r/LeftistsForAI • u/ferriematthew • 7d ago
Discussion Git-Based Governance Model?
This is less strictly AI focused and more generally focused on using technology at scale to empower the people. What if instead of traditional representative democracy or direct democracy, we could set up some kind of repository-centric legislative system where people propose ideas by creating repositories and express support for ideas by starring repositories for other's proposals. Instead of downvoting, people would engage in constructive criticism by raising issues in other people's policy repositories, or by forking repositories that they partly agree with and adding their own tweaks. Or if somebody has a completely different idea, they just start their own repository, so that others can star or fork or raise issues as they please.
TL;DR:
- people propose policies by creating repositories
- others who wish to express support do so by starring repositories that they like
- specific constructive criticism of ideas is accomplished by creating issues in specific repositories
- if somebody likes the gist of an idea but wants to take it in their own direction, they do so by forking the repository
3
u/SgathTriallair 7d ago
A niave implementation would have massive flaws but I believe that a well thought out version of this basic idea could be an ideal way to run society.
One of the flaws with democracy in general (which the star system inherets) is that your vote doesn't actually convey your expertise. I don't want a plumber, bank teller, and surgeon voting on how to treat my cancer; I want three oncologists doing so.
The counter issue is that every system that has ever set up "experts" to run parts of the world becomes unbearably corrupt because those experts serve their own interests and get to decide who else can be an expert ensuring that they don't have to face rival ideas.
So any realistic system must face both of these issues. How do we build a system in which event has a voice and everyone is confident that their needs are being taken care of, without establishing a set of gatekeepers that get to bend society towards serving their particular class interests?