Contributed by Daniel Celovsky June 8 2022
In a Democracy the wishes of the majority determines how society functions. The majority want peace, clean water, clean air, quality education, an open and honest press, housing as a right, health care as a right, corrupt corporations charged and their executives jailed, and so much more.
We - the majority - are not getting any of it. And since that is the reality - there is absolutely no way we have a democracy. Remember, that democracy actually takes the actions demanded by the majority of its citizens. That does not exist.
This majority rule concept is not some kind of theory or idealistic viewpoint - it is the definition of democracy. It is right in the dictionary!!!
Anybody who tells me we are currently living under democracy fails to understand the definition of democracy.
Who are decisions made for by our politicians? The 1% and the big global mega-corporations - and 1% is not a majority. Again, go reference basic simple math. 1% is not a majority - a majority is 50% + 1.
In the US, there are over 4 full-time - and handsomely paid - lobbyists for every member of Congress (both the Senate and House). Many of them move back and forth through the revolving door between the government and industry. FOUR TO ONE!
Their sole job is to get the Government to remove regulations, reduce enforcement of those regulations that remain, and to issue contracts and subsidies to their sponsors - the global corporate elite. And the money flows. Political donations, Super PACs. lucrative lobbying gigs, speaking engagements, insider trading stock tips, and more. Excuse me … but … wtf!?!?!
Let me provide a simple example of how easily corruption plays out - just for emphasis purposes. A Big Oil company CEO can simply issue a $2-million donation to the Republicans (the RNC) and another $2-million donation to the Democrats (the DNC). It does not matter which party wins - following the election, the same CEO just sends four of his lobbyists out to get $4-billion in more favors. Easy-Peasy. Too easy actually. And the cost is the actual removal of our democracy.
Does that piss you off? It should.
When decisions are made for the few, it means we are living in an autocratic society. Dissent is oppressed. The wishes of the majority are given bullshit excuses as to why they cannot be implemented. Police forces are equipped to tamp down the majority in their communities. Serveillance and legal rules are giving the governments the rights to completely thwart individual rights and freedoms.
We face crisis after crisis after crisis. Wars. Global Heating. Poverty. Income Disparity. Inflation. Homelessness. Pollution everywhere. And the majority want the opposite of all of it. And corruption all around our government institutions is what we get. The MAJORITY are denied.
When we exercise the one channel we have we are not offered electoral choices. We are offered politicians that tell us what they can and will do for us (and rarely do they follow-through on those when elected). That is bullshit. The people are telling the politicians what they expect and it is the politician’s job to deliver it. In a democracy, the politicians work for the people - it is NOT other way around!
Who elects party officials that determine our “platform”? We sure don’t. The 1% donors of money and largess determine the agenda. The 1% sets the agenda. Again - that is NOT democracy.
THE CURE
Is there something we can do to restore democracy? Yes! There is!!!
But - there is a requirement that is placed on each and every one of us. That requirement is for each of us to accept and engage our civic responsibility. We have to engage with some effort - we have to commit some 100 to 200 hours a year of our time to it. Without it, we are lost - and will continue to lose our own freedoms and liberties to determine our own futures within our communities and our societies.
Face it - in the absence of our acceptance of our civic responsibility, the corporate elite have swooped in and taken on their civic responsibilities to our detriment!!!! Our silence has opened the door for the 1% to set the direction of our futures. They pay for it and they get it! And we lose. Look at the government inaction and outright corruption over decade after decade after decade. We are screwing ourselves!
How do we change this? We engage with each other. Community by community. We gather together in Town Hall Meetings and we set our agenda. We determine our priorities. And we demand them. And we will be listened to - and our politicians will act on our demands.
By engaging with our neighbors in our communities - we have the one thing the 1% does not have - and never will have. We have the majority. All we need to do is rise up and make that majority heard.
At this point, many of you will say the standard refrain of “there is not enough of us that will engage together to make a difference”. Here is my response: “bullshit”.
How many of us does it take? A lot less than you imagine. Hear me out. Last federal election in Canada - I resided in a federal riding (in the US, it would be called a Congressional District) where the incumbent candidate won by just over 1,000 votes over the second place party candidate. This district has 59,757 registered voters. That means the margin of victory (1,084 votes) is only 1.81%.
If the Town Hall meetings in my district can be grown to a few hundred voters, our town halls will have some power. If it can be grown to a couple thousand - we will have absolute power. It does not take much.
Remember that the 1% work the process of money for candidates so that candidates can ‘buy’ votes for re-election. We can skip the money part completely because our Town Hall group actually carries the votes.
But it is more than that. The power is actually a lot more than that. Remember one thing here - that we are actually carrying the agenda and platform our neighbors also want! Equity, fairness, peace, justice, clean air, clean water, respect, access to human rights of housing, food, clean water and air, education, healthcare!
The Town Hall in your district will actually be supported by the silent majority! It is called power. It is democratic power.
Consider your federal electoral district/electoral riding and start your Town Hall citizens group today! Start with a few … and keep growing it. Be loud … take minutes of each meeting … set platform items … set demands … and share them with your local media outlets. And be persistent … every meeting (minimum monthly … ideally bi-weekly) take minutes and issue those minutes to your current representative and local media. And keep recruiting more of your neighbors in. Keep going.
That is taking your civic responsibility. And - you know what? That is the cure that our failing democracy needs to restore its health. You want the democratic freedom and liberty to determine your own future and the direction of your community and society? Then rise up, put in the effort of taking some civic responsibility - and take it!!!
If we do this - we have a bright future in front of us. 100-200 hours a year!!! And the 1% can go to hell. In essence - this permanent check-and-balance on our democratic institutions of government will work for the 99%. As it was designed to work.
There is no need for a political party in any of it. All we need is each community (riding or district) to set their demands and priorities and send their selected representative to get those demands and priorities done. If we do this across all 435 US Congressional Districts and all 338 Canadian Electoral Ridings, we have ourselves a healthy democracy rising up. We will be permanently occupying our government. We rule.
The next post will be in a couple of weeks. It will outline the nitty-gitty steps to make this happen in your riding/district as well as my riding/district. Meanwhile - share this around. It is time to get off our asses, and get the work done.