The Global Occupy Movement

October 2011 was an interesting month.

On the 15th a day of co-ordinated demonstrations took place all around the
world, billed as a day proclaiming an international awakening of citizenship
against corrupt political systems. On that date over eight hundred and fifty
live events globally marked a day of uprising against governmental and public
indebtedness.

On that day too - the “Occupy the London Stock Exchange” movement
began protest gatherings in front of St. Pauls Cathedral, addressed by Julian
Assange of Wikileaks amongst others. Later, on October 22nd, a second branch
of the movement appeared in Finsbury Square in the heart of London’s financial
district, and clusters of tents appeared in both locations (much to the annoyance
of the St. Pauls Cathedral church authorities), showing a determination by the
protesters that they were not about to go away.

The online journal Eastlondonlines confirmed that the spirit of this movement
was similar to that of the Asamblias of the Indignados and reported:

"The occupation itself feels different to other protests. The protesters
are diverse, inspired, committed and desperate to see real change. The movement
feels inclusive of different ideas and beliefs and experiencing real
direct democracy in the form of the General Assemblies is fulfilling
and empowering."

Even in staid, sober Switzerland, over a thousand people gathered in Zürich’s
Paradeplatz, the area around the large banks, to demonstrate against the power
of the world of finance, despite the fact that the banking and finance industries
were responsible for 142,000 jobs annually and accounted for seven percent of
the GDP of this small country. The tent encampments of Wall Street and St. Pauls
had now been replicated in the Lindenhof in the old city of Zürich and
in the Parc des Bastions in Geneva, where for the moment they were tolerated
if not welcomed.

The Occupy movement has now firmly set up shop in the world's financial centres
of New York, London, Frankfurt and Zürich.

There cannot be any doubt that these global protest movements are a mere flash
in the pan, for in reality they are becoming more and more established.

Certainly, many of the protestors appeared to lack focus or clarity of purpose,
and they were often moved by intuitive rather than intellectual forces, but
there is a definite air of expectation that this movement has a goal, the goal
is a global one and it can no longer be stopped.

Another drama began developing in London at the end of October as the authorities
at St. Pauls Cathedral and the Corporation of London both announced that they
would take legal action to evict the demonstrators and their “tent city”
which was camping on the doorstep of the Cathedral. The hapless church authorities
became confused after the resignation of three clerics and changed tack by coming
out in support of the protesters on moral grounds. After much soul-searching
the church had perhaps begun to realize what its true mission in life was. Even
Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, described the occupation as
an "expression of a widespread and deep exasperation with the financial
establishment".

The Guardian columnist George Monbiot wrote a powerful article about the events
which had brought to light the real nature of the shadowy Corporation of London
and how it acts as a state within a state in the city of London – answerable
not to the UK government but to its own financial masters. Monbiot considered
that the medieval, unaccountable Corporation of London was ripe for protest
as it worked beyond the authority of parliament and undermined all attempts
to curb the excesses of finance.

After the Church’s change of heart the Corporation of London too agreed
not to attempt to take immediate legal action to evict the protesters but to
allow them to stay a couple of months at the least and to open up a dialogue
with them.

At a meeting between all three parties on November 2nd Tina Rothery, one of
the representatives of OccupyLSX who was present at the meeting commented: “We
are delighted. This is a great U-turn from the Corporation of London. And following
the backing of the Archbishop and St. Pauls, this is proving to be an exciting
time for our movement. Only on Tuesday morning, the Corporation was about to
attempt to evict us. Now they are offering a reprieve. However, we need to discuss
this offer with our General Assembly and amongst ourselves."

"Our cause – and that of the Occupy movement worldwide – is
to strive for social justice and fight for real democracy. We are pleased that
legal action is currently off the table and we intend to use this opportunity
and the growing momentum of our movement to tackle the iniquities of the financial
crisis and those that have caused it.”

A small but decisive step towards creating a movement for which Real Direct
Democracy Now is not only a necessary but increasingly a viable goal has
been taken and there is no going back until ultimately the global occupy movement
will be victorious in a way no one could have imagined – but that is a
story for another time.

A massive mainstream movement for change

All over the world more and more people are gaining an understanding that real direct democracy is in their power to implement in their regions and in their countries.

This is an unstoppable force which is gathering momentum.

This force is slowly but surely being transformed into a mainstream movement for change, and one way to measure how it has spread is via the site Avaaz.

The activists website Avaaz.org has a new petition to support the Wall Street protesters, and they write:

"Thousands of Americans have non-violently occupied Wall St -- an epicentre of global financial power and corruption. They are the latest ray of light in a new movement for social justice that is spreading like wildfire from Madrid to Jerusalem to 146 other cities and counting, but they need our help to succeed.

As working families pay the bill for a financial crisis caused by corrupt elites, the protesters are calling for real democracy, social justice and anti-corruption. But they are under severe pressure from authorities, and some media are dismissing them as fringe groups. If millions of us from across the world stand with them, we'll boost their resolve and show the media and leaders that the protests are part of a massive mainstream movement for change.

This year could be our century's 1968, but to succeed it must be a movement of all citizens, from every walk of life. Click to join the call for real democracy -- a giant live counter of every one of us who signs the petition will be erected in the centre of the occupation in New York, and live webcasted on the petition page:

Avaaz Link

Direkte Demokratie und Energie

In Großbritannien ist diese Woche ein neues Buch herausgekommen, das Zusammenhänge offen legt zwischen neuer Energie, neuen Geldsystemen und echter direkter Demokratie jetzt.

In diesem Buch, Rossi’s eCat, beschreibt der Autor, dass eine neue Form von Energie gewonnen durch eine Art kalte Fusionsreaktion, also einer Nuklearreaktion bei Niedrigtemperatur, kurz davor ist, die Welt zu erobern. Entwickelt wurde das Gerät in Italien. Die Demonstration eines ein-Megawatt-Systems wird im Oktober diesen Jahres in USA stattfinden.

Wenn diese Energiequelle wirklich hält, was sie verspricht – umweltfreundliche, beinahe kostenlose, saubere Wärmeenergie ohne schädliche Neben- oder Abfallprodukte – dann werden wir in den nächsten Jahren mit Sicherheit gewaltige Veränderungen in den Wirtschafthaushalten der Nationen dieser Welt erleben.

Ein Schlüsselelement ist, dass ein derartiges sozusagen tragbares (da klein und leicht transportables) Stromversorgungssystem zu einer ganz rapiden Dezentralisierung von Macht führen wird. Es wird, was Zweck und Nutzen anbetrifft, diejenigen Strukturen, die auf zentralisierter Macht beruhen, wie z.B. Regierungen, ziemlich veraltet erscheinen lassen. Auch bei anderen Schriftstellern, wie z.B. Jeremy Rifkin (Autor des Buches „Das Ende der Arbeit und ihre Zukunft: Neue Konzepte für das 21. Jahrhundert“ taucht dieses Schlüsselelement auf.

In eleganter Weise schlägt der Autor von Rossi’s eCat vor, dass ein derartiges neues Energiesystem die Kraft hätte, ein neues Geldsystem hervor zu bringen, welches nicht auf Schulden, sondern auf Energie basiert. Er stellt eine neue Geldeinheit vor, die als Maßeinheit Joule (eine wissenschaftliche Maßeinheit für Energie) verwendet – eine Geldeinheit, die weltweit anerkannt und verwendet werden könnte und die viel nützlicher wäre als es unser Überbleibsel aus barbarischen Zeiten, das Gold.

Eine solche Dezentralisierung der Macht und ein neues globales Geldsystem, das von der Bevölkerung selber und nicht von Regierungen oder Banken gemanagt und verwaltet wird, macht es offensichtlich, dass echte direkte Demokratie jetzt der nächste Schritt ist. Diese Entwicklung ist nicht aufzuhalten, weil es ein natürlicher Prozess in der menschlichen Evolution ist.

In einer Zeit, wo die Schlagzeilen in Tageszeitungen lauten: "„Die Welt betet, es möge ein wirtschaftliches Wunder geschehen”, mag uns das Auftauchen einer solchen Energie und eines derartigen Geldsystems wirklich wie die Antwort auf unser Gebet erscheinen – die aber ganz unerwartet noch etwas mit im Gepäck hat – und das ist die Tatsache, dass direkte Demokratie eigentlich unvermeidbar sein wird in Zukunft, was nicht unbedingt das ist, was die Mächtigen dieser Welt realisiert sehen möchten.

Wie bei allen Gebeten, Bitten an eine höhere Macht sozusagen – mag es wohl so sein, dass man bekommt, was man braucht, aber es mag nicht unbedingt das sein, was man gerne möchte.

Das Buch “Rossi’s eCat. – Free Energy, Free Money, Free People” von John Michell ist erhältlich beim Verlag oder bei Amazon.

Energy and Direct Democracy

A new book has appeared in the UK this week which links new energy, new money systems and real direct democracy now.

In the book, Rossi's eCat, the author describes the imminent emergence of a new kind of energy, a kind of Cold Fusion, low-energy nuclear reaction which has been developed in Italy and which will be demonstrated to the world, in the US, in a one Megawatt system this October.

If this energy source is everything that it claims to be, almost free, clean, non-polluting heat energy - then indeed we can over time expect huge changes in the economies of households and nations.

A key argument, supported by other writers such as Jeremy Rifkin (author of "The end of work"), is that such portable power systems lead to a rapid decentralization of power, a decentralization which makes central power structures like governments rather outdated in their purpose and usefulness.

The book rather elegantly suggests that such a new energy system can engender a new money system backed not by debt but by energy, and introduces a new money-unit based on Joules - a scientific energy unit - truly a globally recognizable currency with much more utility than that "barbarous relic", gold.

Such decentralization and new global money managed by the people themselves and not by banks or governments makes real direct democracy now an obvious next step - and one which cannot be stopped for it is a natural evolutionary stage.

At a time when newspaper headlines state "The world prays for an economic miracle", the emergence of such an energy and money system seems truly like an answer to such a prayer - but with the unexpected twist of making direct democracy almost an inevitability - not something that the PTB really want to see happen.

As with all prayers - requests to a higher power if you will - you may get what you need but it may hardly be what you want.

The book, Rossi's eCat - Free Energy, Free Money, Free People by John Michell is available from the publisher or from Amazon.

New Money Systems for Real Direct Democracy

We have become so used to a money system based on the creation of debt by banks and the lending of money at interest that any attempt to change these fundamentals is as fiercely resisted as any other attempt to challenge any of our tightly-held belief systems.

The global financial crisis which began in 2007 and which intensified in 2011 witnessed a rapid loss of faith in fiat currencies, notably the US dollar and the Euro – a loss of faith which was mirrored by an extraordinary flight to safety as seen by a rapid increase in the price of the Swiss Franc and of that barbarous relic, gold.

Behind the crisis lies the inescapable fact that the western democracies are hugely indebted as a result of the enormous credit expansion of the last decade. It appears as though there is nothing that western leaders can do to return to a system of economic stability, so that the present currency system simply has to collapse. As Ludwig von Mises pointed out:

“There is no means of avoiding a final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion or later as a final and catastrophe of the currency system involved”.

Because interest on debt needs to be paid, in reality there can be no voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, therefore at best we have some time before the inevitable currency collapse, time to ensure that a more stable system is put into place.

This is nothing new, and indeed the consistent strength of the Swiss Franc can be directly attributed to the presence in that country of just such an alternative money system, one which was put in place during the first great depression of the 1930s.

At that time in Switzerland as in many countries there was a rapid withdrawal of the national currency, the Swiss Franc, which made commercial life very difficult, so a number of businesses got together to create their own money, a complementary currency – as it complemented but did not replace the Franc. This was a business-to-business credit-clearing currency called the WIR, a system which now includes around 65,000 firms – 25% of all of the country’s businesses - and has now been operating for 75 years. At that time the WIR added much-needed liquidity into the Swiss financial system – and today it has assets of nearly 4Bn Francs. Indeed, a recent study by James Stodder has shown that the secret of the stability of the Swiss economy is in fact the WIR.

Information technologies and the Internet have given us the tools to create other flexible complementary currency systems at trivial cost. Mervyn King, the then governor of the Bank of England, already asked in 1999:

"Is it possible that advances in technology will mean that the world may come to resemble a pure exchange economy?" and continued "There is no reason, in principle, why final settlements could not be carried out by the private sector without the need for clearing through the central bank. Without such a role in settlements, central banks, in their present form, would no longer exist; nor would money".

One technology now emerging which is making Mr King's forecasts a reality is that of C3 or Commercial Credit Circuit Systems. C3 Systems can be seen as financial innovations which are able to facilitate trade, provide cash-flow and deal with unemployment in environments where there is simply a lack of money.

In cases where C3 currencies can be used to pay local or even national taxes - potentially huge gains in flexibility and unprecedented upswings in economic activity can be realized. A current pioneer in such initiatives is the state of Uruguay.

In order to successfully implement such C3 systems, a robust software system is required which can handle secure, transparent transactions across the Internet, by mobile phone or by the use of card-readers.

The Dutch-based STRO organization has developed just such a system, Cyclos, which is already in use amongst providers of complementary currency systems in a number of countries.

Such systems are independent of governments - C3 systems do not use central banks - so a system of this kind would be ideal as a currency system in a country where direct participatory democracy is embedded.

The Functioning of a modern Direct Democracy

A keen observer of the spirit of our age and the way in which political processes are moving beneath the surface cannot doubt that representative democracy as practiced in the West will be replaced by a modern form of direct democracy.

The demonstrations going on now in Greece, Spain and many other places merely show the start of this process.

Writers often have a sense of what may happen before the event, and the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano who attended recent demonstration of “Indignants” in Barcelona and Madrid proclaimed that this world is pregnant with another, different world, a world however which will demand much work, particularly from the young.

You can see a video of him here: Eduardo Galeano Video

A recent interview between philosopher Stefan Molyneux and trends-forecaster Gerald Celente also highlighted the coming introduction of real democracy now:

Video

The only questions which remain are when such a direct democracy will replace representative democracy, which country will be the first to implement it and what will it look like once it is in place.

No-one really knows the answer to any of these questions, but bearing in mind the enormous changes that such a shift will bring with it then an attempt at giving these answers is essential.

Only a profound crisis can precipitate such a change, and there can be no doubt that the world is approaching such a crisis in particular in the most developed nations, such as the peripheral countries of Europe and the United States.

This current crisis is one where citizens are questioning the competence of their leaders and indeed the validity of the system of choosing a government every few years. The financial crises of the US dollar and Euro in particular, show clearly how corporate and banking interests have taken control of democratically-elected governments and make national sovereignty virtually meaningless. Indeed, Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, said recently that it is inevitable that Greece will lose some of their sovereignty.

Observing the speed with which these crises are developing, I would think that the beginnings of real direct democracy will be visible, and installed in a western nation before the end of 2012.

Spain and Greece are currently the leading contenders for holding the honour of being the first countries to implement real direct democracy, although with such major historical events once can never be sure. We can recall that Marx and Engels were convinced that England would be the first country to adopt communism – and not such a backward and underdeveloped country such as Russia was in 1917.

Seeing that the demonstrators have often more of an international rather than a national identity - will we see the first stirrings of a new European Union being governed by real direct democracy?

Will this eventually lead to a global movement towards direct democracy? – Stranger things have happened.

How will a modern real direct democracy function?

Well, no-one really knows, but ancient Athenian democracy of 2,500 years ago may give us a clue.

The key element of Athenian direct democracy was that of personal responsibility – something which is systemically lacking in representative democracies. Every male adult citizen (excluding foreigners and slaves) was able to take part in the political process, and to put forward ideas or suggestions to be carried out. If a suggestion was implemented and later shown to be wrong or damaging – then the initiator had to face the judgment of the courts – which was swift – normally a day or so.

Political power was vested in the Assembly (Ekklesia) which met regularly in the open, and citizens attended by right when they chose, although it was a considered a duty to do so.

In addition there was a Council – which carried out the will of the Assembly, and the courts – which dealt with a legal system based on full citizen’s rights.

A modern version could therefore replicate the Assemby in an online forum-like system with the ability of participants to propose measures or projects and with an immediate voting-system included. Access to the system could also be by mobile-phone for those without computers.

All power will reside in the Assembly, while sub-groups will spontaneously arise which will concern themselves with the implementation of the decisions made by the Assembly. These groups will however need to be flexible, arising and disappearing as the need arises and they will be open to anyone who wishes to take part. The work of the groups will be completely transparent, because these groups with their information and results will always need to return to the online system.

The online system will always be the “state memory” and will act as a form of openness, transparency and thus accountability.

There is also a crucial final element to the functioning of a direct democracy – and that is a new type of financial system – which is just as well because the world is currently witnessing not only the death of representative democracy but at the same time the death of the financial system as it is presently construed.

The next blog entry will detail possible models of financial systems which would fit together with direct democracy.

Die Funktionsweise einer modernen Direkten Demokratie

Wer unseren Zeitgeist scharf im Blick hat und die Art und Weise, wie sich politische Prozesse unter der Oberfläche entwickeln, wird keine Zweifel daran hegen, dass die repräsentative Demokratie so, wie sie in der westlichen Welt praktiziert wird, von einer modernen Form direkter Demokratie abgelöst werden wird.
Die Demonstrationen, die wir zur Zeit in Griechenland, Spanien und an vielen anderen Orten der Welt erleben, sind nur der Anfang dieses Prozesses.

Schriftsteller haben oft ein Gespür für Ereignisse, bevor sie tatsächlich eintreten. Der uruguayische Schriftsteller Eduardo Galeano, der kürzlich and Demonstrationen der „Empörten“ in Barcelona und Madrid teilgenommen hatte, proklamierte, diese Welt sei schwanger mit einer anderen Welt, die so ganz anders sei - einer Welt, die uns, vor allem aber den jungen Menschen, viel Arbeit abverlangen wird.

Ein Video von ihm ist hier zu finden: Eduardo Galeano Video

Genaus unterstreicht ein Interview zwischen dem Philosophen Stefan Molyneux und dem Trendvorhersager Gerald Celente vom 20. Juli 2011 die Einführung von echter Demokratie jetzt:

Video

Die einzigen Fragen, die noch übrig bleiben, sind wann eine solche direkte Demokratie zum ersten Mal eine repräsentative Demokratie ersetzen wird, in welchem Land das sein wird, und wie es genau ausschauen wird, wenn sie einmal installiert ist.

Niemand weiß die Antworten auf diese Fragen, aber wenn wir uns bewußt machen, welche enormen Veränderungen ein solcher Wandel mit sich bringen wird, dann erscheint es doch außerordentlich wichtig, einen Versuch zu unternehmen, Antworten auf diese Fragen zu finden.

Nur eine tiefe Krise wird in der Lage sein, einen Wandel von solchem Ausmaß herbeizuführen – und es scheint außer Zweifel, dass die Welt auf eine solche Krise zusteuert, vor allem in den am meisten entwickelten Nationen wie den Ländern an der Peripherie Europas und in den USA.

Diese gegenwärtige Krise ist eine Krise, in der Bürger nicht nur beginnen die Kompetenz ihrer Führer in Frage zu stellen, sondern auch die Gültigkeit eines Systems, das uns erlaubt, alle vier Jahre eine Regierung zu wählen. Ganz besonders die Finanzkrise von Dollar und Euro zeigen ganz deutlich, wie die Interessen der Konzerne und Banken die Kontrolle über die demokratisch gewählten Regierungen übernommen haben und lassen die nationale Souveränität zur Bedeutungslosigkeit schrumpfen. Jean-Claude Juncker, der Premierminister von Luxemburg hat tatsächlich kürzlich verlautbaren lassen, dass es unvermeidlich ist, dass Griechenland einen Teil seiner Souveränität verlieren wird.

Wenn wir die Geschwindigkeit betrachten, mit der sich diese Krise entwickelt, kann ich mir vorstellen, dass wir die Anfänge und auch die Installation echter direkter Demokratie vor Ende des Jahres 2012 in einer westlichen Nation erleben werden.

Spanien und Griechenland sind gegenwärtig die führenden Bewerber im Wettlauf, die Ersten zu sein, die echte direkte Demokratie einzuführen, obwohl man bei solch bedeutenden historischen Ereignissen nie wirklich sicher sein kann. Wir mögen uns daran erinnern, dass Marx und Engels überzeugt waren, dass England als erstes Land den Kommunismus übernehmen würde – und nicht ein so rückständiges und unterentwickeltes Land wie es Russland im Jahr 1917 war.

Wenn wir uns klar machen, dass der Ansatz bei vielen Demonstranten eher internationaler als nationaler Art ist – wäre es natürlich wünschenswert, wenn wir die Anfänge einer neuen europäischen Union sehen dürften, die nach dem Prinzip und mit der Wirkungswiese echter direkter Demokratie funktionieren würde.

Wird dieser Prozess schlußendlich in einer globalen Bewegung in Richtung direkter Demokratie münden? – Es gab schon seltsamere Dinge.

Wie wird die moderne echte direkte Demokratie funktionieren?

Niemand weiß es wirklich, aber vielleicht gibt uns die alte athenische Demokratie, wie sie vor 2.500 Jahren existierte, einige Anhaltspunkte.

Das Schlüsselelement athenischer direkter Demokratie war persönliche Verantwortung – ein Element, das in repräsentativen Demokratien systemisch fehlt. Jedem männlichen Bürger (Fremde und Sklaven ausgeschlossen) war es möglich, am politischen Prozess teilzunehmen und Ideen und Vorschläge einzubringen, was oder wie etwas umgesetzt werden sollte. Wurde ein solcher Vorschlag umgesetzt und es stellte sich später heraus, dass es falsch war oder Schaden anrichtete – dann musste der Initiator vor Gericht und dem Urteil ins Auge sehen, das über ihn gefällt wurde – was ganz schnell passierte – normalerweise innerhalb eines Tages.

Die politische Macht lag bei der Versammlung (Ekklesia), die sich regelmässig unter freiem Himmel traf, und alle Bürger, die wollten, hatten das Recht, daran teilzunehmen, obwohl die Teilnahme an dieser Versammlung aber eher als eine Pflicht angesehen wurde.

Zusätzlich gab es einen Rat – der den Willen der Versammlung ausführte, und die Gerichte – die sich mit dem Rechtssystem auseinander setzten, das auf dem vollen Bürgerrecht bergründet war.

Eine moderne Version dieser Versammlung könnte ein online-System ähnlich einem Forum sein, wo Teilnehmer Maßnahmen oder Projekte vorschlagen können, und in welchem die Möglichkeit für eine unmittelbare Abstimmung integriert ist. Ein Zugang zu diesem System könnte für jene, die keinen Computer zur Verfügung haben, auch über Mobiltelefone geschaffen werden.

Die Entscheidungsgewalt liegt bei der Versammlung. Untergruppen werden sich bilden, die sich um die Umsetzung der getroffenen Entscheidungen kümmern. Diese Gruppen werden aber flexibel und fluktuierend sein, jederzeit offen für jeden, der daran teilnehmen will. Ihre Arbeit wird völlig transparent sein, weil die Gruppen mit ihren Informationen und Ergebnissen immer wieder zurück zum Forum kommen.

Das online-System wird das „Gedächtnis“ der Gesamtgruppe sein, welche dem Staatsgebilde entspricht und wird der Garant für Transparenz und damit auch für Rechenschaft und Verantwortlichkeit.

Ein ganz entscheidendes Element in der Funktionsweise direkter Demokratie ist ein neues Finanzsystem – dafür bietet sich momentan eine gute Gelegenheit, weil die Welt zum gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt nicht nur erlebt, dass die repräsentative Demokratie am Ende ist, sondern auch mit erlebt, wie am Zerfall unseres bestehenden Finanz- und Geldsystems gearbeitet wird.

Der nächste Blog-Eintrag wird detailliertere Ideen umfassen bezüglich möglicher Finanz- und Geldsysteme, die in ihrere Wirkungsweise zu einer direkten Demokratie passen.

Die Implementierung der direkten Demokratie

Die Implementierung der Direkten Demokratie

http://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/journal/vol7/vol7_no1_takis_myth_revival_democracy.html

Der oben genannte Link führt zu einem interessanten Artikel von Taki Fotopoulos.

Er unterstreicht die Tatsache, dass repräsentative Demokratie und direkte Demokratie nicht nebeneinander existieren können – die beiden schließen sich gegenseitig aus.

Die Demonstranten in Griechenland beweisen jedoch einen starken Willen – auch wenn sie weder einen schlüssigen Plan noch eine klare Vision haben, wie der Weg von der repräsentativen zur direkten Demokratie zu gehen ist.

Obwohl es das Ziel ist, jenseits eines korrupten politischen Systems anzugelangen – scheint der einzig gangbare Weg zu sein, dieses korrupte System zur Erreichung des Zieles zu benutzen, - indem eine „Partei für direkte Demokratie“mit einer ganz spezifischen Agenda gegründet wird.

Diese Agenda lautet folgendermaßen: An die Macht kommen über den normalen Wahlprozess, um dann, wenn diese Partei an der Macht ist, das System legal von einer repräsentativen in eine direkte Demokratie umzuwandeln.

Das würde bedeuten, dass Internetsysteme eingeführt werden, die es ermöglichen, dass die Massen der Bevölkerung im Führen der Staatsangelenheiten involviert sind – wobei die getroffenen Entscheidungen gesetzlich bindend sind.

Konkret müsste die Gruppe zustimmen, sich nach Einführung dieser Systeme zurückzuziehen und die Macht dem direkten System zu übergeben.

Dieser letzte Punkt ist der schwierigste, weil Menschen durch Macht korrumpiert werden und sie nicht freiwillig wieder hergeben.

Wenn jedoch ein solcher Machttransfer von vornherein gesetzlich fest verankert wurde als eine Bedingung dafür, dass Menschen diese Partei überhaupt unterstützen, dann sollte diese gemeinsam getroffene Vereinbarung genügend Kraft haben, die „neue Regierung“ dazu zu zwingen, zurückzutreten, wenn die Systeme eingeführt sind.

Wenn das direkte System erst einmal installiert ist, wird sich eine völlige neue Art von Gesellschaft herausbilden – eine Gesellschaft, die tatsächlich von der „Weisheit der Vielen“ regiert wird – sei es zum besseren oder zum schlechteren.

Es wird sicherlich so sein, dass nur jene Menschen, die ein dauerhaftes Interesse an Staatsangelegenheiten haben, jene die einen Sinn für soziale Verantwortung und Gerechtigkeit haben, es sich zur Aufgabe machen, an einer solchen direkten Demokratie teilzunehmen. Sie werden eine Minderheit darstellen, aber eine gebildete Minderheit, die nicht korrupt ist, wie es Politiker, die Empfänger von Staatsgeldern sind, normalerweise sind.

Die Vielzahl der Menschen, die einfach Zeitung lesen, ihrer Arbeit nachgehen und Fernseh schauen, wird sich nicht anders verhalten, als sie es immer getan haben, und selten an dem täglichen demokratischen Prozess teilnehmen – ähnlich den Menschen im alten Athen, die man „idiotes“ nannte.
Wenn diese Art der Demokratie einmal in Echtzeit eingerichtet ist, wird das veraltete Konzept, dass man alle paar Jahre einmal wählen geht, verschwinden. Es wird aufzeigen, dass all die anderen Staaten mit repräsentativer Demokratie wirkliche Teilnahme nicht zulassen und hinter ihrer Zeit zurück sind.

Aber solch ein Prozess der direkten Demokratie wird viel fundamentalere und weitreichendere Konsequenzen haben, denn er wird unsere Idee und unser Konzept von Staat selber infragestellen.

Wie der Philosoph Stefan Molyneux wiederholt hervorhebt, basiert das Konzept Staat auf einer sehr primitiven Grundlage. – In zehntausend Jahren hat es sich kaum reformiert und die grundlegende Ursache für politische Macht ist unser Glaube an den Staat und die Rechtmässigkeit von Steuern.

Die Demonstranten in Athen, die von den Polizeikräften brutal angegriffen werden, haben keine Illusionen darüber, dass ein Staat, der ihren Willen ausführen sollte, nun zu ihrem Feind geworden ist.

Diese sehr grundlegenden Ideen werden durch den Prozess der direkten Demokratie sehr infrage gestellt werden – und welches Land auch immer als erstes den Versuch unternehmen wird, sie einzuführen, sei es in Griechenland oder Spanien oder einer anderen Nation, die angefeuert ist von der Idee wirklicher direkter Demokratie jetzt, einer Idee, deren Zeit gekommen ist – wird ein Experimentierfeld werden, das von den Medien der Welt sehr genau beobachtet werden wird, die Mehrheit der Menschen mit einem Gefühl der Hoffung, jene, die an der Macht sind, mit einem ängstlichen und beklommenen Gefühl.

The Implementation of Direct Democracy

http://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/journal/vol7/vol7_no1_takis_myth_revival_democracy.html

The link above is to an interesting article by Takis Fotopoulos.

It underlines the fact that you cannot have representative democracy and direct real democracy together – they are mutually exclusive.

However the will of the demonstrators in Greece is strong – although they have no coherent plan or vision as to how to move from representative to direct democracy.

Although the goal is to get beyond a corrupt political system – it seems the only way to do this is to make use of that system – form a Real Direct Democracy Now (RDDN) party with a specific agenda.

This agenda is to get into power by the normal voting process, then once power is there to legally change the system from representative to direct democracy.

This would mean implementing the systems over the net to enable mass involvement in the affairs of state – with binding legality of all decisions.

The RDDN would need to be constituted as a leaderless, equal-gender group, in accordance with the practice of the assemblies of Syntagma Square.

An understanding of the dynamic of such a group can be obtained from books such as John Michell's The Leadership Delusion (http://scribd.com/search?query=The+Leadership+Delusion).

Because the Greek constitution requires a president - an agreement will need to be made from amongst the leaderless group as to who will fulfil the symbolic role of preseident in a token manner after the election.

This would also mean that the group would agree to then stand down and cede power to the direct system.

This last bit is the hardest as human beings are corrupted by power and will not give it away voluntarily.

However once such a transfer of power has been agreed beforehand as a condition of support for such a party, legally enshrined – then that common agreement should have enough force for the new "government" to stand down.

Once the direct system is in place then a completely different type of society will emerge - a society truly governed, for better or worse, by the wisdom of crowds.

Certainly, only those with an abiding interest in state affairs, those with a sense of social responsibility and justice will make it their business to participate in direct democracy of this kind. These will represent a minority, but an educated minority who are not corrupted, as politicians generally are, by being recipients of state funds.

Those many people who merely read the papers, go to work and watch television will continue to do as they always did, and rarely participate in the daily democratic process - rather like the idiotes of ancient Athens.

This type of democracy, once established in real-time, will eliminate the anachronistic concept of voting at elections every few years, and will show up all other states with representative democracies as being unresponsive and behind the times.

But such a direct democratic process will have much deeper and wider consequences, for it will challenge our idea of the state itself.

As the philosopher Stefan Molyneux repeatedly points out, there is a great primitivism in the concept of a state - it has barely reformed itself in 10,000 years, and the root cause of political power in general is our belief in the state and the validity of taxation.

The demonstrators in Athens being brutally attacked by the police forces of their representative state are under no illusion that a state which professes to carry out their will has now become their enemy.

These very basic ideas will be challenged by a direct democracy - and whatever country it is which has the courage to be the first to attempt such an implementation, whether it is Greece or Spain or even some other nation fired with this direct real democracy now as an idea whose time has come - will become a laboratory very closely watched by the world's media, in hope by the majority and in fear and trepidation by the powers-that-be.

Athens prepares to give the world a 21st Century model of democracy

http://roarmag.org/2011/07/the-syntagma-experiment-democracy-from-the-bottom-up/

This is truly a landmark - what we are seeing now in Athens is the birth of a new model of democracy - real direct participatory democracy now.

It does not really matter how long it takes to work out the detail of how this model will work in practice - but there are many intelligent, well-educated, motivated people among those demonstrating in Athens - so I guess most of the fine detail will be in place before the year is out.

In the same way that Athens gave the whole world a model of democracy 2,500 years ago - Athens is now working out the detail of a new 21st century model which will necessarily be replicated throughout the world - not because the politicians or corporate interests want it - but because the people need it.

These are extraordinary times - as we speak thousands are gathering - driven by a new spirit which comes from out of the people themselves - and not from the tired, mendacious lips of some world leader.

At the same time both the US Dollar and the Euro are facing terminal crises with an unknown future - the next few weeks and months are going to be truly extraordinary - will we grasp this opportunity to become free people or will we permit the old, tired, dying systems to take over again? - that is the question.

Beyond the State

The Canadian philosopher Stefan Molyneux has a very clear, logical style of presentation.

In this video he puts forward an intriguing view that we are coming to the end of the state (specifically referring to nation states), simply because the state as it exists today is an anachronism, and human beings are able to grow or evolve beyond it.

One of the possible scenarions which may arise after the revolution which ushers in Real Direct Democracy is the abolition of the state - with all of its morally suspect rules of coersion and forceful actions.

Video: The Sunset of the State by Stefan Molyneux (FreedomainRadio)

http://http://www.youtube.com/user/stefbot#p/u/2/sLCEXtpTNYU

On Modern Servitude

On Modern Servitude is a film which gives a certain view of the world we live in and describes the prevailing liberal-democratic systems with their representative structures as nothing more than a mercantilist totalitarianism.

In the film Real Direct Democracy is outlined as an alternative which has the potential to remove many of the constraints which currently mire people in modern servitude - as willing slaves.

The film can be seen here:

http://www.delaservitudemoderne.org/video-en.html

Wie kann direkte Demokratie in der Praxis funktionieren?

Die wichtigste systemische Struktur in echter partizipatorischer Demokratie ist ein Online-System, das so ähnlich wie ein Forum funktioniert. Alle Bürger eines Landes können sich an diesem Forum beteiligen. Es ist extrem wichtig, dass kein Bürger von der Teilnahme an diesem Forum ausgeschlossen ist. In der Praxis mag vielleicht nur eine kleine Anzahl von Menschen sich beteiligen - aber in Wirklichkeit sprechen sie für alle.

Dieses Forum repräsentiert den Willen des Volkes in seiner wirklichen Bedeutung, und bietet vollständige Transparenz und Offenheit, weil jede Debatte und alle Entscheidungen automatisch aufgezeichnet werden und für alle sichtbar sind.

Der nächste Teil der Struktur ist die Exekutive. Sie wird gebildet aus Gruppen von Menschen, die bei Bedarf entstehen und sich vermutlich in Form von sozialen Unternehmen selbst organisieren, um die im Forum gemachten Beschlüsse auszuführen. Diese Gruppen oder Unternehmen sind ad hoc Gebilde, die immer aus einem Bedürfnis heraus entstehen und sich dann wieder auflösen, wenn sie nicht mehr gebraucht werden.

Diese Exekutivgruppen müssen, genauso wie das Forum leaderless strukturiert sein, damit Machtstrukturen überwunden werden, die unvermeidlich immer dann sich bilden, wann immer einem Führer oder einer Partei die Verantwortung übertragen wird. Die umfassende Beschreibung eines Beispiels, wie solche Gruppen arbeiten, findet sich im Global Enterprise Model oder GEM in John Michells Buch “The Leadership Delusion.

Travels in search of a new organizational model for the 21^st century.” (Frei im Netz lesbar: http://www.scribd.com/search?query=The+Leadership+Delusion)

Der dritte Teil der Struktur ist das Finansystem. Das wird notwendigerweise ein System ohne Zins und Schulden und völlig transparent strukturiert sein. Das bedeutet, dass jede Transaktion, wie klein der Geldbetrag auch sein mag, in einem online-System, das jedem Bürger zugänglich ist, festgehalten wird.

Eine Frage, die noch offen bleibt, ist jene, ob es notwendig ist, eine Gruppe von Menschen oder eine Organisation zu bilden, die sich ehrlich und aufrichtig darum kümmert, dass die Systeme integer arbeiten. Die Gefahr hier ist, dass die Mitglieder dieser Gruppe wieder als eine Art Führer betrachtet werden und damit wiederum anfällig wird für Machtmissbrauch. Eine andere Gefahr besteht darin, dass bei den Bürgern die Illusion entsteht, dass diese Gruppe von Menschen verantwortlich ist und dass wir Menschen deshalb wieder nicht voll und ganz Verantwortung für uns selber übernehmen.

How may direct democracy operate in practice?

How may direct democracy operate in practice?

In practice this means designing a new system of governance, here is an example:

The most important systemic structure in real DD is an online system rather like a forum, to which every citizen in a country has access. It is vital that no citizen is excluded from participating although in practice only a small number of people will participate and therefore they are in reality speaking for everybody.

This forum represents the will of the people in a real sense, and offers complete transparency and openness because every debate and decision is automatically logged and visible to all.

The next part of the structure is the executive, which comprises the groups of people who are organized amongst themselves presumably into social enterprises who arise when necessary and submit offers to carry out the resolutions made by the forum. These enterprises or groups are ad hoc and arise when necessary and can be disbanded when they are no longer required.

These executive groups need to be structured in a leaderless way as well as the forum, in order to overcome the power structures which inevitably arise whenever a leader or a party is put in charge. An example of a comprehensive description of how such groups can operate is outlined in the Global Enterprise Model or GEM described in John Michell’s book “The Leadership Delusion. Travels in search of a new Organizational Model for the 21st century.” (Available to read free on Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/search?query=The+Leadership+Delusion)

The third part of the structure is the financial system. This will necessarily be a system without interest and without debt, with a completely transparent structure. This means that every transaction however small is recorded on an online system accessible to every citizen.

One outstanding question is whether there is a need for an honest organization or team which maintains the systems and ensures their integrity. There is a danger here of this group been seen as leaders and therefore open to the abuse of power. Another danger is the illusion that people may fall under that this group is responsible and that therefore the people do not have to accept responsibility for themselves.

Participatory versus Representative Democracy

Here is a video from the Spanish May 15th Movement outlining how they see direct or participatory democracy developing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkQhygB6wps

(Below, selective text from the video)

Spanish Revolution: An explanation of what is happening and what we want.

A problem is that we as an opposition are divided and the system wants us to be divided. This is very important. We must be here; altogether, we must stick together. This is very important. Why must we do this? The real problem here is that we have right now what we call representative democracy (RD). This means that this letter D means that we already have the power because we are the people. This is something that our fathers and grandfathers achieved years ago here in Spain three decades ago. What this really means is that we already have the power. But every 4 years we decide our Representatives.

But actually what is happening now is that these guys here the representatives, are the problem. These guys, the representatives, the politicians, are the problem in our system because what they do is divide the population A and B, party A, party B or whatever you want to call it. They divide the people to rule the country.

Why is this the problem?

As you know we have our system and in this system we have representative democracy. What happens here right now is that we are having attacks from outside, economic attacks, big corporations and interest outside the frontiers of our country. The thing is that these guys here, our representatives are the reason that this public infrastructure that is our shell, our protection, our public infrastructure that we already have. And they are now jeopardizing this, and this is the problem. This is the reason why these attacks from outside work. This is very important.

So the real thing here is that we perhaps we should start a new change. We have to get rid of the politicians and start design, invent – we don’t need to invent because it has already been invented. We have to use a democracy where people participate. So we have to change from a DR to a DP (Participatory Democracy) , democracy where people participate. That’s for sure this is very difficult. But we have the power. We should decide whether we use these guys the, representatives, or not.

The thing is that 30 years ago it was very, very difficult to introduce this here, P, this was very difficult, but not right now. We have enough technology to do this. Now, we can participate. We actually can. So the movement should be together and the debate is that we have a democracy, the power is already ours. We are clear with that, so we should decide whether we use this kind of democracy R or this kind of democracy P. This is the real debate. This is the real thing. And we should not be divided because it will be very, very bad for us.

We have to change the system, because now is the moment. This is the debate. This is the real thing – R or P. What we have to do, the 15^th of May movement is to introduce this debate into society. This is our work. This is what we really have to do. So we must decide if we want representative democracy which we already know and which is the cause of many problems by the representatives.

Not everyone is bad but they really cause every single problem here in our country. So this is the debate and this is our job. We have to transmit to the population that there is another option. We can change our democracy. We can think about participating in our reality in our system and we have enough technology to do that right now. We must do this. It does not matter if you belong to the right or left wing, or whatever. We all face the same problems. The thing is if we change our democracy into a participatory democracy utilizing technology or whatever the people will be more informed or we should work on that and the thing is that if we are being attacked, we will increase our protection here because these guys outside use the representatives to attack our country, the corporations and whatever. But if they want to attack our system, this is our protection. This is our key. They would have to use us and that is of course very, very difficult for them.

The thing is that some people want to attack the banks, ok. But they are private and we have power only in the public system, because it is ours. We already have a democracy and that’s what we have to work on and we have to realize we already have the power. We already have experience with representative democracy but it would be something very new this participatory democracy. So perhaps people at the beginning will find it difficult, but I think we can do it. And I would like to share this with the Internet and perhaps this information could be useful outside Spain.

That is the reason why we are doing this in English.

Real Direct Democracy Now

2011 - and it is becoming increasingly clear that the age of representative democracy is over.

Today we have all of the online tools to enable us to remove our representatives from power and exercise direct democracy.

Interestingly, it is in Greece where direct democracy began 2,500 years ago that we are seeing hundreds of thousands of people demanding such direct methods again.

However it is in Spain where the slogan "Real Democracy Now" was coined that detailed plans for the implementation of direct democracy are being laid. The Spanish demonstrators understand that they have the numbers and the upper hand - the Spanish authorities are at a loss as to what they can do - how they can react - as they are dealing with a true leaderless movement against which their actions are temporary and ultimately ineffective.

Why are representative democracies obsolete?

Firstly because we have the technical means to turn our masters into our servants and secondly because once a person becomes a political representative - no matter how well-intentioned or moral he or she is - they are quickly corrupted by a system which turns them into self-serving individuals and distances them from the people they were meant to serve.

A system of representative democracy serves the representatives first - leaving the scraps for the people - the corruption and waste which we see in all such systems is a systemic necessity - the only way to overcome it is to replace it with a system of direct democracy.

So what will a representative-less direct democracy look like?

No-one knows, but models are at this moment being worked out - primarily in Spain where the people really understand that they have the power to implement such systems and to render representative democracy dead in their country.

At a guess, once we have been through a profound change lasting at the least several months - with much chaos and discomfort for many - we will end up with a new system with the following characteristics.

1 Every citizen will be entitled to participate directly in the affairs of government and state via the Internet - using specially designed social networking systems.

2 The machinery of government will have been radically overhauled from the current millions of people on the public payroll to only a few thousand - and those few thousand will be motivated by a sense of duty and service - their salaries will be low and there will be no opportunities for them to take advantage of their positions.

3 All financial transactions in the public realm will be open and transparent to the view of any citizen that wishes to see them.

4. All public pension systems will have been abolished.

5. All welfare / benefit payments and systems will have been abolished.

6. Each citizen will receive a basic, equal, substantial "Citizen's dividend" from the state - whether they work or not.

7. A single flat-tax will have been implemented prior to implementing taxation-free systems - probably linked with a reformed banking and monetary system - one probably based on multiple, competing, non-governmental currencies.

Conclusion

The above represents - systemically - a radical change whereby the constraints on activity and enterprise which are necessarily implied in a system where representatives of the "people" control and restrict such activity - are changed to a system where each person can find his or her own opportunity in a much more flexible and dynamic system.

Although chaotic and confusing at first for many - such a system will eventually settle down to its own dynamic - a dynamic which cannot be foreseen at present.

European countries such as Spain and Greece are becoming the laboratories for such new systems - this is real - this is now - this will NOT go away!