A Challenging Pursuit

Last week, my classmates and I had a forum discussion about the idea of an electronic direct democracy, and whether or not the U.S. Government should adopt such a system. We had people arguing from both sides of the issue; some of us criticised it as unrealistic, some argued on a technological basis, and some advocated it as the most "fair" form of government.

Back in July of 2008, Austin Bay Blog wrote about the challenge of democracy, the careful balance required, and the obligations of a democratic government. I believe, to some extent, that this relates to last week's discussion. The author talks about why our government is structured the way it is, the idealistic driving force behind it, and what makes it such a challenging pursuit.

It's a rather lengthy article but well worth the read. To me it serves as a reminder that the structure of our government, as messy as it may seem, was not considered and adopted carelessly. It's been formed and shaped by a very long history of challenges, and there's a lot of reasons that our current government is shaped the way it is.

Main Screen Turn On

Well, the front page looked rather ugly with no posts, so here's one to kick-start the Observatory.

I call it that because of my current detachment to the whole subject. I do absolutely nothing when it comes to politics so I think of myself as just an observer. Perhaps as I learn more, I'll take a more active role in discussion, or perhaps I'll be content just knowing that I can make more educated votes in the future.

I'd be happy to just continue observing as I have so far, but I recognize that it'll take some argument and participation on my part not only to make it through this course, but to truly learn something out of it.