TEDxDelft 2012 | Nynke Tromp – Disrupting democracy

The closing performer of the day is Nynke Tromp. She talks us through some ideas that will shake up our society!

She states that our democracy has become a mediacracy. Politicians respond to incidents versus having a long term vision. It’s all about being lovable instead of being capable. About fighting with your opponent instead of building bridges. This destructive competition has led to a gladiator fight. Short term focus for quick wins has replaced long term focus. With small adjustments, we can change this system. Let’s rack this media circus! Instead of voting day, let’s vote on our birthday!

How will it work?

You will receive a card a week before your birthday, with codes to log on to a website www.longlivedemocracy.com. You can vote on your birthday every year, for four years on a row. In order to make a decision about who to vote for, you will talk to your friends and colleagues about what they voted on their birthdays. You will have to read and search for information instead of listening to campaign promises.  As there is no campaign period, you will have to base your decisions on real results, experiences and the follow-ups of promises. The actions of parties will be rewarded, not the words.

Then you will see that certain topics and reactions were important at a certain moment but were not of long-term importance. Then of course it is still hard to decide whom to vote for. But decisions will be made on longer-term experience. About what you see. When reading the future visions that parties have for your future, you will see whether their actions were in line with their promises.

There will still be an important day; instead of voting day there will be a counting day of all the votes, four votes per person over four years.

This way we will have a collective memory of promises that political parties make because everyday people are voting. This birthday voting system persuades to show capacities, to aim for the long term solutions. It seduces us to make a vote on more than smiles and popularity. Please twitter to @rdsgnngpolitics