[CivicAccess-discuss] maybe OT - values of CivicAccess

[Christopher D. Ritter]

California had an issue arise from the recent US Election whereby the
residents repealed Issue 8 that allowed homosexuals to legally marry. The
first issue was the way in which the data was presented, leading many to
believe that homosexually would be openly taught in public school systems.
The second issue was the fact that the entire state voted on the rights of a
small percentage of the population.

I would like to believe that a more educated and evolved form of Democracy
would eliminate similar issues in the future, but in many ways I agree that
these problems might simply be exacerbated when the data is not only Openly
Available to everyone, but Openly Votable by everyone as well.

On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 3:35 PM, Hugh McGuire <hugh at hughmcguire.net> wrote:

> > I'm curious: what makes you think the values of Civic Access are
> > being shanghied?
> not speaking for michael, but i don't think there is a concern that
> values of of CivicAccess are being shanghied. rather a desire to
> recognize that the collection of people her come from different
> philosophical and practical angles.
>
> strangely, though I know michael well, i never really understood why
> my particular concern about open data -- that is, "better decision-
> making" -- was not michael's interest in the issue. I never quite got
> what his interest was ... answered in his last post: a question of
> justice: ie, all citizens should have access to the same benefits from
> the government, not just corporates who can afford to pay high feeds
> for government data.
>
> that makes for a very different take on things, as does a desire for
> more efficiency, better tax/spending accountability etc.
>
> they are all different reasons for being interested in civic access
> issues ...
>
> so not to put words in michael's mouth, i'll instead say what I think
> about all this: the issue of civic access is important enough that a
> broad coalition of people/groups can support it, without having to
> agree on the reason for *why* they want civic access to happen...but
> we should also remember that the group here spans the political and
> philosophical spectrum.
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Christopher D. Ritter
User Experience Designer
christopherritter at gmail.com

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