Day: February 22, 2010

Is Anyone Listening?

That is the question…whether it is easier to face reality or to blow BS out of your butt?  If we listen closely to the news it is apparent that it is the later…….but I digress…..the political theater in the US now is something akin to day care and there appears to be NO adult in charge…….

But in all the lip waging and finger pointing and he said they said….there is an adult…he has always been one of the few in the Washington arena……the adult I refer to is Colin Powell…not the darling of the Right by any means…but at least he acts like an adult….

“It’s a great system but it’s in some disarray right now and the American people are looking for their leaders to fix it,” Powell said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Congressional leaders need to find ways to “get the country moving and not just scream at each other,” said Powell.

“I think he has done quite a few things well to stabilize the situation,” Powell said. “But I’m afraid he put too much on the plate for the American people to absorb at this time.”

“The American people are looking for their leaders to fix it. They’re looking for the White House to fix it. They’re looking for leaders in both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the House and Senate to start finding ways to compromise and get the country moving and not just scream at each other,”

He also spoke on the Obama socialism thing and asked if the country was so weak as to allow a single person to change the entire system…..(a point I would like to hear them address)

I know that the Right has had its problems with Powell, calling a RINO and chastising him when he endorsed Obama over McCain in the early days of the 2008 election thing….Man speaks like an adult that has actually spent sometime on understanding issues and position…instead of doing what others in his party are doing…insulting, name calling and whining….

Maybe if the GOP spent more time working for solutions to problems than is being an obstruction then the country could quite possibly be better off….but then he, Powell, can act like an adult for he is NOT running for anything…he does not need to stay on his knees in front of contributors……

You Say You Want To Participate?

Inkwell Institute

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Political Theory/Democracy

Paper #4

Participatory Democracy

To begin with I would like to thank my friend Quin of Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll to visit his site….a well written and thoughtful site) for the headache that he gave me in writing this paper (BTW, he does know I am joking)….this was a bitch to write for there are so many facets to this subject that I could never write it all…..I try to be concise and use simple terms so that everyone can understand the subject…..yes, it is simplistic but you will get over it…..

Quin and I have had numerous exchanges on the subject of participatory democracy and I thought that if more people could grasp the concept that it would make for a good post…..and hopefully more participation (yes, I had to work that in somehow)……

First of all, just what is participatory democracy all about….wikipedia can help with that:

Participatory democracy strives to create opportunities for all members of a political group to make meaningful contributions to decision-making, and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to such opportunities. Because so much information must be gathered for the overall decision-making process to succeed, technology may provide important forces leading to the type of empowerment needed for participatory models, especially those technological tools that enable community narratives and correspond to the accretion of knowledge. Effectively increasing the scale of participation, and translating small but effective participation groups into small world networks, are areas currently being studied.

The concept is nothing new…actually the Greeks, especially Athens, had this type of democracy….well some what……but the more modern concept came in part from Jean-Jacques Rousseau….

According to Rousseau there are 4 themes that need to be considered for a more direct democracy……1) discourage the development of interests groups that come between the people and government, 2) citizens need to distance themselves from private concerns and be more concerned with the common good, 3) eliminate large economic inequalities between citizens, 4) individuals active involvement in public life……Rousseau believed that the people should be more educated in the public sphere, because then they would be more thoughtful, more responsible, more sympathetic, less servile and would feel more free and unoppressed….(for the most part I am in agreement with Rousseau)……

People should be consulted on ALL issues that effect their lives because only active, democratic involvement in all matters will truly make the society a truly democratic one….for only when the people make the laws will they be a fully democratic electorate….

Now that I have hit upon the major points of participatory democracy (at least in my mind) I do see there being a problem with it…..let us say the electorate does get involved more in the governance then other areas will suffer, at least that is the theory,….the people will be less concerned with listening to music, talking with others and even watching the tube….in other words they will not be too busy for minor BS…they are concerned with governing themselves…..

While participatory democracy is very attractive….it will preserve freedom and equality and would be less effective advancing prosperity…..at least that is the common belief of those opposed to a more direct democracy…..on a more personal note…I would forgo a lot of stuff to have a more active say in my government and their actions….I think more Americans would appreciate being in control of their government……and in turn, in control of the direction of the country and their lives……