Dan,
You said,'There are far more severe abuses going on in nations we can make a difference in'. Dan , you go and tell that to the survivors of the 1400 dead Palestinians of the recent massacre.
Iran, according to the International Inspectors for Atomic Energy, is operating legally their reactors consistent with producing electrical power., not devising fuel grade plutonium for big bombs. Same report given by the agency for Saddam Hussein. But what did Bush do anyway?
Who was it that said, "The only problem with Texans is that they think they are Texan".
I too like your suggested option of Texas independence given the other of simply erecting a 40 foot high cyclone fence around the state.
Texas. You can't fix stupid.
RonWhite
--- On Fri, 4/17/09, Dan Smith <draciron(at)gmail.com> wrote:
From: Dan Smith <draciron(at)gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [WDDM] I spit in your face, Disambiguation
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Date: Friday, April 17, 2009, 4:09 PM
Wrong, the long rambling anti-Jewish rant titled Lost Boys is what
prompted my disgust. He literally called Jews Natural born killers in
the same post complete with the link. The whole gist of his long rant
was to compare Jews to Vampires. I find that to be about as blunt and
blatant anti-semitism as you can get. He might as well attach a jpg of
a Swastika to that post.
My point is that there are issues that have to be solved before you
can even talk about Democracy in Israel. I think it is way beyond the
scope of the group to attempt a solution to the problems in Israel.
Another point I made was that there are far more severe abuses going
on in nations we CAN make a difference in. China being foremost of
those. China has a strong Democratic movement. The transition to
Democracy in China would be an excellent opportunity to see a major
nation switch to Direct Democracy. There are
no social/cultural issues
to solve before DD can be promoted.
A point I've repeatedly made is that Nazi rants like Lost Boys will
get this organization slandered in Western nations removing our
credibility.
I've seen no expansionist movement from Israel in over 40 years. In
fact they've ceded large amounts of territory in recent years. I
cannot understand the basis of your claim that Israel is in
expansionist mode. China on the other hand has invaded Tibet in the
last decade. Has in the last 20 years made incursions into other
nations. In the last several years has threatened to invade Taiwan
which is a Democracy, a working Democracy. Has interfered with
Democracy in Taiwan and the US. China has been contributed huge sums
of money buying US and Taiwanese politicians. Likely they've been
doing the same thing in Japan as well. China has imposed censorship
upon it's people forcing even Google to finally
relent to China's
censorship efforts.
In short dealing with Israel no matter which side you support is just
spitting in the wind when it comes to DD. Israel has bigger fish to
fry and bigger crisis's to solve such as Iran's threats to nuke it off
the face of the Earth.
What about the crisis in Thailand? Not a peep. Thailand is a land that
could use our help. Why waste time tilting at a windmill when the same
efforts might actually yield results.
I'm sorry I'm not buying the excuse to trash Jews. I'm not especially
fond of Palistinians as a group but I would still standing up against
attempts to "reform" the Palistinians who's "Democracy" is more of a
farce than anything else. Dissent will get you killed in Gaza.
Democracy cannot survive in a land where there can be no dissent. I
find it the ultimate in hypocracy to attack Israel when Hamas is as
brutal as any tyrannt, where
Democracy means you do what your told and
vote for who you are told to vote for. We can talk until we are blue
to these people but until they tire of Hamas leadership it is a futile
effort.
As for my views I am quite open about them and always have been. I
have refrained from off topic discussions as there are better places
for such. Just in case anybody is wondering.
My understanding of DD is simple. Instead of representives it is the
next step in Democracy. It where the people themselves vote on
legislation and introduce legislation. I don't feel that you can
replace the President/Prime minister since there are times of crisis
when a rapid decision must be made. Communications and education are
approaching levels where such decisions could possibly be made but we
still need a figurehead to represent us with other nations and such.
I feel that representive Democracy is an obsolete concept. It was
a
bridge to real Democracy created in a time and age where literacy
rates were low, where information was in short supply to the general
public. The unwashed masses were not to be trusted to make decisions.
Today there are no unwashed masses to fear. Representive Democracies
have become vehicles for corruption. They represent money not people.
I find no value in Socialism or it's parent Marxism. I find them an
affront to all that is beautiful in humanity. Nothing but fancier
chains that you find with a king would bring you. However that is a
decision to be made by the people of that nation. Given real and
honest Democracy people can make informed decisions for themselves and
promotion through this group of economic systems seems out of place.
I am a Texan. Not born in Texas but have lived here long enough to
claim the title. I am seriously considering Texas independence as a
viable option and
likely option given the circumstances in the US at
this time. I am far from the fringes on this view. Many Texans are
seriously considering this path. The Governor of Texas has more than
hinted about this and took a major step by envoking the 10th
Amendment. This however is a relivent topic to this list. Texas if it
leaves the US may well try DD.
I tend to be more of a Libertarian than anything else. I eschew the
LIbertarian isolationist views and I do find the Gov to be necessary
for many functions, so I don't follow many Libertarian planks.
I see the opportunity to fight for direct Democracy in nations
switching to Democracy or emerging. Established Democracies really
need a good example and pattern. It is also a chance to make mistakes.
There are many things that need to be worked out, some of which will
not rear their heads until it's actually tried in the real world in a
decent sized nation.
A working and thriving DD is the best possible
incentive for the rest of the world to adopt such. Until there is one
established Democracies and their populations will be difficult to
convince to switch to such a government.
If I am not in step with this group I'll go my own way and attempt to
advance my ideas through a different medium. I joined this group, you
didn't join me. This is who I am and what I believe. If my views of DD
are consistant with the groups lets get to work and quit all this
bickering about a hopeless cause.
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