Posts Tagged "Countries"
Blank State – The Future of World Democracy?
A new project that aims to create a global democracy from scratch has settled on its first goal: to gather at least one member from every country in the world. Blank State, as the group is known, has been founded on a single core principle: democracy. The members collectively decide the goals and structure of the group through discussion and voting. Membership is free and open to all world citizens.
According to the founder, Duncan Rickelton, a democratic structure to represent the people of the world is long overdue: “The people of the world currently do not have a voice. The massive forces at play in today’s global economy are touching more and more lives and determining the future of the planet and the human race. It’s time the race as a whole had more of a say in how this goes.”
Only with fairly recent developments in technology has something like Blank State become possible. Over 23 percent of the world’s population now have internet access, representing an increase of 350 percent since 2000. Also, the popularisation of web 2.0 applications such as embeddable voting widgets is now making it easier than ever to collectivise the decision-making process of large organizations. Blank State is based in a social network (http://blankstate.ning.com) built on the Ning.com platform, which was itself only founded in 2005.
There are already members from eight different countries, but Blank State wants to go much further. The group recently decided to make it their first goal to get at least one member from every country in the world. “This will be our first step towards fair representation,” says Rickelton. “Once we’ve achieved that we’ll see where everyone wants to take this.”
Despite the growth in internet use, engaging a member in every country could be quite a challenge. In Myanmar, for example, still only 0.1 percent of the population has access. But the members of Blank State are undeterred. A message has already been posted in a Myanmar forum – there is still an internet audience of 40,000 people to reach.
A notable inclusion in the list of 195 target countries is the Vatican City. There is as yet no word as to whether the Pope will be invited to join, but with such an inclusive membership policy there is little doubt that he would be welcome.
For additional information about Blank State visit http://blankstate.ning.com
Why Are Our Companies Supporting Countries That Do Not Support Democracy?
I believe that it is time for our companies to stop making all our basic products over seas where people are being used for cheap labor to support economies that do not support democracy for all people. I think that our companies are taking advantage of cheap over seas labor to make more profit then they should off of products that should be made here at home. I believe that this practice by our companies is making our need for supplies from other countries more then it should be. I think that it is time for people to start rebuilding our own economy first. I think that buy investing in our economy here at home again for our basic needs will create more jobs for people that are not working in our country.
I believe that companies have to support democracy in our country by making our products here at home again. I believe that making so much of our countries basic products over seas is just taking money and jobs that are needed out of our country. This will just weaken our economy it will give money to countries that abuse their labor force. I believe that our country is not only weaken by this our companies are supporting countries that do not support democracy.
I think that companies that sell their products here should make their products here at home where our own people can prosper from all these sales. Why are our home based companies going to start supporting democracy for all people. I know when one child or person works for less then a fair wage democracy takes two steps backwards. Supporting unfair labor over seas will just make democracy that much harder to support. How can our country preach democracy to other countries when our home based companies abuse their labor force to line the pockets of their government and our own companies.