Psybermagick: Advanced Ideas in Chaos Magic - Peter J. Carroll 2000

Politics I Chaocracy

It has taken us two million years to elevate politics from the level of a monkey squabble, to a level comprehensible to a six year old child.

Towards the end of the twentieth century, the question “What will succeed democracy?” seems as un-askable as the question, “What will succeed monotheism,” would have seemed in the fourteenth century.

Can nobody contemplate any advance upon the least worst of all systems tried so far?

The Problem:—

1. We have to delegate responsibility for government, as most of us have better things to do for most of the time.

2. Nobody who wants political power should have it.

3. De-electable bodies retain power largely by maintaining the interests of the stasis quo, and cannot act with the impartial wisdom that the luxury of time to govern could allow them to develop.

4. Elected bodies abrogate much of their power to people who act as monarchs, and then waste much of their time and efforts in factional infighting.

Commentary 14

If we have any faith in the stochastic principles to which we owe our very reality and existence, then we should perhaps consider CHAOCRACY

Let us select a legislative body by purely random means. Let us reward those so chosen with salaries which put them beyond corruption. Let us replace one half of those chosen by random means every few years.

A chaocracy will contain representative proportions of all ages and sexes.

A chaocracy will have the assistance of a civil service to advise it.

A chaocracy will free us from the conflict of party political ideology with conscience, and free us from the distasteful business of casting our votes amongst professional liars.

Let a chaocratic government debate openly but legislate by secret ballot.

Let the outcome of such vote act as the head of state rather than invest one person with this power.

We trust people’s lives to randomly selected juries as the only fair method; should we use any less fair method for a nation or a planet?

The political class in Europe now seems hell bent on replacing Democracy with Synarchy, and they will probably succeed for a while. When the revolt finally happens, Chaocracy may eventually flower.