20 JUL 2017 by ideonexus
The Need for Moral Universals in Democracy
Working societies — if they are to endure, grow, and cohere, if they are to prosper, hang together, and really mature — need moral universals. Moral universals are simply things that people believe everyone should have. In the UK, those things — those moral universals — are healthcare and media and welfare. In Germany, they are healthcare and media and welfare and higher education. And so on.
Moral universals anchor a society in a genuinely shared prosperity. Not just... 1 
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notes02 SEP 2016 by ideonexus
De-Romanticizing Voting
Ugh. In actual outcomes, voting isn't an expression of your heart, your soul, or even your emotion. The result of a vote isn't "the right thing" or "the thing I love" or "the cure for social ills" or "the perfect solution." It's not a mechanism of protest or a chance to be dramatic, and it's not a "gesture" or a stand -- that's what demonstrations, letter writing, and petition campaigns are for. A vote is a functional choice for the preferable viable outcome, an act that adds 1 to a tally th... 1 notes
notes03 MAR 2014 by ideonexus
Science and Democracy are Synergistic
The values of science and tha values of democracy are
concordant, in many cases indistinguishable. Science confers
power on anyone who takes the trouble to learn it. Science
thrives on the free exchange of ideas; its values are
antithetical to secrecy. Science holds to no special vantage
points or privileged positions. Both science and democracy
encourage unconventional opinions and vigorous debate. Both
demand adeguate reason, coherent argument, rigorous standards of
evidence and hones...
1 The two concepts support one another.
02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
Ultra-Democracy
Education in democracy must be carried on within the Party so that members can understand the meaning of democratic life, the meaning of the relationship between democracy and centralism, and the way in which democratic centralism should be put into practice. Only in this way can we really extend democracy within the Party and at the same time avoid ultra-democracy and the laissez-faire which destroys discipline.
"The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War" (October 1938), ... 1 notes
notesAn interesting concept from the perspective of Mao's socialism, a democracy that goes too far and becomes corrupt under its own (greed?).
02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
Anyone Should be Allowed to Speak
Anyone should be allowed to speak out, whoever he may be, so long as he is not a hostile element and does not make malicious attacks, and it does not matter if he says something wrong. Leaders at all levels have the duty to listen to others. Two principles must be observed: (1) Say all you know and say it without reserve; (2) Don't blame the speaker but take his words as a warning. Unless the principle of "Don't blame the speaker" is observed genuinely and not falsely, the result will not be ... 1 notes
notesFreely and with passion without fear of retribution.
02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
Democracy in Socialism
The people's democratic dictatorship uses two methods. Towards the enemy, it uses the method of dictatorship, that is, for as long a period of time as is necessary it does not let them take part in political activities and compels them to obey the law of the People's Government and to engage in labour and, through labour, transform themselves into new men. Towards the people, on the contrary, it uses the method not of compulsion but of democracy, that is, it must necessarily let them take par... 1 notes
notesAn important point to remember that one is a form of governance and the other is an economic model; therefore, the two are not in opposition.
18 NOV 2013 by ideonexus
How a Democratic Government Serves the People
In our democracy, government is not some make believe thing that has an independent will
of its own. In our democracy, government is just how we describe all of the things that “we the
people” have already decided to do together.
It is not complicated. Our government has three basic functions: provide for the national defense;
put in place rules of the road, such as speed limits, and bank regulations that are fair and
transparent; and build the things together that none of us can build a... 1 notes
notesIt makes our lives safer in a myriad of ways and improves our quality of life.
08 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
George Washington Promotes Science and Literature
Nor am I less persuaded, that you will agree with me in opinion, that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of Science and Literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of Government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of the Community as in ours it is proportionably essential. To the security of a free Constitution it contributes in various ways: By convincing those who are...As the keys to happiness and to preserve liberty.
24 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Political Arguments Cannot be Religious
Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including tho... 1 notes
notesBecause revelatory knowledge is not universal in a pluralistic, democratic country.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
We Need Experimental Societies
Our instincts and emotions are those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors of a
million years ago. But our society is astonishingly different from that of a million
years ago. In times of slow change, the insights and skills learned by one generation
are useful, tried, and adaptive, and are gladly received when passed down to the
next generation. But in times like today, when the society changes significantly in
less than a human lifetime, the parental insights no longer have unquestioned
validity... 1 notes
notesSociology is too complex to accurately predict how we should manage our society; we need to conduct experiments in order to determine the best path forward. In America, the States could serve as such laboratories.
