We all know about Doctor's Without Borders. But what about Prisoners
Without Bars?
Multiple millions of Americans are being held without their being
aware, in the Empire's prison. The deception that they are free is so
well put together that young men and women gladly offer up their lives
to "Keep America Safe".
When we measure what we say against what we are doing, we might as
well put on red coats and take up our muskets. We've become the very
Cruel and Oppressive Bullies we set out to be free from.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/24/14, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
On 10/24/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>> The thing is, not everyone can be an activist. And large numbers of
>> people
>> require organization and education if an uprising is going to move in a
>> helpful direction. And, of course, look what happened to Occupy. It was,
>> in
>> many respects, one of the most democratic uprisings I know about because
>> people struggled so that decisions would be made by concensus and so that
>> certain groups and individuals would not be marginalized. But the
>> majority
>> of these people were young and educated. And because they were beginning
>> to
>> increase in numbers and to be recognized as legitimate by the population
>> at
>> large, the federal government dispersed them. The more I read about our
>> national security state, the more it becomes evident that it is more
>> intrusive and effective than any autocratic state that has existed in the
>> past in terms of having the capacity to control people. They don't have
>> all
>> of this information on all of us in order to stop terrorists. They have
>> it
>> in order to prevent organizing of uprisings.
>>
>> Miriam
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Blind-Democracy [mailto:blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org] On
>> Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
>> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:12 PM
>> To: Blind Democracy Discussion List
>> Subject: Re: Why I won't vote this year - or any year
>>
>> Well, it is really more important what you are for instead of what you
>> are
>> against, but to bring about what you are for you have to do something
>> rather
>> than vote. Remember the point that the author of the article that started
>> this thread made. No matter how you vote the government is going to do
>> what
>> it was going to do anyway. That is one of the most common sentiments I
>> hear
>> from other people who do not vote too and it is true. The bourgeois
>> electoral system is set up to elect agents of the bourgeoisie. It is not
>> there to effect meaningful change. It is there to give the false
>> impression
>> that the masses are participating while ensuring that they stay in their
>> place. If you are for meaningful change you will help bring it about by
>> being an activist. Vote in order to protest the system and that means
>> casting protest votes. Remember that it is only a protest though.
>> On 10/23/2014 9:56 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
>>> It appears to me that the purpose of one's vote has got to be more
>>> than just opposing a system. One's vote should, in some way, attempt
>>> to improve life for the majority of people. If I vote for the
>>> candidate of a party whose purposes are aligned with my values, I am
>>> attemptint to move our society in a particular direction. If I just
>>> write in a name, I'm showing my discontent, kind of like a toddler
>>> stamping her foot or having a tantrum, but I'm not attempting to
>>> influence what my society does. I'm just saying "no".
>>>
>>> Miriam
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>>
>>> From: Blind-Democracy [mailto:blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org]
>>> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
>>> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 9:05 PM
>>> To: Blind Democracy Discussion List
>>> Subject: Re: Why I won't vote this year - or any year
>>>
>>>
>>> The point is not to vote for the perfect candidate. You don't get
>>> those. The point is to oppose a system.
>>>
>>> On 10/23/2014 6:04 PM, Alice Dampman Humel wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Perfection? If any individual voter truly believes that he/she is
>> the
>>> perfect answer to the problems at any level, local, state, federal,
>>> he/she is delusional.
>>> And the real problem is that what a candidate promises or says is
>>> often far, far different from what he/she then does when/if
>>> elected.our current POTUS comes immediately to mind.
>>>
>>> On Oct 23, 2014, at 5:50 PM, ted chittenden <tchittenden@cox.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> If the responses Roger tells us he is given are to be
>> believed (and
>>> I do believe them), then I'd say there is a lot of immaturity among
>>> the voting population. For the only perfect candidate for each
>>> individual voter would be that voter him/herself, and sometimes even
>>> that is not good enough. If you're looking for perfection in your
>>> voting choices, then you may as well go home--nobody's perfect. On the
>>> other hand, if you're looking for somebody who is not perfect but
>>> whose views and record fit within the profile of the kind of person
>>> whom you would like to see make decisions in your stead, then you will
>>> find a lot more candidates from whom to choose.
>>> --
>>> Ted Chittenden
>>>
>>> Every story has at least two sides if not more.
>>> ---- Alice Dampman Humel <alicedh@verizon.net> wrote:
>>> Roger,
>>> I like this idea very much..
>>> On Oct 18, 2014, at 3:13 PM, Roger Loran Bailey
>>> <Rogerbailey81@aol.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I don't know where this guy got the idea that it is
>> so heretical to
>>> not vote and to admit to it. Most of the people I know do not vote and
>>> have no problem admitting it. I forget the statistics on the
>>> percentage of eligible voters who do not vote, but I remember that it
>>> is very high. The bourgeois press portrays this tendency to not vote
>>> as apathy, but almost no one among the people I talk to express apathy
>>> when I ask them why they do not vote. What they express is disgust
>>> with the choices they are given and the reason given in this article
>>> is also very common. That is, why should I vote when the government is
>>> going to do what it is going to do whether I vote or not. I can only
>>> say that I very well understand the reasons for not voting and I don't
>>> disagree with them. What I disagree with is the decision not to vote.
>>> I urge, instead, voting for candidates that are not the choices the
>>> bourgeoisie offers you. If no such choice is on the ballot then write
>>> it in. If you don't know of any such choice then write in your own
>>> name. If you really don't want to vote then turn in a blank or spoiled
>>> ballot. The reason I urge this is because such actions are going to be
>>> a lot harder for the bourgeois press to depict as apathy. Of course
>>> they will ignore you. However, if large numbers of people do what I
>>> urge it will become harder to ignore. That is one big problem I have
>>> with the Revolutionary Communist Party. They don't just express
>>> disgust with the choices and decline to vote. They actively campaign
>>> for what they call the revolutionary act of not voting. Sorry, but a
>>> lot of people, if not most, already do exactly what they urge and it is
>> always depicted as apathy. They would do a lot better if they would
>> campaign
>> for turning in spoiled ballots.
>>> On 10/16/2014 1:26 AM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Interesting article.
>>> I understand where Michael Malice is coming
>> from, but I do not
>>> agree
>>> with his Libertarian position.
>>> In fact, I do vote. Not for every position
>> on the ballot. Not
>>> for
>>> one of the two Empire Blessed Candidates.
>>> And not even for every issue. I pick and
>> choose, usually voting
>>> for
>>> some unknown name. I do try to study the
>> background of the
>>> various
>>> judge candidates, voting for the least
>> oppressive ones.
>>>
>>> Carl Jarvis
>>>
>>> On 10/14/14, Miriam Vieni
>>> <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Why I won't vote this year - or any
>> year
>>> Governments will continue to act
>>> regardless of popular approval - and
>>> certainly regardless of any approval
>> of mine
>>> o Michael Malice
>>> o theguardian.com, Tuesday 14
>>> October 2014 07.45 EDT
>>> I rarely tell people that I don't
>> believe in voting.
>>> Participation in the
>>> body politic is widely considered to
>> be both a privilege and an
>>> imperative
>>> to the enlightened urban citizen. To
>> choose otherwise is quite
>>> literally
>>> heresy - and heretics by and large
>> have a difficult time of it in
>>> society.
>>> The platitudes I face as a non-voter
>> are known to everyone,
>>> precisely
>>> because they are platitudes - People
>> have marched for miles! or
>>> Immigrants
>>> crossed oceans! The fables are
>>> beautiful and they are compelling. But that
>>> does not make them true.
>>> I do not agree that secretly
>>> flicking a switch once a year constitutes
>>> "making your voice heard". Nor do I
>> think that an annual trip to
>>> a voting
>>> booth is a criterion for whether one
>> can complain or not. My
>>> right to free
>>> speech is not contingent upon anyone
>> else, no matter how many of
>>> them there
>>> are, whether they were elected to
>> some office or however much
>>> they stamp
>>> their feet.
>>> Neither do I agree that the personal
>> is the political. I fully
>>> reject the
>>> Kantian universalizability principle
>> that underlies so much of
>>> contemporary
>>> moral discussion. What if everyone
>> acted the way you did? is not
>>> a useful
>>> means-test for one's actions.
>>> I am a pure liberal. I choose to
>>> live in Brooklyn, and am very consciously
>>> grateful that my friends are as
>>> diverse as humanly possible. None of them
>>> think like me, none of them act like
>> me and none of them have the
>>> background
>>> that I do. This is a source of great
>> pleasure, and I wouldn't
>>> change it for
>>> the world. Nor could I! I'm not
>>> egotistical enough to think that "everyone
>>> will act like I do", as if those
>>> around me were my mirror images.
>>> It is undeniably true that I don't
>> have the practical ability to
>>> ignore the
>>> state. I have to use state roads,
>> and if I refuse to pay taxes
>>> the
>>> consequences will be dire for me.
>>> But there is literally nowhere on Earth
>>> for me to go without some government
>> claiming control over my
>>> person.
>>> Though
>>> democracies are increasingly common
>> throughout the world, it is
>>> the state
>>> that is universal. These governments
>> will continue to act
>>> regardless of any
>>> sort of popular approval - and
>>> certainly regardless of any approval of
>>> mine.
>>> State action proceeds independently
>> of any democratic
>>> justification. The
>>> purest example of this could be seen
>> during the 2012 Democratic
>>> Convention.
>>> Los Angeles mayor Antonio
>>> Villaraigosa sought to amend the party platform
>>> to
>>> include a reference to God and to
>> acknowledge Jerusalem as
>>> Israel's
>>> capital.
>>> He put the edit to the convention
>> floor, seeking to approve the
>>> change via
>>> acclamation. Having failed to
>>> receive the outcome he sought, he asked for a
>>> revote. Then he tried again.
>>> Finally, he simply pretended that those in the
>>> audience - unanimously Democrats and
>> democrats - had agreed with
>>> him.
>>> George W Bush did the same thing
>>> when he sought United Nations authority to
>>> invade Iraq in 2003. Having seen
>>> that the votes were not there, he simply
>>> grounded his invasion in earlier
>>> resolutions.
>>> A party platform is a minor matter.
>>> War - solely government's purview - is
>>> far more serious. Yet in both cases
>> the vote was a formality; an
>>> ex-post-facto justification for an
>> organization to do whatever it
>>> intended
>>> to do anyway.
>>> I am not someone who thinks that he
>> is "making a difference" by
>>> voting once
>>> a year. I was born in the Soviet
>>> Union and my personal history led me to
>>> devote the last two years of my life
>> educating the public about
>>> the horrors
>>> of North Korea. I constantly give
>> talks about the situation in
>>> that
>>> least-free nation ... where everyone
>> votes. I'm actually doing
>>> the work,
>>> rather than choosing a (public)
>>> servant to do it for me.
>>> Understanding the Soviet Union and
>> North Korea gives a bit of
>>> insight into
>>> human social psychology. No matter
>> how absurd the state line, a
>>> huge
>>> majority of the populace can be
>>> found to promulgate it. People will say
>>> with
>>> a straight face that having one
>>> choice for dear leader is tyranny - but
>>> having two is freedom. Is that
>>> second choice on the ballot really the
>>> qualitative difference?
>>> Most progressives understand that
>> human nature is basically the
>>> same
>>> anywhere on the planet. Yet they
>>> think those who rehash propaganda only
>>> exist in other, bad countries.
>>> Barring that, they believe those types are
>>> all to be found on the other side of
>> the political spectrum.
>>> After all, the
>>> other side is where the evil, crazy
>> people reside - those who
>>> want what's
>>> worst for everyone.
>>> The educated aren't immune from such
>> traps; they are merely more
>>> articulate
>>> about them. Frankly I am baffled
>>> that those of us who were nerds in high
>>> school now defer to the winners of
>> popularity contests. There
>>> surely is a
>>> bit of the guard-dog psychology
>>> about the whole thing, barking loudly to
>>> defend the system in order to get
>> the masters' respect and
>>> approval.
>>> If pressed, the simplest explanation
>> I have for refusing to vote
>>> is this: I
>>> don't vote for the same exact
>>> reasons that I don't take communion. No
>>> matter
>>> how admirable he is or how much I
>> agree with him, the pope isn't
>>> the
>>> steward
>>> over my soul. Nor is any president
>> the leader of my life. This
>>> does not
>>> make
>>> me ignorant or evil any more than
>> not being a Christian makes me
>>> ignorant
>>> or
>>> evil. If I need representation, I
>> will hire the most qualified
>>> person to do
>>> so. Otherwise, I will smile and nod
>> as my friends go to their
>>> places of
>>> worship, wishing them well while I
>> simply pray to be left alone.
>>>
>>>
>>> Sign up for the Guardian Today
>>> Our editors' picks for the day's top
>> news and commentary
>>> delivered to your
>>> inbox each morning.
>>> Sign up for the daily email
>>> . Share
>>> .
>>> .
>>> . inShare
>>> . Email
>>> x
>>> Read a sample
>>> Sign up for the Guardian today - US
>> edition
>>> Our editors' picks for the day's top
>> news and commentary
>>> delivered to your
>>> inbox each morning.
>>> Sign up for the Guardian today - US
>> edition
>>> (Emails are sent every morning)
>>> Never show again? Close What's
>>> this?
>>> More from the
>>> Why I won't vote this year - or any
>> year
>>> Governments will continue to act
>>> regardless of popular approval - and
>>> certainly regardless of any approval
>> of mine
>>> .
>>>
>>> https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://www.theguardian.co
>>> m/comm
>>>
>>> entisfree/2014/oct/14/why-i-will-not-vote
>>> . javascript:void(0);
>>> . Error! Hyperlink reference not
>>> valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not
>>> valid.
>>> .
>>>
>>>
>> http://www.theguardian.com/profile/michael-malicehttp://www.theguardian.com/
>>> profile/michael-malice
>>> . Michael Malice
>>> . theguardian.com, Tuesday 14
>>> October 2014 07.45 EDT
>>> . start-of-comments
>>> . Congrats! You won a sticker.
>>> Photograph: SuperFantastic/Flickr
>>> . I rarely tell people that I don't
>> believe in voting.
>>> Participation
>>> in the body politic is widely
>>> considered to be both a privilege and an
>>> imperative to the enlightened urban
>> citizen. To choose otherwise
>>> is quite
>>> literally heresy - and heretics by
>> and large have a difficult
>>> time of it in
>>> society.
>>> . The platitudes I face as a
>>> non-voter are known to everyone,
>>> precisely because they are
>>> platitudes - People have marched for miles! or
>>> Immigrants crossed oceans! The
>>> fables are beautiful and they are
>>> compelling.
>>> But that does not make them true.
>>> . I do not agree that secretly
>>> flicking a switch once a year
>>> constitutes "making your voice
>>> heard". Nor do I think that an annual trip
>>> to
>>> a voting booth is a criterion for
>> whether one can complain or
>>> not. My right
>>> to free speech is not contingent
>>> upon anyone else, no matter how many of
>>> them there are, whether they were
>> elected to some office or
>>> however much
>>> they stamp their feet.
>>> Neither do I agree that the personal
>> is the political. I fully
>>> reject the
>>> Kantian universalizability principle
>> that underlies so much of
>>> contemporary
>>> moral discussion. What if everyone
>> acted the way you did? is not
>>> a useful
>>> means-test for one's actions.
>>> I am a pure liberal. I choose to
>>> live in Brooklyn, and am very consciously
>>> grateful that my friends are as
>>> diverse as humanly possible. None of them
>>> think like me, none of them act like
>> me and none of them have the
>>> background
>>> that I do. This is a source of great
>> pleasure, and I wouldn't
>>> change it for
>>> the world. Nor could I! I'm not
>>> egotistical enough to think that "everyone
>>> will act like I do", as if those
>>> around me were my mirror images.
>>> It is undeniably true that I don't
>> have the practical ability to
>>> ignore the
>>> state. I have to use state roads,
>> and if I refuse to pay taxes
>>> the
>>> consequences will be dire for me.
>>> But there is literally nowhere on Earth
>>> for me to go without some government
>> claiming control over my
>>> person.
>>> Though
>>> democracies are increasingly common
>> throughout the world, it is
>>> the state
>>> that is universal. These governments
>> will continue to act
>>> regardless of any
>>> sort of popular approval - and
>>> certainly regardless of any approval of
>>> mine.
>>> State action proceeds independently
>> of any democratic
>>> justification. The
>>> purest example of this could be seen
>> during the 2012 Democratic
>>> Convention.
>>> Los Angeles mayor Antonio
>>> Villaraigosa sought to amend the party platform
>>> to
>>> include a reference to God and to
>> acknowledge Jerusalem as
>>> Israel's
>>> capital.
>>> He put the edit to the convention
>> floor, seeking to approve the
>>> change via
>>> acclamation. Having failed to
>>> receive the outcome he sought, he asked for a
>>> revote. Then he tried again.
>>> Finally, he simply pretended that those in the
>>> audience - unanimously Democrats and
>> democrats - had agreed with
>>> him.
>>> George W Bush did the same thing
>>> when he sought United Nations authority to
>>> invade Iraq in 2003. Having seen
>>> that the votes were not there, he simply
>>> grounded his invasion in earlier
>>> resolutions.
>>> A party platform is a minor matter.
>>> War - solely government's purview - is
>>> far more serious. Yet in both cases
>> the vote was a formality; an
>>> ex-post-facto justification for an
>> organization to do whatever it
>>> intended
>>> to do anyway.
>>> I am not someone who thinks that he
>> is "making a difference" by
>>> voting once
>>> a year. I was born in the Soviet
>>> Union and my personal history led me to
>>> devote the last two years of my life
>> educating the public about
>>> the horrors
>>> of North Korea. I constantly give
>> talks about the situation in
>>> that
>>> least-free nation ... where everyone
>> votes. I'm actually doing
>>> the work,
>>> rather than choosing a (public)
>>> servant to do it for me.
>>> Understanding the Soviet Union and
>> North Korea gives a bit of
>>> insight into
>>> human social psychology. No matter
>> how absurd the state line, a
>>> huge
>>> majority of the populace can be
>>> found to promulgate it. People will say
>>> with
>>> a straight face that having one
>>> choice for dear leader is tyranny - but
>>> having two is freedom. Is that
>>> second choice on the ballot really the
>>> qualitative difference?
>>> Most progressives understand that
>> human nature is basically the
>>> same
>>> anywhere on the planet. Yet they
>>> think those who rehash propaganda only
>>> exist in other, bad countries.
>>> Barring that, they believe those types are
>>> all to be found on the other side of
>> the political spectrum.
>>> After all, the
>>> other side is where the evil, crazy
>> people reside - those who
>>> want what's
>>> worst for everyone.
>>> The educated aren't immune from such
>> traps; they are merely more
>>> articulate
>>> about them. Frankly I am baffled
>>> that those of us who were nerds in high
>>> school now defer to the winners of
>> popularity contests. There
>>> surely is a
>>> bit of the guard-dog psychology
>>> about the whole thing, barking loudly to
>>> defend the system in order to get
>> the masters' respect and
>>> approval.
>>> If pressed, the simplest explanation
>> I have for refusing to vote
>>> is this: I
>>> don't vote for the same exact
>>> reasons that I don't take communion. No
>>> matter
>>> how admirable he is or how much I
>> agree with him, the pope isn't
>>> the
>>> steward
>>> over my soul. Nor is any president
>> the leader of my life. This
>>> does not
>>> make
>>> me ignorant or evil any more than
>> not being a Christian makes me
>>> ignorant
>>> or
>>> evil. If I need representation, I
>> will hire the most qualified
>>> person to do
>>> so. Otherwise, I will smile and nod
>> as my friends go to their
>>> places of
>>> worship, wishing them well while I
>> simply pray to be left alone.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>>>
>>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>>>
>>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>>>
>>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
>> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>
>
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