All Things
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Death of Democracy In Mitt Romney’s frontal attack on Donald Trump you can find this interesting paragraph: “Ronald...
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p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } When the people speak … First Tunisia and Egypt, now Bharain and Yemen and… the Catholic Church. No there have not yet been hundreds of thousands of altar boys in St. Peter's Square demanding that the Pope be...
- The Supreme Court And Corporate Free Speech
The Supreme Court and Corporate Free Speech I have yet to meet anyone who does not deplore the role money plays in elections. Everyone knows that having more money for advertisements, signs, hiring high-priced consultants and a large staff will provide...
All Things
OccupyWallStreetandDemocracy.
DemocracyisacentralconcernoftheOccupyWallStreetMovement.
Everybodyisinvitedtospeakat meetings.Everyoneislistenedtocarefully.Oftenthewholegrouprepeatsthewordsofthespeakersothateverybodyhearsthem.Moreimportantisthecommitmenttomakingdecisionsbyconsensus.Thefinaldecisionofthemeetingmustsatisfyeverybodythere.Everyoneisheardtotheextentthathisorheropinionsareincorporatedinthefinaldecision.
Inclusionandequalityarekeyvalues.Inthisdemocracytherearenoleadersor“decision-makers.” Everybodyparticipatesinmakingthedecision;everybodytakestheirturninrunningmeetings.Thisparticipationbyallrequiresthattherebenosecrets.Whateverinformationisavailabletoone,mustbemadeavailabletoall.Italsorequiresthateverybodybeastruthfulaspossible.Politicalparticipationisdegradedwhenthecitizenryisbeingliedtoandmisledbypoliticiansortheirmisleadingadvertisementsorbyspokespersonswhomassagethenews.
Punditsinsistthatthereare“secret” leadersinthesemeetings.Butthat'splayingonwords.Tobesureinanygroupsomepeoplearemorearticulatethanothers.Somepeoplehaveawaywithwords;othershavetostruggletosaywhattheyarethinking.Somepeopleareincrediblyenergetic;otherslessso.Dependingonthesubjectunderdiscussion,somepeoplearemoreknowledgeablethanothers.Theremaywellbeleadersinthesemeetings– personswhoaremorearticulate,moreenergetic,thatinformed.Butallofthatdoesnotallowsomepeopletomakedecisionsandtoimposethemonothers.Thedecisionsaremadebyeveryoneandbyconsensus.Whateverleaderstheremaybe,theydonothavegreaterdecision-makingpowerthananyoneelse.
Thinkhowthisdiffersfromwhatwecall“democracy” inAmericatoday.Decisionsaremadeinsecret.Thispastweek,BloombergNewsdiscoveredthattheFederalReserveBankhasbeenlendingtrillionsofdollarstobigbankswhowerekickingordinarypeopleoutoftheirhouseswhentheycouldn'tpaytheirmortgages.Whatismore,acourtorderwasneededbeforetheFederalReserveBankwoulddisclosethisprogram.Whenimportantinformationisbeingwithheldfromcitizenstheyobviouslyareunabletoparticipateindecision-making.
Similarly,politicianslieconsistently.Theymakepromisesduringtheircampaignswhichtheyhavenointentionofkeeping.Theyclaimtoholdviewswhich,assoonastheyhavebeenelected,theyturnouttoreject.Doyourelectedrepresentativeslistentoyou?Wellthatdependsonhowbigcheckisyoujusthandedthem.Didyouprocuretheservicesofahigh-pricedlobbyist?Ifnotforgetaboutbeinglistenedto.
Ordinarycitizensrarelygetahearing.TheycertainlydonotinfluencethedecisionsmadeinCongress.
OccupyWallStreetremindsusthatwhatweordinarilycall“democracy” isnotrealdemocracyatall.Itisanoligarchyofthepeoplewithlotsofmoneyandtheir“expert” advisors.Weoweagreatdealofgratitudetothismovementtorecallustoourdemocraticprojectandtoremindusthatinrecentyearswehaveprettymuchabandonedit,substitutinganoligarchyfordemocracy,theruleoftherichforagovernment ofall.
But,thecriticsays,youcannotrunacountryof360millionpeoplebymeetingswhereeverybodyparticipatesandhasasay,whereeveryspeechisrepeatedwordforwordandpeoplegoaroundwigglingtheirfingers.
Forsure.Insmallgroups,weareabletoputouridealsoffullparticipationindiscussionanddecision-makingintopractice.Wearenotsogoodatdoingthatinlargergroupsandorganizations.
ButOccupyWallStreetrightlyinsiststhatthisiswhatwearecommittedto.Italsopointsouttousthatwenotonlyhavestoppedtryingtoimproveourdemocraticprocedures,butwehaveallowedthecheats,themanipulators,thetoolsofthecorporateelitetocorruptourdemocracy.
WearefortunatethattherearestillAmericanswhowanttohavearealdemocracy.Wemustsupportthemintheirstrugglebecausetheyarefightingfordemocracyforallofus.
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Death of Democracy In Mitt Romney’s frontal attack on Donald Trump you can find this interesting paragraph: “Ronald...
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p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif","Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl...
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P { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }P.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif","Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family:...
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p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } When the people speak … First Tunisia and Egypt, now Bharain and Yemen and… the Catholic Church. No there have not yet been hundreds of thousands of altar boys in St. Peter's Square demanding that the Pope be...
- The Supreme Court And Corporate Free Speech
The Supreme Court and Corporate Free Speech I have yet to meet anyone who does not deplore the role money plays in elections. Everyone knows that having more money for advertisements, signs, hiring high-priced consultants and a large staff will provide...