The Chaotic, Fractal and Complex City

There is an evolving movement in the European Union that would place more decision-making in the hands of its citizens.  The most common method is through participatory budgeting, but other forms of participatory democracy are emerging.  On 22 March 2011, Group III of the European Economic and Social Committee held an extraordinary meeting on “What are the prospects for participatory democracy in Europe? (EESC, 2011)” During the event there was a lively discussion on the need of a more active involvement of the public in politics and public policy. The report that emerged from the discussions acknowledges the well documented alienation of citizens from their government.  It also reminds us of the mandate in Article 11 of the Treaty of Lisbon stating that participatory democracy should be integrated into government as related to a modern form of democracy.  In light of the economic crisis in Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean countries, the need for participato...

Representative democracy has been ‘hijacked’ by the One Percent. Our representatives do not represent us but multi-national corporations, special interest groups and the extremely wealthy. This statement can be verified any time a politician advocates a policy.  The evidence for this is overwhelming and cannot be denied.  One of the best solutions for this is to decrease the need for politicians entirely.  Direct Democracy is a way for the people to take back their government. What is Direct Democracy?  Direct Democracy is the concept of placing decision-making with the citizens and not with representatives.  A concept opposed by the Founding Fathers, the elite at this time, and our present plutocracy. The most common form of Direct Democracy is the referendum. This has limited impact on democracy as it still leaves the representatives in charge. It is also very difficult to organize a referendum and relies on extreme effort by the organizers to...

I finally decided that it was appropriate for a new blog, just for my political comments, You can count me out (in) .  Oh no not another blog, Mr Bill. Previously, I was using my this blog , The Chaotic, Fractal and Complex City for political comments. I have realized that some of my discussions were over powering the original intent of this blog. Also, I wanted a more 'fuzzy' blog so I could make broader political comments.   The title of the blog, You can count me out (in). , is a lyric from the Beatles song "Revolution 1" from the White Album conveying John Lennon's' reluctance to be considered part of dogmatic revolutionary movements. The whole song conveys my feeling about some of the current political movements, so I thought it was appropriate for a title of my blog. So drop by my new blog, join as a follower, make comments, become a guest blogger.

Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S. Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA. The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late. Go to  https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/