Improving Democracy: Open letter to the institutional and political leaders – No. 3

Posted on May 6, 2017 by Yoram Gat

Roberto Barabino sent the latest open letter issued by the Improving Democracy campaign.

Leaders’ action or the alliance of intermediate bodies to renovate democratic systems?

In summer 2016, as every year, the world’s elite gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, which showed a significant discontinuity compared with previous editions. Instead of trying to propose forced globalization as an advantage for everyone, as it had done in the past, they chose to tell the truth: the assertive technological innovation and, in particular, artificial intelligence, will not benefit everyone, but it will lead to an unemployment rate never seen before and possibly irreversible. The first solutions suggested by the founder of Microsoft Bill Gates (to tax robots) and by Klaus Schwab, the organizer of the Forum (universal basic income) show that the fears of those in power regarding social and political consequences of such a reality are high.

The full letter (PDF).

Filed under: Sortition |

4 Responses

Michel, on May 6, 2017 at 11:15 am said:

I’d suggest not to trust what a Front National member say concerning democracy. The entire history of this party shows that they prefer dictatorships.
And lies.

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hjhofkirchner, on May 6, 2017 at 2:03 pm said:

That letter’s very first sentence already discredits it as mere political agitation:
“They chose to tell the truth: the assertive technological innovation and, in particular, artificial intelligence, will not benefit everyone, but it will lead to an unemployment rate never seen before”

Somebody who does not distinguish a subjective prediction from “the truth”, for whatever reason, will never gain my trust.

Also, an endorsement of an overly simplistic, primitive form of sortation, already debunked by Socrates, has the danger of misguiding public understanding of what is possible with a modern sortition method.

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robertobarabinoblog, on May 6, 2017 at 4:12 pm said:

hjhofkirchner,

could you please explain what you mean with “a modern sortition method” and why the one proposed in the letter is an “overly simplistic, primitive form of sortition”?
Thanks.

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robertobarabinoblog, on May 7, 2017 at 7:03 am said:

hjhofkirchner,

I whant to add something to my previous comment:

– as far as your first objection, there is not a confusion between prediction and truth for the following reason:
If you tell somebody what really is your prediction, you are telling the truth; if you try to dissimulate it, as it was done with the forced globalization, you are lying.

– as far as Socrates, he was absolutely against sortition; he supported the oligarchical model, note the democratic one.

I am waiting for your answer to my question

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