Command economies fail because they cannot respond effectively to unpredicted shifts in demand. You'd think people would know this by now ever since the command economy of the Soviet Union publicly imploded.

Things like the smartphone and tablet pretty much came from Alan Kay, who spent time at pretty much every single big name company in Silicon Valley.

You mean Xerox PARC's innovations?

They missed IRIX.

Implementing direct democracy would require amending or more likely, replacing the U.S. Constitution. And the majority doesn't have to be standing, just present to vote. Still not seeing an upside against the replace one Stalin with millions of little Stalins issue.

*looks up from a recent Slackware 13.37 install* *raises an eyebrow* *cracks knuckles and gets back to work on a command line*

I love a good double meaning.

A direct democracy is effectively a totalitarian system, in that with no restraints, 51% can vote for anything and everything. This can range to the usual "free lunch" on the 49%'s dime, to simply genociding or enslaving the 49% minority. Thus it would have a tendency towards having endemic "terrorism" as there are no routes in the system for protection of minority rights.