A Virtual/online Government?

[San Lumen]

This is an idea that was proposed and briefly discussed in the American politics thread and I thought it was worthy of its own thread.

The idea is simple. The government no longer conducts business in person. All committee meetings and legislative sessions are now via zoom and the buildings that used to be their offices and that of government officials are no longer used as they are all mostly remote.
One argument that was made in favor was it makes government more accessible yet anyone can call and write to their representatives. Most committee meetings and legislative sessions can be viewed online in some countries and committee meetings can be called into so is this really needed?

I’m not sure what I think of this idea. It could technically work but is this something we really want?

Your thoughts?

[EuroStralia]

This is an idea that was proposed and briefly discussed in the American politics thread and I thought it was worthy of its own thread.

The idea is simple. The government no longer conducts business in person. All committee meetings and legislative sessions are now via zoom and the buildings that used to be their offices and that of government officials are no longer used as they are all mostly remote.

I’m not sure what I think of this idea. It could technically work but is this something we really want?

Your thoughts?

Conducting government meetings via Zoom is a great idea with no chance of meetings getting hacked !

[Edush]

This is an idea that was proposed and briefly discussed in the American politics thread and I thought it was worthy of its own thread.

The idea is simple. The government no longer conducts business in person. All committee meetings and legislative sessions are now via zoom and the buildings that used to be their offices and that of government officials are no longer used as they are all mostly remote.

I’m not sure what I think of this idea. It could technically work but is this something we really want?

Your thoughts?

Conducting government meetings via Zoom is a great idea with no chance of meetings getting hacked !

That's clearly a problem of conducting any meeting via Zoom or any other online platform that can't really be fixed, since hackers will always find ways to exploit those platforms.

But, hypothetically, if the problem of hacking would be solved, why would we need elected representatives anyway? Wouldn't we be able to sort of return to a form of direct democracy, since everyone will be able to propose and vote on legislation in an online format instead of needing to go to a physical place and wasting a lot of time (this not being practical at all)? It's a bit utopian, of course, but in that context why would people's representatives be needed at all?

[Hispida]

isn't the maldives trying this out now that their country is sinking into the ocean?

[Edush]

isn't the maldives trying this out now that their country is sinking into the ocean?

Didn't hear about that. Seems interesting though

[Democratic Poopland]

isn't the maldives trying this out now that their country is sinking into the ocean?

Thought it was Tuvalu.

[EuroStralia]

Conducting government meetings via Zoom is a great idea with no chance of meetings getting hacked !

That's clearly a problem of conducting any meeting via Zoom or any other online platform that can't really be fixed, since hackers will always find ways to exploit those platforms.

But, hypothetically, if the problem of hacking would be solved, why would we need elected representatives anyway? Wouldn't we be able to sort of return to a form of direct democracy, since everyone will be able to propose and vote on legislation in an online format instead of needing to go to a physical place and wasting a lot of time (this not being practical at all)? It's a bit utopian, of course, but in that context why would people's representatives be needed at all?

Execpt that problem will never be fixed, that will only work in your fantasy world. Direct democracy would take to long to make any meaningful decisions, electing representatives can save little time.

[Edush]

That's clearly a problem of conducting any meeting via Zoom or any other online platform that can't really be fixed, since hackers will always find ways to exploit those platforms.

But, hypothetically, if the problem of hacking would be solved, why would we need elected representatives anyway? Wouldn't we be able to sort of return to a form of direct democracy, since everyone will be able to propose and vote on legislation in an online format instead of needing to go to a physical place and wasting a lot of time (this not being practical at all)? It's a bit utopian, of course, but in that context why would people's representatives be needed at all?

Execpt that problem will never be fixed, that will only work in your fantasy world. Direct democracy would take to long to make any meaningful decisions, electing representatives can save little time.

I said, too, that the problem of hacking will never be fixed. I just asked why would we be talking about elected representatives if we could potentially implement direct democracy in a world where hacking wouldn't be a problem.

[San Lumen]

Execpt that problem will never be fixed, that will only work in your fantasy world. Direct democracy would take to long to make any meaningful decisions, electing representatives can save little time.

I said, too, that the problem of hacking will never be fixed. I just asked why would we be talking about elected representatives if we could potentially implement direct democracy in a world where hacking wouldn't be a problem.

direct democracy is not practical on anything but a local level.

[EuroStralia]

Execpt that problem will never be fixed, that will only work in your fantasy world. Direct democracy would take to long to make any meaningful decisions, electing representatives can save little time.

I said, too, that the problem of hacking will never be fixed. I just asked why would we be talking about elected representatives if we could potentially implement direct democracy in a world where hacking wouldn't be a problem.

And I answered that question.

[New Texas Republic]

This is an idea that was proposed and briefly discussed in the American politics thread and I thought it was worthy of its own thread.

The idea is simple. The government no longer conducts business in person. All committee meetings and legislative sessions are now via zoom and the buildings that used to be their offices and that of government officials are no longer used as they are all mostly remote.

I’m not sure what I think of this idea. It could technically work but is this something we really want?

Your thoughts?

Conducting government meetings via Zoom is a great idea with no chance of meetings getting hacked !

Honestly, the hacking idea would eventually bring out a new form of terrorism - cyberterrorism. Expert terrorist hackers would infiltrate online government meetings, alter many things, steal many leader’s personal information, etc. It could eventually make such meetings obsolete due to the dangers.

[EuroStralia]

Conducting government meetings via Zoom is a great idea with no chance of meetings getting hacked !

Honestly, the hacking idea would eventually bring out a new form of terrorism - cyberterrorism. Expert terrorist hackers would infiltrate online government meetings, alter many things, steal many leader’s personal information, etc. It could eventually make such meetings obsolete due to the dangers.

Cyberterrorism already exists and has since the early 1990s

[New Texas Republic]

Honestly, the hacking idea would eventually bring out a new form of terrorism - cyberterrorism. Expert terrorist hackers would infiltrate online government meetings, alter many things, steal many leader’s personal information, etc. It could eventually make such meetings obsolete due to the dangers.

Cyberterrorism already exists and has since the early 1990s

Well, in that case, it would at least become more of a concern than it already is. Extra safeguards would be needed to keep meetings safe.

[Rary]

Cyberterrorism already exists and has since the early 1990s

Well, in that case, it would at least become more of a concern than it already is. Extra safeguards would be needed to keep meetings safe.

Or meetings could be held in person.

[EuroStralia]

Cyberterrorism already exists and has since the early 1990s

Well, in that case, it would at least become more of a concern than it already is. Extra safeguards would be needed to keep meetings safe.

They wouldn't be neccasary if meetings were held in person, like the should be.

[Floofybit]

isn't the maldives trying this out now that their country is sinking into the ocean?

I think Tuvalu was

[Neutraligon]

A lot of what happens in government has everything to do with people meeting face to face to discuss stuff, not what is happening on the senate/House floor. What is happening on the floor tends to be a lot of political theater.

[San Lumen]

A lot of what happens in government has everything to do with people meeting face to face to discuss stuff, not what is happening on the senate/House floor. What is happening on the floor tends to be a lot of political theater.

I know that and the proposal is should that interaction all be virtual as opposed to in person?

[Luziyca]

I like the idea of a virtual government that meets online and getting rid of most of the physical infrastructure, but I don't think I can trust commercial platforms to effectively protect these meetings from hackers and people who crash into meetings, say dumb shit, and get booted out. However, I'm not sure if the government can make a better program for their purposes than the commercial platforms.

That being said, the recent unpleasantness has demonstrated that it is possible for parliamentarians to effectively do their job remotely, and I would like to see remote voting remain an option for MPs who are unable to go to Ottawa for whatever reason for most things (though the throne speech should definitely be an in-person event, in my opinion).

[Kerwa]

A lot of what happens in government has everything to do with people meeting face to face to discuss stuff, not what is happening on the senate/House floor. What is happening on the floor tends to be a lot of political theater.

Shouldn’t the public know what happens at these meetings?

Anyway, this is - broadly speaking - an excellent idea.

[Ethel mermania]

Local government to a point is a hybrid. Some of the committee meetings are online now.

Covid did change a lot

[EuroStralia]

A lot of what happens in government has everything to do with people meeting face to face to discuss stuff, not what is happening on the senate/House floor. What is happening on the floor tends to be a lot of political theater.

Shouldn’t the public know what happens at these meetings?

Anyway, this is - broadly speaking - an excellent idea.

The public shouldn't know classified information.

Anyway, this is - broadly speaking - a terrible idea.

[Tessellatia]

Can't go wrong with a 50/50

[The United Penguin Commonwealth]

https://xkcd.com/2030/

[Eternal Algerstonia]

isn't the maldives trying this out now that their country is sinking into the ocean?

that's tuvalu