|
WORLDWIDE Vol. 8 (No. 2) June 2006
In the 1980s, a research report aroused attention among social scientists. It said that since WWII, the USA had participated in roughly as many wars as the Soviet Union. Conclusion: As to participation in wars, there is no difference between democracy and dictatorship. This conclusion is crazy. The correct one should read: In the field of foreign relations, the USA is not a democracy. If it were, the respective wars would have to be approved by a process of citizen deliberation and referendum. Obviously, all wars were (and still are) the result of arbitrary oligarchic decisions. On what ground do people vote in elections? They elect those parties and politicians who promise them the best satisfaction of their basic group interests: jobs, social benefits, pensions, environment, etc. In this way, the politicians elected gain the power to do what they like in foreign countries whose citizens did not elect them. The politicians can slaughter milions of innocent civilians and get away with it, often even applauded by ignorant masses. Mr.Bush may sincerely believe that he does the right thing, guided by God. Objectively, he is a mass murderer and should be treated as such. A bomb kills in the same way, whether launched by a terrorist or an American plane. Even a representative system, to maintain a semblance of democracy, has to give the opportunity for voting to all those whom it governs. This obvious principle is ignored by the established politicians, media and those who are given voice in the public debate. What we witness every day, every hour, and every minute is a hideous charade suggesting that the unspeakable suffering, the innumerable tragedies we watch on TV screens exist with the consent of citizens of "democratic" states who cannot sufficiently contain dictatorships. Party-based representative governments´ monopoly in the field of foreign policy is not only undemocratic, it is criminal. Those who condone, or even defend, this form of government, without demanding direct citizen control of major issues, are accomplices in crime. Many people, especially in small countries like Sweden, indulge in what might be called a fetishism of the UNO. As if this organisation were a democratic assembly trying to help disadvantaged people round the world. Many UN officials surely see themselves in this way and do what they can to accomplish their mission. Nevertheless, the UNO, consisting exclusively of undemocratic governments, is only an oligarchic club trying to do little more than what is best for its oligarchic members. The whole UN business is a smoke screen bathed in a sanctimonious lure. The politics of the USA affect the whole world. Consequently, the citizens of the whole world should be able to participate in American political processes including presidential elections. And there is hope. Even if most Americans are passive and poorely informed about what is going on outside their boundaries, the internet is an increasingly powerful antidote. And some of the most eloquent and influential DD oriented critics of the system are active in the USA. They give us encouragement. Just imagine the enormous positive impact on the whole globe should the name of the next US President be Mike Gravel! This is the first volume of an excellent book recently published in the USA. I am glad to see there seems to be a perfect agreement between Prof.Behrouzi's vision of future democracy and the vision of many academics and activists belonging to our international network, including myself. The book has gained recognition in the USA. The library Choice Magazine has given both books (only the first one is presented in this issue) its highest approval rating ("highly recommended"), calling the second volume "an impressive work". (The second volume will be presented in the next issue.) (Quote from Prof Behrouzi´s letter:) "Choice is the most influential publication for librarians in the U.S. The review mentioned that the books would be suitable for lower-undergraduate students. I am hoping that this would encourage the publisher to print the books in paperback in order to lower their prices. We'll see what happens." Now to the first volume: Why Betrayal? To understand, it is necessary to follow the author on his quest of the true meaning of Democracy, from ancient Athens to the contemporary world. The book begins by defining "The Idea of Democracy in Pre-Liberal and Non-Liberal Societies". (p.9) "Literally, democracy means people power or rule by the common people. .... According to Dahl, the term demos in ancient Athens "usually referred to the entire ... people" and "sometimes ... only /to/ the common people or even just the poor." ... As to the question of how the people ruled in ancient Athens, the short answer would be that the "rule by the people" became possible via a complex political structure that centered on an "Assembly". ... (p.11) ..."The idea that the people ought to rule themselves appeared as an attractive and empowering idea to large segments of the population across the globe ... Notwithstanding this powerful presence of the ideal meaning, starting with the early to mid-twentieth century, the real meaning of democracy in the West turned out to be a perverted version of the original or literal meaning of the idea. ... the ideal of democracy in the West came to be coupled with some other political ideals that were liberal in origin ... This perversion of the meaning of democracy in the West was in part an ideological response to the establishment of the Soviet regime" ... (p.12) (Modern societies have become too complex.) "Therefore, as the argument goes, the ideals of the ´rule by the people´ or ´government by the people´ must be abandoned and thus, must necessarily be replaced with those of the ´government of the people´ or the ´government for the people´. ..." Thus, the author takes the original idea of democracy, as first expressed in ancient Greece, as the ideal and standard, of which contemporary would-be democratic systems are a perversion. (This aspect cannot be stressed enough. If you understand this, you will also understand that what contemporary terrorists attack and criticize, is not really democracy, but its modern perversion. A true democracy would never treat other peoples and religions as western oligarchies do, and, consequently, hardly anybody would be driven to terrorism. JP) Follows a presentation of various approaches to the concept of democracy: "Macpherson and the Idea of Democracy as a ´Class Affair´"; "Rousseau and the Idea of the Sovereignty of the ´General Will´"; "The ´Marxian Idea of Democracy´: The Ideal and the Real´; "Bolshevism and the Idea of ´Proletarian Democracy´; "Liberalism and the Rise of the Liberal State"; "The Liberal State and the Idea of Representative Government".... Conclusion: "The history of the idea of democracy thus far has been the history of the betrayal of its moral content, and hence its ideals, especially the ideal of citizens´ direct participation in the political process. This volume attempted to rescue the true sense of the original idea of democracy and recover its moral-political ideals from the perversions and distortions it has suffered throughout the ages." .... In the second volume, which will be presented in the next issue of this newsletter, the author puts forward his vision of a future, truly democratic system: Democracy as the Political Empowerment of the Citizen; Direct-Deliberative e-Democracy USA 3 May, quotations from a letter sent round by Senator Mike Gravel: "As you may have heard, I am running for president. Obviously, this is a major undertaking .... but I feel compelled to run if I am ever to acquaint Americans with the National Initiative, legislation that will empower them to become lawmakers in a partnership with their elected officials. Only the people can correct the mess our government is in - certainly not our elected officials. .... First, if we are going to change the country, we need financial support to get our message out to the voters - at a time when the press and our professional politicians are deeply cynical. Second, when this effort succeeds - and it will - I know we are going to be asking you to the White House on a regular basis. You're going to love it, so help us get there for your future pleasure. Of course, your White House invitations will be based on love and friendship - not on any contribution. But if you possibly can, I hope you'll consider making a contribution. Gratefully, Mike Note: The official web site is as follows if you would like
to contribute by credit card. Just click on the following link or copy and paste
it in your browser. http://www.gravel2008.us
or - By check - send to Please send us your address and email address so we can keep you informed, and as required by law, include your occupation and your employer. Thank You Note: Senator Mike Gravel has been acquainted with the anti-corruption and economic regeneration project called Internal Offset, developed in Czech Republic by Mr. Peter Czasch, and endorsed it. This project could be applied in all western-type countries. 2 April, information from Mr.Miroslav Kolar: LINK: http://thiscause.org/p/menu.php?p=Rozzi55934DB
- Direct Democracy for Americans. This is a petition to the government of the
United States of America demanding a direct democracy. Please sign. 8 May, a letter signed "mothdres" sent to < NewPoliticalSystem@yahoogroups.com > "Greetings, My name is Joseph, and I am from Newark, NJ, USA. I'm 22 years old, and am a supporter of Direct Democracy: I am looking forward in involving myself in many various DD movements, but I'd like to coordinate a micronational movement with other DD supporters: What is a Micronation? It's when a group of people come together to create a nation. Is it legal? Yes. There's thousands out there. How will it run? As a Direct Democracy. If anyone else is interested in this, then reply or message me personally. We can discuss this further.... If anyone has any arguments of why we shouldn´t pursue a
project like this, I wouldn't mind hearing about it. To me, this is a way to put
the theory of DD into ACTION! 30 May, information sent by Mr. Mark Antell about
a newly started DD Magazine, see 30 April, information from Mr.Bruce Eggum:
"I have posted some Direct Democracy, Initiative and Binding Referendum
information on my website which may interest you. Please email me any further
information or groups which should be linked. On 19 March, a meeting of True Democrats was held in a Prague
restaurant. 1. The proposal to issue a declaration that could be backed by as many citizen initiatives as possible and demanding democratic reforms. This idea was inspired by the Chilean document Juntos podemos and presented by Mr.Tomas Klapka, a member of the Humanist Movement. 2. Discussion about the chief principles of the draft of a Citizens´ Constitution for Czech Republic. These principles are the following: * In the Current Constitution (as in all parliamentary
systems), both legislative and executive power is amalgamated in the hands of
big parties. In the draft, we demand that these powers be separated, while
the executive power be put outside the reach of party politics. Comment: 3. Participants of the above meeting signed the following letter (proposed by me, JP) addressed to the Constitutional Court of Czech Republic: "In the name of Czech citizens, we demand that the Constitutional Court issues a declaration that the Constitution of Czech Republic, to be valid, has to be approved by the majority of citizens in a referendum, held after a national discussion in which any citizen can participate. Motivation: In their programs and election campaigns, the political parties did not ask the citizens for bianco plenary powers to write and adopt a Constitution without the participation of citizens, and certainly not a Constitution giving all power to big political parties. This means that the political parties have not obtained from the citizens the mandate to write and adopt a Constitution. Consequently, the now existing Constitution is not valid as long as it has not been approved by referendum. The citizens are not obliged to respect it. If the Constitutional Court refuses to issue such a declaration, we demand that it declares: The political system of Czech Republic is not democracy, i.e. rule by the people, but particracy, i.e. rule by political parties. We thank you in advance for complying with this legitimate and obvious request." The Constitutional Court replied approximately as follows: Well, if they put me in jail on such grounds, it would be the best DD publicity imaginable. I am afraid there is not much hope of that. (JP) 8 May, Mr.Ronald Pabst´s Newsletter Contents 1 April, a letter from Mr.Rudolf Kuhr commenting on the results of 3 regional elections "Tradition or Loss of Reality? A contribution to the elucidation of the sanctimonious media world of our really existing democracy. Less and less people decide on behalf of more and more
people. Comparison between the official figures (not taking into account abstentions) and the real number of votes cast in 3 regional districts (in parentheses are the official figures): Baden-Würtenberg: CDU 23,6 (44,2); SPD 13,5 (25,2); FDP
4,7 (8,0); The Greens 6,2 (11,7) Rheinland-Pfalz: SPD 26,5 (45,6); CDU 19,1 (32,8); FDP
4,7 (8,0); The Greens 2,7 (4,6) Sachsen-Anhalt: CDU 16,0 (36,2); The Left 10,7 (24,1);
SPD 9,5 (21,4); FDP 3,0 (6,7); The Greens 1,6 (3,6) As everybody knows, in the USA, voter turn-outs are usually even lower. It means that a relatively small minority elects a few politicians who, in the following years, make decisions affecting the lives and the situation of all people in their administration district, most of whom did not vote for them. But the big media brain-wash the public, still pretending that this is democracy! (JP) Mehr Demokratie 2/06: Contents: Editorial by Mr. Erhard O. Müller: Panaschieren & Kumulieren... ; Ronald Pabst: Europa und seine Verfassung: ein Dilemma; Annika Philipps: Europa demokratisieren; Siegfried Issmayer: Bestimmen wir Europa? Dr.Jens Kösters: "Vom Pioniergeist inspiriert"; Im Westen nichts Neues? ... And others Planning Cells The re-edition of Prof.Peter C. Dienel's epoch-making book Die Befreiung der Politik (December 2005) contains new contributions by Johannes Rau (former President of Germany) and Prof.Dienel. Westdeutscher Verlag, www.vs-verlag.de Owing to the seminar Public participation in local governence in Russia held on 20.-22. January 2006 at the Novosibirsk School of Civil Society (see the previous issue of this Newsletter), interest for the PC model is growing among the mayors of Siberian cities. Siberia might become the area from which structured citizen deliberation will spread to the whole of Russia, a development of great importance for the entire world. From the cradle of democracy, our attention has been drawn to a new link: PEACEABLE DIRECT DEMOCRACY - http://www.geocities.com/afovik1 9 April, quotation from a letter sent to us by Prof.Jerzy Przystawa: "I have just returned from Warsaw, where we have held (Saturday 8th April) another conference of ours. The conference place was the main building of the Polish Parliament (Sejm), with attendance of about 300 participants from all over Poland. A couple of weeks ago another national conference was held in the town of Lubin, under the patronage of the Mayor of Lubin. In January and February we held a few other conferences on the same subject in towns like Ostrów Wielkopolski, Malbork, Siemianowice Slaskie and Stalowa Wola - all of them organized in cooperation and patronage of the mayors of those towns. Alas! None of these efforts make any impression on the so-called democratic rulers of Poland. In particular, our new President, Lech Kaczynski, just a few days ago, announced publicly that if such a change of the electoral system had been declared by the Parliament he would use his right of veto, for he maintains that such a way of electing members of Parliament, like the British First-Past-The-Post electoral system that our Movement promotes - HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH DEMOCRACY. We think, it is time to unite our forces all over
Europe." 28 April, a letter from Mrs.Domitila Barbolla, a participant of the 2005 international conference held in Prague, the Pauliny hotel (for those who understand Spanish): "Hola, os adjunto la página donde podreis leer mi
primer artículo de la revista ideas y debate: Espero que entreis en ella muchos veces porque seguro que se escribirán cosas de vuestro interés. Besos, Domi 12 May, a letter from Mr.Gerhard Schuster:
"Liebe Freundinnen und Freunde, ich möchte euch gerne über unsere
aktuellen Aktivitäten für die Volkgesetzgebung in Österreich informieren und
würde mich freuen, wenn Ihr einen blick auf die Homepage 21 March, information from Mr.Miroslav Kolar:
LINK: http://www.ddemocracy.net
- Direct Democracy Canada "Imrove our Democracy. We have taken the idea
of democracy this far, lets finish the work! Promoting your input into all
decisions that affect your life. This is the idea that self-rule is possible,
that you decide what happens in your world Spring - summer 2006. This issue has 184 pages (!). The
magazine focuses on efforts to disclose the truth behind 9/11. Its sponsors -
supporters are constantly growing. 2 March, information from Mr.Rishi Khanna, Department of World Unity & Peace Education, City Montessori School, Lucknow, India: "... the website for Global Partnership for World Democracy http://www.gpwd.org (though still under construction) recorded about 500 organizations and individuals from across the world joining the Partnership within 15 days of its launching in November end. We are still receiving consents from individuals and organisations to affiliate with the partnership at a very rapid pace. The count is expected to increase after the full report of symposium 2005 will be hosted on the website within a few days. 7 March, information from Mr.Vladimir Rott: "Bonde´s Briefing - bonde.com - 06.03.2006 The Birth of the EUDemocrats; New European Alliance for EU Reform ... We have the common aim to establish a true trans-national
movement for radical reforms in the EU 1 and 7 March, information from Mr.Leopoldo Salgui: The most recent activity of the forums at European
Constituent Process has been: Everyone's a Citizen, Baby; Career
opportunities System of Voting - 0 " Conclusion" same address but =40 at the end. 1 May, a letter from Mr.Arjen Nijeboer: "In the past, a fund - the Direct Democracy Fund - has been set up within Democratie.nu (the Belgian movement for direct democracy, formerly named WIT) for the advancement of direct democracy within the countries of Europe. The money in this fund is coming from a private person who wishes to remain anontmous. We decided that the best way to use this money is to spend it on the furtherance of strong national movements for direct democracy. If movements active in the various countries are strengthened, then there will in turn be more action for direct democracy. We would like to cooperate with those organizations who have already shown that they are active and committed. We recognize 9 such movements: - IRI - Sverige - Sweden (At the end of the letter, requirements for obtaining contributions from the Fund are stipulated.) 3 April, a letter from Mr.Ivan Tattoli
(quotations): "... so that everyone here understands exactly what system I
am referring to, here is the link: "In the Direct Democracy I am trying to develop people are not just voting for a pretty name on the ballot but a summary with details therefore comparing that to how Bush wields power is really like comparing apples and oranges and I do believe that if details of any law, project etc. ... is provided, people will make better decisions whether they are experts or not. In fact the process in itself should be responsible for bringing all facets into the lime light. ....." 4 May, a letter from Mr.Tomas Franke, Czech Republic: "M.Kolar has written: ´I recommend to visit the Spanish site http://www.worldvotenow.com. They organize 15.5. a simulation of a global electronic referendum as a practical proof that a technique for "more direct" democracy is already at hand.´ ... Yes, using our current technique (Volny.cz), I dare organize a global referendum for the EU. Technology is not the problem; the problem is the rejection on the part of those who do not want to share power with the grass roots." 14 May, from a letter sent by Mr.Miroslav Kolar, the webmaster: "The Forum can now speak to the user in 13 different languages (including all the 6 official languages of the UN - well in the Arabic and Japanese there are still some untranslated phrases, and some of my own additions to the Forum have yet to be translated into most of the languages, but that would be gradually rectified). .... So if there will be interest, we can now start setting up national discussion forums in various languages in addition to English. For each such Forum it would be good to have one moderator fluent in the given language. .... The new users are required in the first step of registration to give also their real name and a short description of their relation to DD. .... The last thing that needs to be programmed is the automatic
creation of the newly registered user's Wiki home page that will contain the
information initially entered on the registration form in the "My relation
to DD" field. After that the new user will be able to further edit. But
there will be now need to create it, and if they do not wish to use the Wiki at
all, we will at least have them in the list of all members at Then I will have to update info on our "How to join us" page. I invite you to try to login into the upgraded site soon, if you have not done so yet, using the info I have been sending out recently. ........" "You can view and/or download it for free by going to Mr.John Bunzl is going to publish a new book - Integral Global Governance, meant to place the Simpol vision on deep, philosophical foundations. It is certainly worth studying and reflecting upon. As the point of departure, it takes the theory of holons and holarchy. This approach originates probably from the Gestalt Psychology and General System Theory that emerged in Europe in the early twentieth century. It raises some epistemological questions I will not touch upon here. But I would like to comment on the chances of the vision (as I see them) in the crude realm of practical politics. As adherent of DD, obviously, I support wholeheartedly Simpol and I believe all DD people do. However, I see two major obstacles to its realization in the current oligarchic environment. The Simpol strategy is built upon the assumption that there are two separate spheres - the economic, corporate sphere which operates freely in the whole world, and the political sphere whose power base are the nation states. The politicians, supposed to honestly represent their citizens, are limited by their national boundaries, for which reason they cannot unilaterally impose regulations upon international markets in spite of the fact that every insightful person understands the disastrous trend threatening the survival of our civilization. The solution can only be for all national governments to regulate the markets at the same time. They can be pressed to do so by relatively small changes of voter behavior. Obstacle 1: The economic-corporate and the political spheres are not clearly separated. Many politicians are at the same time share holders of big corporations (e.g. the Bushes are involved in the oil business, Cheney is - or was - involved in Haliburton, etc. etc.) It is not probable that such people will, by adopting Simpol, put restrictions on their own business. It is also questionable whether the brainwashed, manipulated voter masses will let the Simpol idea guide their choice in competition with other components of the oligarchic system. Obstacle 2: Promises and implementation are two different things. Politicians will promise you almost anything if they believe that it will increase their chances to get elected. In the current oligarchic systems, where the citizens have no leverage to enforce fulfillment of electoral promises, after the election, there is no guarantee that the Simpol promise will be kept. It is easy to imagine this scenario: Even if all governments have adopted Simpol, some had done it without really meaning it. They will procrastinate, blame others for the impossibility to proceed to the re-regulation, invent all sorts of excuses. There might be a stalemate continuing indefinitely. Before the citizens obtain direct legislative and implementation power (and they eventually will) by the inclusion of DD elements into the system - I&R, structured citizen deliberation, separation of the legislative and executive power, direct participation in budget processes and the like - I am afraid that the Simpol vision is condemned to remain a dream. Let's have no illusions. The politicians will not serve our interests unless we, the people put a knife on their throats. Simpol and DD are natural allies. DD people will surely support Simpol. Simpol people, on their part, should support DD. It might be the only way. Vol. 8 (No. 2), June 2006 |
