Democracy? There's an App for That.

iPhone bearers can already use an app to see whether magic stimulus dollars were sprinkled on the street in front of them. Now that can download another app to bitch to their representative about it.

The DIY democracy app is pretty smart. It makes all manner of civic engagement easy by using your GPS to sort out the right representative for every complaint.

Careful with that "report blight" button, though. One too many hits there and you're going to wind up getting some poor sucker eminent-domained.

There's also an anti-gridlock component "powered by" research done from the fine folks at Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes Reason magazine.

A note to iPhone users: Search for The Prometheus Institute (the makers of the app) in the iPhone App Store. DIY Democracy doesn't bring it up.

Comments

[Marshall Gill]

Here in OKC the stimulus paid for dozens (hundreds?) of wheelchair ramps for sidewalks that will not be built. The stimulus didn't include the cost of sidewalks and the city/state have no intention of building sidewalks where few people walk/wheelchair. The funniest/saddest part is that they actually built some down the street and then tore them out a few days later and built a different style! Not quite digging holes and then filling them back in but pretty fucking close.

[MikeP]

I'm waiting for the DIY Anarchy upgrade.

[MikeP]

For instance, the button labeled "need to go to the doctor but don't have insurance" in the DIY Democracy app responds with a list of Senators critical for passage of reform legislation.

The DIY Anarchy upgrade responds with "Go pay for it yourself. You own a freaking iPhone, moron."

[anonymous]

DIY Anarchy analyzes nearby objects to see whether any can be turned into a makeshift explosive. Not at all the same thing.

[MikeP]

You need to set config.propertarian to "true".

[?]

You couldn't make a better Douche-O-Mator out of a giant douche and a giant robot programmed to douche.

[Hyperion]

This gives me evil ideas..., well, only evil in the eyes of scumbag pols.

[Rob M.]

How about a version for Blackberry?

[The Libertarian Guy]

This is a great way for Homeland Security to keep tabs on pro-liberty rabble-rousers...

[Episiarch]

The power of change is in your hands

How appropriate a slogan, considering that pestering politicians with this won't do dick.

[Cerebral]

Well, sitting around posting cantankerous comments on a libertarian blog amounts to less than dick.

You can sit on your ass and complain, or do something about it. Anti-ObamaCare emails shut down Congress' servers for a day and made national headlines. At your local level, you'd be surprised at the responsiveness that an aggressive campaign can achieve.

If you just sit here and do nothing, then you aren't qualified to criticize others who are actually trying to make things better.

[The Libertarian Guy]

What makes you think we don't do things like that, Cerebral?

My state rep, senators, and so forth absolutely hate my ass because I am a perpetual thorn in their sides. I suspect I'm not the only libertarian who keeps jabbing the fork into the giblets of elected officials.

[Episiarch]

Or I can do whatever the fuck I want and ignore dipshits who try and tell me what or who I'm qualified to criticize.

See? I'm criticizing you right now.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Ooo, wicked burn!

Wish I'd thought of it. Damn you, Epi!

[Cerebral]

Oh, you're so cool! You can call me names and note the obvious truism that you *can* do whatever you want.

Yes, son. You can do whatever you want. Your right to act like an asshole on the internet was never challenged by me or anyone else.

My point was it is foolish for you to criticize people who take action to make a difference while you sit around and angrily blather on an internet forum.

We all love liberty, the difference is what we do to achieve it.

That was the point, and there was no "burn". You just burned yourself.

[Ron L]

Cerebral|12.18.09 @ 7:51PM|#
"You can sit on your ass and complain, or do something about it."

"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men [...] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."

Yes, I *do* have to argue and lean on folks about the issues, but I resent it!
Why should I have to waste time to demand what is mine?

[Cerebral]

I agree the need for action is personally inconvenient, but it's also necessary.

Did Jefferson, Washington, and Madison simply "demand" what was theirs?

No, they took action and risked their lives to achieve it.

[zoltan]

Gee, YOUR comments are definitely making a big difference!

[Binky]

Don't look here. The joke is in your hand.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Unless someone writes a Constitutional Republic app, I'm not gonna invest in an iPhone.

[Hugh Akston]

I've got that app. Not much functionality, actually. Most people abandon it pretty quickly for the populist oligarchy app. No constraints to what it can do, and it makes you feel important while you use it. The best thing is that it only costs you 20-40% of your income annually.

[Barack Obama]

Great idea. I'll have the FCC require broadcasting of this app through every internet provider tomorrow morning.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Way ahead of you, Boss. I've got the tech geeks working on the Tenth Amendment Virus, and they should have it out of beta testing by the first of the year.

[Pan Metron]

I'm in Portland, Oregon and when I click any of the "Rights and Laws" the app brings up nonsense about the California State Constitution.

Besides, how are freedoms like freedom of speech "State Rights"? I believe these rights are natural rights. Even the bill of rights doesn't "grant" them, it bars Congress from abridging them. Is the app implying that we only have those rights which are granted by a state?

Who wrote this junk?

[MXM]

Can you read "California" in the title of the application and the fact the application works in California only?

Can you see the fact that Free Speech rights are listed both at the Federal and State level in the application?

Are you aware that the Federal and State Constitutions both protect free speech rights, but are interpreted differently under the law?

Regarding your post, I wonder, who writes that junk?

[gaijin]

too much petitioning congress gets too much congress

[nmg]

The busybodies will rejoice

[Invisible Finger]

OCD? There's a device for that.

[db]

Just hit "report blight" every time you drive past City Hall or a local politician's house.

[Hal Jalikeakick]

I'm going to use this app at the properties of various city council members. Can't wait to click 'blight'. Will someone get eminent domained? Excellent.

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