Many of the assumptions that made "representative democracy" supposedly preferable to direct democracy are now technologically and practically obsolete. We can do much better.
Trust is earned, not demanded.
Here are some of the things that are now technologically, economically, and practically possible, which were not as possible for prior generations:
1 - Direct voting on all major legislation and policy questions.
If you don't have the time or you don't care about a particular issue, you can abstain from whatever votes you want.
But in 2026, you can at least have the option to vote directly on every major piece of legislation and policy that affects you.
You can have your will and interests reflected directly in public policy, rather than just indirectly (at best), if at all.
2 - People can have the time, energy, resources, and information needed to make wise, educated choices regarding issues that affect them and the world.
We don't need to be working 40 or 50+ hour weeks in order to afford basic survival in 2026.
We can instead choose to work on and educate ourselves and each other about things that we care about, and we can actually work to make this world a better place.
If people don't have the time, energy, education, or resources to participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect them, that is de facto evidence of illegitimacy, political and socioeconomic oppression, and subjugation in 2026.
3 - Retractable support for candidates is now much more feasible.
Many candidates campaign on one set of policies (or as a member of one political party), but once they're in office they either change their tune to align with donors/lobbyists, or they sometimes change parties altogether. This is far from "representative" of the people's will.
Retractable support would also be more effective than trying to poll people on different kinds of issues that politicians deal with, which is a very blunt and ineffective way for the popular will to be manifested.
No wonder so many people feel neglected, discarded, irrelevant, and unheard under this system, because they are.
And, if foreign nations and other malicious actors are able to rig elections to install their assets in office, then retractable support limits the upside they gain by doing that, because they would need to maintain continuous popular support rather than just during a brief window of time during election cycles.
4 - We can free people to do meaningful work beyond slaving their lives away for the unlimited profits and rents for our ruling capitalist class.
Our ruling capitalist class say they're opposed to the public receiving direct dividends from their respective states and countries, because (supposedly) that will lead to a crisis of agency and meaning or what have you.
They say this as though many happy retirees don't already busy themselves by volunteering and doing all kinds of meaningful and productive activities in their communities.
There's a huge amount of work to be done to turn this dystopian hellscape into a more pleasant and livable situation for ourselves and future generations.
That work starts once people are free from working for the unlimited profits and rents of our ruling capitalist/kleptocrat class.
We have the technology and resources to make that happen right now.
There's a whole lot more meaning and joy in human life than people slaving their lives away for …
Trust is earned, not demanded.
Here are some of the things that are now technologically, economically, and practically possible, which were not as possible for prior generations:
1 - Direct voting on all major legislation and policy questions.
If you don't have the time or you don't care about a particular issue, you can abstain from whatever votes you want.
But in 2026, you can at least have the option to vote directly on every major piece of legislation and policy that affects you.
You can have your will and interests reflected directly in public policy, rather than just indirectly (at best), if at all.
2 - People can have the time, energy, resources, and information needed to make wise, educated choices regarding issues that affect them and the world.
We don't need to be working 40 or 50+ hour weeks in order to afford basic survival in 2026.
We can instead choose to work on and educate ourselves and each other about things that we care about, and we can actually work to make this world a better place.
If people don't have the time, energy, education, or resources to participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect them, that is de facto evidence of illegitimacy, political and socioeconomic oppression, and subjugation in 2026.
3 - Retractable support for candidates is now much more feasible.
Many candidates campaign on one set of policies (or as a member of one political party), but once they're in office they either change their tune to align with donors/lobbyists, or they sometimes change parties altogether. This is far from "representative" of the people's will.
Retractable support would also be more effective than trying to poll people on different kinds of issues that politicians deal with, which is a very blunt and ineffective way for the popular will to be manifested.
No wonder so many people feel neglected, discarded, irrelevant, and unheard under this system, because they are.
And, if foreign nations and other malicious actors are able to rig elections to install their assets in office, then retractable support limits the upside they gain by doing that, because they would need to maintain continuous popular support rather than just during a brief window of time during election cycles.
4 - We can free people to do meaningful work beyond slaving their lives away for the unlimited profits and rents for our ruling capitalist class.
Our ruling capitalist class say they're opposed to the public receiving direct dividends from their respective states and countries, because (supposedly) that will lead to a crisis of agency and meaning or what have you.
They say this as though many happy retirees don't already busy themselves by volunteering and doing all kinds of meaningful and productive activities in their communities.
There's a huge amount of work to be done to turn this dystopian hellscape into a more pleasant and livable situation for ourselves and future generations.
That work starts once people are free from working for the unlimited profits and rents of our ruling capitalist/kleptocrat class.
We have the technology and resources to make that happen right now.
There's a whole lot more meaning and joy in human life than people slaving their lives away for …
Many of the assumptions that made "representative democracy" supposedly preferable to direct democracy are now technologically and practically obsolete. We can do much better.
Trust is earned, not demanded.
Here are some of the things that are now technologically, economically, and practically possible, which were not as possible for prior generations:
1 - Direct voting on all major legislation and policy questions.
If you don't have the time or you don't care about a particular issue, you can abstain from whatever votes you want.
But in 2026, you can at least have the option to vote directly on every major piece of legislation and policy that affects you.
You can have your will and interests reflected directly in public policy, rather than just indirectly (at best), if at all.
2 - People can have the time, energy, resources, and information needed to make wise, educated choices regarding issues that affect them and the world.
We don't need to be working 40 or 50+ hour weeks in order to afford basic survival in 2026.
We can instead choose to work on and educate ourselves and each other about things that we care about, and we can actually work to make this world a better place.
If people don't have the time, energy, education, or resources to participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect them, that is de facto evidence of illegitimacy, political and socioeconomic oppression, and subjugation in 2026.
3 - Retractable support for candidates is now much more feasible.
Many candidates campaign on one set of policies (or as a member of one political party), but once they're in office they either change their tune to align with donors/lobbyists, or they sometimes change parties altogether. This is far from "representative" of the people's will.
Retractable support would also be more effective than trying to poll people on different kinds of issues that politicians deal with, which is a very blunt and ineffective way for the popular will to be manifested.
No wonder so many people feel neglected, discarded, irrelevant, and unheard under this system, because they are.
And, if foreign nations and other malicious actors are able to rig elections to install their assets in office, then retractable support limits the upside they gain by doing that, because they would need to maintain continuous popular support rather than just during a brief window of time during election cycles.
4 - We can free people to do meaningful work beyond slaving their lives away for the unlimited profits and rents for our ruling capitalist class.
Our ruling capitalist class say they're opposed to the public receiving direct dividends from their respective states and countries, because (supposedly) that will lead to a crisis of agency and meaning or what have you.
They say this as though many happy retirees don't already busy themselves by volunteering and doing all kinds of meaningful and productive activities in their communities.
There's a huge amount of work to be done to turn this dystopian hellscape into a more pleasant and livable situation for ourselves and future generations.
That work starts once people are free from working for the unlimited profits and rents of our ruling capitalist/kleptocrat class.
We have the technology and resources to make that happen right now.
There's a whole lot more meaning and joy in human life than people slaving their lives away for …
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