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Edited on Sun Jul-17-05 10:00 AM by Selatius
You elect someone ELSE to MAKE the DECISIONS for you. If you don't like the choices they make, then you can do it repeatedly and choose someone else again who may or may not make decisions for the good of all.
The argument against this way of governance I've come across is this:
"Why should we choose someone else to make decisions for us that we, ourselves, have always had the power to do together?"
The answer I see most often in response to this is "convenience."
While this is true in a conventional sense, the point of the matter is that when you do something out of simple convenience as opposed to doing it because of responsibility for your own life, you run into situations where you trust people who don't give one damn about you.
You trust people by voting for them, and when they turn around and sell you out, what do you do? What do you fucking do? You turn around and do it over again! And then you hope you don't get screwed over again! Does this NOT strike anyone as just a tiny little bit absurd? It is a statistical certainty that the more elections you participate in, the greater your chances of electing someone who will screw you over.
I was always an advocate of a more direct form of democracy, but that's just me, and people keep saying people are too stupid to do it themselves like assuming people don't know the garbage, the sewer, the water, or the power are issues that need to be handled by competent individuals on such matters. It's elitist bullshit. You take responsibility for your own life together with your neighbors in a collective fashion DIRECTLY. The only reason why this elitist argument even works is because we fail to educate each other (No, we depend on the damnable corporate news media to educate us!), and as a result, we have to depend on someone else to do it for us because we've been filled up with this useless garbage from them. You become dependent upon the abusive husband because he is the one who brings home the bacon as a result.
Not only do I advocate more direct forms of governance, I wouldn't advocate it if I did not take responsibility and also advocated education and direct popular organization as the foundation on which to build. If the Spanish people could do it during their Spanish Civil War, in the middle of a god damn war zone, we, as well as any group of people on the planet, could do it as well.
OK, if you want a more direct form of democracy, here's a crude model:
Take a town of 16,000, for instance. Instead of having a full-time city council of, say, less than 20 individuals representing that town responsible for the water, the sewage, and other city services, do it directly. Take that town, junk the city council, and divide it up into units of, say, no more than 500 individuals maximum. Each unit will meet only once each week (for only a couple hours or even less) and will be made up of citizens. (This will be a part-time job instead; many hands make light work) They, themselves, will decide what needs to be done as far as services go. They will directly decide their own affairs and will appoint people who answer to them directly, not to some city council person who may or may not be corrupt. Congratulations, you've set up a system where citizens have decision-making power, not someone else.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know engineers and such competent of dealing with the water system should be appointed to oversee the water utilities, as well as individuals competent in handling power, the local school, sewage, etc. Voila, you've just transitioned to a more direct form of decision-making, and you did it by keeping the folks who know how the utilities work in the same place. You've just ensured basic services as a result.
Now your next step is connecting with other communities who have done the same thing and forming a larger coalition. The more people join, the better your chances of survival, and you will have wider access to individuals skilled in various trades. You steer the wheel. You don't want to handle that responsibility? Then stay in your abusive relationship with your government.
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