Outline of the Best Voting System Possible: The Egalitarian Proposal System

Would you like to have a say on anything in the world? Don’t think that’s possible? Well it is now, with digital technology.

We have the power to vote on proposals and the technology has the power to give us an exact count of those who agreed or disagreed with the proposal, almost immediately. The technology for this function is elementary. A customized version would be ideal however simple survey software could also do the trick in the meantime.

Would you like to be able to submit proposals when you see that something needs to be done or changed? Would you like that? I think most would.

The Egalitarian Proposal System is designed to do just that. Here is how it works in a nutshell:

A website would be dedicated to this purpose, something like survey software. People would refer to the website much like they refer to newspapers and online news today, to find out what is happening in areas that interest them.

An individual would write a proposal for something they want to see implemented. The proposal would state all the details. Some projects will require contractors, consultants and other related services giving details, including costs. The proposer is like the CEO of the proposal – they are responsible for the passage and promotion of the proposal. People need to know about it and the website would aid in this function by highlighting certain proposals, most likely the ones that are receiving the most attention, and feature them to familiarize the public about them. Everyone is free to browse all proposals at any time and join the discussions, as well as vote when that phase is reached.

3 Phases of the Process

Phase 1. The proposal would be submitted for all to see and a Discussion Period declared by the Proposer and an end date would be specified. The Proposer supplies the details of the first three steps that will be taken should the proposal succeed. In the Discussion Period, all questions and concerns will be put to the Proposer. This helps the Proposer learn about any points he/she may have overlooked.

Phase 2. Once the Discussion Period is over, the Proposer revises the proposal and makes adjustments according to what was learned in the Discussion Period. The Revised Proposal is then resubmitted. On resubmission, the Proposer stipulates the date that the voting ends.

Phase 3. After the vote, the number of those who are for the proposal will be seen in real time and the results would be published right away.

Background:

a) A quorum would need to be ascertained. This can be done by a vote prior to set up of the membership.

b) Free speech is assured for everyone on this platform. In cases where someone is seen to be troublesome, they can be censored for a period of time, (not forever!) and the decision must not be unilateral, it must be put to a proposal and go to a vote, like everything else of a public nature.

c) A high ratio of approval must be met for a proposal to succeed. Something like 70% or 80% approval (of a quorum that is)

d) If a high ratio of approval is not met (anything under the benchmark that is decided upon) the proposal will be unsuccessful. A proposal can be submitted as many times as desired.

e) A successful proposal can be challenged by another proposal that is in direct opposition to it. If it meets the vote criteria, that proposal will override the prior proposal.

f) Proposals that meet the high ratio of approval, go directly into implementation according to the first steps detailed in the proposal by the Proposer.

Conclusion:

The beauty of the Egalitarian Proposal System is that it is dynamic, just like real life. Provision for change is built in to it. But it also ensures coherent change by requiring the high approval rate (70%, 80% or whatever is decided by the members). This high rate gives a safeguard much like the Senate tries to achieve in the orthodox system. This high ratio ensures the proposal has widespread appeal and what could be a better criteria to get things done than what most people want?

The current legal and political system is static, cumbersome and unnecessarily energy-consuming. It was designed at a time when information traveled at a horse’s pace.

We only needed representatives to run our affairs because the population was kept ignorant and only an elite could learn how to read and write or get an education. It wasn't available to "the common man", people like you and me. To top it off, the group was whittled down even more by only elite men having literacy. Women’s perspectives - whether elite or otherwise - were not sought. Women were considered chattel not equals. Thus laws were made by a very small proportion of the population. One can hardly call that a democracy can one?

We all know how to read and write now, even children do. We don’t need “representatives” anymore, Their time is over. Their use-by-date is past, they are past tense. Times change, we now have technology so there’s no need for the constructs around elections. These knuckleheads called "representatives" still haven’t utilized the technology to make elections smoother, or used technology to survey their constituents. Politicians make no effort whatsoever to find out what their constituents want. What kind of representation is that? They deserve to be made obsolete! And here's how we do that.

While Sociocracy is very similar, it is better suited to face-to-face situations and needs training. The Egalitarian Proposal System is suited to face-to-face as well as online presence and is scalable to meet all size groups and even families. It is a new way of thinking, where the sovereign individual is the center of activity. It will become “second nature” very quickly, when its satisfying results are seen and experienced.

The Egalitarian Proposal System is not just a system it is a way of thinking, it is a mindset. Be prepared to be confronted. This is where the training wheels come off, this is where the rubber meets the road, this is where you lose your copilot and you get to fly the plane on your own. Remember that feeling? It's where you recognize with the gravity of a brick coming through a window - that you have to figure things out for yourself. It may seem a bit scary but that anxiousness is overcome by the exhilaration of flying solo, of doing it yourself. Because you can - you can - when the conditions are right!

The EPS undergirds the basic principle that we are all sovereign, and this will empower us towards a new and wonderful future. It requires no training and streamlines everyday interactions by its simplicity and inclusiveness. It will become a way of life as people see its advantages. It will replace the dangerous underlying belief that someone has authority over us and teaches us to be responsible for ourselves. Everyone has the opportunity to put forward their dreams and desires and they can demonstrate to others that it behooves them too. It gives us a chance at fulfilling our dreams and not leaving it all to the few who have the money or the resources.

There is nothing communistic about the Egalitarian Proposal System. It is totally sovereignty-centered, and decentralized. That means you are the center, and so is everyone else. This is more like the pattern of nature and thus we will be going with “flow” rather than against it and that will make our work synergistic.

We are at a crossroad. For the first time in human history that we know of, we are able to speak to the population in a way that only the elite could have ever managed to do. We now have the ability to connect with people all over the world. It is the internet that gives us the tools we need to catapult us into a 100% democracy and virtually overnight. Yes it could, this is not mere fantasy.

It's a new way of seeing yourself. It's believing that you are a sovereign individual. When you believe in something, you act according to that belief. You believe you'll be here next week so you make plans and arrangements according to that belief. We have been trained to believe we are children forever, that we need to depend on someone to take care of us, someone who tells us what to do, who supposedly has our best interest at heart. But nobody can have your best interest at heart moreso than yourself.

The status you currently believe of yourself is one of child/parent. However in fact, all "grownups" (adults) are sovereign individuals. There is no escaping it. However sovereign individuals may not believe themselves to be so, therefore they yield to decisions made for them by those they have attributed the status of parent.

To grow up, one must see themselves as the sovereign - in charge of their decisions and of their body, of their emotions and of their actions. Therefore you are the core of your world. And every other person is the core of theirs.

Everyone has their own unique individual perspectives, history, talents, foibles, biases, triggers, patterns. Everyone is unique. We need a system that values that uniqueness and puts it into action.

The new perception we must learn now is to see ourselves as equals. We’ve never done this before! We don’t know what it looks like. We may have seen a couple or a family or a class behave equally towards each other, but it’s only within a microcosm while the rest of the world is operating on the child/parent relationship.

Treating each other as equals means their voice is just as valuable as my voice. Freedom means I should have as much decision-making power as any other “citizen”. This is the “gold standard” of democracy. It supersedes the clunky democracy that is slow and requires a daddy figure. It makes us each in charge of our own life.

Choice - this is what the Egalitarian Proposal System gives us. Unlimited choice, within a coherent macrocosm.

Does this appeal to you? What snags do you see with this? Please give your comments below.