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Forever we are reminded of the "Priviledge" we have of living in a democracy. And, compared with many parts of the world, it is indeed a priviledge. But perhaps we can do better.
Democracy, as originally practiced by the Greeks, was not true "Democracy" as we argue for it today. The people selected their leaders, this is true, but only a select few, slaves and many others were not allowed to vote. Those who did vote had the leisure and time to support those candidates who represented their best interests.
Imagine, then, a world in which votes are weighed up by how much we know. We all have the right to vote, but before voting we have to answer a short questionaire about the politicians, the parties, the issues at table for the election. And, should we answer correctly our votes are "counted" - we are aware of what the issues are, and so have the priviledge of self-determination.
Should we fail the questionaire our vote is discounted. We did not know the issues, hence we could not be given the priviledge of self-determination.
Technology exists to make this happen - aside from (legitimate) fears that such a system could be manipulated or biased (but can't all systems?) how much different would our government be if only those who knew something about it participated in it?
Disagree? Consider this. You are piloting a plane, with every passenger given an equal say in what you do at the controls.
Would you prefer to be the pilot, or the passenger?
Or you're being operated upon for a tumor in your head, and the medical theatre is open, the surgeon will do whatever the visitors suggest...
Something to consider, anyways.
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There are 2 days until the Canadian national election, and with the outcome somewhat fatalistically determined, politicians are making last minute appearances to persuade us that "Whatever we do, go out and Vote.". Apparently as it is our right, we must use it, and there is some truth in this, but only some.
Voting is not a right, it is a priviledge. Rights are inalienable, they are things that cannot be taken away from you - they are what we (our nation, our society, our family) give you without expectation of return - they are the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. That is an abstract definition, and by no means complete, but it contrasts with Priviledge. Priviledge is a "right" that is given to reward certain behaviours - for example, A customer has the right to expect good/or excellent service in restaurant because as a customer they are paying for this right. It is then not a right, but a priviledge. We have the "right" to "freedom" (to do as we choose) as long as our "right" does not impinge upon another person's "freedom". Hence freedom is no longer a right, it is a priviledge based upon an implicit agreement as to the rules of the game.
And voting, then, is not a "right". A "right" is something that cannot be taken away from you. A priviledge can; those who's pursuit of freedom crosses and denies another persons freedom are imprisoned. Their liberty is forfeit, priviledges are revoked. And people who vote incorrectly, without knowing the positions of the aspiring leaders and parties, are liable to have their priviledges suspended.
Think Nazi Germany.
So before exercising your priviledge to go out and vote, first educate yourselves as to our various parties agendas. Take time to research each politicians background, know each parties history and plan, dissect your prejudices: are you voting for him/her because this is how your parents would have voted? Are you afraid of change? Are you voting for one leader, or against another? And remember that all priviledges must be guarded or their abuse may lead to their irrevokable suspension.
That said, hope it's a good election, and good luck.
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It almost got lost, with the US election and banking crisis and all the other stirring news events, but Canada's due for an election.
And in the spirit of an interested voter I tuned in to the Candidates Debate on the radio. We're nowhere near as big as the US, and our politics are comparatively quite boring, and there's no doubt that results of the US election will have a far greater impact on our lives than the Canadian counterpart, still, it's our election, our little bit of control over our government, and it's important to hear what the Candidates have to say.
Now I should note that I'm somewhat prejudiced, I'm not, nor likely ever will be, a "Conservative". That said, I'm not entirely convinced that, despite their abundant protestations, that the NDP, the Liberals, the Green Party, could or would do a better job. Not that I wouldn't like them to, but this election is the greyest of any within memory. And so I'm listening, and what do I hear but our 4 aspiring leaders doing nothing but tearing apart Mr. Stephen Harper? And I began to feel bad for him, at first, this isn't fair, this isn't why they're here. . .
And then I began to get angry. None of them were offering reasonable alternatives or solutions to the accusations they were heaping upon them. Not one of them, interviewer included, at any point stepped in to refocus the group on discussing their own solutions or plans for government, rather instead hoping that by tearing down Mr. Harper and the Conservatives, by implication their own parties would look better.
And again, not one of them stepped forward to take the heat off of Mr. Harper. It was not an intelligent debate, it was not even a debate, it was a debacle, an absurdist attack on Democracy. And in good conscience now I'm stricken, because not one of the candidates had enough class or intelligence to realize that by the sole gesture of focusing the debate on the matters at hand they would have won. They were unprofessional, incompetent, and displayed nothing by way of leadership. Nothing. Cheap and impassioned attacks on Mr. Harper, without proposed alternatives, without clear and concrete strategies to bring to government, hoping to win votes by kicking at the underdog.
Not mine, in any event. They've had a fair chance, they've blown it, there will be in all likelihood a Conservative majority. But what has happened, I wonder, to our democracy, when we choose the likes of Stéphane Dion, Ms. Elizabeth May, and Jack Layton, to represent us in our reasonable alternatives? It's as if we are being asked to choose between death by hanging, firing squad, or electrocution, when none of us wanted to die, what kind of choice is this? It's not just our government that needs change. . .
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. . .Most of which have been written by bankers themselves. Enjoy.
"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits."
Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, the second richest man in Britain
“I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principles of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale”
Thomas Jefferson
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
Henry Ford
“The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight-of-hand that was ever invented. Banking was conceived in inequity and born in sin... But if you want to continue to be slaves of the bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let the bankers continue to create money and control credit .”
Josiah Charles Stamp
"Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal -- that there is no human relation between master and slave."
Leo Tolstoy
"You are a den of vipers and thieves and I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out. If Congress has the right to issue paper money, it was given them to be used by themselves, and not to be delegated to individuals or corporations.."
Andrew Jackson's address to Congress 1829
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."
Thomas Jefferson
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws."
Mayer Amschel Rothschild, 1790
"Those few who can understand the system (check book money and credit) will either be so interested in its profits, or so dependent on it favors, that there will be little opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear it burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests."
The Rothschild Brothers of London
"The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to evade truth, not to reveal it. The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled."
John Kenneth Galbraith, Money: Whence it came, where it went
"The bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it creates out of nothing."
William Paterson (founder of Bank of England 1694)
"The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is, perhaps, the most, astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented. Banks can in fact inflate, mint, and un-mint the modern ledger-entry currency"
Major L. L. B. Angus
"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment, out of nothing."
Ralph M. Hawtery (Former Secretary of the British Treasury)
"All of the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arises, not from the defects of the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation."
John Adams, Founding Father
"History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance."
President James Madison
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From the cupboard. Very cool folk art dolls, found in thrift shop in Cochrane.