Toward a Rational Democratic Process
This is the seed of what I hope will become a platform which assists larger communities with their decision making processes. The tools provided on this website are tools designed to help with a rational and democratic decision making process. Helping people to connect, share information, resources and services is a much deeper democratic process than simply voting. So the focus of this site is to link users with; news, research, organizations, businesses, items for sale, local barter groups, local worker's groups, small loans, local services, local businesses, non-profits, and governments, all in an organized fashion.
The basic idea of this Wiki is to sort through as much information as possible that appears on the internet, then link to the most relevant parts for our Rational Democratic purposes, and organize those links in a fashion that is easily accessible.
Drawing from my knowledge and personal experience (granted, not the most extensive but sufficient) I have come up with the following outline of a communal rational discussion when pursuing a collective choice. I refer to these 3 steps as "If" (the Past), "Then"(the Present), "Therefore" (the Future). The three steps should consist of the following elements:
1. Establishing a base historical record of observations and assumptions upon which to build. ("If")
This is the the historical background and agreed upon "realities" of a particular topic. The assumptions, suppositions, and recorded observations upon which future decisions can be based and the prism through which present-day events can be viewed. In this Wiki this step is included as "Foundational." The historical record should be placed in this category.
2. Collection and organization of unbiased relevant data. ("Then")
Much of what we consider to be "news", really consists of one person saying one thing and another person saying something else. For this Wiki I would like to weed out this kind of "news" and focus on a more durable observational type of information. I use the test; is it "durable", "pertinent" and "unemotional" (note: unemotional, is very different than stating both the "left" and the "right" opinions). Very little "news" actually meets this test. This Wiki shouldn't concern itself with the activities of celebrities, the opinions of politicians, or the ramblings of other propagandists. Everyone seems to have a personal agenda, the agenda here the empirical process. In this Wiki this step is included as "Effects" or "News". The present day observations which will soon become the past should be placed in this category.
3. Drawing conclusions. ("Therefore")
We often see this step presented as opinion or editorial. Again most opinion and editorial does not adopt a rigorous empirical "If", "Then", "Therefore" process before reaching conclusions. So in general it is best for this Wiki to not include opinion pieces of a general nature but stick with more scientific oriented research papers or discoveries. In this Wiki this step is included as "Solutions". Glimpses or guesses about what the future holds, and ideas for improvement should be placed in this category.
