They're all Unitary Executives, now.

[rucky]

There's a new rule in Congress, and it has very few exceptions. Members of both houses and both parties no longer listen to their constituents. They are lords over their feifdoms, and we are their serfs. We can scream and yell, but we do not threaten their power structure. They will do as they please. Many of our Lords and Ladies are loyal to the King. Some are waiting in the wings to seize power. Sometimes our Lords are sympathetic and fight for their serfs - kinda sorta sometimes. Most of the time, they pay just enough lip service to quell an uprising, then do as they please. "As they please," is usually self-serving, or if they've fallen out of favor with the King, self preserving at the least.

I'm no longer interested in these games of power and control. I am tired of pretending like we serfs have a shred of power or control. I no longer trust the motives of our Lords and vassals.

Democracy. How quaint. The pleebs have proven that we can't sustain it. We work hard and live our lives, and we have TRUSTED the people we elect to work in our best interest. We gave them too much trust and too much power and now they have assumed the power as an entitlement. They are accountable to nobody, and have changed the rules of the game to make sure they keep their power with or without our favor.

Who says you can't go back to the Middle Ages?

[valerief]

1. It's time to storm the Bastille

Why not? They're going to Mad Cow and Bird Flu us anyway.

[Lerkfish]

2. here's some good reading material re: french revolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution

notable excerpt:

Causes of the French Revolution include the following:
A bad economic situation, as well as an unmanageable national debt, were both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation and France's funding of the American Revolution.
A resentment of royal absolutism.
An aspiration for liberty and republicanism
A resentment of Manorialism (seigneurialism) by peasants, wage-earners, and, to a lesser extent, the bourgeoisie
The rise of enlightenment ideals.
Food scarcity in the months immediately before the revolution.
High unemployment and high bread prices resulting in the inability to purchase food.
A resentment of noble privilege and dominance in public life by the ambitious professional classes.
A resentment of religious intolerance.
The failure of Louis XVI to deal effectively with these phenomena.

(emphasis mine) sound familiar?

[valerief]

3. Great list, and, yes, it does sound very familiar.

[leftchick]

5. food scarcity will do it!

once we reach a food scarcity then the people will storm the White House! Right?

[Lerkfish]

8. I hope it doesn't have to go that far.

we'll be in a LOT WORSE shape in modern times with a food scarcity than france was during the revolution.
We have large cities that unsustainable without food being transported in.
In france of that time, there were fields that could be planted. you can't plow concrete and asphalt.

[stevietheman]

4. Ummm, but that's what representatives are *supposed* to be....

Representatives are elected dictators, virtually unchallengeable during their reign. That's always been the case.

Perhaps more people in this country should be working for "more direct" democracy. There is a nascent movement for this, but like with many other things, it gets clouded over by the other political events going on.

Think: If you don't try to imagine how it would work, wouldn't it be better if each issue could be decided on its own merits? With a far greater degree of the citizenry involved? I think so. And some people are trying to find practical ways of making this work.

[rucky]

6. then why are we calling Senators today? n/t

[stevietheman]

7. I didn't say "elected dictators" can't be occasionally influenced. n/t

n/t