Giving the power back to the people!

With all the current political madness and corporate control that has shown its face so much in our country recently, I always seem to find myself wondering if there is a more viable solution to resolving these issues rather than the constant protests and failing hopes our government will some day magically wake up and stop the abuse of power (This goes for both the left and right wings, neither are as innocent as they would like to portray themselves).

Recently I had an idea, and I wanted to throw it out to you guys here to get some input:

There is nothing as far as I've found that dictates whom we elect for president, with the exception that he/she must be a US citizen. Many times during an election you hear of hundreds of people, both fictional and not place on the ballot. Mickey Mouse still remains one of the biggest, and has so for years. There is also nothing I've found that dictates specifically that this position must be filled by a single individual as well. It may have been assumed up to this point, but now that corporations can be concidered people as far as the legal system is concerned, this has opened up the possibility of even corporation being elected president. (I know it sounds very out there but bear with me!)

Now from a legality standpoint, if the justice system can concider corporations as individuals, then on the other hand the citizens should be legally eligible to claim themselves to be corporations.

So here's my grand scheme...
If the majority of the people united together, on the election ballot we could universally state we would like to elect the american people as a whole to the presidency!

How would this work you say?

Simple: Once elected, a website could be put into place (one that would obviosly have to be highly secured). Each citizen would have a unique code to ensure each citizen can only access their own (hmm, kinda like a social security number ;-) ). Once in the system, the individual would be able to vote on the issues they feel are relevent to them, and the unrelevent issues will be pushed to later dates. Hire the countries best accountants to crunch all the numbers for the finances, and fire all the morons in congress!

Again, I know it sounds drastically different then the system we are used to, but we are in a technologically driven age. Our political system is outdated, and can no longer keep up with the fast pace of modern society. This system, or one like it, would put the control of our country back into the hands of the people, instead of the hands of a select few who's agenda is always in their own favor first. For once, the american people have the technology, and the knowhow to allow us to shape our country how we see fit, not how a handful of elected strangers see fit!

Thoughts or suggestions anyone?

Wow, almost 4 hrs and no responses...feeling kinda lonely here! Hehe

Interesting thoughts, mutatismutandis... I wanted to give this a bump because it seems weird that you don't have thoughts & feedback or at least a flame or two

I've thought for a while now that a path was being laid for a corporation to legally become the President - I don't really believe it's likely to happen, but it's a frightening thought and I do think we're heading in that direction, which is frightening enough whether we ever actually get there or not.

Your basic idea seems overly idealistic to me, and logistically unworkable, but as a thought experiment I think it's a fascinating scenario to kick around. And maybe we are at a place where technology can facilitate the kind of system you're proposing.

I do have a couple of questions, and maybe some of the political junkies and legal scholars around here can help us out:

• Can an individual (or group of individuals) claim Corporation status? And what advantage would that give them in the context of elections?
  
• Would a write-in candidate with the majority of the vote actually win? Or would the Electoral College system prevent that from happening?
  
• Would "The American People" be a valid write-in choice?
  

I was reading about something like this a few days ago, it is an interesting idea.

The system would have to be highly visible to everyone, everyone would have to be able to know what everyone else voted for/against. Otherwise it will be manipulated by someone and most likely still will one way or another.

You are right I think our governmental system needs to be more adaptive to changing times.

If something like this was put in place it would be interesting to see just how far our politicians have strayed from what the people they are supposed to represent want. It might also significantly increase the number of people that vote.

Originally posted by magicrat
Interesting thoughts, mutatismutandis... I wanted to give this a bump because it seems weird that you don't have thoughts & feedback or at least a flame or two

I've thought for a while now that a path was being laid for a corporation to legally become the President - I don't really believe it's likely to happen, but it's a frightening thought and I do think we're heading in that direction, which is frightening enough whether we ever actually get there or not.

Your basic idea seems overly idealistic to me, and logistically unworkable, but as a thought experiment I think it's a fascinating scenario to kick around. And maybe we are at a place where technology can facilitate the kind of system you're proposing.

I do have a couple of questions, and maybe some of the political junkies and legal scholars around here can help us out:

• Can an individual (or group of individuals) claim Corporation status? And what advantage would that give them in the context of elections?
  
• Would a write-in candidate with the majority of the vote actually win? Or would the Electoral College system prevent that from happening?
  
• Would "The American People" be a valid write-in choice?
  

I'm still trying find out the legality behind corporations being elected...from what I've found nothing states it can not happen, but its still a very gray area.

As far as the electoral college...sure legally the could choose not to support a write-in, but I would think they would have a major problem on their hands if there was overwelming support for a candidate and they chose to go against the will of the people.

Now, I'm not sure if the american people can vote ourselves in as a populous, but one would think once that door is open to corporations it would technically have to be a legitimate idea at that point.

reply to post by RSF77


I agree with you completely! Transparency would have to be in full force for this to work. That is why I feel it would be necessary for each individual to have a unique logon to the system so everyone could still see what others are feeling without having to risk someone being singled out if they were using their name on the system.

Obviously a secure system would also need to be essential, and I do believe our internet security needs to come a little further before something like this could be implemented in full force.

Originally posted by mutatismutandis

 

Now, I'm not sure if the american people can vote ourselves in as a populous, but one would think once that door is open to corporations it would technically have to be a legitimate idea at that point.

Well, it is written right in our very constitution that we can reform the government or the constitution if we wish, its just an issue of enough people caring about the same thing and information.

reply to post by RSF77


That's definately a start at least!

Originally posted by mutatismutandis
There is nothing as far as I've found that dictates whom we elect for president, with the exception that he/she must be a US citizen. Many times during an election you hear of hundreds of people, both fictional and not place on the ballot. Mickey Mouse still remains one of the biggest, and has so for years. There is also nothing I've found that dictates specifically that this position must be filled by a single individual as well. It may have been assumed up to this point, but now that corporations can be concidered people as far as the legal system is concerned, this has opened up the possibility of even corporation being elected president. (I know it sounds very out there but bear with me!)

Now from a legality standpoint, if the justice system can concider corporations as individuals, then on the other hand the citizens should be legally eligible to claim themselves to be corporations.

First -- corporate "personhood" has been defined by Congress, not the Supreme Court, or the Justice system.

So here's my grand scheme...
If the majority of the people united together, on the election ballot we could universally state we would like to elect the american people as a whole to the presidency!

You do realize we do not live in a direct democracy and that the popular vote is a conceived gimmick by politicians and the media alike right? Study up on the Electoral College.

Simple: Once elected, a website could be put into place (one that would obviosly have to be highly secured). Each citizen would have a unique code to ensure each citizen can only access their own (hmm, kinda like a social security number ;-) ). Once in the system, the individual would be able to vote on the issues they feel are relevent to them, and the unrelevent issues will be pushed to later dates. Hire the countries best accountants to crunch all the numbers for the finances, and fire all the morons in congress!

You need a severe class in American civics if you think this would work.