<CPOV> Wikipedia as an Alternative United Nations-Like Forum

[Jon Awbrey]

Dror,

Here's an experiment for everyone to try.

Run through this list of English Wikipedia User Names (EW:UN):

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:ListUsers&limit=1000

One thousand at a time till you get to the end ...

Then write a story about a prospective UN-Democracy populated by "entities" like that.

That's Chicago!  -- Vote Early Vote Often (VEVO)

Jon Awbrey

Dror Kamir wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have once made a comparison between the process of adopting a UN resolution 
> and negotiating terminology or phrasing on Wikipedia (see attached png file). 
> Maybe I even presented this comparison slide in Bangalore. Rereading it, I must 
> admit it is not accurate enough, but the point was to draw the line between two 
> essentially different decision-making systems that were meant to serve different 
> purposes. The UN is supposed to be a kind of international parliament, i.e. it 
> is a political body that reaches politically motivated decisions in a democratic 
> way. Its methods are far from being perfect, but that's idea. Wikipedia, on the 
> other hand, set its goal at providing information, hence democratically deciding 
> upon an article's phrasing is inadequate. Wikipedia, and similar projects, 
> should practice pluralism rather than democracy (the two concepts are similar 
> but not identical).
> 
> Apparently, there is a trend on en-wp to move toward the UN-model. Take a look 
> here: 
> *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Israeli_settlements
> *The issue is a political mind field. I have been following the contributions of 
> the editor who opened this discussion, and it is quite obvious that he is 
> politically motivated. It is therefore unsurprising that he pied-piped the rest 
> of the debaters into a UN-like discussion. He presented a statement and called a 
> vote. The voters in favor are mostly people who frequently cooperate with him. 
> Interestingly enough, the claim that this method of debating does not serve the 
> purpose of Wikipedia (whether the initiator of the discussion is right or wrong) 
> is left quite faint, not endorsed or even argued with by anyone.
> 
> Dror K
> 
> PS - Many people get tired of the ME conflict. I can't blame them, but it is 
> easier to talk about one's own toothache than about the dental problems of 
> people on another part of the world. If anyone wants to respond using a 
> different example from another geopolitical conflict or from a different field 
> altogether, please do.

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