Little Brother Watching Big Brother Prouts Super Democratic System

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Little Brother Watching Big Brother: Prout's Super-Democratic System

1. Prout generates a more conscious qualified electorate than the presentform of democracy does.2. It stimulates a greater sense of responsibility on the part of candidates.3. It paves the way for a sense of universalism within the politicalmachinery itself by allowing for increased interplay, interaction anddynamism by removing the constraints imposed by today's political partystructure.4. The system of social boards resolves the perennial problem of power corruption.

by Trond OverlandSome years ago in Sweden a local government banned a small primary plus KGschool running on neo-humanist principles.Apart from a budding sister-KG in Copenhagen, that neo-humanist school, withsome 15 students, was the only such school in Scandinavia, situated in a ruralarea, working quietly, being no part of any visible or noisy movement. Why wasthe government so much against this rather wonderful educational initiative? Theauthorities, represented by a Christian/socio-democratic majority, forced theclosing of the school on grounds that it was “antidemocratic”. During earlier inspection sessions the religiously motivated inspectors had hinted that theywere displeased with the school’s spiritual practices and outlook, but in the finalanalysis the authorities chose to play the democracy triumph card on the basis of a brief mentioning in a book on neo-humanism, that the neo-humanist movementwanted to create superhuman leaders. The struggling school anyhow dwindled(mainly due to a diminishing number of students in that rather remote area) andreluctantly closed a year or so later, after eight years of serving its community,but the fact that the government had found the school “antidemocratic” keptsome of its sympathisers thinking, and today I want to put forward the followingpoints in anticipation of a valuable exchange of ideas on democracy andProut.To begin with, as there seems to exist some misunderstanding regarding certainaspects of Prout’s political setup, a clarification of some such points are soughtbelow with further elaboration following.1. Prout generates a more conscious qualified electorate than the present form of democracy does.2. It stimulates a greater sense of responsibility on the part of candidates.

3. It paves the way for a sense of universalism within the political machinery itself by allowing for increased interplay, interaction and dynamism by removing theconstraints imposed by today's political party structure.4. The system of social boards resolves the perennial problem of power corruption.

Elaboration1. A conscious qualified electorate.

Prout states that wherever many or the majority are illiterate democracy isnothing but a farce. Taking this idea a step further, democracy can only functionproperly where the majority is morally conscious. So education is a must for democracy. As Proutist writer Susmit Kumar has remarked, a driving license isissued on proof of ability, not on proof of having been born 18 years or more agoas that would jeopardize traffic and put people's life and health at greater risk. Itmeans, the right to vote should not be given on an age basis, as that would provea non-safety outlook for society. Rather, the right to vote should be given to thesocially conscious.Prout therefore calls for voter qualification. In poor and illiterate countries thisprinciple will set in motion a huge and most welcome literacy drive, while in moreeducated countries the question needs to be determined on an even moredynamic basis: how to define a democratic person – what are the criterianecessary to achieve voter status? One approach in so-called alreadydemocratically enlightened countries would be to seek to avoid unnecessarynoise along a perceived “must”-axis and rather go for the stimulating “should”.For instance, today voting in the West by way of the Internet is fast becoming areality; vote casting is effected by entering a personal code and mouse-clicking.In that same process the voter would also be required to verify or confirm that heor she really is acquainted with the election program of the candidate of choiceas well as that (those) of opposing candidate(s).In order to generate sufficient democratic enthusiasm and understanding so thatthis fundamental goal is substantially achieved there should be a considerableand extensive drive if not propaganda in the media and public debate towardsthat end. It means, the accent should be on active participation. Conscience is akeyword here. Democratic participants should really awaken to the fact that notonly will they be able to be free to read and speak, but should also know well theissues at stake as well as the current candidates' stand, plans, programs, etc. onthose issues. This need to awaken and elevate voters' conscience has to becontemplated in the larger perspective of Prout’s vision of a decentralizedsociety. Prout advocates a moving out of today’s unhealthy centralization whereso many individuals are completely alienated from social and indeed political life.

True democracy seems to require local roots in a readily understood localcommunity where individuals feel they are part of meaningful social existence.The nature of locality however changes and expands as the communicationschannels advance.

2. Stimulating a sense of responsibility in candidates.

As is well-known, a candidate crossing the electorate, by defeating the veryprogram on which he or she was elected, is promptly removed in Prout’s setupand should not even stand as a candidate in the next regular election but have towait for succeeding ones. In other words, if he or she massively fails to deliver and the proper court proceedings prove the person has not kept their promise, aby-election is held with other candidates participating. This principle will surelycreate more realistic candidates with a greater sense of furthering people'swelfare rather than reflecting on the profits of an election victory, as it were.

3. Working without fixed political parties in a universal environment.

Often in European and Asian countries there are as many as three to six or morefeuding political parties horse-trading power amongst themselves in countlesscombinations and constellations over the years. In contrast to the parliamentarystyle of the UK and the US, where only two major parties share the main power,the prime minister in such a conglomerate multiparty system may havemicroscopic backing throughout the country, as he or she may be the outcome of some rather twisted bargaining in an often astonishing outcome of nationalelections. The same is true for local elections; minority governments may fieldleaderships that are completely unexpected and sometimes bizarre.In order to avoid such unnatural results and other bad effects of the static partysystem, Prout advocates a party-free system where candidates are elected on anindividual basis. This allows for a vibrant political environment where movements,blocks and groups will form and dissolve largely on issue consensus andpractical circumstances, and not anymore by party-whip. The elimination of thepresent political party structure may be seen by vanguards of that so-calleddemocratic setup as fundamentally non-democratic. Prout argues however thatwhereas a party naturally looks after its own interest first, the placing of theresponsibility on the shoulders of a single candidate only makes things moreclear and relevant to the electorate – for whom the entire democracy exists.Further, that candidate has to learn and achieve goals of connecting with both alland at the same time advancing a higher ideal of the good of the electorate andsociety as a whole.Here we would do well to remind ourselves that democracy is meant to servepeople and not politicians. On the whole the present party system tends tofunction more as some sort of union for professional politicians and less as anefficient vehicle for advancing public service or the welfare of all. In many if notmost countries political parties are corrupted and should definitely be replaced by

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