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Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by Kalium on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @04:54PM (#10666133)
Now you're implicitly allotting power to those with the charisma and reach to sway others while simultaneously introducing all the problems of the tyranny of the majority.

In your efforts to try to fix bugs, you are re-introducing older bugs. Have you considered that a rewrite from scratch may not be ideal here, given how hard it is to get a functioning system?

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by ZenoArrow on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @05:23PM (#10666300)
Explain what makes democracy incompatible with communism.

Also, note that the tyranny of the majority only applies if and when force is applied. Being in a minority is not necessarily problematic.

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by Kalium on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @05:25PM (#10666314)
> Now you're implicitly allotting power to those with the charisma and reach to sway others

Here is the explanation you seek, friend. You are implicitly re-creating a leading class. The problem only appears solved because the class is implicit instead of explicit.

And historically, you've probably killed a couple million people by now.

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by ZenoArrow on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @07:00PM (#10666802)
> "Now you're implicitly allotting power to those with the charisma and reach to sway others"

Persuasion is far more palatable than physical force. Furthermore, in a direct democracy, those with charisma still do not make the final decision, all decisions go to a vote. If an individual proves influential, then they have a level of power, but opinions that serve the influential individual at the expense of their audience are not likely to gain traction.

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by Kalium on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @07:07PM (#10666838)
And incidentally, your classless utopia has a new crop of "influencers" (read: leadership-class) with disproportionate power. With no structures in place to restrain them but other members of the leadership-class with disproportionate power. That really only ends two ways - warring warlords or the leadership class unifying into an oligarchy.

Oh, and you've overlooked how readily people are led into supporting positions directly contrary to their interests. It happens all the time. Tribal social structures and group identities make it easy and common.

Nothing about this ends well.

Have a nice day.

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by ZenoArrow on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @08:04PM (#10667054)
> "And incidentally, your classless utopia has a new crop of "influencers" (read: leadership-class) with disproportionate power. With no structures in place to restrain them but other members of the leadership-class with disproportionate power. That really only ends two ways - warring warlords or the leadership class unifying into an oligarchy."

The power of the "influencers" depends on the education level of the general population, does it not?

> "Oh, and you've overlooked how readily people are led into supporting positions directly contrary to their interests. It happens all the time. Tribal social structures and group identities make it easy and common."

As I've said to you before in an earlier comment, it'll take time to undo our earlier programming, to make us less prone to follow hierarchical structures (and to think with a mob mentality). The education to enable this can start today, we don't need to change our society in order to start changing ourselves.

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by Kalium on Thursday December 03, 2015 @02:26AM (#10668285)
> The power of the "influencers" depends on the education level of the general population, does it not?

No. It does not.

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by ZenoArrow on Thursday December 03, 2015 @07:20AM (#10669194)
> "No. It does not."

If the population has been taught critical thinking and given plenty of chance to practice this in their formal education, then I don't see how it can't mitigate against the damage that "influencers" could do.

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by s73v3r on Thursday December 03, 2015 @12:37PM (#10671038)
Then you have honestly not paid attention in the world today.
Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by ZenoArrow on Thursday December 03, 2015 @04:40PM (#10672862)
Do you believe teaching critical thinking in schools is worthwhile?

To be clear on what critical thinking is and can do:

http://youtu.be/6OLPL5p0fMg

Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by s73v3r on Thursday December 03, 2015 @12:36PM (#10671027)
Democracy implies there is a leading class.
Re:Abandoned South Dakota Town on Sale for $250k by ZenoArrow on Thursday December 03, 2015 @04:31PM (#10672803)
How so? Perhaps you're thinking of a representative democracy. I'm referring to direct democracy.