Mr. Poe, you missed the switch from Freedom to Democracy. It happened in 1789, when a few people from the Virginia caucus used Col. Shay's acts of terror to promote and justify changing, in an federalist orchestrated meeting, the constitutional convention, our national government from one that looked then a lot like the modern day EU [the Articles of Confederation government and it operated for 11 years, elected 11 presidents, defeated the British and was a government assembled to represent the people] to one that became the U.S. Constitutional Government.
That little switch by the Federalist (who entomed the will of the people in the rule of law as evidenced by the Traitors and Seditions Act) forced compliance and shifted the burden for our nation's financing from a tax on the lands of the few aristocrats to the backs of the working people, it denied the people the right to vote on or to direct the making of laws, it fired the starting guns of America's participation in the international game of Imperialism, it denied congress, the states, and the people the right to know what the executive branch was doing in foreign affairs.
It denied, in practice, the people the right to anything but to vote for party appointed (Nominated) aristocrats to hold elected office and to make laws or make treaties. It touted as exemplary the bill of rights, but those rights only say that first we have the trial, and that trial will be according to the rules of your rights, but then we hang you.
The constitutionally mandated election method: limits nearly everyone to voting for but 7 different positions in government and it limits that choice to once every few years. The Senate members (from their state) + House members (from their district)+ the vp and the president. That is not voting power of the people by the people any more than are electronic voting machines that can be made tamperable.
Furthermore, no law makes it a crime for person running for public office to lie to the voters, or punishes them for voting on laws different from the wishes of the people in their respective districts. This copyright and patent thing has made it clear the government serves only the interest of the aristocrats that hold the nation state franchise in your area.
Our constitution has enabled laws which have obligated every human being to follow in just the manner Plato said should be: Everyone else must work so that the aritocrat Plato can think?
Freedom was the cry, then as now, the rights of man, is the univeral demand and that demand cannot be recognized until every single adult has an equal say in the affairs of every government, equal education without elimination or rejection, participation in the social and economic affairs of its society, and a present equal beneficial interest in every discovery made by the human mind of self or another.
Nation states have no basic right to a franchise on human affairs. A few people cannot divide the world into 100 or so territories, and franchise Nation states(as if they were hotdog stands) to a few aristocrats with orders to manage the humans that live within the boundaries of that franchised nation state by any authority except by the knowledgeable, empowered, current, consent of the governed.
The nation state has become a business unit for the multinationals, its law making powers the means of providing profits to the haves and denying competition from the have nots. The division of the world into nation states has caused many, many problems.
It is the people of one nation state who must be allowed to communicate with the people of the nation state of the other, without interference (economic or permissive) from the laws of a nation state or an organization of nation states.
The Internet challenges the nation state, because the nation state survives as supreme over its humans only by managing the knowledge, information and technology that its humans are allowed to hear, see or be exposed to "leasewise the pawns within will discover they are not players".
Educate and empower the humans of the world equally to achieve true freedom and to advance humanity.
The internet offers people to people direct ungated communications, it can teach everyone, everywhere at one time or different times. It is the universal media of humanity and nothing about it should be eligible for private ownership, taxation, or laws which gate control or access to it.
Worldwide, people are challenging the right of nation states to claim law making power over people who live within a given territory. Making laws is the job of a congress, approving them is the job of the people who elected the members of congress. Your words "Imagine that the masses decide to initiate ..everyday.. are fearful indeed"
I would put it differently, Imagine that the elected members of our society were to communicate every day with their voters and inquire of them permission and guidance in developing tomorrows laws which the people might approve? Imagine a society where the courts and the laws refused to recognize corporations (and other non humans) as citizens?
It is impossible for a human to compete with a non human when the courts, the congress, and the laws dictate otherwise. It took unmitigated greed on the part of the copyright and patent communities to point out just how little power and imput voters have.
sterling
On Thu, 30 Oct 2003, tom poe wrote:
> Alain: This is far beyond insane, it's diabolical. Many people can
> appreciate that every government is shaking in their boots with the
> Digital Age upon us. The Gutenburg Press empowered the People, but the
> computer empowers the individual. Imagine the masses deciding that
> governments need their oversight. Imagine that the masses decide to
> institute communications with each and every elected official, and
> daily, remind them that they need to act on behalf of the citizens, or
> the citizens will hold a referendum, and move them swiftly out of
> office. Imagine elected officials having to be held accountable for how
> they spend taxpayer dollars.
>
> In our country, it just makes sense to throw away the old policy that
> constituents are restricted to communicating with their congressional
> and senatorial officials. It just makes sense, mostly because of the
> ease of computer technology, to be able to impress upon all the elected
> officials our feelings about issues that impact on us, whether we live
> in Maine, or California. So, why then, do our congressional and
> senatorial officials cling to the old ways? Simply, I think, because
> the masses would use the technology to express their petitions upon the
> government. Not a good thing, if your interest is not in serving the
> People.
>
> Their only hope is to make these outrageous claims of "protection" on
> behalf of the masses, and work within their small circles to enact
> legislation, treaties, and the like to prevent the empowerment of the
> individual. Forget Democracy, it is too dangerous in the Digital Age
> for the corrupt old liners to handle, starting with Bruce Lehman and
> Gang. Wonder why noone has accused them of treason, yet?
> Thanks,
> Tom Poe
> Open Studios
> Reno, NV
> http://www.studioforrecording.org/
>
> On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 08:46, Minodier wrote:
> > This proposal seems abslolutely insane. Are we replacing Inquisition by
> > big business ?. How could broadcasters using many different carriers
> > route pretend any kind of ownership because they "broadcast"
> > Does an airlines acquire owenrship of his passengers ? Where is the
> > added value of broadcasters aside getting paid for their services by
> > their clients ?
> > Patenting "business process" was not enough. I am starting to
> > understand why the anti-americanism in business practice, (not to
> > mention others)
> > is spreading and will continue to spread enven faster. I can (hardly
> > but!) understand a broadcast "tax" but OWNERSHIP !
> > It is "expropriation" at his best and think that it could be challenged in
> > court (national and international) to have a treaty stealng property of
> > contents in such a way. What about a law which will give ownershipto BT,
> > FT, Microsoft of my song on a my telephone if my name is Sinatra!
> >
> >
> > Alain Minodier
>
>
>
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Received on Fri Oct 31 2003 - 23:16:18 GMT
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