[geeks] can't wait for Vista

[Patrick Giagnocavo]

On Nov 7, 2006, at 11:29 PM, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> Tue, 07 Nov 2006 @ 17:46 -0500, der Mouse said:
>
>>> Direct democracy of any kind has always been a failure.
>>
>> Actually, like communism, it works OK until the population gets too
>> large.  Lots of political systems work well among small populations 
>> but
>> start to fall apart once you can no longer know everyone personally.
>
> Well, it seems to fail even with only a few hundred thousand judging
> from history.
>

It fails with even a hundred.  And, it was already tried in this 
country.

When the Puritans arrived in North America, they set up a system of 
communal land ownership and communal ownership and distribution of the 
food they had.

The young men felt put upon because they could do more work than the 
older men, yet were paid the same.  The women, in general, felt they 
were being treated as slaves.

As a result, not much got done and the first winter found the Puritans 
starving and near dead.  One guy went to look for shellfish or mussels 
and was so weak from hunger that he got stuck in the mud and died where 
he stood.

William Bradford, the leader, changed from this system to one involving 
private ownership of land and the colony flourished.

q.e.d.

--Patrick