Feeling disconnected

[Praxius]

Interesting read Prax. Coming from a young man like yourself it's good to see you are aware of the stages of life. Too many young people think they are going to live forever.

My wife and I have been married for 30 years now. We met as teenagers, raised three kids and are now entering the later stages of our working life. Yes, we went through the early romantic, head-over-heels in love stage. Then the kids came along and our time for each other dropped off dramatically, although we did force ourselves to take time out for each other once in awhile. Now that the kids are older and fending for themselves, our lives together is better than it's ever been. We are more mature, have more respect for each other and genuinely enjoy each others company. I couldn't imagine living life without her and I make sure to tell her that on a regular basis. Communication is a wonderful thing.

Indeed... good post.

As far as disconnecting from those around us, I blame technology for that. Walk down the street or ride the bus and what do you see. Many people with headphones strapped to their head, blocking out the natural sounds of the world around them, immersing deeper into their self-absorbed world.

Well honestly I do that myself (listen to music on the bus to drown other's out) not because I don't want to socialize with anybody, but because when I don't listen to my music, what do I hear?

• Someone yapping at full volume on their cells about the trivial crap of their own lives nobody needs to hear.
• Other people who have their own music playing which is loud as hell that I can tap my own feet to their beats and sing along.
• Middle-Aged women grouped together in the corner of the bus pointing and commenting on every person and what they are doing on the bus, all their imperfections and all their own negative comments just to make their own lives seem a little better.

and so on.... after using the bus for multiple years, day in and day out on our regular routines of life to and from work.... one needs to drown that out or go insane. I can socialize with all kinds of people, pass on jokes, talk about this or that..... but when you're sitting there surrounded by a hurricane of noise pollution from all kinds of different people not talking to you in the first place, and it's all trivial crap that nobody really needs to hear someone complain about (such as not finding those shoes at the store you were dying to get) you need something to remove that giant envelope of exactly what we are talking about "The Game"

Little kids rushing home from school to quickly turn on the xbox or chat on MSN or glued to the TV. Adults squeezed into 6'x6' cubicles staring at their computer monitors all day pumping out data, bombarded with email, voice mail, faxes. Lack of exercise turning us all into blobs of human jelly, all the while being blasted with radiation from computer monitors. Perhaps we do need a huge dose of reality and the impending food and energy crisis might be the wake up call we need to rebalance our way of thinking.

I'm actually looking forward to the food shortage, the high oil prices, the evil climate changes coming our way...... I'm hoping it's enough to wake society up to how much this current system of living just isn't working and it's enough to make sure those in power no longer can keep control over what the majority think.

Unfortunatly those in power will be the last ones to run out of the resources needing for basic survival.... and I also believe passive resistance is no longer a working option to ensure major changes required, and to prevent corruption of that change if it could come.

 

[talloola]

The more knowlege you fill your head with, the more isolated and depressed one can become, because they have to shut down one old imaginational thing you used to use all the time in the past, which now conflicts with what you have just learned......

Imagination and emotions are traded for facts and logic, and we need to learn how to balance the two.

The more knowledge you fill your head with, the more 'enhanced' and 'aware' you can
become, as there is room for more information, and the brain never fills up, it doesn't
have to discard anything, just change and grow and become better. Perhaps the old
imaginational things you used to use all the time, might now seem a little immature, but
they just have to be developed and grow into an awareness that is even better as you
grow older. Imaginations and emotions and facts and logic are not stored in the same
place, have them all, and store them where they belong, and use them as they are
needed. The human brain is amazing, and capable of anything you want from it, but
if you 'get in it's way' and convince yourself of negative paths, and block the positive,
then you have a situation where one side is fighting the other. We can have it all, if
we want to.

 

[Praxius]

Praxi, you are young and full of fire still, get something going!! Show us your strength and conviction to bring about change. I am willing to join a grass-roots movement. Let's start by talking and discussing your and our ideas like we have started here, only advancing to a more detailed discussion.

In order to be where I am now with my identity, I had to reflect on not just my own past, but my family's past and my community's past. Due to my own family's personal history I have traced back from Canada, to Ireland, to Spain. One notible historical moment in my family's history that had some considerable influence in my life would be this:

Siege of Dunboy Castle:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Dunboy

followed by:

O'Sullivan's march:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donal_O%27Sullivan#O.27Sullivan.27s_march

as well as living in the first provience AKA: the first place in North America to introduce Parlamential Democracy (Something that has been twisted and rotted from it's original design....) along with observing other surrounding influences in my life over the years, something has always seemed wrong with how we live our lives..... hell, something seemed wrong for as long as I could remember.... even way back to when I was only 4 or 5 years old..... I didn't understand much back then, but I knew something wasn't right.... something still isn't.

Over the years I have found balance in talking to others about their problems, learning how they resolved them and perhaps share those ways with others who are stuck with their own problems. In turn, I help myself, and they help me solve the problems I encounter in my own life.

But eventually I started to wonder why some of these problems keep coming up, why more and more people are becoming worse and worse with their levels of enjoyment in life, why people just entering their retirement are looking back at their lives and then looking back at what they have now, only to come to their own conclusions that they've wasted so much time and now they're limited in what they can do, both financially, mentally and physically...... it's all been used up to suit society, the taxes, the long working hours so other's can go on vacation or have an easier life...... they look back and wonder.... "I put all this hard work into helping people have a better life, I sacraficed so much time, so much energy, so much of my health...... where are those people to help me in return now?"

A few years ago when all of these problems and worries that many are currently explaining above now were going through my head (like it does for most people) I just sat down, cleared my head and just focused step by step to what the root of each of these problems has and always will be...... and my final conclusion was money and currency.

Money and Currency/Capitalism is a frame of life that makes you seek out personal profit and gain to make it out on top over others in society. The more you have, the better off you will be..... the better off you will be, the more freedom you will have in life... freedom which should have always been free to begin with...... it's a daily battle with tooth/nail mentality we all in society seek and fight for in which the majority will never reach. It's a system built on greed and personal desire for superficial items to make us feel better and to mask the problems we all face everyday. At the same time, this way of life is also a form of progress, as with more supply and demand = more development and improvements on those things we buy..... technical advancement in humanity.

It seems like a system that works.... I mean, we all see the advancements and improvements in the things we use and take for granted everyday.... but what we don't see is the underlying price this all takes on us everyday.... and this underlying price is what we're all currently feeling that just isn't right... that seems fake, plastic..... artificial..... expected.

But some of the major problems in life we can easily see everyday.... wars, oppression, job losses, food shortages, fuel prices, riots.... just about every single thing we shake our heads at and wonder why can all be traced back down to the "grass-roots"...... Money/Currency/Power/Greed....... Power and Greed are fueled by Currency and Money.

How do we solve these problems? Remove the problem from the equation.... money and currency. Sounds like a big mission to take on, considdering we'd need to find a system that works just as well if not better then what we use today? You bet..... we need to find something almost seemless in it's transition and won't produce more problems then it would solve.

So how do we make a system that will work, will be simple and yet be more effective in reducing our everyday troubles that just are not necessary?

See above link once again.

I spent considderable time in laying it out in a way in which it would cover and re-cover each portion of the system so that nothing can contradict nor conflict with one another. I attempted to put in the middle grounds for certain topics and social conflicts today, as there are still those problems with different sides conflicting with one another. I have revised it a few times over the years, and if other people are like myself seriously seeking some method of change, then by all means check it out and tell me if you like it or don't.... but either way, tell me specifically what you like or don't and what alternatives would you like to see replace those parts that conflict with you?

I don't claim to be some savior or some guy with all the answers, but just a piece of the overall puzzle.... I need people such as yourselves to look over and add onto what I started a few years back. It would be a foundation/constitution of sorts which would be a guideline of how to not just make the government and society work properly and work for you, but to also allow and make yourself work for the government and society in a balanced and logical approach that you also enjoy and actually strive to contribute to..... in a way in which you feel you yourself are making a big difference in everyone's lives.... that you will be putting your mark on the time line and many will remember you for those efforts.

Once I feel there is a logical and planned out approach to changing the way we live our lives today, and I feel that there is a very big portion of the population who are seeking this method of change, then that will be the time I step forward and take this to the next level..... which will then be action. But I will not take action without a plan, and I will not take action on a plan that the majority do not approve of.

 

[Outta here]

........I'm actually looking forward to the food shortage, the high oil prices, the evil climate changes coming our way...... I'm hoping it's enough to wake society up to how much this current system of living just isn't working and it's enough to make sure those in power no longer can keep control over what the majority think.

Unfortunatly those in power will be the last ones to run out of the resources needing for basic survival.... and I also believe passive resistance is no longer a working option to ensure major changes required, and to prevent corruption of that change if it could come.

You know Prax, I admit to having this same thought myself - thinking back to any significant societal reform, did it not almost always come at the breaking point? Rarely is anything changed until it's at the far end of a continuum that begins at 'tolerable' and ends at 'intolerable'.

As for where that breaking point is regarding our current woes, I wonder if we'll need to see that pushed to (or over) the brink of complete societal breakdown before our drive to take action towards change kicks in.

 

[Praxius]

You know Prax, I admit to having this same thought myself - thinking back to any significant societal reform, did it not almost always come at the breaking point? Rarely is anything changed until it's at the far end of a continuum that begins at 'tolerable' and ends at 'intolerable'.

As for where that breaking point is regarding our current woes, I wonder if we'll need to see that pushed to (or over) the brink of complete societal breakdown before our drive to take action towards change kicks in.

Well humans are for the most part, scared of change and won't make change unless it's absolutely nessicary.... and sometimes that means not until the very last minute when all other options have been played out.

How many people do you know of who won't go out and buy a new pair of pants, or shoes or car? Both you and I see that they're falling apart, that they've been patched and fixed for so long that it's be better to go out and buy a new one, but to them.... it's still the same ol trusty pair of shoes/pants/or car that has gotten them through the tough times..... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" they'd tell you..... and they'd keep telling you until their ass is hanging out the back end of their pants, their toes are showing out the front of their shoes and their doors have fallen off their car and it caught on fire...... then and only then will they make change..... change means you have to work and put effort into something.

Which is why I unfortunatly believe that most of society will not make any major change until they no longer have any choice. Then it's a mad grab for the next best idea thrown out there in society for everyone to latch onto and put all their hopes and dreams into before it all goes to hell more so.

This same mentality of fear/change is what I would attribute to most when it comes to politics.... both in the US and here in Canada we'll go through periods, such as now, where our governments will lie to us, blow our tax dollars on illegal things we never hear about until it's too late, or they'll throw us into wars based on more lies laid out for us to suck up.

When they're found out, what happens?

Everybody gets super pissed off and fed up.... demanding change!

But what really happens? Promise that change will come with the new batch of politicians from the same parties which screwed you over in the first place..... people complaining and whinning about how our prime minister or president are not qualified to be in the positions they are in, that we have lost confidence in them, that life is so much worse now then before they took power, etc..... yet we just shrug our shoulders and say "Meh, we'll just get rid of them in the next election."

^ Same corrupt system, same corrupt parties.... just new faces with same old talk to keep throwing us a bone and keep prolonging our frustrations, playing on our hopes and desire for a better way of life, but never really getting anywhere better, if not, worse then before.

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Quite simply, our current forms of Democracy are not any kind of democracy I want to live in.... our governments now hold more power over us then they ever did in the past, many in here see this and complain about it plenty, and rightly-so..... and the only way to fix the current problems which are always placed at our feet (The working middle-class/and the poverty-stricken) and we have to break our backs to fix them for the rich and powerful select..... is to remove that power in our governments and make sure our governments are exactly what they should be..... a job! A job to do what the people need.... a very important role to work, but should not hold any powers above the collective of the country.

With the system I presented, we still have a government, but the government works towards meeting the demands of the country and what is needed in each part of the country. They do not get voted in on the best deal they can cut us, but they are voted in based on their experience, education and personal desire to be that one to take on the challenges of the nation and to make sure what the people need, they get. They are mediators during elections, votes, polls and referendums made by the people, created by the people and decided by the people. When something appears to be overlooked or contradicted, they inform the public, but they do not make the deicisons for the people..... the do the job they're elected/hired to do, much as any other job.

 

[talloola]

^ Same corrupt system, same corrupt parties.... just new faces with same old talk to keep throwing us a bone and keep prolonging our frustrations, playing on our hopes and desire for a better way of life, but never really getting anywhere better, if not, worse then before.

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With the system I presented, we still have a government, but the government works towards meeting the demands of the country and what is needed in each part of the country. They do not get voted in on the best deal they can cut us, but they are voted in based on their experience, education and personal desire to be that one to take on the challenges of the nation and to make sure what the people need, they get. They are mediators during elections, votes, polls and referendums made by the people, created by the people and decided by the people. When something appears to be overlooked or contradicted, they inform the public, but they do not make the deicisons for the people..... the do the job they're elected/hired to do, much as any other job.

Your're exactly right, but throughout my lifetime I have seen the same ole same ole
and it looks like this to me: The kind of people you would want to run a government
fairly and 'for the people', and yes, treat it as a job, ARE NOT INTERESTED IN DOING IT',
they are like me, and many others, don't want anything to do with that type of position,
I like my life, but want people like me to run the country, IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, as the
people WHO are interested in running the country are driven, want power, mostly
allready have money and want more, and other agendas of their own, they love the attention, are competitive, and will get down and dirty when necessary to reach their
goals, and beat out their fellow politicians, and, oh yes, I forgot, one must be elected next time, so they have to think up all the bull**it they are going to fling our way next
time around, so they will keep their job. The regular 'joe' on the street, wants what he
wants, but wants someone else to get it for them, and if they don't, they whine and
complain cause they are getting ripped off, a vicious circle, but we all have to share in the blame, we cause it by NOT PARTICIPATING, they cause it by MANIPULATING AND CHEATING.

 

[Praxius]

Your're exactly right, but throughout my lifetime I have seen the same ole same ole and it looks like this to me: The kind of people you would want to run a government fairly and 'for the people', and yes, treat it as a job, ARE NOT INTERESTED IN DOING IT', they are like me, and many others, don't want anything to do with that type of position, I like my life, but want people like me to run the country, IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, as the people WHO are interested in running the country are driven, want power, mostly allready have money and want more, and other agendas of their own, they love the attention, are competitive, and will get down and dirty when necessary to reach their goals, and beat out their fellow politicians, and, oh yes, I forgot, one must be elected next time, so they have to think up all the bull**it they are going to fling our way next time around, so they will keep their job. The regular 'joe' on the street, wants what he wants, but wants someone else to get it for them, and if they don't, they whine and
complain cause they are getting ripped off, a vicious circle, but we all have to share in the blame, we cause it by NOT PARTICIPATING, they cause it by MANIPULATING AND CHEATING.

I tried to respond to this but the system froze up and lost my post.... take 2:

The reason why most people keep saying that nobody is interested in politics or always expect someone else to do it, is because that's how it's always been..... we as average citizens do not get any real say in what happens and anything we have an input on is usually trivial. We vote people in to make the decisions for us and then that's it. Where is the interest and draw back in politics when we vote someone into power whom we don't even really know? We know some of their background and what they represent if elected, but they are not ourselves looking out for our personal best interests.

If our government was more direct and got the population more involved in the decisions of where the country will go in the future, then more of the population would not only get interested, but also start to feel it is a part of their duty/responsibility to get involved. However the idiots currently in power don't want that, because not only does it take away from their own best interests and more to a general population's as it rightly should.... it also means that they'd have to be held at a much closer arm's reach of the public in meeting those demands.

The way I see how politics should work is that politicians should ask and listen to what the public and country as a whole needs, the public/country tells them and they make it happen..... Not to tell us that they are planning on doing such and such on their own accord based on what they think is best for us, regardless if we like it or not.

Now some people would say those people are educated and experienced in making informed and proper decisions in these matters, more so then the average person...... but how do we know for sure they are doing what they honestly and personally feel is in the best interests of us and how do we know they are not influenced by some 3rd party or corporation filling their pockets with money?

It's far more difficult to corrupt an entire or majority population then it is to corrupt one or two select people in powerful positions by bribes, money, additional perks of the position, etc.

You claim that the people in our government today are geared for:

"....are driven, want power, mostly allready have money and want more, and other agendas of their own, they love the attention, are competitive, and will get down and dirty when necessary to reach their goals, and beat out their fellow politicians, and, oh yes, I forgot, one must be elected next time, so they have to think up all the bull**it they are going to fling our way next time around, so they will keep their job."

They are like this currently, because the current system sets them up to be this way.... they are rewarded for such actions and such attitudes which don't really benifit the nation as a whole, but benifits themselves for their own cut throat ways.

But if a system such as the one I explained elsewhere was thrown into place, where the politician doesn't have any major authority over the decisions made for the country, where they do as they are asked, not do as they tell us, and where there is no money or currency available to peak their greed in wanting that position....... then what politicians are now left and filtered out of all that old mess?

Politicians who want to do their job because they are interested in it, who want to use their experience and knowlege to better their country in which they serve and live in, to be the best at the job and tasks given to them. Just like how some people want to be doctors because they have always enjoyed helping and healing people.... they strive for using the talents and abilities given to them in that profession.

Someone who does a job out of their own passion and love for that job will always do better then someone who does the same job just for a pay cheque.

So to sum up.... if you were given the chance to simply push one or two buttons for 5 minutes out of the day to make real change and real decisions in your country and know that you yourself are making more of a difference in your life then ever before..... would you still not want to do it or would you rather just keep letting someone else do it for you and just hope they have your best interests in mind?

 

[jellyfarm]

You guys are bringing up an interesting premise with regards to politics and I wanna add a new dimension to the discussion if I may.

Politics is a simple game of power-play - A matter of who gives power to whom and who gains or loses it from whom.

As I mentioned earlier in one of my posts, assuming self-responsibility is a form of regaining personal power and I feel that the governments we have in place today, in the year 2008 and for decades before are true reflections of where our state of mass consciousness is.

When we as voters elect someone in power, we are placing our lives in their hands, allowing them to be 'leaders' of us. We are giving power away. This method is so wrong, wrong, wrong because when these politicians fail us, it's easy for us to point fingers and say 'You are wrong. You let us down. You failed us.' when actually we failed ourselves.

A politician is no better than us and we are no lesser than them. They are merely representatives of US who are not willing to take that kind of responsibility for the running of our lives. Electing a leader isn't going to all the time make things better for us, if we don't take initiative ourselves. It always takes two hands to clap and leaving it to our politicians who are probably just as 'blur' as we are about Life in general doesn't solve any of the problems we have today.

In fact, the problems we have today, are consequences of us allowing ourselves to slack. Personally, I don't vote. Why? I don't believe my politicians will personally make my life better. If anyone has control over my life, it's me and no politician or elected politicians should tell me what or not to do.

What I think might work for the future of politics is shared power.

Perhaps we can have a method of shared leadership where common goals can be achieved if everyone took on a role in their community that they had passion for. This means everyone is equally responsible of taking care of things in their neighbourhood and everyone becomes part of the 'government', so if anything goes wrong, there's no one to blame except, you got it, themselves for screwing up.

The people of the country who are the government can have a brainstorming period (with a deadline and a majority wins vote) where templates for governance can be discussed and implemented from documentation, implementation, economic and legal issues, health, defence, environment, education, media, science and technology etc. Professionals in all the above fields must be part of the various departments in this government, no excuses, because your contribution and your thoughts count because you are a leader in this government.

Once templates for governance have been agreed upon, based on a majority wins vote, then can the true running of the government can begin. Then people cannot complain that 'Oh, my voice isn't being heard. Oh, I don't matter...etc' because you are part of this government and your role in your department is crucial to the day-to-day running of the neighbourhood or community you live in.

That would be a more effective way of running things because things would get done faster once everyone has a shared consensus on what the main issues of the country are. Deadlines would be met faster, red tape would be reduced tremendously etc.

Things could change dramatically if this method of governance is implemented, I think, but it's asking a lot of people because they will have to get out of their comfort zones of the blame game and apathy. People would have to be more disciplined and focused but hey, if you love the role you've chosen in this new government, hopefully passion and inspiration can motivate you to continue being a self-appointed leader.

Some wise German man of the Singapore-German Institute once told me during an interview that 'A true leader is one who creates a leader in everyone he/she leads' and since then I've never forgotten that.;-);-)

 

[Praxius]

You guys are bringing up an interesting premise with regards to politics and I wanna add a new dimension to the discussion if I may.

Politics is a simple game of power-play - A matter of who gives power to whom and who gains or loses it from whom.

As I mentioned earlier in one of my posts, assuming self-responsibility is a form of regaining personal power and I feel that the governments we have in place today, in the year 2008 and for decades before are true reflections of where our state of mass consciousness is.

When we as voters elect someone in power, we are placing our lives in their hands, allowing them to be 'leaders' of us. We are giving power away. This method is so wrong, wrong, wrong because when these politicians fail us, it's easy for us to point fingers and say 'You are wrong. You let us down. You failed us.' when actually we failed ourselves.

So far I agree with what you're saying. In my view Rep. Democracy is not much different then Communism... whether we are told who our leader of the country is, or if we choose from a slect 4-5 people to be the leader of the country, they at the end of it all still make the decisions and we're supposed to just suck up what they do because we either A) Voted them in and thus responsible for the actions we permitted them to do, or B) they come into power by force or by their choice and we just sit around and still let them do as they please as leaders of our country...... same game, we're just shown the good cop and bad cop depending on where we live.... both are corrupt and both are not systems we can use until the end of time.

A politician is no better than us and we are no lesser than them. They are merely representatives of US who are not willing to take that kind of responsibility for the running of our lives. Electing a leader isn't going to all the time make things better for us, if we don't take initiative ourselves. It always takes two hands to clap and leaving it to our politicians who are probably just as 'blur' as we are about Life in general doesn't solve any of the problems we have today.

Not to mention that if they are just as flawed and just as blurred as we are individually, then how can we trust let alone just give them the responsibility to make decisions that will suit all of the country's blurred and flawed people who all have their own desires and perspectives? The more responsibility you hand one person over more and more people, the greater their mistakes will be, the less connected and related they can be to the people, and eventually they just start doing things as they personally think things should be done, and thus, we then have the government today in which we are all familiar with..... which is why this system is flawed and this system doesn't work as it should.

In fact, the problems we have today, are consequences of us allowing ourselves to slack. Personally, I don't vote. Why? I don't believe my politicians will personally make my life better. If anyone has control over my life, it's me and no politician or elected politicians should tell me what or not to do.

I have just recently begun to vote, and the last big election I voted NDP...... the only part in which wasn't the Liberals or Conservatives and seemed to have a few principles in their ways in which seemed closer to where I'd like to see the country go (Minus a few dumb ass things they've done recently)

But so long as my vote doesn't goto the two normal redundant parties and it might take one seat away from them and perhaps cause enough of a balance of minority such as it has done, then until I or someone else can impliment a better system, that will have to do.

What I think might work for the future of politics is shared power.

Perhaps we can have a method of shared leadership where common goals can be achieved if everyone took on a role in their community that they had passion for. This means everyone is equally responsible of taking care of things in their neighbourhood and everyone becomes part of the 'government', so if anything goes wrong, there's no one to blame except, you got it, themselves for screwing up.

The people of the country who are the government can have a brainstorming period (with a deadline and a majority wins vote) where templates for governance can be discussed and implemented from documentation, implementation, economic and legal issues, health, defence, environment, education, media, science and technology etc. Professionals in all the above fields must be part of the various departments in this government, no excuses, because your contribution and your thoughts count because you are a leader in this government.

Once templates for governance have been agreed upon, based on a majority wins vote, then can the true running of the government can begin. Then people cannot complain that 'Oh, my voice isn't being heard. Oh, I don't matter...etc' because you are part of this government and your role in your department is crucial to the day-to-day running of the neighbourhood or community you live in.

That would be a more effective way of running things because things would get done faster once everyone has a shared consensus on what the main issues of the country are. Deadlines would be met faster, red tape would be reduced tremendously etc.

Things could change dramatically if this method of governance is implemented, I think, but it's asking a lot of people because they will have to get out of their comfort zones of the blame game and apathy. People would have to be more disciplined and focused but hey, if you love the role you've chosen in this new government, hopefully passion and inspiration can motivate you to continue being a self-appointed leader.

Some wise German man of the Singapore-German Institute once told me during an interview that 'A true leader is one who creates a leader in everyone he/she leads' and since then I've never forgotten that.;-);-)

Well one thing that can be a problem with the above you mentioned, although sounds good, is that many still don't like the Majority Rules concept, where once one side get's 50+ % of the vote the rest who voted the other way get no say except to accept the way the vote went for the other side and nothing changes or is met for their own demands.

I believe that elections, polls, votes, and what have you need to also evolve into something a bit more accurate then a Yes/No or other limited two option choice.

Instead of having it as the majority of votes for this one of two options wins and the out come of that win has already been planned out regardless of just how much that side won..... how about more then two or three options and the ability to choose more then one option? Based on what seems best for your area in which you live, your family, yourself, and how all this will affect all of that, each part of the country could choose something totally different then another spot.... so with the more options to choose from and the ability to input more then one answer, based on the final calculation of overall choices made, would produce one or two of several available solutions in the end.....

for example:

Yes: X
No:
Indifferent:
Family of: 5
Location: PEI
Level of Importance (1-10): 4

a % of votes with a similar report in PEI as above would produce one of several options, while:

Yes:
No: X
Indifferent:
Family of: 3
Location: Quebec
Level of Importance (1-10): 10

balanced to the above from PEI where although they have responsibility of a larger family, their level of importance of the vote is less, therefore a different % tally would be calculated overall and then the final decision would change yet again from one of the several available options which were already predetermined for the vote beforehand, which all agreed apon.

So in other words, where one vote cast could have significant impact on Quebec, it might not have the same impact on PEI, therefore when the vote is completed, Quebec would get the option available which would best suit the majority of the vote in Quebec, while still balanced to suit the votes of the minority (Instead of a Yes or No result, a more balanced decision can be made which leans more towards the yes side, but still acomidates the no side, or vice versa) While in PEI, their vote would have been different and thus a different outcome for them (which would have been available in Quebec if they chose) would be implimented.

And in the end of all the above, everybody who voted would have had their voice heard and would have swayed the final decision more towards their side of the argument or the other. Although you might have voted against the majority, your % that has voted against the majority would be enough to make sure they do not get 100% of what they want, leaving you out in the cold on this decision, and then one of the middle ground decisions would be used..... it would side moreso with the majority vote, but would still match most of your own demands.

If that makes any sense.

 

[jimmoyer]

Some wise German man of the Singapore-German Institute once told me during an interview that 'A true leader is one who creates a leader in everyone he/she leads' and since then I've never forgotten that.
----------------------------------------Jellyfarm--------------------------------------------------------------

That's it !!

After you've gone through all the hoops on trying to control the universe, proselytize to others what you would like to see them do, what does it all come down to ?

I got one hand in my pocket...

and the other giving a high five...

no...that was just a song interupting into the stream of consciousnessssssssss....

Shaking head vigorously....

What does it all come down to ?

You.

It may be the final best impact ever. Know thyself. Improve thyself.

All of that happening at the same time will overpower the best laid plans of macro centralizied planning.

 

[Praxius]

But that can only go so far and improve only so much. Sure your own perspectives and outlooks can catch on to other people...... but what sort of change can anybody expect if they go all 60's Hippy on those already in power and are already influencing the world in their corrupt ways?

In that I mean the Hippies had their cultural revolution, but it didn't last and was eventually oppressed once again, because they were too passive in their approach. While many followed their ways and many great minds of our times have come from those incidences, in the end, nothing changed and we're right back to where we've always been.

There were many protests back then, there were many opposing the governments and way of life at that time and they were heard around the world..... but nothing really improved, nothing really has changed.

Knowing myself and improving myself alone can only go so far. In a cultural and family-linked species such as ourselves, we better evolve and learn quicker when we work as a family.... a collective if you will, rather then isolated and concerned into our own personal advances in life (Which is how it is now a days it seems ~ Capitalism)

We need to better know each other and better improve each other equally. Make those around you informed of what you know and vice versa...... allow them to make their own informed decisions and to determine if what you say is true/worthwhile or not..... then advancements can be made, imo.