do I tell myself by, yet again, participating in a game I know is rigged?
It's not a matter of effort. It's a psychological statement to vote -- and by voting I give my authority to this system. I say that I believe in it enough to vote. So, on some level, I think voting matters.
Personally I don't think it does. Not on any level.
If you had the choice between clapping for a dictator or not, what would you do? It's so easy to clap! Just clap, and perhaps the dictator will be in a better mood for the next four years.
What does dictatorship have to do with democracy? Democracy is an oppressive system that is easily gamed. Our model historical example of it is Greece -- a slave society.
THERE ARE BETTER WAYS. Let the turnout be 10% and let's have a discussion about legitimacy. Voters give legitimacy to a corrupt system. STOP IT.
I go with Njalla for torrents until I hear anything weird about them
Doesn't seem like you read any of it, and it doesn't seem like you are open to new ideas. So... In the status quo you remain then. Good luck!
This is a bit of an old reply, but I thought I'd post something I stumbled upon here as it's a response to your fear of warlords: https://kolektiva.social/@HeavenlyPossum/111290743792188200
From the post (it's quite extensive with plenty of references):
“Once people are free of state violence and hierarchy, how can they just stop some bad actor from taking over?”
The assumption is that people who are free from coercive hierarchies are powerless to act in their own self defense, alone or in cooperation with each other.
(The question is usually accompanied by some invocation of the dreaded “war lord” whom the questioner assumes will inevitably overrun a nonstate or non-hierarchical community.)
So, I thought I would take a crack at answering this as comprehensively as I can!>>
Also, the bell curve does not have a single bottom.
A bell curve counts the frequencies of a single parameter. A person, such as a teenager, does not fit on it.
Human organisation and leadership may be an inherent part of us. That is not government...
I find it funny the way people just accept that they are sheep and need someone to protect them from the big bad wolf. And, of course, enlist the big bad wolf to protect them.
I think you underestimate the impact of technological progress.
Back in the day, you needed an army who could betray you. Tomorrow, you can deploy a fleet of self-governing robots to kill thousands. Of course, only accessible to the rich.
For ordinary folk, the future is looking grim indeed.