A Coalition of Americans disgusted with their political leaders and economic rulers, and ready for positive change
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BEFORE THE MOST COMMONLY asked questions about True Democracy, or Direct Democracy, or Participatory Democracy— all the very same political form—are answered, two attitudes about politics held by millions of Americans must be addressed: "I'm not interested in politics," and "politics has nothing to do with my needs or wants." These are not only negative attitudes, they are destructively false. You should be interested in politics, because it has a lot to do with your needs and wants. Politics is mostly about money and wealth; who gets it, who doesn't get it, and who keeps it. It's related to how little you make in wages or salary, how much politicians can take of your earnings in taxes, and how much businessmen can steal from you with overpriced products. Does this sound like something in which you shouldn't be interested? Are these powers really unrelated to your life? In totalitarian countries, where citizens live under brute-force rule and constant fear, rulers take whatever they want of the nation's natural resources for themselves, and tax common citizens for as much as they want. Commoners can do little about the situation without using brute force. In the United States, which claims to be a democracy, our economic rulers also have taken much of the nation's natural resources for themselves, and our political leaders tax us for as much as we let them get away with. We have the latent power to peacefully do something about it, but we don't. Which is why, in the United States, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Just like in totalitarian countries. The answer is for working Americans to get involved in "politics," but not the politics of our "representative" democracy, which is too heavily stacked against us. We should get involved in a system that allows each and every one of us to participate in determining the values and laws which govern our society. |
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How is fictional"America"' different than the U.S.A.? The fictional America presentd in the book "and the truth shall set you free' is a true democracy as opposed to the "pseudo" democracy currently used by the American people. It is a political system within which all citizens, rich and poor, male and female, white and colored participate directly in selecting the values, laws, and regulations affecting their lives. Won't control of government by the ignorant, emotional masses be disastrous for minority rights? Won't it interefere with our successful system of deliberation and debate? No! That's propaganda preached by rich minorities of all places and times, and it's not true. The efficiency of government is totally dependent upon its design. If its powers are restricted to the legitimate needs of the citizenry and of society, and if government is prohibited from interfering with an individual's personal life and choices, such a government can never become tyrannical. It's propaganda that a popular government will produce a tyrannical government. This theory of the common people's potential to become tyrants is constantly being proven wrong by citizens of other countries who have already incorporated into their political systems such deliberative processes as Citizen Planning Cells created by Professor Peter Dienel of Germany. His system has proved that unknowing and uneducated people, once fully informed of the problems of an issue and all the possible options, can make decisions equally as competent as any legislator, and often better. Inherent in a functional system of true democracy
is an educated citizenry. Theoretical "America" provides every citizen with
an Why should anyone believe a true democracy will work better than a representative one? All political systems ever to exist on planet Earth, from rule of one, such as in a dictatorship, to rule of few, such as in the Roman Empire, to rule of many but not all, such as in Classical Greece have been "them against us" systems; hierarchical systems; systems hostile to their common citizens; systems that created negative, unhealthy social environments for many commoners. What the people of planet Earth haven't seen is a government managed by all of its citizens; a form of management by which all contribute to mold the values and laws governing their lives. Only such a politically organized society, with its ability to thoroughly diffuse political and economic power holds the potential to create a comparatively classless society; a society in which no individual or group has the power to send other citizens to fight and die in unnecessary and unwanted wars; a friendly society which cares for and nurtures all of its citizens. The function of this website is to create a virtual meeting place around which discontented American commoners who wish to make this a better country may rally. It is irrelevant whether the cause of discontent is racial discrimination, chauvinist abuse, economic injustice, environmental destruction, dishonesty, whatever. This web's objective is to unite and fuse common Americans into the country's strongest political force, change the Americn political system, and then intiate the common sense changes that our "leaders" stubbornly refuse to make. Strategies and objectives are based upon the following six premises:
Isn't this revolutionary talk? Yes, and no! In a way it is, but it isn't a new revolution being proposed. It's a continuation of the one begun in 1776 and diverted with sneaky words by the American privileged for their own benefit. It's the change expected by every American colonist who fought to discard rule of the English king. It's the change advocated by the farmers of the late 19th century in their fight against moneylenders and the undue concentration of wealth and power. It's the change advocated by the young Americans of the '60s and '70s in their Port Huron Manifesto. It's the change for right over wrong. It's the change from pseudo-democracy to true democracy. And it's a change long overdue. Isn't it impractical, if not impossible, to have a true democracy within our current republican form of organization? Yes! But the major drawback of the republican form utilized in the U.S. is that there are too many chiefs and too many powerful self-interests. There are 50 states and one federal government. The people are ruled by 51 different sets of political and economic gangs. There are 51 sets of laws, and 51 sets of taxing formulations. Many Americans haven't really understood that the U.S.A. isn't a single nation, but merely an association of states (which in Europe are called countries). Nor do they understand that as Americans —one people—there no longer exists the need of state sovereignty. There no longer exists the need of 51 gangs of thieves and so many different sets of laws. If properly structured, a single set of laws and taxing formulations is all that is needed. Fictional "America," on the other hand, is a single, unified, political structure. It's citizens are truly "Americans," all governed by one set of laws and one set of taxes. There are no professional politicians, for the people administer government and make the laws. Won't a strong, central government which plans the overall society be dictatorial? What about "government is best which governs least?" "Government is best which governs least" is true, and always will be true, when applied to them-against-us governments such as found in hierarchical social systems; governments comprised of people whose interests are unrelated to the interests of the governed; governments that allow these people to care for their interests at the expense of the governed. Such a statement is neither true, nor relevant, in a true democracy where the government is us. All of us. What can I do to help change our representative democracy to a true democracy? Tell, at least, one person a day about this site. Read "and the truth shall set you free" and learn how a true democracy might function, and how working people would benefit. Form, or join, a Chapter for Change and help us to build an educated force for true democracy and true freedom. Tell your friends and associates to form, or join, a Chapter for Change and to read the book also. Begin reading about true democracy and visit the websites recommended on our Talk-of-the-Town page to see how many other alarmed and discontented Americans, individuals and groups, realize it's time for serious change. The Institute will also take any contributions you might wish to make to the cause of true democracy. You and all the other common, working and poorer citizens of the United States are the only ones who can transform this wish for change into the reality of change. The arguments for change found on this website and in the book are all based on a really
simple truth: "if you don't reach for the brass ring, you can never grab it!"  Gottlieb's World by Lee Gottlieb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License copyright © 2000-2012 by Lee Gottlieb / All rights reserved |