Shouldn’t the web help us to better execute our role as citizens? It barely does… don’t get me wrong, I love all the reactive twitts to what’s wrong and right. We all love to complain and debate, twitt and blog.
But what tools are there to actually get things decided and done in your community, city or country? Last time I got involved into something it was using the now-mostly-disregarded online petitions.
It’s amazing how egocentric we all get (and rightly so), expecting that for every opinion we shout, somebody else will listen and act upon it. This will never happen, so at least we should be able to make a point by getting together with like-minded people. The more you are on the same side, the bigger the chance to make a difference.
We understood that the web is not just about reading, but more about sharing information. Now, what about deciding, organizing and actually doing things we all should be doing as citizens? I currently can’t see the web offering enough tools (or maybe it’s users don’t offer enough will?) to go this way.
Notes
- This post being just another one about the thoughts that lead me to thinking about ways to build a collaborative decision-making platform, where, based on direct democracy and proxy voting, you get to actually make a difference as a citizen.
- Thanks “asd@asd.com” for your comment on my previous post on this row. You are right about the concerns of power abuse - I think the solution is to be absolutely transparent, as in “all votes are public no matter what”. Or at least close to that. Because corruption != transparency
Some bullet-point-love on what I’ve retained both from my experience and my casual readings on the topic. All of them apply (at least) for a small, young and creative startup without intentions to grow too much.
- You’ll want to attract talent, not run after it
- Until you don’t have the team-spirit, scale and identity to do that, some out-of-the-box ads are the way to get the out-of-the-box talent’s attention
- An Interview is a two-way communication. You have to sell the opportunity and see if the person falls in love with what you have to offer (I’m not talking money here). If not, it’s not worth forcing the motivation
- An Interview is not about the CV. Actually, I don’t even look at CV’s anymore. With designers, a quick glimpse at the portfolio will do it, with developers, it’s about feeling the passion and ideas.
- Hire those who you imagine as potentially becoming your friends
- Hire those who you respect and admire
- Hire those who will bring a challenge to your company - if they don’t, than it’s because they will bring nothing new
- Usually half of the people you hire are failures and will have to leave - accept that
- And the obvious: answer to all applications, and make every interview an opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge. It’s a small world!
This is the first of what will probably become a set of short posts about a concept that has been haunting me for years now. Since I always advocate that sharing is the only way to go, and taking into account that - so far - this concept did not become reality in my hands, I might as well start discussing with others.
In a nutshell, it’s about using the concept of democracy, twisting it a bit, empowering it with technology, reviving the as-good-as-dead online polls, keeping out of the way of bureaucracy, and presenting itself as nothing more than a lobby.
To start of, i’ll list the needs I felt and that took me to the current concept
- A too distant participation from citizens in politics
- Lack of transparency and accountability in decisions (be them corporate or politic)
- Inability to get opinions online. Searching #obama on twitter won’t tell you what everybody thinks about the topic, unless you read it all
- Inability to decide stuff online. Discussing and sharing is great, but what about getting things done in your neighbourhood, company, city, district, etc?
- Belief in direct democracy, as long as everyone is informed well enough
- Belief that it will never come to the point where everyone is informed about everything, therefore a model of proxy voting
And there we go. Coming up next post: biggest obstacles and necessities to make the concept work.
Short quotation from Wikipedia:
“One of the criticisms of proxy voting is that it carries a risk of fraud or intimidation. Another criticism is that it violates the concept of a secret ballot, in that paperwork may be filed, for instance, designating a party worker as one’s proxy.
It has been proposed that proxy voting be combined with initiative and referendum to form a hybrid of direct democracy and representative democracy. James C. Miller III, Ronald Reagan’s budget director, suggested scrapping representative democracy and instead implementing a “program for direct and proxy voting in the legislative process.” It has been suggested by Joseph Francis Zimmerman that proxy voting be allowed in New England town meetings.”
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_voting
This is what I have been listening to the whole week while commuting
1. Kanye West & Mr Hudson - Paranoid Preview
2. Madonna - Beat Goes On Preview
3. Common - Universal Mind Control (UMC) Preview
4. Kenna - Say Goodbye to Love Preview
… and repeat!
Just found out that The Neptunes co-produced all except Paranoid.
http://theneptunes.org/
