Shape of things...

The important thing about a political system is not its shape or name. It is that those within it feel ownership and are invested in it - showering their creativity and enthusiasm upon it, and feeling empowered to make choices that they beleive in. Open source offers this kind of satisfaction, and open source politics is the only genuine alternative to those who would have their societies dynamic.

But how can decisions be made open source style? The ONLY legitimate (and I mean this in terms of appearance to those who inhabit societies - because that is ultimately the only legitimacy there is (just as ethics is a communal agreement)) method of arriving at decisions is democracy. 

There are those that will claim nationalism, but any understanding has to incorporate patterns of immigration (past and present) and the magical transformation that occurs as people cross borders. 

Some will look to capitalism, but free markets are unable to elucidate many aspects of human organisation, from criminal justice to child care. They form a lesser part of human societies, but they cannot claim a holistic role. Government is different simply because it makes all the rules.

Religious beleif can operate as a legitimizer, but acolytes of a particular faith ultimately have to reconcile themselves with those who do not beleive as they do, or are indeed sceptical about the whole field.

Democracy offers an alernative to these that CAN operate societywide, that gives legitimacy to a common goal. Such a system energises people by offering them a genuine comprehension of and position from which to 'construct' and claim power. The dissemination of democracy across ALL areas of society provides an accepted format for common agreement, and vitalizes all aspects of political debate....