The Nemo Consensus Part II

Dedicated to @LightacandleOTM

(It's not exactly a fully fledged political party LaC, but with the right
sort of incubation: it could hatch into one!)

Well Therapsids I left you all on tenderhooks with the ongoing disaster
that is NOTA.
A potential solution to the schism.

Unite: Find persons within your varous splinter factions with experience
in consensus building. See seeds of Change reference in Part I.

Organise: Find a mutually disagreeable solution.
Make it binding, and stick to it.

Mobilise: We are where we are whilst I would contend that that standing
candidates in GE2015 is a step too soon ...and a step too far. It remains
a useful experiment.

I offer a few hypotheses:

     The effect will be submerged by the sheer volume of pre-electioneering
literature.
     Any results will be wamped by the data reportage during and after the event.
The Monster Raving Loony Party will probably get better coverage!
     At best the publicity will be minimal... if not wholly negative.
"NOTA candidate" "What's that?" As if the BBC will waste even thirty seconds
to explain.

In my opinion any further £500 deposits would be better spent on leaflets,
and badges. On getting petitions signed at hustings and political meetings
up and down the country
Come together and buld a better COMBINED website.

Post GE2015 the ONLY time I would even consider putting forward a NOTA
candidate is in a by-election or perhaps the constituency of the Prime
Minister. With a big publicity drive and photogenic stunts before, during
and afterwards. Perhaps a massive pile of voting slips ceremonially burnt
indicating the wasted votes of those that intentionally spoil their ballot
paper in protest.

A well publicised lobby of MPs, followed by a balloon release from in front
of HoP with mock ballot papers attached and a reward for the furthest to
travel. Etc.

Further in the future -when your membership is in the hundred-thousands- if
by some miracle the NOTA candidate wins; they must *immediately* step down.
Thus forcing an immediate by election. In the fifteen minutes of fame the
candidate and UNIFIED NOTA movement must loudly declaim to one and all: that
the electorate has clearly rejected ALL of the candidates.
The local constituency candidates must be de-selected and new candidates
put forward.

The other political parties will naturally ignore this.

But the point will have been made.

To subsequently take the seat in Parliament as a NOTA MP is a self-defeating
oxymoronic farce!
It goes against the very ethos of the movement.
You'll become a laughing stock.

I would add to the basic campaign manifesto: the notion that if 51% of the
National vote is for NOTA then the whole election is null and void.
The existing parties must drawup new (legally binding) manifestos and a
second election takes place.

I suspect that the temporary lack of a local M.P. will not affect our daily
lives in the slightest. Indeed our lives may run a little more smoothly.
Belgium...

But enough on NOTA. Best of luck. You could always join the NEMO Consensus
:)


Part Two: The Nemo Consensus
============================
Because nobody has the perfect solution
Because nobody should be excluded from the conversation.

<i>But I thought we were a collective</i>

Please Inner voice that is *SO* last post...

The above gives us an idea of the problems we are likely to encounter in
any heirarchical organisation. Competing leaders at the top dragging the
movement apart; leaving the lower 'ranks' disaffected and disrupting our
cause.

This is something that we must avoid in building our egalitarian and
consensual movement.

Growing such a structure will take time but consensual movements are more
stable as everyone has a voice and thus remains engaged.

Our movement should have an initial simple aim. What that aim is: I
leave up to the Consensus but would strongly suggest campaigning for a
system of PR. The exact nature of the proportional Representation
we support is academic, so long as the system includes a party list with
candidates selected AFTER the ballot, rather than the local representative
democracy of the FPTP system.
This is essential for the next stage of our Movement.

Now I can hear some of you declaiming that this removes a vital plank in a
democratic system: namely local accountability. And this would be true if
the Nemo Consensus were a traditional top down political party. But it is
not -and it won't be- as you will see.

The primary purpose of this PR campaign is to get the NEMO Consensus some
visibility in a non-partisan arena. A campaign for PR can connect the small
"c" one Nation conservative from both the right and extreme right of the
political spectrum and, similarly the left and extreme left of the Judean
Peoples' Front. Splitters!
Us anarkists will just sit back and watch the sparks fly.
Damping out any that look like burning the house down.

In such a baptism of fire our Consensus building skills will be truly
phenomenal!

Post GE2015 we will probably be in a hung or weak parliament, struggling
through the next fixed term. At a guess I would think that we will have a
ConLibUKIP pact with support from the Ulster Unionists.
The reasons for this: Labour will continue its current course to oblivion,
having lost all contact with its core values and core voters. Meanwhile
the MSM will rubbish its policy pronouncements; its personalities and its
performance in the electioneering arena. Barring a miracle this election is
Labour's to lose. And I think it will.

This dismal state of affairs will be further complicated when in 2016 the
Scottish electorate place a pro-EU body in Holyrood and the ConLibUKIPs
see a Referendum in 2017 take the whole of the UK: out!

Talk about fun.

Meanwhile English Laws for Englandshire (and sod Wales, Northern Ireland
and Kernow) along with half-hearted and half-baked attempts at devolution
will further confuse and confound.

The Consensus will thrive amidst this chaos:

      “I say unto you: one must still have the chaos in oneself to be
       able to give birth to a dancing star.
       I say unto you, you still have the chaos in yourselves.
       Alas, the time is coming when man will no longer give birth to
       a star…
       Behold, I show you the last man.”
						- Friedrich Nietzsche

During all this, we will continue the activist route, campaigning for a
variety of much needed reforms.
Recalling MPs. Legally binding Manifestos. Limits to Party funding.
These campaigns should have the primary purpose of building up our profile
and our membership. Note that these reforms are non-partisan and apply
across the political spectrum.


With a sufficiently high profile and a sufficiently large membership and a
system of PR in place: this prepares the way for the next Big Step.
Forming a unique apolitical Political Party of our own for GE2020.

This will cost us £150. Perhaps we might do it now, whilst it is cheap!

Until there are radical changes as to how we govern ourselves, the Nemo
Party will have to campaign as any normal political party; primarily on
local issues with a legally binding manifesto on National Issues.
The manifesto being constructed _from the bottom up_ using e-democracy tools
and consensus decision making processes.

The one significant difference: there will be no... fixed... candidate.
Instead our faceless "Nemo candidate" will be selected by sortition!
(See references below.)

                          **AFTER THE ELECTION!**

Once selected the candidate will be supported by the consensus of the local
Nemo community: a bottom up political process with it's heart based your
local community cafe. The candidate will be responsive to the local
consensus on issues of the day and raise issues from the local consensus
in the higher arena: County Council; Regional Assembly; National Assembly;
(HoC/ HoL if those two structures are still standing, or -rather- sitting!

Sortition solves any number of problems. Mostly to do with the corruption
that infests static heirarchical structures. It is important to note that,
under PR, the other existing political parties will be largely as before:
subject to the lizard brained control of the CorpRat Elites as epitomised
by the City of London.

(One of the reasons why PR will be allowed to happen!)

The major 'selling point' of the NEMO Party being the possibility that
*you* may be selected to occupy a position of political power. Rather than
some party serf forever door-knocking and foot-slogging, whilst the top
echelon of a party elite. Or -in increasing cases- the sons and
daughters of the top echelon of the party elite are parachuted into those
positions of power.

I would like to think that by 2020 the political landscape will be vastly
different to the moribund corpus of Westminster.

No stop laughing for a moment...

I would argue that a combination of Consensus based grassroots and sortition
is a simple, adaptable system capable of being grafted onto and, indeed,
supplanting any political structure with the added excitement that *any*
member of the NEMO Consensus could end up being the Prime Minister!

This system could be applied to local council elections; Regional Assembly
elections; National Parliaments (Scotland/ Wales/ N.I./ England); a supra-
national Parliament and thence into Europe; the world and spaces beyond.


O.K. Enough. I'm on board! When can we do this?
===============================================
As I have indicated 2015 is a lost cause. Not enough time. The promise of
Devolution and the inevitable mismanagement of implementing a third tier
of government -as a toothless and powerless exercise in distraction and
obfuscation- will occupy the country for five years, perhaps ten.
But at the end of the process the City will still rule.
As they have done for nigh on a millenium.
(Some would say a geological age.)

2020 is an achievable goal. But it will probably take longer.

In the General Election of 2020 we should aim for at least one high
profile seat. Cough up the £500 and put forward our nameless Nemo candidate;
with a groundswell of grassroots support. Hurrah!

I would modestly suggest the following as an outline manifesto:

The candidate will stand to support local business
- not the global transNationals;

raise local issues in a meaningful way at a National level
- not as a "Hear Hear" soundbite at Prime Minister's question time;

represent their local constituents
- not their fellow cronies and lobbyists in the WasteMonster.

(Just as it was, c. 1945 when -for a brief moment- we broke the grip of the
lizard people since we had just fought a bloody war for them. Again.
Naturally subsequent to that date everything that was achieved has now been
reversed. And we are where we are...)

The NEMO Party will have a primary remit to devolve the political process
even further. And to radically reform the current political structures.

Take your pick:
   - abolition of the House of Lords, replacing it with an elected chamber;
   - extension of the powers of select committees;
   - a long term residency requirement for constituency M.P.s;
   - end large donations to political parties;
   - recall of MPs;
   - replace legalistic adverserial political 'sound and fury' with constructive
consensus based politics;
   - devolution of political and economic power down to the lowest _possible_ level;
   - restoration of power to the local councils;
   - electronic and universal democracy;
   - no more cash for questions;
   - no more secret lobbying;
   - no more laws for corporate profit;
   - no more peerages for party bungs;
   - no more brown envelopes;
   - no more fiddled expenses;
   - no more sexual harassment;
   and no more kiddy fiddling cover-ups.

It's a start...

The candidate will serve one term only.

The above system is similar to Demarchy. It has (apparently) never been tried!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarchy

The founding fathers (but unfortunately not mothers) of Athenian Democracy
practiced Sortition and a sort of Demarchy and it seemed to work for them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy
"There was also a death penalty for "inadequate performance" while in office.[48]"
Perhaps that was the reason why ;)

Sortition: How do we chose our random representative?
=====================================================
All that are eligible -and can be bothered to vote- are potential candidates!

After the Nemo party wins a local seat: all the local party memberships go into a big
tombola, or a hand cranked barrel, or a 21st century equivalent of ERNIE.
(Local wards should be encouraged to devise their own system with the proviso
that the draw is truly random.) Then the previously elected candidate, draws one
at random, presses the button, whatevers...

We have a winner.
We have our representative.

At this stage people selected would have the right to decline to serve.
Illness; family commitments; a struggling business... or just an honest self-
appraisal of their ability to serve the local community.

(Although one would hope that the local community would try to convince them that
in all these cases they are just the person for the job and that the community
would rally round to support any perceived failing.)

At a national level, assuming a 'party list' and a break with regional representation:
the mechanism would have to be automated and there would probably be a limited period
of adjustment. Perhaps solved by the previous incumbant deputising until a randomly
selected replacement is found.

In a two chamber Parliament. Assuming that the House of Lords is replaced by an
elected 'Reforming Senate' with the power to scrutinise, amend and ultimately veto the
legislation proposed in the "Other Place ;)"
PERHAPS we could consider a random selection of previously serving representatives from
the legislative House.
PERHAPS the Senate would be selected by Sortition from Civil Servants. Assuming that
the Civil Service is also reformed: becoming increasingly egalitarian and meritocratic...

However speculating on the political landscape of 2020 is an exercise I leave up to you!


Criticisms
==========
"But you can't have people chosen at random. It doesn't make sense!"

Then neither do the proposals for a random membership of various Peoples'
Constitutional Conventions. Such as those recently suggested by the Greens
or used in N.I. or Iceland or other states in transition.
And clearly jury service has to go. That's random...

In truth this system is little different from standard PR where your 'local
candidate' is selected from a Party list and "parachuted in" after the election.
Only this time, the candidate will be drawn AT RANDOM from the Party list
where the Party List is a list of _all_ the members of the Nemo Party
within the constituency borders. Unlike most systems of PR you *will* have
a local candidate. It's just you won't know who it is...
But it could be you.

Now there's an incentive to join a party and an incentive to vote.


Taking it to extremes: why shouldn't a convicted felon be able to pay back
to society their debt to that society by taking on the issue of prison
reform.

(And let's face it both the HoC and HoL are already packed with felons...
it's just that some of 'em haven't been caught yet!)

Taking it even further: why not a person with Down's syndrome.
Are they not a human being?
Are they not part of human society?
Many high ability Down's syndrome individuals in my community have more
humanity in their little finger than the entire front bench of both major
parties.
Indeed there are any number of currently sitting M.P.s who's statements
and actions would classify them as sociopaths: paranoid schitzophrenics ...
with homicidal tendencies. Rather than have them in power for just five years-
they get returned election after election.

Time for a change. Let's make it a radical one.

CyberHugs therapsids.
brobof

Part Three: The Nemo Consciousness
==================================