I couple of bots, one left and one right, could cover 90% of political argument on the Internet.
It will be a lot easier to pretend the bot is human if it refuses to talk on other topics. And politics on the internet is a horse beaten to a smooth pulp, so the bot could have a HUGE library to search for both question and argument.
A sincere implementation could actually educate a lot of people. Not change their stance, but elevate their arguments.
The reason this debate rages incessantly is because government, like any institution, grows over time. It takes constant dialogue to evaluate when it has gone too far and then suddenly shrink it when that time comes.
Mindless it may seem because of no resulting action 99% of the time, but the same can be said of pre-flight engine tests.
Mindless it may seem because of no resulting action 99% of the time, but the same can be said of pre-flight engine tests.
Terrible analogy.
If engines were intelligent beings constantly plotting and trying to fail, no one would dare fly, no matter how many pre-flight checks there were.
All large organizations, not just government, have a clear and strong tendency to grow.
The sad fact is, there is no good solution. Switzerland's direct democracy might be one, however:
1. Switzerland is tiny.
2. What are the chances the US, or any other country, will radically reconfigure its constitution and system of government.
A more realistic scenario is what has happened in other places. Like in the UK in the 1970s or Sweden in the early 19th century. Government grows so big and inefficient that a radical shrinking of it is forced upon everyone. It is an ugly and painful process and occasionally goes horribly wrong. But it's pretty much the only proven way governments have significantly shrunk in the real world.
If engines were intelligent beings constantly plotting and trying to fail
I am assuming this is hyperbole, but if it isn't, it should be noted that politicians aren't trying to blow up the systems they govern. No elite is. The situation where short-term interests systematically countermand long-term interests results from a mis-alignment of incentives in the system; it is nothing germane to government.
All large organizations...have a tendency to grow
Actually, no. They empirically tend to evaporate away. Most organisations have a desire to grow.
Switzerland
I'm Swiss, and yes, I agree that we have a damn good system of governance :). But it is very nuanced moderated democracy that exists in a specific environment. I am not so sure it would work in a more heterogenous society; we are having terribly xenophobic reactions to our Muslim minority.
Is the issue that the government has grown, or is it how the government has grown?
The demands of Government are not the same as they were in 1787. Instead of 4M people living in relative isolation we now have 310M people participating in a global economy.
Personally I want a Government than provides the necessary infrastructure and regulatory environment for a modern economy....
