In spite of clear popular support, Iceland's new crowd-sourced constitution was recently killed by politicians. An ex-member of the constitutional council sheds some light on what happened - and why there might still be some hope for this unique experiment. (Thorvaldur Gylfason)
What the future holds in store and what will be the fate of the bill for a new constitution is hard to say at this point in time. But what is evident is that the battle of “who owns Iceland” is being fought and is at its high water mark. There is much at stake. (Thorhildur Thorleifsdottir)
This Saturday, a year after a Constitutional Council has written a draft constitution with the help of citizens, voters agreed this draft should be the basis for a new constitution. This writing experiment stands out for its surprisingly democratic process, but a closer look reveals some of its limitations. (Giulia Dessi)
The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) was founded in 1986 as the Basic Income European Network. It expanded its scope from European to the Earth in 2004. BIEN organizes Congresses every two years, and publishes a free email NewsFlash every two months and
ANIEL ELLSBERG: In my case—I’m sure, by the way, that if I released the Pentagon Papers today, the same rhetoric and the same calls would be made about me at this time, the same material, same instigations. I would be called not only a traitor, which I w
A Republican (?) video just before the recall elections i Wisconsin 2012. Blurb: "The Reclaim Wisconsin rally was filled with everything you need to know about the "Democracy" movement in Wisconsin. Here it is EXPOSED as a vulgar, childish, bullying mob!! Share the truth about Democracy in Wisconsin with friends - especially those in Wisconsin! Stand with Scott Walker on June 5th to prevent this mob rule from overcoming the rule of law in our beautiful Republic! God Bless the USA!!"
In a secular society, our virtues are slowly transforming, away from Christian cardinal virtues towards a sort of ecologically correct, self-empowerment value system. The Risk-Monger has already made his critique on the limits of the virtue of sustainability. Transparency is another contemporary social value that is highly deficient, albeit masked with much celebration. But is transparency even a virtue? Transparency is a tool, we are told, that is essential for trust-building. Well, actually, no! Transparency is a tool used when we don’t trust someone or some organisation. If my wife asks me where I have been all night and I don’t answer her, there will be trust issues. But if my wife trusts me, she would have little reason to ask me where I have been.