Today an Indiegogo.com crowdfunding campaign was started to raise the €1.6 billion Greece needs to dig itself out of a deepening debt ditch. How much has it raised thus far? €98,639 from 6,455 funders. That’s 0.00006% of what they need, so it’s a stretch target for sure. I’m refreshing at reasonable intervals to see what kind of momentum we are looking at….€99,608 right now.

What strikes you is how a crowdfunding platform could be used as an eGovernment platform. Instead of taxing people directly, they must use their tax burden in an eGovernment funding site to spend their tax the way they choose. Some things will need to be ring-fenced (NHS, defense, etc) but other things could be funded directly by people putting their tax pounds where they want. For example, do you want to fund a new park in your area, or would you rather use that money to add two new bus stops? People might start being a lot happier to be taxed if they knew where it was going and had some control over where it flows to.

€101,169 and counting.

We might even get the same effect that is observed with honesty bars. This is where a drinking establishment will have a part of their bar where you order a drink and pay whatever you want for it. In almost all cases people pay more when they are empowered to decide. People might pay more money into community projects, beyond what tax they are obligated to pay, because they can see where it is going and appreciate being given some power.

€103,106.

In a world where we don’t really trust politicians, where control is being decentralized at pace (Scotland), why not decentralize even further and give people a real say? Where politicians protect our democratic rights by empowering us, not lying to us to get into power, and then forgetting us.

€107,801 and counting.