Tag: democracy

The Slow Burn May Be Heating Up

Modesitt is preaching to my choir again:

… minorities, women, and others affected by the history and legacy of racial and gender discrimination. They’re tired of endlessly waiting for equality, and with ethnic, racial, and gender discrimination continuing, those feeling that discrimination is continuing are also getting angrier and angrier.

The Anger Problem, published 7/25/2017 http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2017/07/25/the-anger-problem/

Also read this morning, and a blog post I also commented upon:

If we had maximum democracy every registered voter would vote on every bill without using representatives. Since we have a representative democracy, our elected proxies should vote the way we want. Often, this doesn’t happen because they work for a minority rather than the majority. This is called an oligarchy, and since our oligarchs are rich, we call our form of oligarchy a plutocracy. I guess that’s fancier label than Rule by Billionaires.

We Need More Democracy

I’m just all kinds of warm and fuzzy today but I blame that on the hot humid Kansas summer.

Article: International bill of digital rights: call from 500 writers around the world

International bill of digital rights: call from 500 writers around the world

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/international-bill-digital-rights-petition-text

Better even to hear from so many and not just the big corporations.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Lincoln’s spare words at Gettysburg inspire 150 years later – KansasCity.com

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/18/4632336/lincolns-spare-words-at-gettysburg.html

So concise and powerful that it brought tears to my eyes. I should re-read this every year on Memorial Day, Independence Day and probably Veterans Day.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Polarization v. Compromise or the Cold War v. Common Sense

The polls closed a few minutes ago here in the Heart of America (aka Kansas).  Twelve hours ago I took a few minutes to cast my votes and submit my ballot.  Something unheard of or scoffed at a thousand years ago, or even just a couple or three hundred years in the past; a privilege I have invoked every election year since 1982.  A non-violent non-fatal process for expressing and affirming a society’s will or vision and any changes thereto.

I stumbled across, via my WordPress subscriptions, a blog post by an author I admire, L.E. Modesitt, Jr. entitled ‘Election Day … and the Polarization of Everything?‘  His observations struck a chord with me, especially with the heightened awareness the Internet brings to the radical (left or right … take your pick) and the Tea Party movement.  Extreme viewpoints and adherence to a very strict code of ethics is laudable, but can lead to stalemates at best and a fall into violence at worst.

Without some hope of compromise, I envision a return to a Cold War-type era, where an ‘arms race’ of values and platforms trumps any Common Sense measures which when properly discussed and debated might actually benefit a majority of people.

I admit I’m often a centrist, attempting to accurately see both sides or all sides of an issue before making a suggestion or a decision.  No matter how uncomfortable it might make me feel, I want to ‘walk a mile’ in someone else’s shoes before putting on my own and breaking trail on my own path.