[fivestones]

This also makes me wonder what could be done to make discord (or something similar) a better venue for direct democracy. I know the circumstances in Nepal were exceptional, but I wonder if we will see other countries experiment with Discord for similar purposes. It seems like in Nepal they have essentially used it as a caucus, and I wonder if this could be shaped into a better way to elect leaders (or even legislate directly) than what most of the world is doing.

My wife and I were talking about this today and we thought it's possible that what has just happened in Nepal is at least in some sense the most democratic thing any country has ever done.

[perihelions]

> "in some sense the most democratic thing any country has ever done"

How is one faction holding an internal vote to impose rule on the rest of the people, who have no representation, anything at all like a democracy?

[griffzhowl]

This wasn't to "impose rule". It was only to select an interim leader who will oversee elections. They've gone for a 73-year-old former chief justice who is famous for being steadfastly anti-corruption.

It was an open discord server that anyone sufficiently motivated with an internet connection could join. So not representative of everyone, but obviously more democratic than if the military had just appointed someone by themselves

[highwaylights]

In one sense representative democracy is mob rule scaled up, but yeah this is mob rule scaled way down then applied to everyone else without representation.

(“democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." etc)

[viraptor]

Discord is a place you get randomly banned forever and that cannot be reliably linked to your real identity. It's really not a place anyone should rely on for any real world actions. (And I'm even skipping basics like transparency and future audits)

[userbinator]

An IRC server or even a mailing list seems far better suited to the purpose than a notoriously closed and proprietary platform.

[jjav]

Absolutely. Discord is a scourge, a completely closed proprietary platform that is impossible to access via any standard compliant mechanism. Even for their website they demand a phone number just to read anything.

[tokioyoyo]

Do you want people to participate, or do you want to have the moral high-ground for using X, Y, Z? Nobody outside our fringe circles use IRC server/mailing lists. Younger people are all on Discord.

I have no skin in this game, but I get the general line of thought.

[sinuhe69]

Liquid democracy is a total viable platform. But Discord is better in so far as it can be used for all kinds of things and conversations, not just for voting or debates.

[ACCount37]

Taiwan has been trying to develop web platforms explicitly for facilitating democratic decision-making. Might be something to look into.

Discord is a spectacularly bad fit for that, it was probably only used because the timetable was short and "it was there" and "everyone already had it".

[mrits]

I bet China is excited about that

[mongol]

> My wife and I were talking about this today and we thought it's possible that what has just happened in Nepal is at least in some sense the most democratic thing any country has ever done.

I don't see that argument at all. What was so democratic about it? Violent overthrowal of the government may sometimes be justified, but it is not an act of democracy.

[fivestones]

Sorry, I wasn’t very clear. I didn’t mean the overthrow of the government was democratic. I was referring to the people in the discord server choosing a new leader.

[stavros]

I agree, but I don't know if a closed platform could ever be suitable for this.

[iamgopal]

I daydream about a open source peer reviewed system, that can process votes, control, manage government at every level through general public and open voting system. Distributing control ultimately.

[fivestones]

Same here! But really wonder if we don’t already have all the needed technology and someone just needs to put it together…and convince their society to make use of it.

I really like this kind of conversation because as I read peoples comments I see where some of the obstacles are.

[3np]

Seems a bit vulnerable to subversion of the host (and/or its government) once they decide to pay attention (or even through negligence; imagine a minister being banned because of some ML false-positive).

If the format is to be sustainable, they will need to find or found a different platform.

[numpad0]

IMO, the superflat architecture is the opposite of maximum inclusion. The luckiest kid always wins the debate. Ensuring hierarchical mobility by allowing weaker players bunch of small wins is key.

[rimprobablyly]

Well I discussed it with my wife and extended family. We all agreed it was a terrible idea.

[fennecbutt]

Yeah, a mob is a mob. Us human beings are despicable to each other tbh.

[nerdright]

Blockchain is well suited for this. Polymarket really proved that blockchain can be useful beyond crypto, especially when trust is at stake.

[monadoid]

Yeah my thoughts went to DAOs! I'm so excited for a future where we can use DAOs to harness the power of the people :)