I propose two ideas:
- We all need to accept and resign ourselves to the fact that, for now, Ethereum is and, for the foreseeable future, will remain a technocracy. One reason is that, while not all decisions are purely technical, nearly all important decisions have at least a substantial technical component. Another is that, while most of us, myself included, would prefer something more closely resembling a democracy, that is simply not possible unless and until we have a more formalized conception of identity, which we’re nowhere near close to.
- The core devs should establish a steering committee. This would be off-chain but a little more formalized than core devs and would have a mandate of deciding on these more contentious questions. I envision seven or nine people who are trusted, who have a strong technical understanding of the protocol, representing most or all of the largest groups of stakeholders, and including experts in relevant areas such as economics, philosophy, governance/political philosophy, ethics, law, etc. (or with the resources and mandate to call in experts as necessary). Yes, it may be hard to assemble such a group but I believe it’s possible. They should rotate often, every year or so. And it should be an “opt in” process whereby the core devs refer individual issues that they don’t want to decide on.
There are 1000 ways you could poke holes in these ideas and I encourage you to do so, but please be constructive and offer alternative ideas. No, this won’t please everyone but I believe it’s a workable proposal.