Achieving an enhanced Democracy requires an upgraded voter.
CY 2021 has got to be an improvement, right – so Happier New Year! Frankly, this nation cannot afford another 2020. We can’t afford to get sucked any further into the quicksand of the petty feud between the ruling parties and their media “truth” machines. It’s tearing us apart – promoting tribalism and encouraging disdain for all things American. As President Reagan reminded us, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction”. You don’t want to be that generation, do you?
Salvation won’t be coming from on high. This is our mess to clean up. And do you remember Einstein’s definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results? Well, let’s scrap the fantasy, promoted by all political parties, that putting the right butts in the seats of power will fix everything. No – I’m afraid establishing Democracy in America will require upgrading the basic building block of societies and their governments – US.
The first premise of Citizen v2.1 is that the American voter must become a more responsible political person. Many years ago, when I first started pitching the idea of the Citizenry making national policy, a veteran campaign manager told me, flat out, that the American Voter is “dumb as dirt”. The ruling political parties rely on you staying that way, and they are getting good support from the media which seems determined to “dumb us down” and educational institutions which seem to have forgotten their mission of training youth in critical thinking.
So, what’s is gonna take to upgrade us from Citizen version 1.8 (the America citizen as conceived in the 18th century) to Citizen version 2.1?
➢ If you’re reading this, you care about the future of your country and haven’t opted out of all things political. That’s a good sign. I know the game seems rigged, but we can get the rules changed if enough of us have we’ve a mind to.
➢ If you have disavowed allegiance to any organized political party, that’s another step in the right direction. We can’t solve our problems with the same philosophies, policies and parties that caused them. [See the “Declaration of Independents” under Reference Documents]
➢ Learn to tell the difference between propaganda and journalism. Sources of fact and objective analysis are harder to find, but worth it.
➢ Become a Cyber-Warrior, using social media to “Speak Truth (fact) to Ignorance” and drawing attention to every instance of an elected official violating their oath of office or not fulfilling their constituent contract.
➢ Promote passage of the Twenty-Ninth Amendment (see its text under Reference Documents). ** I’m assuming the Equal Rights Amendment will be passed one day and become the twenty-eighth.
8 January 2021