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Human Rights in Ireland
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.

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Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

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Keir Starmer's?grooming gangs?inquiry has been plunged into fresh turmoil after one of the candidates to lead it withdrew from the process, a day after two gang victims quit the liaison panel amid worries of a cover-up.
The post Starmer’s Grooming Gangs Inquiry in Crisis as Chairman Candidate Quits appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Oxford Union President-Elect Ousted After Celebrating Charlie Kirk?s Shooting Tue Oct 21, 2025 10:50 | Will Jones
George Abaraonye, the?President-Elect of the Oxford Union,?has been ousted following outrage over his celebration of Charlie Kirk's shooting after 70% of members voted to remove him.
The post Oxford Union President-Elect Ousted After Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Shooting appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Why is Starmer So Determined That Israeli Football Fans Descend on an Area That?s Now 70% Muslim? Tue Oct 21, 2025 09:00 | Laurie Wastell
Starmer is perversely determined that Israeli football fans will attend their team's match in Birmingham, even though the area is now 70% Muslim and mini-Israel-Gaza violence is a serious danger, says Laurie Wastell.
The post Why is Starmer So Determined That Israeli Football Fans Descend on an Area That’s Now 70% Muslim? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Windless Week Leaves Britain Totally Dependent on Imported Electricity Tue Oct 21, 2025 07:00 | Paul Homewood
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The post Windless Week Leaves Britain Totally Dependent on Imported Electricity appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Tue Oct 21, 2025 01:23 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

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Representative Government is not Democracy

category national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis author Saturday March 22, 2008 19:07author by Cael - Sinn Fein Poblachtach Report this post to the editors

In Athens, election of officials was not practiced because it was thought to favor the wealthy and powerful. Giving decision-making power to elected officials was thought to take away the power of the people and effectively make the state an oligarchy, that is government by an elite group

The word "democracy" (rule by the people) was coined by Athenians in 508 BC to define their City State system of government. What happened back then is a far cry from what actually happens in so-called democracies today!

In Athens, election of officials was not practiced because it was thought to favor the wealthy and powerful. Giving decision-making power to elected officials was thought to take away the power of the people and effectively make the state an oligarchy, that is government by an elite group (though, where special skills and knowledge were required and there were several competing candidates, elections were sometimes held).

Athenian democracy was based on selection of officials on a rotating basis by lot (similar to drawing straws today). It was based on the assumption that all citizens were equally qualified for office. The courts operated with large juries also selected by lot; there were no judges. Being drafted to public office was mandatory and modest financial compensation was given to those citizens whose livelihood was compromised.

Decisions in all matters of policy were taken by majority vote in the Assembly (at the Pynx) in which all male citizens who’d completed their military service (but not slaves, foreigners, etc,) who wished to vote took part. The agenda of the Assembly was set by the Boule of 500, also selected by lot on a rotating basis. Debate on the agenda was open to all present. After the debate, the assembly of citizens voted on decisions directly.

I think in the past, where we had a large population and communication was difficult, then something like representative democracy was inevitable. Although, as the Athenians suspected, it did favor the rich and powerful, as you needed newspapars on your side and large campaign funds. However, with the widespread use of the internet a return to the Athenian ideal of democracy is now quite possible, and I would say, highly desirable. The proposal of a four province federal Ireland is ideally suited to such a democracy, as it makes the voting units much more manageable. I would see the European Parliament, where a couple of hundred people make vital decisions for hundreds of millions of people to be the opposite of democracy.
Today the average citizen is more educated and socially aware than many MPs were in the past. I believe we are well qualified to rule ourselves. Clearly a system of direct democracy would make it much more difficult for the rich and powerful to groom professional politicians with dig-outs and whip-a-rounds, as the category of professional politician would not be so common as today.

Related Link: http://admin2.7.forumer.com/index.php

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   Direct Democracy     Cael    Sat Mar 22, 2008 19:40 
   todays proponents of direct democracy     Soundmigration    Sat Mar 22, 2008 20:56 
   righty so then.     Don    Sat Mar 22, 2008 21:06 
   For more indepth look at the problems of centralised powers     Soundmigration    Sat Mar 22, 2008 22:40 
   Eire Nua     Cael    Sun Mar 23, 2008 15:40 
   Don     Cael    Sun Mar 23, 2008 15:50 
   interesting     Don    Sun Mar 23, 2008 16:00 
   New Constitution     Cael    Sun Mar 23, 2008 16:16 
   Direct Democracy and "experts"     Cael    Tue Mar 25, 2008 18:36 
 10   hankering after "direct democracy"     Sceptic    Tue Mar 25, 2008 22:57 
 11   non sectarian Republican?     Daithí Lacha    Tue Mar 25, 2008 23:04 
 12   are usually called republican too     Barry    Tue Mar 25, 2008 23:32 
 13   Hmmmm.     Don    Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:25 
 14   Daithí and the Rosery     Cael    Wed Mar 26, 2008 15:22 
 15   Direct democracy     indyjourno    Wed Mar 26, 2008 16:33 
 16   Indyjourno     Cael    Wed Mar 26, 2008 18:24 
 17   ask a question get a question     indyjourno    Wed Mar 26, 2008 18:32 
 18   Skeptic     Cael    Wed Mar 26, 2008 18:38 
 19   Indyjourno     Cael    Wed Mar 26, 2008 18:42 
 20   Indyjourno's Question     Cael    Wed Mar 26, 2008 18:51 
 21   Reply to Cael on polls     Sceptic    Wed Mar 26, 2008 22:33 
 22   Cael + Sceptic     indyjourno    Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:15 
 23   referenda     Sceptic    Thu Mar 27, 2008 21:44 
 24   The personality not important in DD     Cael    Fri Mar 28, 2008 20:06 
 25   DD     Cael    Sun Mar 30, 2008 17:46 
 26   RD     Cael    Mon Apr 14, 2008 22:11 


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