Below is what l have started to send to various groups around
Australia.
WDDM IS WORLD WIDE DISCUSSION
GROUP
Our aim is to promote the Swiss Referendum System to the
world
The Swiss have 3 types of
Referendums
The Mandatory Referendum
For all amendments to the Federal Constitution & for membership to some
international organizations. This was the only type of referendum between 1848
to 1873
The Optional Referendum
Citizens can challenge parliamentary decisions through Optional Referendum
which includes Federal Laws and some International Treaties. Needs 50,000
citizens to request it, introduced in 1874
The Citizens Initiated Referendum
The initiative allows citizens to seek a decision on an amendment, they want
to add to the Federal Constitution, needs 100,000 signatures, introduced in 1891
It’s a real form of people power in government, and has stood the test of
time.
Switzerland has not been involved in a war since they have had this
system.
Switzerland is a respected and successful Nation.
They are experiencing some of the pressure’s of globalization forces.
There is other evidence of this being a good approach, is industries that
embrace workplace democracy, have shown it will deliver good outcomes.
Please make a commitment for your group, party, organization or yourself to
support this cause for Australia to improve our Political
System.
Working for a better Australia and World Community, from Martin Jackson, of
Roxby Downs apart of the Worldwide Direct Democracy Movement. - Please Reply If You Support this initiative
.
----- Original Message -----
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 1:33
AM
Subject: Re: [WDDM] Anarchism and Direct
Democracy
Dear Mirek and all,
I am giving below the link to an article on
the merits of Anarchism:
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/12/11/stories/2005121100030100.htm
Anarcho-syndicalism,
the term used in Mirek's post is probably synonymous with Voluntary Socialism
advocated by Noam Chomsky.
The reason that Anarchism is attractive
is that it recognises the basic human need for freedom of the spirit. The
challenge is to devise a system that allows this freedom and yet has a working
structure that enables people to coexist and live in a community.
The various struggles, including the 'Oxaca story', are attempts to manifest
the spirit of freedom in the face of authoritarian system, that fails to
appreciate because of its own inadequacy to do so.
Simply
downplaying Anarchism, as Bruce is doing, without trying to understand the
spirit behind it will not help to make progress in human
thought.
PVR
On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 MKolar wrote
:
>Dear all,
>This is a copy of my post at the WDDM Forum,
http://www.world-wide-democracy.net/forum/read.php?5,511,511#msg-511
.
>I encourage you to place any possible replies directly in the Forum
(however, if something relevant comes here, I'll copy it into the
Forum):
>
>On July 28, 2007 I attended the Grassroots Social
Awareness Festival (organized by Popular Participation Movement,
http://www.ppmnanaimo.com/. Many interesting local organizations participated.
Several were calling for increased participation of citizens in decision
making about various local issues (airport expansion, waterfront development).
There was also an anarchist (anarcho-syndicalist) stand where I picked up
various literature. What caught my eye first was the text titled "WHAT IS
ANARCHISM?". It is quoted in the quote below. You can also find it in on the
Nanaimo Anarchist Network site at http://www.geocities.com/vcmtalk/nan1.html.
(While you are there, I also recommend to read WHY DO WE NEED ANARCHISM? at
http://www.geocities.com/vcmtalk/nan1.html - it's about what to do to improve
society, something we seem to have hard time here to arrive
at).
>
>There was some posts against anarchism in our mailing
lists rather recently. I am posting this here because for me the points listed
below do constitute exactly what I believe is the Democracy (ideal of
Democracy or True Democracy or Direct Democracy). So apparently I am also an
anarcho-syndicalist. Note that the Anarchists also have Direct Democracy only
as one constituent point in what makes a good society, that is what we called
I&R here.
>
>Thus
>
>1. we should really make
clear what we understand under the term Direct Democracy. I for one always
meant under this term all what is listed in the inset below. And I had this in
mind what I accepted to task of the webmaster to help revive WDDM some two
years ago.
>
>2. It would be interested to know what others think
of the list below. How many do agree that all these points are necessary for a
functioning democracy. I suggest that you post your thoughts on this in
replies to this post.
>
>3. Do you still have any objections to
anarchism?
>
>[quote]
> WHAT IS
ANARCHISM?
>
>It does NOT stand for chaos, violence, bomb-throwing
or disorder. What it does stand for is:
>
> *
[b]Decentralization[/b] - Centralization of political and economic power leads
to abuse and corruption. Political and the economic structures should be
human-scale.
> * [b]Liberty[/b] – each person should be
free to do what they wish providing they do no harm to other
people.
> * [b]Self-management[/b] - Each person should
have control over those situations that effect him/her, in both the work place
and the community.
> * [b]Federation[/b] – decentralized
groups, whether communities or work places unite in a federation to create an
"economy of scale" without creating an authoritarian, top-down
structure.
> * [b]Autonomy[/b] – each group or community
should have the right to control those aspects which effect it.
>
* [b]Direct Democracy[/b] – Decisions ought to be taken directly by the
people effected. Where decisions must be made at a larger scale, such as with
a federation, recallable delegates are selected.
> *
[b]Localism[/b] – It is best for the environment that as much as possible of
our needs are met locally.
> * [b]Regionalism[/b] – We live
in a place and that place is a region. Each region has its own history,
environment and culture and these are the basis of community.
>
* [b]Community[/b] – A lack of community brings social breakdown. We
must work to restore community.
> * [b]Internationalism[/b]
– Nothing exists in isolation, and in truth "an injury to one, is an injury to
all" The destruction of a community abroad helps to undermine community
locally. The repression of workers overseas, leads to the oppression of
workers here.
>[/quote]
>
>In this context it may be
appropriate to place one more link, a link to a quote from the lecture by
Andre Carrel titled "Democracy: Back to Basics" at
http://canadianvoices.org/speakers.php?id=22. There you will find:
"[b]Democracy’s premises are equality and responsibility[/b]. These simple
propositions have yet to be achieved after centuries marked by wars and
revolutions fought in the name of democratic
ideals."
>
>[b]Democracy = equality and responsibility[/b] seems
to be very compatible with the list above. And having this in mind you can see
why I was so strongly questioning (opposing) the admission to WDDM of somebody
who calls 'True Democracy' a system based on unequal classes of citizens.
(While this may be a workable idea for a transitional system for some
jurisdictions to give some voice to classes of citizens who do not have any
voice at all at present, I am strongly against calling such a system a
democracy, and even add the qualifier 'true'. Again, we should made our mind
on what we want to be: a group promoting the ideal of Democracy, or an
unfocused discussion club.
>
>Mirek
>