Anarchistbear said:
I don't believe we live in a participatory democracy and I'm not the only one. 40% no longer bother to vote; 60% believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. The one thing both left and right agree on is the system is rigged because it's true. And this polling has been true for decades.No change of government is going to fix that unless our economic system is overhauled
Empowering people to control their own environment and welfare and economy by participatiory democracy without authoritarian control shouldn't be a scary prospect. A recent example is the insurrection against Amazon in NYC where Daddy Knows Best was rejected.
This also goes to what a community is. Your thinking of township is too limiting.
And we should be aiming for a hodge podge of experiences which is the basis for this country
I hear your frustration, but I think you are conflating issues that are separate.
We can work to solve participatory democracy and fix a corrupt federal government (remove the money) AND empower "communities" to make parochial local laws that fit with community values. These local statutes touch us on a more day to day level and define the "flavor" that differentiates the various parts of America.
What that doesn't mean though is that local communities should decide issues of state. We have a Constitution that sets forth terms of citizenship and the fundamental rights of our country. We can't have community law override that which defines us as a nation. Sorry, you're a smart guy, but that's just dumb.
Southern Alabama determines what is marriage so that if a married same sex couple from California is visiting and one gets sick and is in the hospital, the other spouse is not recognized as having rights under community values? Nope that's dumb.
Arkansas has one treaty with NATO while Tennessee has another?
Louisiana recognizes itself as a separate nation.
Blacks can vote in Florida but not in Georgia. Women can work in Ohio but not in Illinois. Men can have sex with children in Alabama but not in Oregon.
Certain decisions are not the rights of community. And I put who gets to shoot whom and with what they get to shoot as a federal decision and one of basic American public safety. It should be up to Congressional law and Supreme Court Constitutional interpretation.
I don't want mine or your community determining rights of American citizenship...and that Mr. Joe McOpenCarry is perfectly capable of using a machine gun to put down a shooter in a crowded mall, shooting as he goes to sort through who is an active shooter, who is a bystander, who is a cop, who is an undercover cop, and who is another Joe McOpenCarry, and how much collateral damage of innocent life is acceptable in his spray of bullets as the "good guy with a gun." That's dumb and crazy.
You are taking the idea of federation and state/community rights too far. We should demand a local AND federal government that works for the public good, and if it is not, then THAT is the problem, and not one of jurisdiction.
"The Bear will not quilt, the Bear will not dye!"