Age Based Vote Coefficients

[readmor]

Three main resources for this article are:

1. Psychohistory - Defined in The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
2. Hypernormalisation - A BBC documentary by Adam Curtis
3. http://ncase.me/trust/ -- a Short game about the Game Theory

Quick definitions:
Psychohistory: Psychohistory is a fictional science in Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe which combines history, sociology, and mathematical statistics to make general predictions about the future behavior of very large groups of people.

Hypernormalisation: Adam Curtis argues that since the 1970s, governments, financiers, and technological utopians have given up on the complex "real world" and built a simple "fake world" that is run by corporations and kept stable by politicians. People have a sense that things are messed up, but they don’t care, or if they do, they don’t know how to stop it so they rely on authorities who offer solutions.

Game Theory: "the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers". Game theory is mainly used in economics, political science, and psychology, as well as in logic and computer science.

Power and Apolitical People

Adam Curtis says,

“There’s a whole generation that has retreated from an active engagement with power, who want to change the world,” You can feel it, there’s a great restlessness. There is a great deal of dissatisfaction among working class people, there’s a great deal of fear and dissatisfaction amongst all sorts of ethnic groups for different reasons. There is a great feeling of restlessness and hunger for change amongst white middle class and also black middle class, it’s all over the place but no-one has got any vision of what to do. I think it is because people have retreated – possibly into the culture – but also into a never-never land where everything has been emotionalized, rather than confronting issues of power.”

What needs to be done is to create a political environment with a decreased entry barrier. As of now the entry barrier to politics is really high. This entry barrier filters out young generation and the middle class. Thus leaving the political arena to the top 1% and to people with nothing to lose. Nothing to lose here is a broad term, it covers everything from integrity to real-life skills.

In order to involve younger generation and the middle class back into politics, what is needed is a liquid, transparent and a more engaging governance mechanism with correct incentives. Having a transparent and liquid governance mechanism also ends up increasing meritocracy.

One proposal towards this is using blockchain and using its advantages. In less developed countries people don't even believe that elections are done fairly. When you are in an environment in which votes are counted by a centralized institute and that institute has an incentive to cheat, you automatically lose a big chunk of your motivation (unless you are okay with cheating and you are on the cheater's side). With a decentralized blockchain, a voting ID can be assigned to each person. This id can be non-trackable but can ensure that each person only votes 1 time. By doing this transparency increases a bit.

What else can blockchain enable us to do is something that is very hard to do in a conventional way. With blockchain, it is possible to mask the voter but the voter can still have different attributes. One example of these attributes is the age-range of the voter. Age range is significant and governments can assign different voting coefficients for different age groups. What makes age-range a different attribute compared to many others is that age is universal. Every human follows the same route. We are born, we grow up, we get old and we die.

Example age range coefficients:

People aged 18-40 gets 3x voting power between 40-60 they get 2x and over age 60 they get 1x. These coefficients can be further analyzed sociologically and with the use of simulation and game theory but let's assume for now that these are the optimum values. Let's also assume that Estonia uses this voting method. -Average life expectancy in Estonia is: 77.13 years-

1- A single vote doesn’t affect only the next 4 years. It affects the next 10-15-20 year and possibly even more. So someone lets say at age 75 has an average of 2.13 years ahead of them. Where else someone aged 25 has an average of 52.13 years ahead of them. It is only fair to have someone with 52.13 years ahead of them have more power in the future of the habitat they will live in.

2- Someone who is 18 and who only gets their voting right votes into a system that was established well ahead of them. When I first voted for the first time I really didn't have a lot of options to choose from, and I was voting into a system that was decided prior to me, making my involvement very little compared to someone who has already voted in the last 5,8,10 elections.

3- Human kind evolves 1 generation at a time, (biologically that is why everything reproduces). Meaning that a newer generation is expected to have a better physical environment, more information and easier access to information. Each new generation also grows up with a new technology. In 1800's it was the industrial revolution, in 2000's it was the internet, in 2020's it will be the blockchain. We are in the age of information and agile development so a more fit generation can guide the future in a better way.

4- No need to be afraid of the younger generation. Prior generation is the generation that raised them. Make sure you raise a good generation, give them good values and then give them the power to steer your future.

5- Social security systems are failing in the world as the average age is increasing. Which means that older generations are in more need of younger generations taking care of them. Help the younger generation help the older generation by preparing a good future for themselves.

6- Finally, let's talk about liquidity. In governances too liquid is usually not good so by using this system we just keep it liquid enough. This method creates a very dynamic voting environment. Think of 2020 elections. People who are born between 2002 and 1980 will have a 3x voting coefficient. 1980 and 1960 will have 2x and 1960 and before will have 1x. In 2024 elections this will shift and now 2006 1984 will have 3x and so on. This means that if someone or a party fooled that generation and didn’t fulfill their promises the next generation can punish them and vote them off easier.