democracy

NOTES FROM THE RADICAL MARGIN: “ONCE MORE UNTO THE BOOTH, DEAR FRIENDS, ONCE MORE…”

Sorry to corrupt Shakespeare at the outset. But the sentiment is what matters on the days before this November 6 election. So, here is an excerpt from Harry’s speech:

“In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger.”

NOTE ONE

If TwitFaceGoog (TFG) worked for Democracy...

they'd undertake a massive campaign to educate users on how to tell the difference between claims and facts. They'd grace the People with the reasoning abilities to know when something is proven, disproven, or needs more information before deciding its value.

Teach people how rhetorical tricks and manipulative tactics are used on them. Teach people how trolls operate. How to check the sourcing, and whether there is more than one source.

The Other Historical Event We Should Celebrate in July

PA Con 1776.jpg

John Adams must have shaken his head as he watched delegates to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention filing into the West Room of the Statehouse on July 15, 1776. Across the hall in the East Room, Adams and his colleagues in the Continental Congress had recently voted to declare the thirteen colonies independence from Great Britain. Now the newly independent states would each have to create new "republican" constitutions. A month before, Adams had worried that the new constitutions would be influenced by a "spirit of leveling, as well as that of innovation." In the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, perhaps the most radically democratic in the world at the time, Adams worst fears would be realized.

Rojava, an unlikely place for a democratic revolution.

I have been following the developments in Rojava, an area of Northern Syria that adheres to the thoughts of Murray Bookchin. (ghohnsit's recent article reminded me I wanted to write about Rojava, a spunky little area in a war-torn region that is promoting a new form of decentralized democracy, and this started as a comment on gjonsit's recent article on Iran but it was growing long so I made it a separate diary.)

Why I prefer union organizing over #FightFor15 and Universal Basic Income

Don't get me wrong. I don't oppose raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Nor do I oppose the idea of a Universal Basic Income.
Both ideas are better than what we have now, and I'll be happy if either or both are implemented.

However, there is a flaw with both ideas that I just can't overlook:

Neither of these proposals empower the workers.

Midnight Special - Shutdown City

At this writing, it's still up in the air. I won't even guess. Well, I will. I think they'll miraculously come up with an agreement to avoid a shutdown and the serfs will heave a big sigh of relief and express gratitude that their political representatives running this country for them (right?) have done a solid for the U.S. of A.

USA! USA! USA! We're number One!

It's all a charade, a mockery, an act, a masquerade, a farce.

We Don't Live in a Democracy

We don't live in a democracy, you know that don't you? Seems like everyone I say that to acknowledges it. They'll say, "well sure, it's not a democracy but a republic". Or, "yes of course, the rich control the government". Or, "well, the system of government is a representative democracy, but not a "real" democracy".

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