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Dear Colleagues and Friends, The following may be of interest. Richard Askwith, former editor of The Independent Sunday Review writes in a long article for The Independent Magazine, 4th September 1999 (Essay: "System Error" pp 27 - 30) QUOTE/ Parliamentary democracy was invented in the days of the horse and cart, and perfected during the steam age. In a world of ATMs and the Internet, isn't it time governments found new ways to let the people decide, asks Richard Askwith. (....) Every other sphere of human activity is now being turned upside down by the Internet, what about politics? (...) I hurtle through a tunnel of links that takes me around the connected world in around 80 minutes. My journey includes visits to the websites of such organisations as the US-based Teledemocracy Action News & Network, the Swiss-based Campaign for Direct Democracy and the German based <A HREF="http://www.democracyforum.net">Dem@cracy Forum</A>. By the time I disconnect, feeling surfeited but strangely elated, a starlingly obvious conclusion has already penetrated my consciousness. The revolution has already begun. All over the Western world, "initiatives" am sprouting, giving experimental substance to the idea of direct, electronic democracy. /UNQUOTE ATM = automated telling machine Sincerely, Michael Macpherson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Michael Macpherson, PSAMRA/Integral Studies, Berlin FRG tel.: +49 30 262 3768 e-mail: [log in to unmask] INTEGRAL STUDIES http://www.snafu.de/~mjm/index.html PSYCHO-SOCIAL AND MEDICAL RESEARCH PSAMRA http://www.snafu.de/~mjm/psamra.html %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%