Nick Coccoma
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nickcoccoma.bsky.social
Nick Coccoma
@nickcoccoma.bsky.social
560 followers 650 following 260 posts
Founder of AssembleAmerica.org. Using Citizen Assemblies to put power in the hands of everyday people. Join a movement for Democracy by Assembly! #DxA
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Reposted by Nick Coccoma
And it might occur to Lofgren to consider that perhaps it’s the very antidemocratic nature of our political and economic system that contributed to so many people opting for a strongman who promised to make them rich and powerful.
Didn’t say it’s not hugely concerning that he has so much support. Just that it’s wrong to blame democracy for his ascent to power.
THAT’S what liberal commentators have huge difficulty admitting: that the constitution gave us Trump, precisely because of its antidemocratic design. If you picked 600 Americans by lot and brought them together to deliberate, with expert information at their hands, we’d not be in this situation.
It’s the precisely the anti-democratic features of our system and constitution that allowed this: the Electoral College; the Senate, the Supreme Court; narcissistic elitist politicians; the party system; and elections themselves—which are and always have been aristocratic devices.
Actually this is lazy and confused. How can you blame democracy for Trump when he lost the popular vote in 2016 by tens of millions of votes? And when a majority today is opposed to him and his policies?
Hmm it’s almost like electing politicians itself guarantees that manipulative, greedy, power-hungry narcissists govern us into the ground. Almost like elections are inherently oligarchic. Almost like picking citizens by lottery would be actual democracy…

www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Case for Abolishing Elections - Boston Review
They may seem the cornerstone of democracy, but in reality they do little to promote it. There’s a far better way to empower ordinary citizens: democracy by lottery.
www.bostonreview.net
Neither Packer nor @ositanwanevu.com understands the book’s real flaw: elections themselves are oligarchic. Everyone from antiquity through the Founders knew this. What is democracy? Sortition. Until we adopt jury democracy like Athens, we’ll remain an oligarchy

www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Case for Abolishing Elections - Boston Review
They may seem the cornerstone of democracy, but in reality they do little to promote it. There’s a far better way to empower ordinary citizens: democracy by lottery.
www.bostonreview.net
Reposted by Nick Coccoma
It was a pleasure to talk to Colin Pugh about Democracy by Assembly. Part I gets into the weeds—have a listen!
#Democracy #Sortition #CitizensAssembly