INTERESTING TIMES

You don't know me.  I'm from Tennessee and I was born in the 1960's.  I've been an independent as long as I've been politically aware, because it is clear to me that both of our dominant parties here in the United States of America have become corrupt.  Both are overly influenced by big money, favors and whatnot.  Political figures on both sides have found ways to work the system to stay in power and enrich themselves.  Both parties have become more extreme because our voting systems including closed primaries cause that.  The incentives in our system are all wrong.  It might seem to be time to blow it up, to clear the slate in a dramatic way.

I would argue there's a right and wrong way to clear the slate.  Blowing it up is the wrong way because so much useful stuff gets destroyed in the process.  The right way would be to update our voting systems so that no one population gets to decide for all of us.  Open primaries, non-partisan districting, and ranked choice voting would fix our problems immediately.  The far left wouldn't be stuffing wokeness down our throats.  The far right wouldn't be trying to set up an authoritarian who will rule without regard for the Constitution.  We would have more options, instead of always having to choose between extremes that are both awful.

The beauty of the American system of government and its Constitution is that it was designed to keep any one faction from gaining absolute power.  That saying about power corrupting, and absolute power corrupting absolutely--that's absolutely true.  Our government was designed to keep anyone from having too much power.  The plan is to force us to compromise for the good of the people.  Compromise is hard work. 

Our government is supposed to be OF the people and FOR the people.  Not OF the academics, Christians, rich people, minorities, white people, men or any other single group.  OF THE PEOPLE.  FOR THE PEOPLE.   This is why America is a beacon on a hill for people all around the world.  A place where regular people have a chance.  A place where you won't get killed because you look different or celebrate a different totem.  THIS is the greatness of America.  Our forefathers had a vision and we have carried it forward for over 200 years.

Democracies usually fail before 200 years.  It's rare for a democracy to last as long as this one has.  And it is riddled with imperfections.  It needs work, a big update, a major overhaul.  Those who pretend it's perfect are totally nuts.  We made a lot of changes early, and the civil war forced us to make a bunch more changes.  We're about to have to get busy again.  If this democracy doesn't fail this November because too many people vote for a DICTATOR, we still have a lot of work to do.  The Democrats aren't autocrats like DJT, but they aren't going to give up power easily either.  WE THE PEOPLE must force the changes needed, and those changes will disempower BOTH of our dominant political parties and return the power TO THE PEOPLE.  Ranked choice voting.  Open Primaries.  Non-partisan districts for voting. 

Democracies require work!  They don't work if the people aren't paying attention or doing the work.  A failing democracy is not a reason to give up, it's a reason to get after it!  If we let Trump win it's because we gave up, we were too lazy and too ignorant to make the updates needed to keep rulership in the hands of the people.  Or return it there, really.

If we let our government fall prey to a dictator who ditches the Constitution, we will have lost all that we've fought and died for, for so long.  We'll be right back where we started when those rich Brits and the king were bossing us around.  Don't remember that?  It's because it was 200+ years ago!  History seems real boring until you start repeating it.  The LAST thing we need is to let Trump destroy all the democratic systems in our government in order to glorify himself.  It will take hundreds of years to dig ourselves back out of that pit.  Autocracy is a very bad trap. 

If we let the Dems take this next election, we might live to see the changes that would actually help!  We'll be fighting against them too, but at least they aren't about to ditch the Constitution and ignore federal law to deport a whole bunch of people.

There are LOTS of other changes that we need to work on, but our voting systems must come first.  I pray that NO DICTATOR gains power before we are able to hit the RESET button on our systems and keep working toward a more perfect union.

Trump is the first antidemocratic president in modern U.S. history.  On too many days, beginning in the early hours, he flaunts his disdain for democratic institutions, the ideals of equality and social justice, civil discourse, civic virtues, and America itself.  If transplanted to a country with fewer democratic safeguards, he would audition for dictator, because that is where his instincts lead.  This frightening fact has consequences.  The herd mentality is powerful in international affairs.  Leaders around the globe observe, learn from, and mimic one another.  They see where their peers are heading, what they can get away with, and how they can augment and perpetuate their power.  The walk in one another's footsteps, as Hitler did with Mussolini--and today the herd is moving in a Fascist direction.
--Madeleine Albright in Fascism: A Warning, page 246 (in what I think is the final chapter).

Democracy is based on the belief that people are more good than bad, that we are more curious than controlling, more playful than violent, and more kind than selfish.  I am not so sure anymore.  If the ways of a democratic society are based on the common denominator, and humans at base are horny, greedy and cruel, then society will be the same.  

I have come to suspect that we have not evolved to the point that our cognitive processes consistently overrule our animal instincts.  The idea that we can base our choices on verifiable information appears damned.  Civility is superficial and short-lived.  Democracy fails in the face of the self-righteous greed of our kind.  The solution of course would be a benevolent dictator, but the problem with those is that they are human too and the majority are not benevolent.

Please, America, prove me wrong.

Looks like it is mostly true, the assertion that more handouts are given in republican-dominated states. This makes sense to me because in those states or areas where local social programs are limited or cut, the poor will seek out federal assistance. Big business on the other hand is likely to avoid paying taxes entirely. Churches remain tax exempt no matter how gigantic or lavish. There is a problem here.

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/35908018305

Just yesterday I finally stopped ignoring the Middle East and looked up a few things. Like who is Shia and who is Sunni. And who has nukes and where. And what exactly an Islamist is. It was....a useful exercise. Anyone else out there taking an interest in this juncture of history? I'm ready to be educated.

It just seems to me, after one *ok a fraction of one* day of looking into it, that the majority Sunnis in most of the Middle East have been supremely frustrated trying to deal with their less conservative, more secular Shia neighbors. And it seems clear to me that America has at least attempted to enact a separation of church and state, even though those words do not appear in the constitution. It was in the First Amendment to the US Constitution that Congress was to "make no law respecting respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". As wikipedia points out, lots of nations have this idea in their code, and there is a great range of shades of gray in its execution. Here in America we do fairly well, but nowhere near a perfect score. For one thing, the constitution has no control over the states and what local laws might be passed. Which may be how we have gigantic crosses along Interstate 5 in Washington State. Not so different from other places, where religion is supposed to guide personal and political life. Here we seem only able to elect Christian presidents. We like to think that we are above it, but we are surely not.

So I know I am rambling and I will call it quits. If you have an opinion about what is the crux of what is going on--in Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia or any other involved party, feel free to comment and tell me! I'm building a mind map.

**Created Syria tag.

No, Virginia, there is not a Santa Claus, except in marketing and the media and in your imagination.

Earlier this week I attended a training on how to facilitate support groups for people who experience Extreme States, including hearing voices, seeing visions, and other experiences most commonly diagnosed as psychosis. We broke out many times into small groups to practice what we were learning. One time, when I was facilitating a small group, one of the women in the group started freaking a little bit and asking "Is she real?" of another person in the room. I calmly reassured her that yes, indeed, that person was real as far as I could tell.

This clip reminds me of that. This reality check is for the Republicans who thought that their version of reality was going to triumph on Tuesday. For a while I stopped listening to Rachel because I have libertarian sympathies and she was taking unfair potshots from a very partisan position. This time she's not being partisan. This time she's speaking about the basics of reality, of what is our consensual truth, except for a few tone-deaf and science-ignorant Republicans who have poisoned their entire party.

Are you American? Or a United States citizen, more specifically? Have you ever written a real paper letter to your representative in Congress? Or to a Senator? If yes, what fired you up enough to get you to write? How long ago was it? Do you ever go publicly protest, and hold a sign? Been out recently? Do you fill out petitions online? Do you vote? Where do you draw the line in your efforts to influence the course of this nation?

It appears to me that most of us do very little. I fill out a few petitions, and send a little bit of money sometimes, and put some effort into researching my votes, but that's about it. I haven't been putting any real energy into the project. I feel like congress should take care of this stuff for me, that I'm no expert and somebody more expert than me should be making the decisions. I don't really want to OWN my part in a democracy because it's a whole lot of work. But as our nation suffers increasing challenges, people are noticing, and activism seems to be on the rise. I was heartened when I heard support for Audit the Fed on an Occupy youtube video. The new activism is less party oriented than at any time in my political consciousness. There is a chance that we might be able to get something done.
( ruminations )