Decentralize and Network the Federal Government Now

By John C. Dvorak
Some years ago I was flabbergasted when Congress banned the use of laptops by U.S. representatives. The rules are more relaxed now, and computers are part of the day-to-day life of a legislator. But I think it's time for us to consider taking things to the 21st century by completely virtualizing Congress, letting the representatives and senators work from within their districts instead of living and working in Washington, D.C.

Things would work more effectively with teleconferencing, and the Congress folks wouldn't be so hounded by lobbyists in a corrupting environment. Lobbyists would have to travel to the districts.

More important is the security issue. As things sit today, one suitcase nuke set off near the Capitol buildings would pretty much wipe out the federal government and kill all the representatives and senators at once. This would be a serious problem. Just look at the devastation a submegaton bomb caused in Hiroshima. Well, imagine D.C. being in that condition. Why does it remain a sitting duck?

Times have changed, and a centralized federal government that has to meet in one location all the time is no longer what we need. That makes no sense. It barely made sense once the telephone was invented, but now it makes no sense whatsoever. For a few committees or major hearings I can see the rationale for a gathering. But for debate, votes, and even discussion, it's nonsense. Watch C-SPAN and you'll see people yakking to empty rooms. Suddenly everyone runs in to cast a vote, then they're off to lunch or dinner with lobbyists.>>>>>>snip

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,,1863486,00.asp


I generally agree but worry on hacking, but even with an electronic vote they could confirm their vote with a paper trail.

is the decentralization of power from an insulated DC. I have a pet theory that American politics would be very different if the US capitol were in a diverse city like NYC, LA, Chicago etc. It's weird that every other major power has its capitol in a major city: Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, Rome, Madrid--but the concentration of political power here resides in a city-state.

"What I find most ironic is that the public at large is allowed to vote on computers via various supposedly safe mechanisms. I think this is too hard to control, just because of the sheer numbers. But for 100 senators and a few hundred representatives on VPNs it makes sense. The networked legislative voting would be verifiable and safe, because these are not secret ballots. That's the difference. The public—all people—should be forced out of the house to vote, where they can be seen, just as the folks in Congress should be sent home where they can be seen.

Now is the time to act. A distributed, networked federal government would be a better and safer government. It would streamline everything and create a new model of governance for the entire world"

be considered at the state level. Bring those reps and senators back to the people they represent.

by the writer Heinlein. He felt that the best defense against nuclear war (short of no one having the bomb) was to decentralize everything so much that the only way of defeating the US was to nuke every square mile of it, which wouldn't be cost effective. At the time, though, he admitted that it would be very costly, even more so when he revisited the topic a couple of decades later.

Unfortunately, he either didn't count on nukes getting cheaper, or on how willing governments would be to spend an insane amount on nukes, since eventually both sides in the Cold War had enough bombs to nuke the entire world several times over, thus negating this strategy. Then again, we might have gained by inventing communication devices sooner. Not to mention improving the quality of life of many people that are currently cramped together in some urban areas.

However, this would help prevent the fatalities and economic impact of a terrorist act. I don't see people today, though decentralizing on their if they don't have to. Does anyone know if any corporations didn't return to Manhattan after 9/11?