The Concept
Upwards of 8 billion people want to see big changes in this world. The only thing lacking is a method for people to initiate these changes. While this site focuses primarily on the USA, the concept is applicable to every nation on earth.
Below is a practical and common sense pathway to a radically improved political environment. Most of the steps are accomplished entirely outside of government, and so are fully in the hands of citizens. In fact, by the time we need to interact with the government, the citizenry will already be empowered.
There is no revolution, no illegality, and we stay within the constitution. We are talking about substantial constitutional changes, a larger voice for the people, and a brand new level of democracy.
And that’s just the start. The same idea can help us resolve our polarization and let the people take control of every issue we face. It will let us democratize anything we want – a media network, social media, unions, organizations, and workplaces.
If we keep going, we can change this entire world into a wonderland. I’m serious… tackle climate change, increase your standard of living, and bring about world peace. We are talking about big changes. How can we do this? Because virtually everybody wants the same things for themselves such as happiness and security. When all of the people are in control, things are run differently.
The plan is straight forward and very doable. Moreover, it’s virtually for everybody.
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The strategy is to design a sophisticated debate website. A website which guarantees that each debate is balanced, inclusive, comprehensive, logical, consensus based, and moves towards solutions. Every opinion and perspective will be represented. Every idea will be fact checked and analyzed. Personalities will be replaced with logic. Pretentious rhetoric gets replaced with solid reasoning.
Let’s see how far
we can take this concept.
We will broaden our pool of thinkers to:
It is grassroots and the voice of all of the people.
The concept is for a pivotal tool
that straightens out our problems.
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Just by looking at the communication problems we experience now, the task is not a simple one. Our debates have to rise far above those seen in social media and TV. The design will require innovation and our best thinking. But it would be a monumental mistake to assume that we cannot accomplish this goal in an age of AI, driverless cars, and nanotechnology.
The debate website needs to eliminate those distasteful characteristics we have exhibited in Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook comments. We will have to develop new debate methods to help us discuss topics in good faith, with a motive of seeking the best answers. The goal is not to “win” a debate, but to merge our ideas towards better understanding.
This type of complex and progressive discussion was not possible in the past. We are at a unique point in history. Visualize the communications devices in virtually every pocket of every citizen. Consider how the Internet gives us the ability to interact with everybody in our country. Imagine how AI can assist in keeping our debates on track. We simply need to harness our new capability.
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Let’s not delve into the ins-and-outs of the debate website at this point. However, if you need that sense of feasibility, take a look at the ideas in the article, The Decision Website Design. Instead for now, let’s imagine that we can achieve a real analysis of an issue, and see where it can take us.
Envision that every perspective has been fact-checked, logic inspected, pros and cons elaborated upon, alternatives introduced, and an array of creative solutions proposed. Citizens will then have a go-to place for understanding the issues. We will have circumvented those that seek to influence and manipulate us.
Citizens won’t have to sort through the messy debate, but instead see how the debate played out and read the solutions that people formulated. These solutions will be written to communicate to all of us. They will be forced to address all of the elements in the debate, and so have a strong measure of comprehensiveness and a far better sense of balance.
Can you feel the improvement we will have in our conversations? We will start to move towards better understanding. We will all be moving towards the same set of facts and information. A smarter and more cohesive citizenry will evolve. It is a citizens’ movement and a people’s renaissance.
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Now visualize what we can begin to discuss…
immigration, gun violence, abortion, climate change, the economy, our current democracy and government, education, health care, police reform, gender issues, AI, and the future.
Our source of information will no longer be dependent on the media. Personalities who espouse opinions through books, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos are merely supplemental. Instead, those content creators and their ideas, no matter how brilliant and insightful, need to be scrutinized through our website using our rules of debate, exchange, and logic. In addition, guess what? We administer our debate website democratically.
The citizenry will own and manage this tool.
Therefore… we can trust it.
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This brings up the next function of the debate website… voting. As the messy debate gets sifted and sorted, we then use built–in techniques to move us towards solutions we can agree upon. It is these solutions that we can then vote upon. The result is that we can use the debate website to make decisions. Hence, it’s called the “Decision Website” in this site, though surely we can give it a better name in the future.
If we have devised a way to fruitfully debate issues and vote on solutions, then we have effectively designed a tool to democratize anything. In other words, a large group of people can make good decisions, not just on a single item, but on many interrelated issues and topics.
The Decision Website lets us democratize anything!
Since our Decision Website lets us make decisions as a group, we can use a model to administer the Decision Website itself. All of us can weigh in on design, objectives, personnel, salaries, etc. Maybe we act like a board of directors providing guidance, or we could get deeply involved in decision making. It’s our choice.
As a general rule, the entire Decision Website operation should be fully transparent. This includes meetings, decisions, finances, and to some degree even programming code. Let’s find out how far we can push true transparency and see what it looks like. Now we are assured that there is no murky nefarious group behind the scenes of our decision website. Rather, it is us!
Imagine using a model of the Decision Website to run your HOA. Your neighborhood gets to constructively discuss proposals. Would you think differently about a workers union if it was controlled democratically by its members? What if you let your non-profit or co-op be run by members? A company could use it to make employees inclusive in decision making. It’s only a matter of defining who can participate.
We might build our own social media software to eliminate tracking and control advertising ourselves. We could even create a democratically run media network, where we guarantee a balanced approach to news presentation. An element of trust gets infused into major factors of our lives. Let that sink in a bit. This gives us an experimental sandbox to see how far we can go.
Now let’s use the Decision Website to change our politics!
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When the national Decision Website gains in participation and trust, our voting starts to look like a national opinion. This national opinion becomes the power of the citizenry. It is a counter-balance to the politicians and the media. We can break party domination by overpowering their political platform with our own agenda. We can understand the issues ourselves, and not simply watch the power players at their game.
Next, we citizens can learn to work together to vote for politicians that adhere to our opinions. The citizenry has found a new strong voice and leverage over politicians. But that’s just the start.
The mind-blowing action that can originate from the Decision Website is the strengthening of our democracy. Read about a game plan for achieving this goal using the Decision Website to facilitate a constitutional convention. If you are not aware, our U.S. political system is seriously compromised from campaign money, party power, lobbying, career politicians, secrecy, ulterior motives, and media influence. We can fix this.
For more information…
– Path to a Constitutional Convention
When we take this step to amend our constitution, we will have a broad array of options. Imagine a stronger bill of rights to include privacy and full equality. Maybe we officially add elements like the Decision Website into the Constitution to strengthen the voice of the citizenry. A strong citizen–controlled inspector general branch could solve our transparency and oversight problems. Significant change is possible. And most importantly, it is “we the people” making this progress. No longer are we waiting on government or leaders to make the changes.
Who’s for or against an improved democracy?
It’s a good time to stop and consider “who” would be interested in the Decision Website. First, wouldn’t everybody like to see their opinions fairly debated? Conservatives (Republicans), liberals (Democrats), far right, far left, libertarians, capitalists, communists, socialists, anarchists, nationalists, progressives, and globalists. Here is the chance to explain your position to the people, and our chance to evaluate that logic.
The end result won’t be one position over another. That’s not what we are doing. We will be recognizing the errors in all of these positions, and exploring ways to revise them. Or we are choosing the best aspects from all sides, and creating a brand new position that appeals to more of us. So as to debating ideas… all of us should be on board.
What about conspiracy theories? It’s that question of what nefarious powers are working in the background. Is it globalists, lovers of fascism, corporate power, a cabal, the wealthy elite, communists, the deep state, aliens, the UN? The issue is that some hidden power might be manipulating us. Without transparency it is difficult to sort them all out. We will eventually talk about them in the Decision Website, but we don’t have to start there. Let’s first step around the conspiracies, at least for the time being, and put citizens in control of this nation. In fact, let’s set aside most all of our political differences for now, until we get ourselves in control.
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And then there is the “majority rule” issue. Everyone hesitates to submit their idea to the populous, only to have it rejected by the mass of people. But the biggest concern is that we don’t believe the populous is understanding our perspective. As stated, the Decision Website must be designed to force all sides and issues to be addressed. We will all gain an understanding of the opposing viewpoints.
We also fear that our perspective will be voted down and cast aside. So consensus techniques will be used to merge perspectives, and attempt to infuse our solution with everyone’s concerns. With a proper design, citizens will gain trust in our ability to analyze issues.
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Finally, who would be against strengthening our democracy? We are talking about freedom and having our voices heard. Don’t we all want that? Whoever does not want more democracy is clinging to the power they now possess or seek. The opponents will be politicians, lobbyists, corporations, industries, and the wealthy. Fortunately these opponents of democracy are few in number. Unfortunately, they are powerful in their positions and wealth.
For more information…
Who’s Against the Decision Website?
There will be a struggle when citizens seek more control. Therefore, this is a call for dedication and commitment to the causes of freedom and democracy. The power of the citizenry is a matter of numbers. It is not your neighbor’s duty or the job of the most vocal. It is all of our responsibility. It is a time to stand up and be counted.
Watch this idea expand across the globe!
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Here is the icing on the cake of this whole concept. If we open up this pathway towards improved democracy with solid tools and methodologies… then the people of the world will get inspired and follow. The discontented people across the globe want to improve their democracies and remove the authoritarians. They merely require a process to organize their goals, legitimize those ideas as the voice of the majority, gain leverage over the powers-that-be, and strategically plan for each successive phase. A “Decision Website” can be the tool needed to complete their revolution that is so often started but rarely finished. The power structures that have plagued mankind’s history…can come down. When citizens run their countries, true world peace is attainable.
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Now, what about that wonderland that was promised? Human history is primarily a story of individuals with power. Emperors, tsars, kings, queens, dictators, strongmen, chieftains, conquerors, and generals. Even with our current measure of democracy, we still have too much power possessed by politicians, presidents, and prime ministers. Decisions have been based on the whims and desires of these few.
When we shift that power back to the people, our trajectory will radically change for the better. Remember, people’s goals are not that different from one another. We want happiness, safety, excitement, fulfilment, freedom, etc. It is only a matter of debating on how to achieve these goals.
I know… it seems like utopian fantasy. But this is a unique time in history with the Internet, science, and technology. Whether we like it or not, the world is poised to change dramatically. Let’s at least get citizens in control of these changes.
For more information…
We don’t know if this opportunity will pass us by and maybe even result in a world of domination and surveillance. Let’s be visionaries and people with courage. This is our time!
Boomers… let’s leave this world in big way. We started by breaking the molds, and we had some accomplishments. We opened eyes to wars and suspicious government behavior, and we stood up for the environment. Yet it all slowed down as we raised families and such. We now have a chance to do something great for future generations.
GenXers… I know you are busy and worried about retirement money. But this can be your defining moment. There are so many fragments of information floating on the Internet. With the proper tool plus your education and experience, you can help piece together what’s true and accurate. You are needed.
Millennials and Zs… you are so ready for change and new ideas. You have the traits of broad thinking and intellectual courage. Let’s make this happen.
Ask yourself if you see anything else on the horizon that will resolve the standoff we have in our government. What will stop the back and forth between Democrats and Republicans? What else can bring substantial constitutional change? How else can we get citizens to understand one another? Is there any other way to change our public narrative? Let’s promote this elegant idea to give ourselves a voice and power.
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A quick recap on what the Decision Website can do for us…
Thank you for taking the time.
Suggested Next: Why We Need Constitutional Change
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