[governance] Help from MAG colleagues

[Paul Lehto]

Section 21(3) -- which you quote below -- is an adequate definition of
democracy.  Every valuable right is (nearly) everywhere violated to
some varying extent, for the very reason that it has value.  Just like
every form of money is apt to be stolen, the right to democracy or
rule by the people (which is power itself) is apt to be stolen because
power is attractive like money is.

Shortfalls in democracy on the internet or around the world are simply
violations of 21(3) and similar provisions, and such violations say
absolutely nothing to prove the non-existence of a right to democracy.

Put another way, if the only way to prove a right were to show that it
was universally accepted and enforced, the entire concept of rights
would be rendered useless because only things that governments had no
desire to take from their people in the first place would be "rights"
that were safe and free from interference.

Paul R Lehto, J.D.

On 3/27/11, JFC Morfin <jefsey at jefsey.com> wrote:
> At 16:49 26/03/2011, Paul Lehto wrote:
>>With these 'questionable' governments, the question is not one of bad
>>policy or hurting one's own people, but of freedom and democracy.
>
> Incorrect. Democracy (happily) is not a human right.
>
> What is a human right (art 29) is to live in a legal environment
> matching the standards of a "democratic society". Since a democratic
> society is not defined...
>
> The closest practical definition that we are interested in is found
> in art 21 (3): "The will of the people shall be the basis of the
> authority of government; this shall be expressed in periodic and
> genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and
> shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."
>
> Now, we are certainly very far from art 21 (3) in the Internet
> Governance (which actually is an international test-bed for the next
> step after democracy, which will be a polycracy, and we are actually
> trying to multiconsensually define -. - a (rough) consensus as we
> experiment on it in the IETF (probably the currently most achieved
> and efficient implementation in the internet world) is not adapted to
> the principle of subsidiarity that is now included in the Internet
> architecture. Each freely defined subsidiary space is entitled to its
> own consensus, if this does not violate subsidiarity and, therefore,
> if this consensus is able to consensually interoperate, intergovern,
> and interadmin with other consensuses.
>
> An interesting remark that would probably change our no more
> democratic world, would be the respect of art 1 and art 2 ("All human
> beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are
> endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
> in a spirit of brotherhood", "Everyone is entitled to all the rights
> and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of
> any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
> other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
> status."). While we still discriminate everywhere on the basis of
> age. We are born equal, but not before reaching the age of majority.
> Young people should vote through their parents. May be we would have
> fewer problems without this "not-yet-citizens" human right violation
> that is found the world over.
>
> We have that kind of problem in the internet governance. When
> Bertrand de la Chapelle told the ICANN President that France also
> considered the will of not-yet-connected people, the President
> answered that his duties were carried out only for those paying him.
>
> We are actually free to accept such a democracy or to build a more
> adequate polycracy.
> jfc
>
>


-- 
Paul R Lehto, J.D.
P.O. Box 1
Ishpeming, MI  49849
lehto.paul at gmail.com
906-204-4026 (cell)
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