REAL DEMOCRACY AND CITIZEN ACTIVISM

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I really don't like politics, but...

The following article extract comes to us courtesy of Truthout.org, an organization labelled by many as being "Progressive" (now a pejorative term when spoken by conservatives and Republicans) news source. And yes, I read The Liberty Digest, too (they tend to be called "right-wing" or "ultra-conservative" by many of those folks whom others are calling Progressives and Liberals. I read as much as I can, and I make my own decisions after gleaning insights from the full spectrum of politicized and cause-based media. I am what some people would call an "Independent Thinker." It even gets lonely. By our nature, we really can't have a club, except to beat each other with. And for goodness' sake, stop calling Independent Thinkers, Non-Joiners and Revolutionaries "Anarchists" -- we are anything but Anarchists.

Please read the article excerpt which follows, then hit the "BACK" button on your browser, and come back. We aren't finished with this discussion. It concerns all of Human Civilization internationally.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Populism Isn't Dead, It's Marching: What 19th Century Farmers Can Teach Occupiers About How to Keep Going

Ashley Sanders, War Is A Crime.org: "Not so long ago, Americans witnessed the beginning of a mass democratic uprising.... They did it to reject debt. They did it to fight foreclosures. They did it to topple a world where the 1 percent determined life for the other 99. And they did all of it against incredible odds, with a self-respect that stymied critics. The year? 1877. The people? Dirt-poor farmers who would come to be known as Populists."
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THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE COMMENTARY:

To have any type of democracy flourish, certain preconditions should exist, and should be sustained and vigorously defended. Any tear in the fabric of democratic principles invites unconscionable abuses and contortions of the very concept of "people working, through informed argument, compelling conversation and majority agreement, with tolerance and provision for those who may disagree, to operate in a synergistic manner which benefits as great a percentage of the participants as possible without any unnecessary restriction of essential freedoms." This is my ideal for a functioning democracy.

1) Free exchange of information, news and ideas through unrestricted communication across all demographic and geographical borders;

2) A reasonable standard of education for all. Education is crucial, and is too often neglected around budget season. Simply put, NO EDUCATION = NO DEMOCRACY;

3) A safe, accessible forum for direct voting on all issues of concern for all participants, and a vigorous turnout for these votes. No gerrymandering, electoral colleges, no delegation to 'greater minds' -- simply a direct, uncontrived vote, with an honest, audited, public count;

4) Limited laws, made by vote, which are based on the need for cooperative effort, or to prevent significant physical dangers to the entire population -- not laws for the purpose of creating jobs, granting privileges, regulating morality, and to keep politicians and other potentially parasitic intermediaries busy;

5) Equal treatment under those limited laws -- it would certainly help if each voting participant imagined himself or herself being prosecuted or persecuted as a lawbreaker, as opposed to the notion of controlling the behavior, beliefs and practices of others to conform to their own beliefs...laws should be made to protect and not to restrict or constrain;

And last, every world citizen should have the right to question authority, orders, demands, perceived abuses, pirating of democracy, and other potential cracks in the foundation of true democracy. Democracy cannot be be forced upon people. Democracy cannot be bought. Democracy does not equate to somnambulistic conformity.

Every citizen must be an activist, and an informed participant to deserve and to create a democracy. Democracy is a difficult form of civilization -- it requires relentless work, transparency and a great deal of open communication.

How many true democracies do you think that we have in our world today? Hmmm....I wonder.

Remember this, too. Democracy disintegrates if it is neglected. It requires vigilance; but I believe the benefits are truly worth the effort.

Douglas E Castle for THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE





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Everybody Wants To Be Free, Or So It Would Seem...

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Everybody Wants To Be Free, Or So It Would Seem…

Note: This article was written and is copyright © 2010 by Douglas Castle, with all rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced or transmitted by any means whatsoever without the author’s prior written consent unless the article is reproduced in its entirety, unedited, with all hyperlinks fully intact and operational. The article was simultaneously published in the following media: The Internationalist Page, the Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community (GICBC) blog, and in the author’s own blog. The author is a featured columnist in The National Networker Newsletter- You may join The National Networker Companies (a GICBC) and receive the Weekly Newsletter™, The Blue Tuesday Report™ and other publications of interest to entrepreneurs and emerging enterprises by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNW.

Everybody claims to want to be free. In some cases, this notion of freedom means the power to take the reins of responsibility and accept the consequences. In the other cases, this notion actually entails the elimination of the burden of responsibility – this latter type of “freedom” sounds shockingly similar to a plea for enslavement. It is not freedom – it is purely an idyllic and ephemeral sense of security, at very most. It is a lazy daydream.

What does the notion of “freedom” mean to you? It’s a difficult question. It requires that you confront yourself with the pointed query, “do I truly want to be a master, or am I merely fit to be a slave who desires to be treated reasonably well?”

When you have answered this question posed to yourself, you will find, sadly, that there is no “middle ground.” You are either a slave or a master. And the choice is yours alone.  

Freedom invariably comes at a cost and at great risk if it is truly freedom – the definition of freedom that involves self-determination. Freedom offers no guarantees, and it is never fully safe. It is subject to constant challenge, both within us, and due to forces in the world outside of us.

Those few persons in positions of control (geographically, politically, ethnically, racially, financially, militarily, ideologically…) do not give up their slaves and subjects easily. They enjoy the power of domination, of mastery over themselves and over others. Yet, most of these masters (whether bullies, petty despots, tyrants or spoiled beneficiaries) are quite dependent upon their slaves, and upon the thrall that holds them. For without their slaves, they could no longer see themselves as masters. Masters sometimes get complacent and lazy. Slaves sometimes get lean and mean.

Sometimes the slaves unite, bonded in misery and despair, and begin to plan revolutions and escapes. That is one of the greatest threats to any self-proclaimed “master” – slaves communicating with one another, exchanging information, and getting organized.

Suppressed rage and bottled up fury can be powerful propellants. Organization is a means of focusing energy.  The internet and increasingly portable and far-reaching communications technology provide a means for slaves to collaborate in synergy. Rage, organization and technology, combined together, portend an upheaval in the status quo.

Governments, in theory, are either: 1) constructs of their collective constituents (i.e., the people who elect, empower and entrust them), whom they serve, or they are 2) self-centered powers purely unto themselves, imposing their will upon the people whom they have enslaved, and upon whom they feed, like parasites eating away at a host.

Both types of government, elected or imposed, tend to represent to their citizens or subjects that they “exist to serve and protect them,” either from themselves (taking dangerous medications, driving unsafely, et cetera), from each other (domestic crime and civil war), or from outside attackers (i.e., other sovereign powers, aliens from outer space, or terrorists).

From an historical perspective, every government seizes additional power and reduces individual liberties when a threat to “the public welfare” or to “the national security” is perceived. Posed with this type of a threat, citizens and subjects are invariably willing to compromise their freedoms in the interest of additional security, whether this security is real or imagined.

The escalation in the global War on Terror will be a great determinant of the future of the Human species. What will be fascinating to observe will be the turning point – the Turning Point is that moment at which the majority of the people perceive their government as being as oppressive as the terrorists from whom they are supposedly being protected.

By my simplistic definition, a terrorist is any individual who is determined to deprive another person (a non-combatant) of his or her property, freedom or life. And I’ll admit that my simple definition could be applied to persons who would not ordinarily be labeled as “terrorists.”

Some of them don’t wield guns. Some of them wield propaganda. Some of them storm a target by force, or strap bombs to their bodies and willingly sacrifice their own lives while taking a number of innocent lives as well. Some of them gradually subvert the will of a people until the people are virtually hypnotized into building their own cages and coffins. Some might view this as “jobs creation.”

American statesman Benjamin Franklin said it eloquently some time ago:

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

If you truly believe in freedom, you’ll know that it cannot be delegated, assigned or entrusted to any government, agency or organization.

Freedom is ultimately an individual choice and an individual responsibility, lest our protectors become our captors and masters, and we all become slaves.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

03.29.2010.

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Labels, Keywords, Tags and Terms: freedom, tyranny, slavery, mastery, terrorism, free will, responsibilities, choices, government, Ben Franklin, GICBC, The National Networker Companies,

This article was published in the GICBC ("Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community") Blog, which is located at GICBC.
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Douglas Castle, Organizational Facilitator