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  Jim-el Moore commented on Democracy by Lottery 2020-12-30 15:58:52 -0800

  I admire the idea of public service by lottery, Nicholas, but there are a few matters to consider: For one, ancient Athens was ruled by Citizens — a privileged subset of the population. A lottery among them would mean a selection from the best educated, most civic-minded, most stable, loyal and respected of Athenians.
  
  The idea of democracy has progressed since that time, at least in theory, such that any human born in the U.S.A. is a Citizen. Not everyone would have the capacities or the interest or the educational background to establish laws or to set or carry out policy for all the rest of us. Another matter to take into consideration is that the most responsible people are already fully occupied with important work, and would be likely to request a deferral from public service. An obligatory lottery would take them away from their professions and into governance, which might not be the best use of their skills.
  
  But I do love your idea of Citizen Assemblies. Those would ideally draw together people of differing specialties and values, such that a greater proportion of the population would be represented, and more expertise could be brought to bear than what a single elected official can offer. This system might obviate the need of lobbyists to provide legislators the information they need, and the resulting decisions might be less biased.
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  Jim-el Moore signed up on Create Account 2020-12-30 15:11:51 -0800
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  Jim-el Moore signed Sign Up 2020-12-30 14:26:48 -0800

  I would love to participate in the brainstorming. My own highest priority is nature’s rights, but there are many issues to be addressed.