Direct democracy online
This is in reference to “Voter ID laws hurting our democracy.” In ancient Greece there was direct democracy. All the people of Athens gathered into the great hall and voted on issues before them. As countries grew from small city-states into massive entities this sort of direct democracy became impossible.
The Internet has now brought us full circle.
The web makes universal multi-way communication easy and inexpensive. It may be time to reconsider the "representative" aspects of our democracy.
We have had too much partisanship and too many egos standing in the way of effective government. We can melt deadlock and change the system to allow the people to vote en-masse on important issues.
As we all become increasingly aware of current communication technologies, this issue will become more central to our politics. We could still keep the legislatures for the mundane everyday work of legislating mundane things. As to the contentious issues, be they social or fiscal, let the people have their say!
JUDE REICHENTHAL
Former Chairman
Communications Advisory Board
City of Bonita Springs
(Disbanded by Mayor Nelson and his council gang who want to minimize democracy)