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Democracy?
by James Clayton
(somewhere in a place called Canada)
Canada is officially described as a democratic constitutional monarchy with a Sovereign as head of State and an elected Prime Minister as head of Government.
The Crown supposedly claims legal ownership of all land in Canada, while we are merely granted permission to use and “hold” the land.
According to the Bank of Canada Act, the entire capital of the Bank and all of its shares are issued to the Minister of Finance to be held on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada.
Government’s primary purpose is to govern, not to serve. Government claims a monopoly on the use of force, but it still requires our obedience and compliance to maintain its authority. Politics is about power, and elections are turf wars that are fought with ballots instead of bullets.
Voter turnout appears to be on a declining trend. The Ontario general election in 2011 had a record low voter turnout, with only 49.2% of eligible voters going to the polls. In Alberta only 40.6% of eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2008 provincial election, and 44.7% voted in 2004. Is this majority rule?
Communities and organizations can choose to hire or appoint their own leaders or representatives without imposing their choices on anyone else. Individual membership and participation can be based on consent and freedom of association.
A community does not need to be defined by contiguous property and an exclusive claim of jurisdiction over an entire area within arbitrary geopolitical boundaries. Diverse communities and societies, formed on the basis of common interests and objectives, can co-exist in any locality.
Various systems and arrangements can be employed to facilitate exchange and distribution of goods and services for the mutual benefit of all voluntary participants, at their own risk and expense.
Maybe it’s time to think beyond electoral politics, majority rule, representative democracy, and territorial sovereignty.
James Clayton
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QUOTES
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
- George Orwell
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"The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their "vital interests" are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the 'sanctity' of human life, or the 'conscience' of the civilized world." - James Baldwin, Source: page 489 of COLLECTED ESSAYS (1998), from chapter one of "The Devil Finds Work" (orig. pub. 1976)
"Since world war two we've managed to create history's
first truly global empire. This has been done by the corporatocracy, which are
a few men and women who run our major corporations and in doing so also run the
U.S. government and many other governments around the world." - John
Perkins, 2005, author of the book titled 'Confessions of and Economic Hit Man'
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The above quotes are from ICH on Dec. 18-19, 2015: InformationClearingHouse
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